Hi All,
I'm new here so go easy, and I'm hoping this can help! I just wanted to share some stuff on here as I had one hell of a time finding it out for myself.
After hours of searching and much experimenting with my own FGX G6E I have finally got the Sync 2 Stereo in my FGX sounding right, and this was no easy task. Honestly even after changing all the speakers to quality splits, it souded like they all had pillows in front of them and the louder I turned up the volume, the worse this got. Something had to be done!
I'm not going to go into the install of the components but more along the lines of what As-Built Settings you need to change to get your custom speaker/Amp/sub install sounding as it should.
You can in fact re-program the Sync 2 to give you Preset Equaliser options, and you can re-program the Audio Control Module (ACM) to output line out levels (RCA +4Volts) from the speaker wires, not only this but you can also re-program the ACM to give you a flat unprocessed output from 20-20000hz and I'll explain why this is important shortly.
I have a G6ET which is fitted with the premium audio, and although I haven't tried these mods on any other FGX vehicles, I reckon there is a good chance they will work on all of them.
Anyway for me I have purchased a monoblock amp replaced the sub in the rear parcel shelf, changed the speakers and have them running off of a 4 channel amp. The Sub amp gets its signal
from the front speaker cables.
For those interested the Speaker cables in the front kick panels are the same colour coding as the FG MK2 (which I owned previously also)
Right Front: Grey/Green (Neg-) & Grey/Black (Pos+)
Right Rear: Blue/Red (Neg+) & Blue Black(Pos+)
Left Front: Orange/Light Green (Neg-) & Orange/Black (Pos+)
Left Rear: Pink/Green (Neg-) & Pink/Black (Pos+)
Once you are wired up you will need to use FORscan(software on Win10) and an OBDLink MX adaptor (tool which plugs into you OBD port)
to change the following AS-Built data (sorry you'll have work out this bit for yourself)
To Get the Preset Equaliser Options in Sync 2 you will need to change the following;
Select the APIM Module, and change the value of the large X to 8.
7D0-01-02 xxxx xXxx xxxx - Enables Preset EQ
0 (Disabled - Default)
8 (Enabled)
My original string looked like this
7D0-01-02 0420 0200 0000
With the Preset Equaliser Enabled it looks like this
7D0-01-02 0420 0800 0000
Once Written, Sync will reset itself and the Preset EQ settings should appear.
To Disable Factory EQ Processing
(This does not affect the BASS/MID/TREB control or the Preset EQs they will still work, this only effects what the ACM does after all of that)
The Factory EQ processing that the ACM changes are the Bass and Treble frequencies, it effectively 'rolls them off' as you turn the volume up and that's why the louder it goes the worse it sounds
(even with all new amps and speakers) I believe Ford use this fuction to stop your average Motorist from blowing up their crappy factory speakers whilst turning up there favourite tracks.
*Prior to doing this modification, turn your volume down*
Select the ACM Module and change the values as follows
727-01-02 xXxx - Disables Factory EQ Processing
1 (Enabled - Default)
0 (Disabled)
My original string looked like this
727-01-02 0132
With the factory EQ processing disable it looks like this
727-01-02 0032
Once this is written and you cycle the car off/on you will notice a big difference in the sound, especially as you turn the volume up. It will also be alot louder so make sure all your gains on your amps are down as wellyou should now have a clear and unprocessed signal going to your speaker wires (still at speaker level output voltages) In theory you could just have aftermarket speakers connected to the head unit without any amps and they should sound much better, but I have not tried this so proceed with caution.
To Change the ACM output Voltage
From factory to drive the speakers I believe this comes out at up to about +8V (controlled by the volume control) on the speaker wires as listed above, to be clear, this doesn't magically give you RCA output and bypass the existing amplifier, it only changes the output voltage, so you wouldn't have to use a Speaker Level to RCA level converter to connect to the RCA inputs on your aftermarket amplifier. it also helps avoid 'potential' signal clipping, which once amplified can destroy speakers.
Select the ACM Module and change the following values
727-01-01 xxXx xxxx xxxx - Enables Line Level Output
0 (Disabled - Default)
5 (Enabled)
My original string looked like this
727-01-01 9E01 1800 806E
With the line level output enabled
727-01-01 9E51 1800 806E
So you could now hook up your RCA plugs to you speaker wires! always remember to turn down all your volumes/gains prior to trying some music.
Your volume control will work as normal.
If you are not happy you can just put your old values back in and re-write them to the modules as discussed, Please Make shure you save your factory values before proceeding with these Mods.
Hopefully this helps and offers hope to some of you who like myself think the Ford Premium Audio Systems are just not up to scratch (lucky they are so good to drive!)
