After a successful partnership last year developing the sound system for the Ford Mustang FR500, it was only natural Ford Racing Technology would partner with JBL again, this time to build a premier sound system for the Ford Focus FR200.
The engineers at JBL were being presented with a new challenge. The FR200 was to be another exceptional Ford Racing high-performance vehicle. And once again, what JBL was requested to supply had to be equally exceptional. In fact, it had to be downright sensational. Guess what: it was.
To start things off, JBL chose a TrafficPro(tm) source unit to head up the customized FR200 system. TrafficPro, developed by Becker Automotive Systems, a Harman International company, is a high-performance, compact disc player, AM and dual FM tuner and navigation system all in one trim DIN chassis. This first-of-its-kind system is memory-based and works off a micro-computer hard-drive. It uses NAVTECH CD-ROM databases and relays information to the driver via voice prompts delivered through the audio system as well as easy-to-understand icons on the visual display. There's no getting lost with TrafficPro in the car. Even better, the audio possibilities it allows and inspires are genuinely breath-taking.
To power the system it was building, JBL selected a highly efficient and powerful 570-watt amplifier. It's tucked away in the hatch.
Then came the matter of the actual sound. How would it be distributed through the cabin? JBL engineers strategically positioned 11 speakers in the cabin to create a precise and full sound uncompromised by competing noise. And in order to tune the speakers to the vehicle interior and provide a properly shaped and smooth frequency response, two specially designed 4-channel, trunk-installed digital pre-amp units are integrated into the system.
The speakers themselves are an incredible selection. The system includes a 1-inch tweeter and 5-inch full-range unit in each of the front left and right doors and sail panels. In the rear, a 1-inch tweeter and a 5-1/2-inch by 7-1/2-inch full-range speaker can be found in the left and right quarter panels above the arm rests. In addition, a 8-inch dual voice coil, long throw sub-woofer loaded into a 15-liter acoustic suspension enclosure has been placed on each side of the interior in the rear quarter panel below the arm rest in what used to be map pockets. To further optimize the spatial imaging of the system, a center channel 3-1/2-inch mid- and high-range speaker is located in the instrument panel. By directing specially processed signals to this source, a more stable and realistic sonic experience is achieved. And in order to provide the best frequency response characteristics with negligible distortion and coloration, Harman's Metal Matrix diaphragm technology was incorporated in all midrange and high frequency speakers.