HotPotato

Yes. Pull the voice paddle and say "Bluetooth Audio" or, if you have the cord plugged in, "USB." This assumes you also want your entertainment audio coming from the phone (eg the iphone's native Music app, Pandora, Spotify, NPR app etc.). Otherwise, you are forcing your phone to interrupt whatever other audio source you're using (radio? nothing? CD?) with each communication. Google Maps is smart enough to do that, but apparently Apple Maps isn't. BTW, I think it's normal for the car to call such communications "unknown call." It does so when I use Siri. When the communication ends, it will briefly show "In Privacy" and then end the communication.

Congrats!

My short commute murders mileage. But it's better if I turn off the climate control so the ICE doesn't kick on for the heater. Taking a 3-hour round trip on the highway is enough to measurably improve my lifetime mileage; a couple weeks with no weekend road trips and it falls again.

Yeah, at this point your best option would be to trade for a C-Max with those options from the factory. Sound expensive? After my aftermarket stereo upgrade nightmare, I'm inclined to think it would cost about the same and sound better, even once the parts are available. A depreciation hit costs a lot of money. But so does a high-end stereo, custom wiring harness, Sync retention module, labor, and a dash kit that somehow preserves the functionality of the existing buttons and display. That's what I'm probably looking at down the road, since I've already sunk so much money into the stereo upgrade. I cannot tell you how much I wish I had just popped for the damn Sony/nav/Sirius option package when buying the car.

ScubaDad, let me see what I can do.

Innnnnnteresting... how could we find out if different firmware etc is used from one build to another?

I'm on it! Just made one online. White & clear so it can go on the back window. Top half says in big letters the question I always hear: "What is it?" Bottom half has the forum address. If you like my design, you can order the identical one online: http://www.makestickers.com/DesignReorder.aspx?SKU=Sticker_3x10_Clear&DN=130510174800&cid=qu4tdqxjfruwfddnjxszurm3#.UY16YwUi0fE.email

Cruised behind a pearl white SEL in my black SE for a while when in the San Fernando Valley recently. Wonder if it was One Of Ours? Tripod-mounted action shots, eh? I'd better not pick my nose while driving near other C-Maxes out on the road...

Welp, car stereo shop says they had found the amp we refer to, but it's not an amp per se but rather the Sync module, and as mentioned before they couldn't get a line-in signal because the line into it was digital, not analog. There is such a thing as an Audison Bit Ten D, which accepts a digital line in, so it's odd they didn't try going with that. Hm. Anyway, I continue tweaking the EQ and continue getting better sound. Will post values when I'm happy with it.

Wow! I would LOVE a picture of where to find the amp. That would definitely help solve my problem!!!

There's one under each seat. They pop into a hole in the floor. Look under the other seat and you'll see where it fits in and how it should look once attached. As I recall, you hold the vent at an angle, push the small end into the hole, and then swivel it horizontal so the wide end is pointing straight out at the rear passengers' feet. Had to pop mine in and out a couple times while installing my underseat amplifier.

People used to do it to save wear in the tranny at a stop. But our engine shuts down & tranny disengages at a stop, so no need.

I think that's a 2013 Subaru Impreza.

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Several things, all related: Default aux source to last one played. Which will never, ever be Line In, Ford, because this is not 1983 with us plugging our Walkmen in. Faster USB indexing or index only when prompted, and default to accepting whatever the USB source is already doing (eg playing Spotify), because we want to plug in our smartphone and go, without 5 minutes if frustrating screwiness. Siri integration over Sync, because Siri is a computer that learns to understand human commands instead of vice versa. Menus that don't suck, or better yet physical controls, so we can do simple things like change our AUX source without having to resort to voice commands (which don't seem to work for the first couple minutes either, BTW). Menu settings to let us change defaults like these. The same right-hand IP display functions in the SE as in the SEL. I suppose I could hard-wire in a high-quality AD converter from my phone dock to Line In, and hard-wire power from the 12V line to the dock, so I could just plug in and go. No Sync control over the phone that way, but Siri works over Bluetooth and does the same stuff. No secondary display that way, but phone mount is in view.

None of the Ford-specific wiring harnesses, dash kits, or Sync retention units are said to fit the US-spec C-Max. Seems like if Sirius is a choice on the menu (albeit grayed-out), then either Ford or the aftermarket may have plans to offer a Sirius module. Meanwhile maybe you could install a universal Sirius tuner. Or...do they have a smartphone app?

Cool, very interested to hear what happens! If the sub works, I may follow your lead and throw that in the mix too, and then see if I can find a shop with a Bit Tune machine to tune the Audison properly. Way too many variables for me to account for them all.

Yes, the rear speakers sound like they're playing from the bottom of a deep well. But that's mostly a result of the factory sound processor, not the speakers. Although the rears just have a whizzer cone rather than being coaxials, the muffled sound persists even when they're replaced with audiophile components! I replaced all 4 speakers with very high quality speakers in my car, and added an amp, and the rears were still muffled. Ran my ipod directly into the amp, bypassing the factory processor, and BAM! the rear speakers came alive with clarity and volume. Am trying to maintain Sync functionality though, so alas, back to the muffled rear sound I must go.

Update: processor installed. Before the processor arrived, I had the iPod plugged directly into the amp, bypassing the factory head unit altogether -- and hence bypassing the factory HU's EQ and time alignment presets. This alone made the sound much better -- a wide-open soundstage instead if the closed-in factory sound, flat frequency response rather than the boomy factory tune, and the rear speakers came alive. Now with the bit Ten processor installed, I'm running everything thru the factory HU again. And, surprise! the soundstage is again cramped, the midbass is again overboosted, and the rear speakers again sound like they're playing from the bottom of a well. The Bit Ten is supposed to remove factory EQ but honestly I think all it does is remove factory bass rolloff at high volumes I will never visit. It does however come with a great 31 band EQ, which I have used to greatly improve the sound. IIRC I have -3db at 125 Hz, -6db at 160 Hz, -6db at 200 Hz, -3 db at 250 Hz. For now I also have +3 db at 63 Hz and +3 db at 4 kHz, plus configuring the front crossovers for more tweeter presence. All this has made the sound pretty good, but it could be better. Next I could EQ each speaker individually (I did only the front as a pair), verify that the shop set the amp levels correctly (the bit Ten's gain should be set low and the amp's high, and they appear to have it set up the other way round), and maybe even try the de-EQ process again in case it didn't "take" when they did it. The noise cancellation does not appear to be interfering with the stereo; whether the reverse is true, I can't say.

The bad sound was the same whether at rest with ignition off or moving with ignition on. I'm told a subwoofer is out of the question though, because in cars with active noise cancellation (Honda Accord, ours) it will cause a whoomp-whoomp noise due to the noise cancellation system. Some Honda guys disconnect the mikes. I'd rather leave them in but put in a switch on that circuit that switches between sub on and mikes on, should I decide to add a sub.

So, update: with 4 speakers and amp installed, still sounded bad. Added AudioControl LC6i line output converter for better signal to amp; still sounded bad. But with iPod hooked directly to the amp, not bad, suggesting the culprit is the equalization curve in the factory radio. Next step will be to swap the LC6i for an Audison Bit One processor, which removes the factory EQ curve and offers a 31-band EQ adjustable via laptop. If it doesn't work, this project will officially end in failure. In the old days, it was always cheaper and better to get the base stereo and upgrade it in the aftermarket. No more. Parts and labor, I now would have been ahead to get the equipment group upgrade with Sony stereo and nav, which folks seem to agree sounds very good. We'll see - maybe it will sound amazing...

Spotify has also now been applink-ified. Yay! I plan to have it on the "Coachella" station all the way to Coachella...on my fancy new speakers and amp, which hopefully no longer suck once the shop gets the levels dialed in today.

I certainly wouldn't describe my steering as twitchy. In fact I'm kind of bummed that it seems less sensitive and precise than in the C-Max I first road-tested. I have definitely noticed the pothole clunk though --- a bit like the sound a car with worn-out front strut tower bushings makes. One owner who complained about a front-end clunk ended up having the dealer replace a lower control arm under warranty, but I'm not sure if it was the same clunk. :-) Every FoMoCo product I've ever driven has had a too-soft front suspension -- like it needs a stiffer spring, stiffer compression response on the shock, more suspension travel, or a longer/stiffer bump stop -- and I suspect this is just the C-Max version of that phenomenon. Wouldn't be surprising, especially considering a C-Max is a lot heavier than the Focus from which it's derived.

Well, this is odd. Car stereo shop went to install amp today and could not. Says there is no audio signal behind receiver, ie they think receiver is wired to an external amp that turns on when it gets a data signal or something, and they don't know what the power output of that amp is or where it is. I thought the base stereo had only "deck power," no external amp. Does it have an external amp? Where? What is its output? Turned on how? How can I find out? Anybody got a wiring diagram for the harness? Obviously we could tap the speaker wires instead of going behind the radio, but the output power might be too high to use as line-level amp input, if there's already a factory amp. The front speakers they removed were stamped with "25 W max," so this alleged factory amp's output can't be more than 25 W, but that would be too powerful to use as line-level input, no? On top of which, the super expensive speakers I had them install, don't sound much better than stock. Not sure if there just isn't enough power to drive them in the absence of an aftermarket amp (these speakers are designed for sound quality, not efficiency), or the shop reversed polarity when installing (they mentioned BOTH speaker wires were black), or there's nasty factory EQ that needs to be removed with a processor, or what, but I'm not thrilled. Also the Sync lady's voice is maybe 1/3 the normal volume now. Anyone know where the menu (if any) is to adjust her voice, or whether her voice comes out of all 4 speakers? Will x-post on Focus Fanatics bc presumably it's the same radio, and they have lots of audio hobbyists. The moral of the story for now is, if you're contemplating buying a car with the factory audio upgrade vs one without...DO IT. It's going to cost you more to put in two good front speakers and the power to run them, than to have an entire 5-channel HD touch-screen high-power system from the factory, and the factory sound will likely be better. (We're at $500 parts and labor so far, just for two front speakers---still no amp or rear speakers. Insane.)

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