2018 B&O stereo upgrade

So with the [correct] assumption that the BO speakers were paper garbage, I decided to follow others and see what an upgrade would sound like...

The door speakers provide a lot of bass, 0 high end.

I also usually count to 10 pretty well, since the shoes can stay on...

I only count 8 speakers, did i miss a set?

The system was not really bad, I've had varying quality Bose systems in my infinitis, and highb dollar systems with focal and diamond audio components when i was younger. As far as ONE, it's a little better than so so.

The only thing I have installed now is some old K5 Focal tweeters with crossovers. The oem tweets were actually about the same sound wise. They are soft dome tweeters, I would not pay to replace them, they sound fine and have covers on them. That being said, super easy to swap.

I looked at the sub today, says BO on the grill, looks to be a dual voicecoil 8! 4 wires going from the amp in to the sub and 2 wires going to connectors on each side. It is crappy paper, but has a nice white rubber surround and really moves.

No idea what the impedance is, speaker had no info on it. I just stuffed the box with poly and closed it up. Might look for a DVC 8 to replace it once the other stuff is in. No amp, just a sub in a box to replace the plastic crap.

I ordered pioneer TSA series 6x9 for the front and 6.5 for the rear. Also ordered a TSA 3.5 for the dash They seem to have great reviews and very high signal to noise ratios. With little power hoping they sound good, no aftermarket amps here.

I think im under $150 for everything shipped. I even got the wire plug adapters and speaker plate adapters. I'll likely throw some peel and seal on the doors while I'm at it, just for the hell of it, they do rattle a bit with heavy bass.

Hoping to have it in tomorrow, I'll post an update.

I think the B&O system sounds great, I really like it and its a hell of a lot better than the Sony system I had in my 14.

I agree that the BO is WAY better than the Sony in the previous gen. My brother is a Hertz/Audison/Audiofrog dealer so i'll give it until spring and I may decide to upgrade. I just hate tearing apart a new truck. I have a $2k ALP Radar/Laser Jammer that i've just been too lazy to install cause I don't want to mess with anything yet.

you are really going to benefit by putting some thump behind that sub. If you see @Guy’s “under 500 bucks” thread, and my “added a sub” post, we both pulled the Sony sub out of the stock enclosure - probably the same enclosure you have or very close, modified it and fitted a better speaker. I went with a kicker 2 ohm and 300w amp. We both put dynamat on the sub enclosure and I think this was the biggest bang for the buck improvement.

It may sound like it will be lopsided but it won’t. I am running pretty high gain on the amp and it sounds awesome.

You can tell when the auto stop/start cuts the sub signal, and you can really tell with a serious sub amp.

I need to make a correction, the rear 6.5 is a coax thus 10 speakers...

I also plan to do a sub:

1 use factory BO amp, it has 2 sets of wires coming out, I'm assuming it's 2 2 ohm outputs
Just shove a better dvc sub in the current box.

2. Use factory amp, get a dvc 2ohm sub, put one set of outputs on each voicecoil and build a box that goes under the rear passenger seat , roughly 20w x 12d x 5.5-6.5 tall. Prolly a 10 is biggest that will go.

What do you guys think, I need to get specs on that amp.

oem amp is not going to power it properly. get a real amp. the issue with underseat subwoofers is depth. trying to fit a full size speaker under there wont happen. and the shallow mounts available are not very good. they may play loud but lack the deep response. the subwoofers i use fit and since they dont require a lot of airspace, work perfectly under there. i have done a few of the new trucks so far and i still find the same sub to fit the best.

Can yoou expand on the not powering it properly?

How many watts and what ohm would you guess it is? I didn't really wanna run a bunch of wires.

What size box, sub etc are you having luck with that fits under the screw passenger rear?

BDF said:

So with the [correct] assumption that the BO speakers were paper garbage, I decided to follow others and see what an upgrade would sound like...

The door speakers provide a lot of bass, 0 high end.

Click to expand...

BDF, can you post pics of the stock 6x9s and the front tweeters? TIA. I'd like to see them/see what they match up with/lie from the Harman parts bin. I agree on your assessment of the front 6x9s...too much mid bass/bass and not much else. However, their low position makes imaging difficult with actual human legs in there while driving. May be better with a better speaker, though.

Tweeters may be something other than ford factory garbage, but the 6x9s are just crappy paper cone speakers with tiny magnets. I think they say FoMoCo on them too.

I tested the sub amp on a really old ink sub ikn a huge ported box out of my old Explorer, like 1997 old...

It's a dual voice coil 10, it hit hard enough.

I'll be buying g a fox acoustics box and probably a dual 2ohm voice coil 10, see if it makes the amp clip, if it does, I'll go to dual 4ohm.

Anyone know what the rating is? Any way to find out? Maybe put a ohm meter on the sub itself?

Ok, pulled the "B&O" sub, dual 4ohm voice coils.

I'll either be doing a single ported dual 4ohm sub, or dual sealed single 4ohm subs.

Depends on what box I like best.