B&O amplifier questions

[rallystyle]

Has anyone tried bridging the front channels to use with a component setup?
also has anyone tried adding pins to the connector for rear speakers?
i have my fading a lot to the rear as i like rear fill from them and when doing so it turns down the overall sound level down.
i wander if a f150 amp would work and have rear speaker out puts from it.
also i have been looking at the obridge amplifier set up as it would already have the a2b interface, a dsp setup and a subwoofer output.
anyone have any thoughts on this?

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[colinl]

Has anyone tried bridging the front channels to use with a component setup?
also has anyone tried adding pins to the connector for rear speakers?
i have my fading a lot to the rear as i like rear fill from them and when doing so it turns down the overall sound level down.
i wander if a f150 amp would work and have rear speaker out puts from it.
also i have been looking at the obridge amplifier set up as it would already have the a2b interface, a dsp setup and a subwoofer output.
anyone have any thoughts on this?

you cannot bridge the front even if the amplifier supported it, because you have no way to configure the amp and it is set up for individually powering the front doors and tweeters. (this would be bi-amp mode in an aftermarket amp and component speaker set up.)

no one has ever done instrumented testing to rate the power of the B&O amp but recently a user did measure near each driver and was able to draw good conclusions about the crossover frequencies implemented.

I doubt the amp is 2 ohm stable, so don't try to run rear speakers on the front 6.5 channel. it would be bandpassed even if you were able.

I encourage you to not try to do more with the rear speakers because they are heavily flawed.

1. They are essentially free-air because there is no meaningful separation / enclosure.
2. They are only 4" drivers. People have shoehorned in 4x6, but I don't see much practical difference.
3. They are very poorly positioned for rear seat passengers, firing into the top/side of their head, so they will never get a good front-center stereo soundstage if there is any significant volume from them. I faded mine very low because my 6'3 son likes music, and we all listen relatively loud now and then, and no one wants that 4" firing into their head.
4. If you really want rear speakers, you would need to construct speaker pods in the lower doors. Many trucks with high end, high budget systems have done this. I actually saw someone talking about going into production with pods but I didn't try to follow his progress, if any, because I definitely won't be doing it.

So, now some better news. People have definitely done 3 piece components up front. This will take a replacement amp for sure. I am not certain if anyone has a production part for the dash tweeter location but I am certain that people have fabricated fiberglass pods one-off and mounted typical sized 3 piece components there, and I've also seen plenty of trucks with pods in the doors with high performance 6.5" midbass.

My suggestion: unless you have the funds and desire for a truly high-end build*, first try just replacing the front components and leaving the B&O amp for now. Leave the rear stock. Play the sh!t out of it and see what you think. I did that >2 years ago and I'm pretty happy with the sound in my truck:

1. Focal RSE-165 components (I like the tweeter even though it's plastic, and they're loud because they have high efficiency)
2. Kenwood X3 3.5" coaxial in center channel with a 50w 4ohm resistor to tame it (sell the other speaker of the pair)
3. Kicker Key 500.1 (what an amp for $279)
4. Alpine R2 8" dual 2 ohm seeing 500w from the Kicker and loving it, in a simple custom box
5. Factory 4" rears because I can't hear them and don't want to.

*If you do have that kind of goal, definitely contact Shawn Marsh @ NTX Audio in DFW. He's on Facebook and his truck was at SEMA this year, and he built the audio (twice lol) in Kenneth Mccay's silver Maverick with the tribal graphics that was at SEMA 2022.

 

[rallystyle]

thanks for the feed back.
i already have morel maximo ultra 602 mk2 for the front, morel maximo ultra coax 402 mk2 for the rear and a kicker 51hs10 ready to go in. i like soft dome tweeters
i also have a navtv zen a2b so i could install a amp down the road and run everything active. i am just not at the point yet. also will be doing the resonix stage 2 door kit on the front doors. again down the line.
i did talk to mobridge at sema in 23 about there amp setup and they had a bronco with morel speakers and there amp setup. it was a very smooth sounding setup. just what i am looking for.

 

[colinl]

thanks for the feed back.
i already have morel maximo ultra 602 mk2 for the front, morel maximo ultra coax 402 mk2 for the rear and a kicker 51hs10 ready to go in. i like soft dome tweeters
i also have a navtv zen a2b so i could install a amp down the road and run everything active. i am just not at the point yet. also will be doing the resonix stage 2 door kit on the front doors. again down the line.
i did talk to mobridge at sema in 23 about there amp setup and they had a bronco with morel speakers and there amp setup. it was a very smooth sounding setup. just what i am looking for.

so yes, you're in good shape. I know I've seen posts here on MTC with people using the maximo components but I can't recall whether they were using an aftermarket amp (probably) or stock B&O. If you don't want to cut the factory tweeter grille to surface-mount the Morel tweeter you could see if the Morel tweeter housing can be removed. if doing that makes them face straight up into the windshield like factory, this could be fine, I'd listen to it a while before cutting up the plastic grilles.

I don't see any downside to installing the speakers right now.

You don't need the Morel passive crossover, just directly replace the tweeters and mids. Install the rear speakers as they are now, powered by the sync4 unit's internal amp.

And then decide what if anything you want to do about the center channel, because it's heavily utilized, and if you want to install your NavTV Zen and what amp(s) to use with it, but I would definitely replace it with an amp with a good DSP built-in, or budget for a dedicated DSP and separate amps. There are a few threads here on Audison and Alpine DSPs, and tons of them about Kicker Key which is similar but not at all the same since it's automatic and non-configurable.

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