B&O Full upgrade - what harness to use?

[Toddman45]

Man I really appreciate the pictures you have here. This system upgrade I’m doing has an 8” Blaupunkt under seat powered sub I’m installing in the drivers side rear underseat storage bin. It fits in the bin without modification. No need to tear up the storage bins. I’m installing my amp and power/ground distribution block in the passenger side bin. Thing is, your pictures got me thinking about resonance under the bins. So I think I’m going to pop them out, so the sound deadening thing and pop them back in. I did some deadening work when I replaced all the stock speakers. Anyway, I love a good challenge so I’m excited about installing this amp/dsp. More to come but thanks for the inspiration…

It's infectious.

I blame others on here for my motivation.

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[Tom 71 Maverick 24]

I feel a little bit motivated here also. I have the B&O in my Lariat, and I do like the sound, but I know it could be better. So I follow these threads and get ideas. For me, front speakers and a more potent subwoofer solution seem like a reasonable path.

But alas, I have to wait. I'm taking Sasquatch (my Mav) in for repairs after an errant deer got in the way of my drive to work about a month ago and wrinkled up some sheet metal and stuff. I want it to be 100% before I sink any time or money into the project.

 

[Toddman45]

I feel a little bit motivated here also. I have the B&O in my Lariat, and I do like the sound, but I know it could be better. So I follow these threads and get ideas. For me, front speakers and a more potent subwoofer solution seem like a reasonable path.

But alas, I have to wait. I'm taking Sasquatch (my Mav) in for repairs after an errant deer got in the way of my drive to work about a month ago and wrinkled up some sheet metal and stuff. I want it to be 100% before I sink any time or money into the project.

That sucks hopefully they get it fixed up for you quickly.

But yeah, I agree just replacing the stock so-called b&o speakers with aftermarket and still using the b&o amp will be a great improvement, sounding at least three times better than the crappy paper woofers with foam surround with the tiny magnets they use.

Anyone with a ear for premium speakers will know right away when you turn the volume up to 15 that there's nothing premium about any of the stereos in the Mavericks or many of the other Fords they produce.

Also, if you replace that little 6x9 so-called sub with a decent 8-in or 10-in shallow mount sub & mono amp, you'll really know what bass is. Just makes it all the more enjoyable when you turn on a good song, hell even a bad one.

 

[papawmark]

Finally finished installing my AudioControl LC2i LOC and active powered Blaupunkt sub under the rear seat. I went ahead and installed sound deadening under the storage compartments. The plastic compartments were easy to remove. I also installed a power/ground distribution block to easily power everything locally. I still need to tweak the sub setup but it sounds A LOT better than just the stock sub. Now I'm tackling the install of an Seventour AMP/DSP to power the front Polk Audio DB series component set and Polk Audio DB series 4" for the rear pillars.
I will also run my new sub through the DSP via the available low level input from my LC2i LOC. I'm going to use this PAC XXXX-FD02 harness to tap the B&O amp for the front and rear speaker inputs. Obviously Mr. Darnon has his together with the B&O audio system so I'm tapping into all his previous threads and posts on the subject to have a better understanding of the ridiculous audio system...lol. WISH ME LUCK!!

 

[WhatJoeKnow]

How do you like that Seventour amp?

 

[papawmark]

How do you like that Seventour amp?

I haven't installed it yet.....The system sounds A LOT better with the sub install. I will give an update when I finally get it done. It's been so damn cold!!

 

[Sluggo48313]

I haven't installed it yet.....The system sounds A LOT better with the sub install. I will give an update when I finally get it done. It's been so damn cold!!

I am also following this thread. I made the mistake of trying to "just upgrade a couple of things on a budget" and now I'm into it. The stock B&O just sounded "shrill" to my ears. No matter how I adjusted it my ears were ringing. I'm old. I had systems back in the day. But I've also left alone factory systems that sound good. My previous vehicle was a Mazda CX5 with the Bose. I'm not a fan of Bose, but it sounded good, I adjusted it once and never touched it.

Anyway, I dove into the front stage first. Some fabric dome tweeters and a full range for the center. (parts express) Sounded better, but the tweeters while clearer, were even louder and more in your face (4 ohm 96 db). Next I did the door speakers with Goldwood's from Parts express and crossed over the tweeters (using half a two way crossover, also used -6 db). Mid bass hits better, but the front stage is still...still...shrill. This weekend I"m going to put the 6 1/2 Dayton sub-woofer upgrade in I found in a couple of threads here. That should clean up the bass a bit (and my problem has never really been the bass, but I'm hoping it helps to balance the sound). I also bit the bullet and ordered JL C2 soft dome tweeters with the proper crossover. They will be here next week. They are 8 ohm. My hope is being 8 ohm will drop them 3db and hopefully balance things out.

If not...I know where this is going. I'm very interested in the Seventour P48E amp/dsp or any of the other Chinese clones on Amazon. Just having a real EQ alone will solve my problems and get the most out of everything I"ve already put in.

I really wish someone would make an affordable dsp amp using the A2B interface. A simple plug and play box. Hopefully someday soon.

 

[papawmark]

I am also following this thread. I made the mistake of trying to "just upgrade a couple of things on a budget" and now I'm into it. The stock B&O just sounded "shrill" to my ears. No matter how I adjusted it my ears were ringing. I'm old. I had systems back in the day. But I've also left alone factory systems that sound good. My previous vehicle was a Mazda CX5 with the Bose. I'm not a fan of Bose, but it sounded good, I adjusted it once and never touched it.

Anyway, I dove into the front stage first. Some fabric dome tweeters and a full range for the center. (parts express) Sounded better, but the tweeters while clearer, were even louder and more in your face (4 ohm 96 db). Next I did the door speakers with Goldwood's from Parts express and crossed over the tweeters (using half a two way crossover, also used -6 db). Mid bass hits better, but the front stage is still...still...shrill. This weekend I"m going to put the 6 1/2 Dayton sub-woofer upgrade in I found in a couple of threads here. That should clean up the bass a bit (and my problem has never really been the bass, but I'm hoping it helps to balance the sound). I also bit the bullet and ordered JL C2 soft dome tweeters with the proper crossover. They will be here next week. They are 8 ohm. My hope is being 8 ohm will drop them 3db and hopefully balance things out.

If not...I know where this is going. I'm very interested in the Seventour P48E amp/dsp or any of the other Chinese clones on Amazon. Just having a real EQ alone will solve my problems and get the most out of everything I"ve already put in.

I really wish someone would make an affordable dsp amp using the A2B interface. A simple plug and play box. Hopefully someday soon.

The main reason I haven’t installed the Seventour is how cold it’s been here in Colorado to start the year. Not very comfy in the garage lately. The other thing is the actual wiring/tie-in to the b&o system. I’m the kind of hobbyist that has to have a clear picture of the whole process or I won’t tear into till I do….not there just yet. I’ve read so much about this subject that I’ve confused myself a bit. The wiring of the amp/dsp harness to the b&o tie-in harness (pac aph-fd02) has me baffled. I need to wire high level speaker inputs to the amp and outputs from the amp. Trouble is there are only one set of wires on that pac harness and they are not labeled the same as our system schematic. So I’m in limbo till I figure it out….and I will with some tinkering and like I said…been to darn cold! I’m old too…don’t like cold…lol. More to come….
BTW…I’m an old aircraft electronics technician turned civil engineering designer (20 years), turned wildlife biologist (9 years). Like I said, I’ll figure it out…lol.

 

[Pappamoto]

Are the B&O tweeters really bad? Is this something that can skip an upgrade? I've installed 4" Focal Auditors in the back and 6.5" Hertz 165 Unos in the front so far. The sound still has a shrill/harsh treble, but I'm not sure if that's the mid or tweeters. Maybe both.

 

[Cherokee]

A different perspective If you all will Indulge me, Come and sit down with me,
beneath the, ‘Tree of Woe’ for contemplation at the deepest level.
Let me say something first and then wait for my second point because I’m surprised no one has done this.
Or have I simply missed it ?

I think my Lariat’s Factory stock B&O system sounds great. I listen to Rock and Roll,
Classical,
Blues,
Jazz, just a little.
Pink Floyd is my Favorite music but I can Jam to Uriah Heep.

My second point, question, Inquiry.

Back in the day we’d hop up a cars sound system by ripping out everything, making a work bench garage stereo out off the factory components.
We’d start from the positive battery terminal, fuse that and run a hefty red power wire through the dash.

Example:
A Craig stereo cassette player linked into a 12 slider per channel Realistic equalizer.

A 100 watt Rockford fosgate amplifier under the passenger seat,

Two Eight inch super efficient Radio Shack woofers in he back side panels,

Four 4” midrange speakers. Two on each side,
Twin piezo high power tweeter horns,
Proper speaker cabinet sound absorption materials and Monster cables.

My THD was practically nothing at 20 watts.

Btw. When I pushed 20 watts at say 1 quarter up on the volume dial and I could see the side mirror on the car next to me shake, well
That’s how we rolled in the day.

Who’s got the from scratch best sound system out there ?

 

[Ryom]

If the B&O was a base level system, I'd rate it as very good to excellent. But the fact that it's the premium option means I will judge it based on that fact. As a premium system it's merely decent to good.

Most modern sound systems are troublesome to upgrade as they're integral to vehicle operation. So they must be top-notch because replacement is such a PITA.

 

[Cherokee]

Well said Ryom.
FWIW I keep all three sliders in my EQ, in my Maverick dead center.

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