Subwoofer Extremely Lacking in B&O System

[RiotfunK]

This Bluetooth speaker is the size of two packs of cigarettes and is louder, clearer and puts out more bass than the b&o which claims 560 watts.

The alpine system in my wrangler has same wattage as the B&O and even with the top and doors off and E rated 35s I can hear it better than the B&O with the windows up and parked.
With the front windows open in traffic and volume at 10 you can barely hear the b&o. At 20 is like a normal conversation level, and past that it’s a distorted mess. If driving with any windows open you can barely hear it at all.

Maybe something wrong with mine, but I’ve owned about 20 vehicles and this is the worst oem sound system I’ve ever heard. And yes I’m gonna keep shitting on it, it’s that bad.

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[MJE]

I think the B&O stereo in my Badlands sounds great.

Does anyone know, now that I’m really reading this thread, is it largely the same B&O system in all models? My explorer has the B&O and it’s honestly been just fine. But I’m listening to Sirius, often talk (or news, or radio classics has some great stories) at that, and I don’t have a particularly discerning ear. I have a decent system put together at home if I really want something nice. Maybe I need to start a thread in the off topic to see what people have for setups at home.

 

[kyle_conrad]

With the front windows open in traffic and volume at 10 you can barely hear the b&o. At 20 is like a normal conversation level, and past that it’s a distorted mess. If driving with any windows open you can barely hear it at all.

I'd be interesting in knowing if your system is messed up somehow, because mine at 10 is loud enough to casually enjoy (even with a window or two down). I usually leave it at right around 13-14 for normal driving with windows up.

 

[69cuda340s]

Does anyone know, now that I’m really reading this thread, is it largely the same B&O system in all models? My explorer has the B&O and it’s honestly been just fine. But I’m listening to Sirius, often talk (or news, or radio classics has some great stories) at that, and I don’t have a particularly discerning ear. I have a decent system put together at home if I really want something nice. Maybe I need to start a thread in the off topic to see what people have for setups at home.

Could be Ford put what ever radio components they could get and maybe at times used substandard suppliers just to get enough parts to get them built. Just a theory. Or mass production tolerances another possibility?

I read article while ago BMW put cheap speakers in cars during supply chain crisis just to get the vehicles built...

 

[MJE]

Could be Ford put what ever radio components they could get and maybe at times used substandard suppliers just to get enough parts to get them built. Just a theory. Or mass production tolerances another possibility?

I read article while ago BMW put cheap speakers in cars during supply chain crisis just to get the vehicles built...

Yeah that’s certainly possible! I mean I hope they’re not subbing out base model speakers (which many are switching out on here it seems) & charging the same. But could they be? Sure. I appreciate they’ve generally been pretty transparent about what’s been swapped, or omitted (I mean you can open your hood & see the missing engine cover) but it’d be an interesting thing if they were hiding some cheaper substitutions.

 

[Cactusjk]

Well my BL Premium sound system is much better than in my 2020 Lexus NX FSport!

 

[jayzala]

After I put in the subwoofer, the B&O sound system in my Bronco Sport sounds just as good as the B&O sound systems in a $150k Audi SUV that I've sat in and heard myself! Sounds like 90% of that at 1/3 of the cost of the car!

I didn't have any issue with the highs or mids or midbass, that was all fine, it was just the sub-bass that was missing for me.

 

[RiotfunK]

My dealer has another BL on the lot. I’m gonna try to see if I can listen to the stereo in it and play around. Mine sounds like it’s out of phase, it is not centered or well defined. I described the sound before as having the singer on stage and the band in the field behind them.
Any genre of music is muddy sounding and then distorts turned up.

So update on this. I’m using high quality files on a thumb drive. Is how I’ve listened to music in last 3-4 vehicles and have never had an issue.
For whatever reason they don’t play well in BS. I get random micro stutters in playback despite file format and still get muddy sound.
Now I switched to Sirius and then tried car play to play same files off my phone that I have on thumb drive. Both things I never use. And the sound is far better. It’s not muddy.
No idea why that is when the BS can decode and play flac files in stereo or 5.1.
I’ve even tried a different thumb drive with same songs and same thing. The BS on the lot sounds similar to mine playing off the drive.
Playing off my phone with volume at 10 is like 15/16 off drive. 18 is like 25. For loudness. But is far clearer. I’m no longer getting the distortion, bass buzz, out of phase sound. Again is weird since the drive files are 5x+ The quality that Sirius uses. This could also be why most think it sounds good and I don’t. Formats we’re using to listen to things.
I’m running usb A drive and iPhone off Usb C. Gonna try a C drive at some point and see if there’s any difference. The USB A drive also gets really hot even when not playing music off it. Gonna keep playing around and see what else I can figure out with the system. Hope it helps some here, and let me know if you note a drastic sound difference between ports, devices etc

 

[Ivan Nigro Yague]

After I put in the subwoofer, the B&O sound system in my Bronco Sport sounds just as good as the B&O sound systems in a $150k Audi SUV that I've sat in and heard myself! Sounds like 90% of that at 1/3 of the cost of the car!

I didn't have any issue with the highs or mids or midbass, that was all fine, it was just the sub-bass that was missing for me.

Hi,
what subwoofer did tou install to replace the original one?

 

[jayzala]

Hi,
what subwoofer did tou install to replace the original one?

JL Audio MicroSub 10+

 

[BronzeSmokeBadlands]

I have a 2022 Badlands w/ B&O....I think the sound system is okay, not the greatest but overall pretty good....better than most cars I've had. I had a 2021 Acura with a ELS 17 speaker sound system and that would knock your socks off! Sounded like a concert!!!! But that's comparing apples to oranges, it was a 50K car, not 40K car.

I've read on this board and have tried on the BS this hack: Move the balance slightly to the passenger side and more to the rear than the front and it definitely make the sub boom more!.

My 21 TLX had two rear subs, and if it makes anyone feel better, they never "boomed" rear hard either.

 

[Ivan Nigro Yague]

JL Audio MicroSub 10+

Thanks… i couldn’t find it… do you have a link?

 

[rdc17]

My last car was a Lexus with the Mark Levinson system. The B&O system isn't going to match that, but I also rent a lot of cars and I would say the B&O is better than just about every rental car I have had in the last few years.

 

[kyle_conrad]

My dealer has another BL on the lot. I’m gonna try to see if I can listen to the stereo in it and play around. Mine sounds like it’s out of phase, it is not centered or well defined. I described the sound before as having the singer on stage and the band in the field behind them.
Any genre of music is muddy sounding and then distorts turned up.

So update on this. I’m using high quality files on a thumb drive. Is how I’ve listened to music in last 3-4 vehicles and have never had an issue.
For whatever reason they don’t play well in BS. I get random micro stutters in playback despite file format and still get muddy sound.
Now I switched to Sirius and then tried car play to play same files off my phone that I have on thumb drive. Both things I never use. And the sound is far better. It’s not muddy.
No idea why that is when the BS can decode and play flac files in stereo or 5.1.
I’ve even tried a different thumb drive with same songs and same thing. The BS on the lot sounds similar to mine playing off the drive.
Playing off my phone with volume at 10 is like 15/16 off drive. 18 is like 25. For loudness. But is far clearer. I’m no longer getting the distortion, bass buzz, out of phase sound. Again is weird since the drive files are 5x+ The quality that Sirius uses. This could also be why most think it sounds good and I don’t. Formats we’re using to listen to things.
I’m running usb A drive and iPhone off Usb C. Gonna try a C drive at some point and see if there’s any difference. The USB A drive also gets really hot even when not playing music off it. Gonna keep playing around and see what else I can figure out with the system. Hope it helps some here, and let me know if you note a drastic sound difference between ports, devices etc

If you tried Sirius, definitely try something in Tidal Master quality or Spotify Very High to see if you there's a difference there too - I use a wireless CarPlay adapter and stream everything through those and think the sound is good.

 

[Meanderthal]

Thanks… i couldn’t find it… do you have a link?

Are you literally saying that you can’t Google “JL Audio MicroSub 10+“?

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