B&O Sound System Review?

[dinglehead]

Now that folks are taking delivery..... how does the B&O sound system compare to other stock options in other cars?

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[Jcrafoord]

I don't have the stock option to compare to, but compared to my previous 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk the sound system is a massive improvement. Paying extra money for it is a personal opinion, but it coming with my FE was a big bonus. It sounds great!

 

[Excape]

I don't have the stock option to compare to, but compared to my previous 2017 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk the sound system is a massive improvement. Paying extra money for it is a personal opinion, but it coming with my FE was a big bonus. It sounds great!

Did your '17 Trailhawk have the premium (Alpine, I believe) sound option?

I drove an Outer Banks with the B&O system and was a bit underwhelmed, but I realize that I may be expecting too much. As a curiosity, I browsed some other Ford vehicle enthusiasts sites (e.g. Ranger, F-150, Mustang) to read other Ford B&O reviews. It looks like each forum had yeas and nays, leading me to conclude what I had already assumed, that expectations vary wildly and that this topic is very subjective. Google something like "Ford B&O sound system review" and you will see what I mean.

 

[Osco]

The B&O sounds just fine, reminds me of the 'Shaker' my 2010 Mustang had.
I see/hear no reason to upgrade anything.

 

[Zolutar]

At first I was a little underwhelmed by it, but then I went into the sound settings, turned on surround and tweaked the EQ and its actually pretty good. Marginal improvement over the Sony system in my Escape

 

[Excape]

At first I was a little underwhelmed by it, but then I went into the sound settings, turned on surround and tweaked the EQ and its actually pretty good. Marginal improvement over the Sony system in my Escape

I was a bit underwhelmed with the B&O in an Outer Banks. I tried to tweak it too, but the only EQ settings I found were low, mid, high, which is scant tone control for a premium system. Did you get more shaping options and granular tonal control once you turned on the surround?

 

[Excape]

The B&O sounds just fine, reminds me of the 'Shaker' my 2010 Mustang had.
I see/hear no reason to upgrade anything.

Osco,

Since you've experienced both, how much better did the B&O sound over the stock system?

 

[Zolutar]

To be honest, they seem similar. No extra options compared to the Sony system, but the sound field seems better. I need to get the Bronco on the commute action for full enjoyment to give a detailed explanation. but in preliminary tinkering, the B&O definitely has more bass punch than the Sony.
We traded in our other Escape which was an SE with the base system. Though I think it was considered premium over the "S" model system.
Both the Sony and the B&O are a marked upgrades over that in my opinion.

I often have also tweaked in addition to the low, mid and high settings the front/rear fader to shift more to the front. Everyone's ear is a little different.

The main difference I can tell from the base to the premium systems is the addition of an amplifier, subwoofer, and surround sound along with the quality of the speakers.

 

[DakotaTimber]

I bet the B/O on the badlands makes the fake V8 sound really good. I however wonder about any car stereo mixing two different sound tracks and sounding top notch.

 

[DanielFE]

I am still in the very new stages of experiencing my First Edition, having only put 220 mile on it thus far and not even removing the protective film on the touch screen... but here's my 2 cents.

The upgraded B/O sounds surprisingly good via Siruis XM and streaming TIDAL from my LG V35 phone. This phone is particularly well known in the Audio community for streaming Hi-Rez audio files and the reason I purchased it to begin with.

I only briefly heard the base stereo in a Big Bend trim so I cant say it sounds night and day different but I would be willing to bet that the B/O includes some serious DSP (Digital Signal Processing) that B/O is famous for. The speaker drivers (woofers, tweeters etc.) are probably a mid grade version manufactured by Pioneer or some Ford OE brand. B/O is known for purchasing its hardware from other companies and applying their own magic via the software. Years ago I learned that they purchased their big panel TV screens from Panasonic (or was it Pioneer?) and individually tested panels at the factory, only taking the top few percent by measured quality before applying their processing and aesthetics as the B/O brand.

Here are some pics of their flagship BeoLab 90 using Scanspeak drivers. A $40,000 , 360-degree, 8200-watt speaker with 18 drivers and amplifiers.

I can subjectively say that this B/O in the Bronco Sport easily rivals the upgraded Harman Kardon and Bose systems I have previously owned in well known German cars. Although I don't think it would win in a comparison skirmish with the $4,200 Bowers and Wilkins upgrade in a friend's recently purchased BMW M5. But I don't think we would expect it to.

Daniel

 

[Scott Loway]

I bet the B/O on the badlands makes the fake V8 sound really good. I however wonder about any car stereo mixing two different sound tracks and sounding top notch.

It does. It's really weird knowing it's doing that, but it sounds incredible inside lol.

 

[Scott Loway]

It does. It's really weird knowing it's doing that, but it sounds incredible inside lol.

It changes based on drive mode too; it really ups the sound in Sport mode

 

[Jill]

Now that folks are taking delivery..... how does the B&O sound system compare to other stock options in other cars?

Sounds the same as the Sony in my previous Escape Titanium. I don’t hear a difference.

 

[whithutch511]

At first I was a little underwhelmed by it, but then I went into the sound settings, turned on surround and tweaked the EQ and its actually pretty good. Marginal improvement over the Sony system in my Escape

Came here to say this. If you switch it from stereo to surround and it is amazing. I was not super impressed with it when I first sat down but as soon as I found that setting it has been great. I no longer have a need to upgrade.

 

[Martinjv71]

It is very crisp and sounds good, but definitely you can max out the volume and it is still not very loud.

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