B&O this sounds terrible

RiotfunK

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I’ve said it before that this system does not sound good. 22BS BL. The sound stage is odd af. Like the singer is in a field in front of you and band is behind you. It isn’t very pleasing to the ears audibly. No matter what setting, format, source etc it still sounds muted and muddled.
Ford and B&O claim 560 watts to 10 speakers. Even if you go high on wattage for the speakers at 25 watts per speaker and 50 watts for the “sub” you’re at 275 watts max. So 140 watts probs. I understand rms vs max etc. Just making a point.
My Tacoma had 400 watts and was twice as loud and had half the speakers. And could hear it with the windows down, even at highway speeds turned a 1/3 the way up.
This POS system is barely audible at town speeds with the windows open. At 12 you cannot understand what is being said. So have to have it up to 15-18. I can have a conversation with someone sitting next to me at this level. Anything above it distorts. I had to check to make sure there were actually speakers in the back.
You get clearer vocals through the dash speakers and all the rest are muddy sounding.
Here’s B&O literature on it.

Tuning
The Ford Bronco Sport has undergone static and dynamic sound tuning to ensure that the listening experience in a stationary state is maintained while driving, regardless of the conditions.
I don’t have that. I know I’m the minority here with this, but is my most hated thing on this. It sounds that bad
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cgparsons1983

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I have the same setup as you and I've also been disappointed, but it doesn't sound quite as bad as you've mentioned. Maybe there is something wrong with yours.
 

Glamdring70

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I wonder if something is wrong with yours because I listen at 4-5 in the drive-thru and about 8 on the highway. If the windows are open or it's a good song I think I've put it up as high as 12 once or twice. I almost exclusively use FM or Sirius. What source are you using? USB or phone? Some MP3s have really crappy gain and need to be turned up more. Assume you already went through the audio settings screen to see if something's wildly adjusted.
 

Vyper

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I'd like to eventually do an after-market setup, but I honestly don't really have issues with it in my FE. I assume you've played with the settings to your preference? I put the fade a little to the rear to spread the sound out more evenly in the car.

I wish the sub packed more punch, but I came from a custom Dual 12" setup in my previous vehicle so this is a huge change for me. After about a decade of big boom booms, not having that feels off. Unfortunately, installing my kit in the Bronco would completely ruin the storage in the rear and I need that!
 


Outback Texan

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Having music degree and extensive experience with music production equipment and "in home" sound systems, I will say that the B&O in my BL is not bad. Vehicle interiors are a "horrific place" to try and design a sound system that replicates music you would hear from a live acoustical setting or one that could even remotely simulate a decent sound system in your home... very small interior space, incredible number odd shapes, many different hard surface bouncing various frequencies in all directions, relatively little soft surfaces to absorb unwanted frequencies, just a big mess. So my B&O system is far from the "best in class", but better than the "upgraded" sound system in my wife's Tucson Limited or my previous Golf GTi. I enjoy listening to it while driving.
 
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Moltenburn

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Didn't you post this same thing last week? Sounds like you should sell the car since you hate the stereo so much. Do it now while the value is high.
 

Meanderthal

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All of this "it's horrible" accompanied by "it's pretty good" still makes me want to hear from two owners who meet up and listen to each other's B&O sound systems. It just seems that there is a lot of inconsistency. We just need to determine if it is in the systems or the ears.
 
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RiotfunK

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I did post something similar prior. But I cringe every time it plays and sounds muddy and distorted. I know that I have to have the midrange turned almost all the way down. Is at like 1 or it’ll distort bad. Again don’t need to push the mids with what I listen to. CarPlay and Sirius sound the best. Think is the dsp murdering the levels or there’s something up with the amp.
The thumb drive with flac files doesn’t sound clear. My gripe is it was an extra option and it sounds just as bad as the 4 speaker Outback wilderness I cross shopped.
Again glad folks on here like it. I’d like to like it too. I had an escape rental with the upgraded stereo and was twice as loud and is basically the same setup.
 

kyle_conrad

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What is your audio source? What is the audio source quality?

How do you have the audio balanced?
 


M3H7363

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Have you ever been able to hear another BS with the B&O? Go to a dealer and compare yours with another. if yours is as bad as you claim, there must be something wrong with it. If that's the case, have Ford fix it. If yours sounds the same as others, like someone mentioned in a previous post, sell it and get something that satisfies your listening enjoyment. I think mine sounds great.

Oh, and continually complaining on here isn't going to make you any happier.
 
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RiotfunK

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Audio is balanced. Running lossless off iPhone or thumb drive. It’s an easy fix to gut and replace the speakers, amp etc. But got the “upgraded audio” so wouldn’t have to. Is poor imaging, sound clarity, etc. Need to compare to someone else’s.
Most on here probably think Bose sounds good. Fwiw
 

thekingprawn

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So glad I didn't waste the money and time to get the B&O.
 

kingtj

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Audio is always REALLY subjective, especially when you have people who value high quality sound more than others to begin with. (One person's "terrible!" is another person's "pretty decent".)

I'm not a strict audiophile in the sense I've never spent BIG money on the elite brands for home or car stereo gear, and I'm not as fanatical as some people about the "sound stage" being correct (closing your eyes and hearing each sound and vocals seeming to come from the correct locations, simulating you were sitting there listening to them performing live).

I do, however, have decent hearing and strongly dislike the "artifacts" introduced with audio compression. Sirius XM satellite is really guilty of this. Over the years, I've found Sirius XM sounds better on cheap systems than on good ones, because listening to it through a couple of tiny speakers helps mask some of the imperfections. But on my Bronco Sport's B&O system? Sirius XM always has a muddy sound to it, chocked full of audio distortion/artifacts. Depending on what's playing, it'll sometimes even introduce a slightly robotic sound to someone's speech or vocal tracks.

To my ears, the B&O system is capable of perfectly "decent" music listening when the source is good enough (such as high bitrate encoded MP3s playing from Apple CarPlay off of my iPhone). But I'm still unhappy with the system, overall. That's because Ford did the same thing Chrysler was notorious for doing; paying to slap a high-end brand name on the audio system while using components that manufacturer would have NEVER considered good enough for their own products. The fact they considered a 6x9" speaker in back adequate as the "bass subwoofer" on this system illustrates the problem.
 

kyle_conrad

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To my ears, the B&O system is capable of perfectly "decent" music listening when the source is good enough (such as high bitrate encoded MP3s playing from Apple CarPlay off of my iPhone).
Yeah, I mean even streaming master or very high quality from Spotify/Tidal makes such a clear audio difference with the system vs a lower quality or utter dreck like Sirius.
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