Subwoofer Extremely Lacking in B&O System

bjbena

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So my BS OB with the B&O seems to be quite lacking.

I routinely have radio set to volume 8 or 9 for comfortable listening with very little subwoofer bass.

My wife's 21 Escape SEL with the same B&O 10-speaker system usually has the volume around 5 or 6. Any higher and the bass from the subwoofer is too powerful. As they are both identical vehicles (more or less) I can't understand why her car definitely has more bass than the BS. I checked settings in radio (treble, mid, bass, etc ...) and they both match.

Any thoughts?
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Mark S.

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So my BS OB with the B&O seems to be quite lacking.

I routinely have radio set to volume 8 or 9 for comfortable listening with very little subwoofer bass.

My wife's 21 Escape SEL with the same B&O 10-speaker system usually has the volume around 5 or 6. Any higher and the bass from the subwoofer is too powerful. As they are both identical vehicles (more or less) I can't understand why her car definitely has more bass than the BS. I checked settings in radio (treble, mid, bass, etc ...) and they both match.

Any thoughts?
Have you confirmed the woofer is functioning?
 
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bjbena

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Have you confirmed the woofer is functioning?
Im trying to now. It doesn't sound like it is. I adjusted the balance and fade to only the rear doors and even they sound really low.

Seems like the only thing really pushing is the front speaker and tweeters.
 

Mark S.

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Im trying to now. It doesn't sound like it is. I adjusted the balance and fade to only the rear doors and even they sound really low.

Seems like the only thing really pushing is the front speaker and tweeters.
The fade should not affect woofer output.
 

Broncette

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I have my volume turned up past 10 before I can really hear the sub. I have the fade more towards the back because I feel like power from the front is too high or something. I found another post about how one guy set his settings because he felt the same way about the front speakers having too much power. I'll see if I can find it.

I think the sub is all the way in the back on the right. Turn it up to at least maybe 15 and then go back there and see if you can hear it. If not I'd take it in the dealer if it was me.
 


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bjbena

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The fade should not affect woofer output.
Actually, I think it does. If I have the fade set to 100% rear the subwoofer is basically dead. When I center it again the SW comes alive. Tested with the same song through SiriusXM.
 

Gilstein21

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I’m usually at level 9 n my ranger, but the bronco at level 5. My wife doesn’t like it as loud, so I’d probably have the bronco at level 6 to match my ranger.
 
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bjbena

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So I've rechecked both and the Escape is definitely, and I'm talking 200%, punchier with bass.

Her subwoofer works so well I can keep the volume at 5 and it cranks. With my BS, I have to get much louder and even then it sounds like the front speakers are pulling most of the load causing my door trim to rattle. Her Escape, ZERO rattle.
 

magicbus

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Did you try adjusting the fade to the back of the rear seats? Made mine sound like a concert hall.
 


mustangmech

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is it in surround sound mode or stereo?
 
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Glamdring70

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I'm happy with the sound system, but I hate the controls. They're buried deep in the menus and really basic. Even 30 years ago cars had better controls than this. My previous Chevy had 5 individual equalizer "presets" (Rock, Talk, Sports, etc) and you could assign each one to every preset on the radio. Then there was a EQ button to just cycle it.

Could some of your issue be the source? Sirius is a pretty crap compressed audio stream. But then, I don't know what source would be available that is better because a lot of MP3s, HD radio and phone apps do the same thing. I'm not a fan of huge bass but I agree that it seems like the system doesn't use it much. My settings have the balance/fade like one step back and over so the dot is sort of on the passenger seat's pocket storage. I set the treble +1 because it seemed to help the dash center speaker and I actually set the bass -1.
 
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bjbena

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Could some of your issue be the source? Sirius is a pretty crap compressed audio stream. But then, I don't know what source would be available that is better because a lot of MP3s, HD radio and phone apps do the same thing. I'm not a fan of huge bass but I agree that it seems like the system doesn't use it much. My settings have the balance/fade like one step back and over so the dot is sort of on the passenger seat's pocket storage. I set the treble +1 because it seemed to help the dash center speaker and I actually set the bass -1.
I used the same Sirius station, bass/treble settings and fade in both cars to keep it apples to apples as much as possible. You can clearly feel the front speakers in the BS as the driving force for sharp base where the Escape is definitely pushing deep base to the subwoofer
 

Rygar

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I test drove a '21 OB with ~20,000 miles on it and thought the sound system was really nice, and that's coming from the Bose in my infiniti. Maybe it just needs a good break-in period?
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