B&O sub installed on Base Bronco ….sorta….

[Peter Gosenya]

I’m assuming that kicker amp is auto sensing for turn on. any issues with turn on off thumps? Or random turn offs if sound is muted a bit.

Sponsored

 

[cmcbronco]

I’m assuming that kicker amp is auto sensing for turn on. any issues with turn on off thumps? Or random turn offs if sound is muted a bit.

I haven’t noticed anything yet. If I remember right I think there’s a feature on it that prevents that from happening.

 

[Ig_bronco]

First off I want to thank everyone on bronco6g for all the guidance. All the threads and posts helped a lot with this install from suggestions on what speakers to use to how to pop the panels off every little bit helped.

This install was full of trial and error, and trust me there was a LOT of error. I decided to make a write up to help people so they can learn from my mistakes.

I knew before I even took delivery of my basesquatch that I was going to upgrade the audio. I took a LOT of time reading through all the threads here before I decided on anything. Eventually I decided to take somewhat of a different route that I’m sure others will try but haven’t yet.

I did upgrade all the 4” speakers to kicker KS series. I was between these and the infinity reference. I had the infinity in my jeep and liked them but the highs were a bit too much sometimes. I’m glad I chose the kickers as the highs are nice but softer as well. I did put boom mat and poly fill in all of the 4” speaker locations. It definitely seems to keep the speakers from sounding hollow and keeps the sound directed outward. I was very happy with the sound all said and done.

Now I knew I wanted to add some sort of subwoofer as well, but also didn’t want to lose cargo space. At first I thought I’ll just get a powered sub I can shove under the seat. Well there’s really no room for that in the two door. Then I thought maybe I can fit one behind the rear panel where the factory B&O sub would be. Maybe I could even build a custom box and put my own sub amp combo i wanted. When I tore into it I was thinking ya a powered sub would probably fit back here no problem. After reading some reviews I wasn’t sure the powered sub would give me the sound I was hoping for. So back to building my own box….but after taking measurements I realized I didn’t want to spend weeks trying to fab up a box to fit perfectly.

Im usually a do it right the first time kind of guy and I didn’t want to have any regrets about the whole thing, so after seeing a few threads about the B&O sub I decided I was going to buy the enclosure that is actually made for the bronco. I went to my dealer and ordered one as I was picking up some accessories I had ordered previously. I was kind of shocked at the price ($325) but I was all in at this point lol. It came in a week later and if anyone is wondering it does come with the factory B&O sub.

For my sub and amp combo I went with the kicker compRT 8” shallow mount paired with the key 500.1. Everything was coming together…or so I thought. My sub wouldn’t fit in the factory enclosure. Kind of a bummer but I figured I could make it work somehow. I did end up cutting a small bump out off of the enclosure to get the sub to fit. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and shaved off the very top layer so I could reinstall it after I cut the rest of it off. I used some JB weld plastic epoxy to attach the slim piece I cut off so it would be flush with the rest of the box. You can see kind of what I’m talking about in the pictures. After the modification the sub fit great.

I mounted the kicker key in the same spot as the factory amp. Obviously the holes didn’t line up for mounting so I made a mount for the amp out of HDPE board. Then mounted that to the sub enclosure using the factory holes. I did make a mistake with the amp mount Multiple times. I put it up too high and away from the sub so It was hitting the panel on the corner of the amp. I tried moving it down and closer to the sub, but it was STILL rubbing on the panel. Finally I decided to mount it at about a 45 degree angle. That proved to be the answer. This definitely took some time as I had to re-fab the Amp mount every time. You can see in the pictures the different ways I mounted it. The Key is pretty small but if you could find something smaller it might benefit you if you do a similar install.

The only issue I may have is if I ever have to adjust any settings I’ll have to take the panel off again. I plan on getting everything set where I like it so I won’t have to do that down the road. I do have the bass control knob up front so that should really be the only adjustment I’ll need.

Now as most of you know the interior panel without Lux has a cubby hole instead of the speaker grill and will have to be removed if you decide to add the factory enclosure. It was fairly easy when I figured it out but I did make another mistake here. The insert appeared to have the plastic melted “rivets” that I’ve seen in the front grill letters. I thought I could carefully drill them out with a drill bit. I found out quickly that didn’t work and did make a hole in the panel. What did work was my dremel with a plastic cut off wheel. It neatly fit underneath the lip (see pictures) and I was able to remove the cubby easily after that.

I’m still in the process of fabbing up a speaker grill. I have some expanded metal that I bent up at work and I’ll plasti dip it black and it should look pretty close to factory.

I’m very satisfied with the way the sub sounds. With the new speakers it really rounds out the low end which the bronco really needed. I still have a little adjusting to do with the key algorithm which I’m still learning about but I was still very impressed with the initial sound. For an 8” sub it has plenty of punch.

Anyway I hope this will help anyone with the same idea I had for adding a sub that doesn’t take up precious cargo room. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Oh man that is fire! I had the same idea just focusing on other things. And I knew the box gonna run 300$. Eventually I'll do it. I'd recommend killmat from Amazon next time u dive Into the speaker box. You can even do the internal body panel.... I would nonetheless good job! How did you hook up to stock head unit?

 

[cmcbronco]

Oh man that is fire! I had the same idea just focusing on other things. And I knew the box gonna run 300$. Eventually I'll do it. I'd recommend killmat from Amazon next time u dive Into the speaker box. You can even do the internal body panel.... I would nonetheless good job! How did you hook up to stock head unit?

I used some boom mat inside of the box and filled any voids with poly fill. Same with the 4”. It really makes a difference.
I tapped into both front kick panel speakers to get the high level input for the amplifier.

 

[Ig_bronco]

I used some boom mat inside of the box and filled any voids with poly fill. Same with the 4”. It really makes a difference.
I tapped into both front kick panel speakers to get the high level input for the amplifier.

Ohh I thought boom mat was that foam cup thing.

 

[zane8stacks]

@op and @Ksjrb03 what ohm sub did yall install? i currently have the b&o and i was going to swap the sub out this weekend

 

[Ross]

First off I want to thank everyone on bronco6g for all the guidance. All the threads and posts helped a lot with this install from suggestions on what speakers to use to how to pop the panels off every little bit helped.

This install was full of trial and error, and trust me there was a LOT of error. I decided to make a write up to help people so they can learn from my mistakes.

I knew before I even took delivery of my basesquatch that I was going to upgrade the audio. I took a LOT of time reading through all the threads here before I decided on anything. Eventually I decided to take somewhat of a different route that I’m sure others will try but haven’t yet.

I did upgrade all the 4” speakers to kicker KS series. I was between these and the infinity reference. I had the infinity in my jeep and liked them but the highs were a bit too much sometimes. I’m glad I chose the kickers as the highs are nice but softer as well. I did put boom mat and poly fill in all of the 4” speaker locations. It definitely seems to keep the speakers from sounding hollow and keeps the sound directed outward. I was very happy with the sound all said and done.

Now I knew I wanted to add some sort of subwoofer as well, but also didn’t want to lose cargo space. At first I thought I’ll just get a powered sub I can shove under the seat. Well there’s really no room for that in the two door. Then I thought maybe I can fit one behind the rear panel where the factory B&O sub would be. Maybe I could even build a custom box and put my own sub amp combo i wanted. When I tore into it I was thinking ya a powered sub would probably fit back here no problem. After reading some reviews I wasn’t sure the powered sub would give me the sound I was hoping for. So back to building my own box….but after taking measurements I realized I didn’t want to spend weeks trying to fab up a box to fit perfectly.

Im usually a do it right the first time kind of guy and I didn’t want to have any regrets about the whole thing, so after seeing a few threads about the B&O sub I decided I was going to buy the enclosure that is actually made for the bronco. I went to my dealer and ordered one as I was picking up some accessories I had ordered previously. I was kind of shocked at the price ($325) but I was all in at this point lol. It came in a week later and if anyone is wondering it does come with the factory B&O sub.

For my sub and amp combo I went with the kicker compRT 8” shallow mount paired with the key 500.1. Everything was coming together…or so I thought. My sub wouldn’t fit in the factory enclosure. Kind of a bummer but I figured I could make it work somehow. I did end up cutting a small bump out off of the enclosure to get the sub to fit. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and shaved off the very top layer so I could reinstall it after I cut the rest of it off. I used some JB weld plastic epoxy to attach the slim piece I cut off so it would be flush with the rest of the box. You can see kind of what I’m talking about in the pictures. After the modification the sub fit great.

I mounted the kicker key in the same spot as the factory amp. Obviously the holes didn’t line up for mounting so I made a mount for the amp out of HDPE board. Then mounted that to the sub enclosure using the factory holes. I did make a mistake with the amp mount Multiple times. I put it up too high and away from the sub so It was hitting the panel on the corner of the amp. I tried moving it down and closer to the sub, but it was STILL rubbing on the panel. Finally I decided to mount it at about a 45 degree angle. That proved to be the answer. This definitely took some time as I had to re-fab the Amp mount every time. You can see in the pictures the different ways I mounted it. The Key is pretty small but if you could find something smaller it might benefit you if you do a similar install.

The only issue I may have is if I ever have to adjust any settings I’ll have to take the panel off again. I plan on getting everything set where I like it so I won’t have to do that down the road. I do have the bass control knob up front so that should really be the only adjustment I’ll need.

Now as most of you know the interior panel without Lux has a cubby hole instead of the speaker grill and will have to be removed if you decide to add the factory enclosure. It was fairly easy when I figured it out but I did make another mistake here. The insert appeared to have the plastic melted “rivets” that I’ve seen in the front grill letters. I thought I could carefully drill them out with a drill bit. I found out quickly that didn’t work and did make a hole in the panel. What did work was my dremel with a plastic cut off wheel. It neatly fit underneath the lip (see pictures) and I was able to remove the cubby easily after that.

I’m still in the process of fabbing up a speaker grill. I have some expanded metal that I bent up at work and I’ll plasti dip it black and it should look pretty close to factory.

I’m very satisfied with the way the sub sounds. With the new speakers it really rounds out the low end which the bronco really needed. I still have a little adjusting to do with the key algorithm which I’m still learning about but I was still very impressed with the initial sound. For an 8” sub it has plenty of punch.

Anyway I hope this will help anyone with the same idea I had for adding a sub that doesn’t take up precious cargo room. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

I’m excited to do this too, so thanks for the i inspiration!

Do you have any issues with the subwoofer rubbing/hitting the opening? It looks really close.

 

[cmcbronco]

Ohh I thought boom mat was that foam cup thing.

I’m not sure if it’s the same company but I know what you’re talking about. I decided to go with the stick on boom mat and poly fill just because that’s what worked for me in the past.

 

[cmcbronco]

@op and @Ksjrb03 what ohm sub did yall install? i currently have the b&o and i was going to swap the sub out this weekend

Mine is dual 4 ohm coils so you can run it at either 2 ohm or 8 ohm. I have it wired for 2 ohm.

 

[cmcbronco]

I’m excited to do this too, so thanks for the i inspiration!

Do you have any issues with the subwoofer rubbing/hitting the opening? It looks really close.

The panel opening? It seems to have enough room but I haven’t fully installed it yet. If there is an issue my back up plan is to get a universal 10” speaker grill that way there’s room for the speaker to travel. We will see when I get everything clicked back in.

 

[ou812545]

First off I want to thank everyone on bronco6g for all the guidance. All the threads and posts helped a lot with this install from suggestions on what speakers to use to how to pop the panels off every little bit helped.

This install was full of trial and error, and trust me there was a LOT of error. I decided to make a write up to help people so they can learn from my mistakes.

I knew before I even took delivery of my basesquatch that I was going to upgrade the audio. I took a LOT of time reading through all the threads here before I decided on anything. Eventually I decided to take somewhat of a different route that I’m sure others will try but haven’t yet.

I did upgrade all the 4” speakers to kicker KS series. I was between these and the infinity reference. I had the infinity in my jeep and liked them but the highs were a bit too much sometimes. I’m glad I chose the kickers as the highs are nice but softer as well. I did put boom mat and poly fill in all of the 4” speaker locations. It definitely seems to keep the speakers from sounding hollow and keeps the sound directed outward. I was very happy with the sound all said and done.

Now I knew I wanted to add some sort of subwoofer as well, but also didn’t want to lose cargo space. At first I thought I’ll just get a powered sub I can shove under the seat. Well there’s really no room for that in the two door. Then I thought maybe I can fit one behind the rear panel where the factory B&O sub would be. Maybe I could even build a custom box and put my own sub amp combo i wanted. When I tore into it I was thinking ya a powered sub would probably fit back here no problem. After reading some reviews I wasn’t sure the powered sub would give me the sound I was hoping for. So back to building my own box….but after taking measurements I realized I didn’t want to spend weeks trying to fab up a box to fit perfectly.

Im usually a do it right the first time kind of guy and I didn’t want to have any regrets about the whole thing, so after seeing a few threads about the B&O sub I decided I was going to buy the enclosure that is actually made for the bronco. I went to my dealer and ordered one as I was picking up some accessories I had ordered previously. I was kind of shocked at the price ($325) but I was all in at this point lol. It came in a week later and if anyone is wondering it does come with the factory B&O sub.

For my sub and amp combo I went with the kicker compRT 8” shallow mount paired with the key 500.1. Everything was coming together…or so I thought. My sub wouldn’t fit in the factory enclosure. Kind of a bummer but I figured I could make it work somehow. I did end up cutting a small bump out off of the enclosure to get the sub to fit. I used a dremel with a cutting wheel and shaved off the very top layer so I could reinstall it after I cut the rest of it off. I used some JB weld plastic epoxy to attach the slim piece I cut off so it would be flush with the rest of the box. You can see kind of what I’m talking about in the pictures. After the modification the sub fit great.

I mounted the kicker key in the same spot as the factory amp. Obviously the holes didn’t line up for mounting so I made a mount for the amp out of HDPE board. Then mounted that to the sub enclosure using the factory holes. I did make a mistake with the amp mount Multiple times. I put it up too high and away from the sub so It was hitting the panel on the corner of the amp. I tried moving it down and closer to the sub, but it was STILL rubbing on the panel. Finally I decided to mount it at about a 45 degree angle. That proved to be the answer. This definitely took some time as I had to re-fab the Amp mount every time. You can see in the pictures the different ways I mounted it. The Key is pretty small but if you could find something smaller it might benefit you if you do a similar install.

The only issue I may have is if I ever have to adjust any settings I’ll have to take the panel off again. I plan on getting everything set where I like it so I won’t have to do that down the road. I do have the bass control knob up front so that should really be the only adjustment I’ll need.

Now as most of you know the interior panel without Lux has a cubby hole instead of the speaker grill and will have to be removed if you decide to add the factory enclosure. It was fairly easy when I figured it out but I did make another mistake here. The insert appeared to have the plastic melted “rivets” that I’ve seen in the front grill letters. I thought I could carefully drill them out with a drill bit. I found out quickly that didn’t work and did make a hole in the panel. What did work was my dremel with a plastic cut off wheel. It neatly fit underneath the lip (see pictures) and I was able to remove the cubby easily after that.

I’m still in the process of fabbing up a speaker grill. I have some expanded metal that I bent up at work and I’ll plasti dip it black and it should look pretty close to factory.

I’m very satisfied with the way the sub sounds. With the new speakers it really rounds out the low end which the bronco really needed. I still have a little adjusting to do with the key algorithm which I’m still learning about but I was still very impressed with the initial sound. For an 8” sub it has plenty of punch.

Anyway I hope this will help anyone with the same idea I had for adding a sub that doesn’t take up precious cargo room. If you have any questions feel free to ask!

Great work and write-up. This is exactly what I plan to do.
Did you ever consider or price out purchasing the B&O side panel with the grill vs modifying the one you had?

 

[cmcbronco]

Great work and write-up. This is exactly what I plan to do.
Did you ever consider or price out purchasing the B&O side panel with the grill vs modifying the one you had?

I didn’t really look into it. I knew I could remove the cubby and im making my own grill to fill the hole as we speak. I will post an update when I finish it and get it all together. Also, if I have any issues with the speaker travel hitting the panel I may have to move to plan B which would involve a 10” round speaker grill and having to cut the panel hole bigger to make room for the speaker to travel.
Hopefully I’ll have an update in the next couple days.

 

[BlueGhost]

For those with the B&O system wanting to swap subs, you really need to find out the impedance of the voice coils on the B&O 8. If the OEM B&O sub is a dual 2 ohm and you swap for a dual 4 ohm, you may be underwhelmed when the new sub gets half the power.

 

[zane8stacks]

For those with the B&O system wanting to swap subs, you really need to find out the impedance of the voice coils on the B&O 8. If the OEM B&O sub is a dual 2 ohm and you swap for a dual 4 ohm, you may be underwhelmed when the new sub gets half the power.

i just tested mine while i was deadening that side and i ranged from 4.3 up to 5.1. that was just testing one side though would that be accurate for a dual 4 ohm?

 

[Dogstyle]

Thanks for the write up. Did you do any forscan changing or didn't need to. I new at this forscan thing, so just asking.
Cheers

Sponsored