Basic B&O speakers upgrade - complete (for now) in Bronco Raptor

The Raptor audio upgrade is done for now. I replaced all 5 of the 4-inch speakers with Infinity 4032's. No Bass blockers we used. This made a decent improvement in sound quality (more presence / life like / better highs). After some pondering I decided on JBL601CF components and did not use the tweeter. This too seemed worth the effort, with the mids and upper bass being tighter and more distinct.

from this:

to this


Between Thanksgiving and now I go around to changing the sub and adding sound deadener and a @Hothead Headliners. The DS18 sub was basically a drop in, but the plugs that go into the Ford sub ARE NOT the same as the tweeter plugs. Consequently, I cut the pins out of the sub plugs using a Dremel, and the heat shrinked / butt spliced new wires on to the existing pins. Additionally, both subwoofer + (positives) and - (negatives) were joined effectively bridging the 2 subwoofers channels. This has been mentioned in other threads here and well as recommended by DS18. So far, (after a couple of weeks) there have been no issues.



Now that all is done, it's pretty good. I find it lacks a little bass a lower volumes (an amp with a bass knob would fix that) but I can go up on the bass to mostly compensate for that. I also find the front overpowers the rear (the MoBridge amp/dsp would fix that) but 2 clicks/taps fade to the rear works seems to fix that also. All in all this works well up to level 20 - 22 and even with the windows (front) open. I'd imagine top off it would need the MoBridge, but I won't complain since I only invested 325.00$ plus time.

What's the ohm spec of ds18? If it's 4 ohm you can tie the two sub positives, and two negatives, and plug into the sub for better output.

Any auto summing mono or DSP amp can take the high level sub or speaker signals, flatten and assign active channels.

I do have an Audison AP BIT 8.9 not using, and contemplating what to do with it, since thinking about an AFC or AFM 8 channel. Id let it go cheap. A massive upgrade. Also usable as ds18 sub power with two channels bridged.

It's a 4 ohm svc sub.

cmtaz said:

It's a 4 ohm svc sub.

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How did you wire it?

23OBX2.7 said:

How did you wire it?

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Using a Dremel I cut out the pins from the plugs that go into the subwoofer. The pins were butt spliced to new speaker wires and heat shrink tubing then sealed the butt splices. Both + wires and - wires were then combined and placed in the subwoofer push terminals. Extensive testing was run before I put the back of the bronco together, and that is the recommended way to wire that sub according DS18, and other members in this forum.

cmtaz said:

Using a Dremel I cut out the pins from the plugs that go into the subwoofer. The pins were butt spliced to new speaker wires and heat shrink tubing then sealed the butt splices. Both + wires and - wires were then combined and placed in the subwoofer push terminals. Extensive testing was run before I put the back of the bronco together, and that is the recommended way to wire that sub according DS18, and other members in this forum.

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Great job! Just lookin at that sub it seems needs way more power to put out spec says 200RMS.

I also did same with a cheap sub (MB Quart) and got slightly better performance but six weeks after I used my Kenwood XR 1001.1 with high level B&O signal to a Hertz enclosure with 10" and 12" passive radiator and was huge improvement.

You could try a Kenwood 8" or their enclosed 8" that really puts out for max effect, or an Audison 8" but won't get rid of bass rolloff after vol 20. If don't like it could get any auto summing amp and plug into the B&O wires and 8".

I put the DS18 sub into my otherwise stock B&O system last week after it went on sale. I bridged the channels the same way.

I think it definitely needs more power. The bass sounds more accurate, tighter maybe?

But the volume is way down. Going up 3 notches on the bass tone setting helped, but I think a Kicker 500.1 is in my future. Or just drop the $$ on a Mobridge amp.

JDinNC said:

I put the DS18 sub into my otherwise stock B&O system last week after it went on sale. I bridges the channels the same way.

I think it definitely needs more power. The bass sounds more accurate, tighter maybe?

But the volume is way down. Going up 3 notches on the bass tone setting helped, but I think a Kicker 500.1 is in my future. Or just drop the $$ on a Mobridge amp.

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DS18 IS 200 w RMS a total mismatch to B&O output look at the surround that's designed for massive excursion and power fo major bass heads not an SQ sub if that's what one wants.

Matching is critical 150 RMS is the highest I'd go with B&O. I did consider a KENWOOD or Focal 8" thinking if was no good I'd just amp it.

Great project. The other thing you could do to get power to the rear pods is put an amp just on those 2 speakers. I put a small amp under my front passenger seat with a harness sending power to those 2 speakers from plugnplaykits.com.

23OBX2.7 said:

DS18 IS 200 w RMS a total mismatch to B&O output look at the surround that's designed for massive excursion and power fo major bass heads not an SQ sub if that's what one wants.

Matching is critical 150 RMS is the highest I'd go with B&O. I did consider a KENWOOD or Focal 8" thinking if was no good I'd just amp it.

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Quick update:

I picked up the Plug'n'Play adapter and a Kicker Key 500.1 amp to power the sub.

Now it sounds better. I'm about $500 in and happy at the moment. I'm thinking about Hertz 100s up front to clean the sound up a bit now that the sub can go higher.

At least you can easily plug in a serious loaded enclosure if this does not meet needs, down the road, or tryna focal or Kenwood 8 that are supposed to put out serious bass.

Picked up the plugnplay key 500.1 for my kicker comp r 8” sub as well. No clue how to wire it, beyond I grasp running a power wire to the battery. Before I tackle this, how straightforward is plugging everything into the b&o and key amps and the sub? Not super proficient at amp wiring. Got the hang of replacing speakers, but feel like the amp is another notch up the difficulty level.

foreWard said:

Picked up the plugnplay key 500.1 for my kicker comp r 8” sub as well. No clue how to wire it, beyond I grasp running a power wire to the battery. Before I tackle this, how straightforward is plugging everything into the b&o and key amps and the sub? Not super proficient at amp wiring. Got the hang of replacing speakers, but feel like the amp is another notch up the difficulty level.

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Message me directly if you have specific questions. I’ve been in your situation. I can help