- First Name
- Brian
- Joined
- Sep 14, 2023
- Threads
- 60
- Messages
- 8,230
- Reaction score
- 14,569
- Location
- Central CA
- Vehicle(s)
- '23 BB 4dr 7MT, '22 BSport OBX, '87 B-II XL
- Your Bronco Model
- Big Bend
- Thread starter
- #1
Long story short:
Got my tax refund, looking to upgrade my amp to a DSP amp.
So far considering Musway M6Pro + something for sub, Musway D8 and running sub bridged, or Audison M8.14 and running sub bridged - looking for opinions, advice, suggestions, etc. Especially looking to hear if I have overlooked a good option here or if there would be issues with one I have picked out.
The long story long:
Upgraded my Bronco's sound system almost right off the bat, looking for something with enough power that i could listen cleanly with the top down. I used a Kenwood x802.5 amp, which is about 50W to 4 channels + 300W (4Ω - how my sub is wired) amp. I installed it in my glove box, the wiring tucks up nice and neat, and I still have plenty of room in the glove box. Fiddling with the sound, it never quite sounded right. I have landed on up splitting the dash speakers out separately and running them from the Factory ACM, and leaving the default Factory EQ enabled. Ultimately, I believe the issue to be that I do not have a DSP, and I cannot correct for timing issues with the speakers. Without the factory EQ enabled, the speakers individually sound ~much~ better... but the phasing is off and certain songs sound like you are listing from around the corner of a wall. Enabling the Factory EQ - the phasing comes in and I lose that echo, but it clips the range on my speakers.
Overall, the Kenwood does fairly well for me - the power is adequate, the sound is clean enough, it puts enough power to the sub, and it's in a nice, easy to access location with clean wiring. It's just this lack of ability to tune anything that I missed. I had never really used it in any other vehicle, and it was never an issue like it is in the Bronco.
I thought about just adding a DSP - that would be an option. But with just the 5-channel amp, I would have to return the front channels to stock parallel and could not tune them individually, or continue to run one set from the ACM and it wouldn't get tuned at all. So really looking for a DSP/Amp I think.
Additionally, I like the installation location I have now. I absolutely do not want to go under the seats, the amp will get wet there. I have wiring run to where I could install a sub amp in the back, but it would require me opening up the back - so I have a couple of options where that isn't needed.
The first thing that came up in my search was the Musway D8. It has enough channels to run all the speakers separately at 70W/Ch. I can bridge a set of channels to run the subwoofer, although it would be at a loss of power (200W vs 300W that I have now). It appears that it would fit directly in where I have the Kenwood now.
Looking at keeping the subwoofer power up for top down / soft top use... that lead me to using the M6 / M6Pro with a separate sub amp in the back. I could re-wire my current sub out to be power (it's large enough gauge), run a signal line back, and mount it back on the sub enclosure. I hadn't really picked out a sub amp, this would be the most powerful option (120W/Ch up front, +whatever in the back, I have a CompRT 8", so that's 300W RMS). A bit more cost this way, but not outside my budget.
Keeping that in mind I went looking for options that would fit up front like the Musway D8, but gave me a bit more power. That lead me to the Audison M8.14. 90W/Ch, bridgeable pair that would give 280W, would fit where the current Kenwood is and no re-wiring required.
Honestly leaning toward the Audison solution - it would cost about what the M6Pro option would... but seems to check all the boxes. Wondering if I'm missing something here.
Got my tax refund, looking to upgrade my amp to a DSP amp.
So far considering Musway M6Pro + something for sub, Musway D8 and running sub bridged, or Audison M8.14 and running sub bridged - looking for opinions, advice, suggestions, etc. Especially looking to hear if I have overlooked a good option here or if there would be issues with one I have picked out.
The long story long:
Upgraded my Bronco's sound system almost right off the bat, looking for something with enough power that i could listen cleanly with the top down. I used a Kenwood x802.5 amp, which is about 50W to 4 channels + 300W (4Ω - how my sub is wired) amp. I installed it in my glove box, the wiring tucks up nice and neat, and I still have plenty of room in the glove box. Fiddling with the sound, it never quite sounded right. I have landed on up splitting the dash speakers out separately and running them from the Factory ACM, and leaving the default Factory EQ enabled. Ultimately, I believe the issue to be that I do not have a DSP, and I cannot correct for timing issues with the speakers. Without the factory EQ enabled, the speakers individually sound ~much~ better... but the phasing is off and certain songs sound like you are listing from around the corner of a wall. Enabling the Factory EQ - the phasing comes in and I lose that echo, but it clips the range on my speakers.
Overall, the Kenwood does fairly well for me - the power is adequate, the sound is clean enough, it puts enough power to the sub, and it's in a nice, easy to access location with clean wiring. It's just this lack of ability to tune anything that I missed. I had never really used it in any other vehicle, and it was never an issue like it is in the Bronco.
I thought about just adding a DSP - that would be an option. But with just the 5-channel amp, I would have to return the front channels to stock parallel and could not tune them individually, or continue to run one set from the ACM and it wouldn't get tuned at all. So really looking for a DSP/Amp I think.
Additionally, I like the installation location I have now. I absolutely do not want to go under the seats, the amp will get wet there. I have wiring run to where I could install a sub amp in the back, but it would require me opening up the back - so I have a couple of options where that isn't needed.
The first thing that came up in my search was the Musway D8. It has enough channels to run all the speakers separately at 70W/Ch. I can bridge a set of channels to run the subwoofer, although it would be at a loss of power (200W vs 300W that I have now). It appears that it would fit directly in where I have the Kenwood now.
Looking at keeping the subwoofer power up for top down / soft top use... that lead me to using the M6 / M6Pro with a separate sub amp in the back. I could re-wire my current sub out to be power (it's large enough gauge), run a signal line back, and mount it back on the sub enclosure. I hadn't really picked out a sub amp, this would be the most powerful option (120W/Ch up front, +whatever in the back, I have a CompRT 8", so that's 300W RMS). A bit more cost this way, but not outside my budget.
Keeping that in mind I went looking for options that would fit up front like the Musway D8, but gave me a bit more power. That lead me to the Audison M8.14. 90W/Ch, bridgeable pair that would give 280W, would fit where the current Kenwood is and no re-wiring required.
Honestly leaning toward the Audison solution - it would cost about what the M6Pro option would... but seems to check all the boxes. Wondering if I'm missing something here.
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