2021 Bronco B&O Upgrade - Possible to Upgrade Amp/Sub Later?

[ziskers]

I'll preface this with "sorry if this is a very stupid question" - but wanted to do my due diligence -

I have a 2021 Ford Bronco with the B&O speakers, and lately have been wanting to upgrade them but over time to save cost. I essentially want to upgrade all of the speakers, keeping the OEM amp, and then save the amp/subwoofer upgrade for last. My first true step before any of this is adding Kilmat sound deadening to most of the panels in my Bronco, and adding it where needed as I swap out speakers.

I found some helpful threads (this one especially). I was wanting to run with the suggestions in this article by following the stage upgrades as they had shown, starting first with corner speakers/center upgrade, pod upgrade to 6.5" and associated speakers, upgrading the kickers, THEN upgrading the sub/amp combo. I was wanting to go with the Hertz speakers they suggested (Hertz DCX 100.3 and Hertz DCX 165.3).

Later for the sub/amp upgrade, I was leaning towards the Mobridge amp/A2B solution, as it seemed really clean and I definitely want to preserve cargo space. I liked that it re-mounts on the factory subwoofer enclosure. For the sub itself, I was also leaning towards using a Kicker 8" subwoofer, as I can also modify the factory subwoofer enclosure and have it fit. I've seen folks on this forum do this modification many times.

My main concern - is this approach feasible and would it make the most sense? I'm a little concerned the speakers may not work after moving away from the OEM amp, or that the speakers will underperform with the extra power the amp can push. BUT was hoping this approach would work as it would let me make noticeable sound upgrades quickly and let me save some moolah for the nearly $2,500 amp/sub upgrade.

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[23OBX2.7]

I did what your plan is simply because I wanted to test the limitations of the B&O amp & dsp tune, which, coming from a full Audison /Hertz system, is very good.

Today, I would start with sound absorber and deadener, and upgraded sub. Either mono amp with integrated LOC (like Kenwood XR1001.1) or whatever can find used or heavily discounted clearance and same for a shallow 10-12" sub. Alternatively, an amplified enclosure with integrated LOC.

This will be huge onpact on sound and highest return. Then just add on whatever decent woofers and coax that you can find deeply discounted or sold on diymobileaudio where its easy to get amazing 6.5" and maybe some 4" woofer and coax from time to time but jump on those whe see them.

If buy full price new keep it simple and just get Audison AP 6.5 and 4" plus APX 4" woofers.

I did literally just threw out $200 in crappy drivers i used in my approach because not worth reselling or shipping.

 

[mdube72]

I'll preface this with "sorry if this is a very stupid question" - but wanted to do my due diligence -

I have a 2021 Ford Bronco with the B&O speakers, and lately have been wanting to upgrade them but over time to save cost. I essentially want to upgrade all of the speakers, keeping the OEM amp, and then save the amp/subwoofer upgrade for last. My first true step before any of this is adding Kilmat sound deadening to most of the panels in my Bronco, and adding it where needed as I swap out speakers.

I found some helpful threads (this one especially). I was wanting to run with the suggestions in this article by following the stage upgrades as they had shown, starting first with corner speakers/center upgrade, pod upgrade to 6.5" and associated speakers, upgrading the kickers, THEN upgrading the sub/amp combo. I was wanting to go with the Hertz speakers they suggested (Hertz DCX 100.3 and Hertz DCX 165.3).

Later for the sub/amp upgrade, I was leaning towards the Mobridge amp/A2B solution, as it seemed really clean and I definitely want to preserve cargo space. I liked that it re-mounts on the factory subwoofer enclosure. For the sub itself, I was also leaning towards using a Kicker 8" subwoofer, as I can also modify the factory subwoofer enclosure and have it fit. I've seen folks on this forum do this modification many times.

My main concern - is this approach feasible and would it make the most sense? I'm a little concerned the speakers may not work after moving away from the OEM amp, or that the speakers will underperform with the extra power the amp can push. BUT was hoping this approach would work as it would let me make noticeable sound upgrades quickly and let me save some moolah for the nearly $2,500 amp/sub upgrade.

@ziskers - what did you end up doing ? Happy to share info about how my system turned out. All Hertz except Kick Panel and left B&O amp. Did the Gearshade Subwoofer replacement with Kicker Key 500 and the L7T square setup -it’s very nice.

 

[ziskers]

@ziskers - what did you end up doing ? Happy to share info about how my system turned out. All Hertz except Kick Panel and left B&O amp. Did the Gearshade Subwoofer replacement with Kicker Key 500 and the L7T square setup -it’s very nice.

For now I just replaced the corner speakers/center speaker with Hertz DCX 100.3s. That was a HUGE upgrade compared to stock. I will also note that the 100.3s are a bit "tinny" sounding so some songs can play a bit sharp but overall I'm very happy with them. In addition there is a noticeable volume difference as they are quieter than the B&O speakers, but I hardly crank it in my Bronco anyways.

As-is I'm pretty happy with it, I think next I will try to upgrade and replace the rear pods to 6.5" and use Hertz DCX 165.3s for those staying consistent with the replacements I got up front. That may be enough sound improvement for what I've wanted but still deciding on if its worth the trouble to tear up my entire car to replace the B&O sub and amp.

 

[mdube72]

@ziskers - agree on the significant improvement with just the 2 corners. I also added the DCX 100.3 to the rear pods. That also made a huge difference as the stock ones were challenging to hear at all. I have the 2-dr so the pods are closer to my head than a 4dr would be. I toyed with the idea of moving up to the 6.5's but haven't touched it in almost 2 years. I think I have my treble set about 3 clicks above the middle setting - that seems where the Hertz are most happy and always keep the Surround setting turned on. I understand the debate about the sub - I had to rip mine out as I just could not stand the bottoming out of the factory B&O sub with any volumes over 14.

 

[ziskers]

@ziskers - agree on the significant improvement with just the 2 corners. I also added the DCX 100.3 to the rear pods. That also made a huge difference as the stock ones were challenging to hear at all. I have the 2-dr so the pods are closer to my head than a 4dr would be. I toyed with the idea of moving up to the 6.5's but haven't touched it in almost 2 years. I think I have my treble set about 3 clicks above the middle setting - that seems where the Hertz are most happy and always keep the Surround setting turned on. I understand the debate about the sub - I had to rip mine out as I just could not stand the bottoming out of the factory B&O sub with any volumes over 14.

Have you tried Dynamat/Kilmat on the entire back of the Bronco? I forgot to mention I did do that as well, even covered the B&O subwoofer in a bit of it. Applied Kilmat across the entire bottom as well as the side wheel wells. HUGE improvement with the bass and really cut down on the amount of bass rattling.

 

[mdube72]

Have you tried Dynamat/Kilmat on the entire back of the Bronco? I forgot to mention I did do that as well, even covered the B&O subwoofer in a bit of it. Applied Kilmat across the entire bottom as well as the side wheel wells. HUGE improvement with the bass and really cut down on the amount of bass rattling.

Yes - I added a ton of it. I don't feel like I had much rattle with the stock sub, it was just the terrible sound of the actual sub bottoming out at high bass or higher volumes. Decided it was worth my time and money to do it, so I pulled the trigger on it - Sounds so much better and also added the Kicker Bass knob, so I can adjust the sub volume depending on what I am listening to, which was also a big benefit seeing Ford decided not to give us a separate adjustment for the sub in the head unit.

 

[ziskers]

Yes - I added a ton of it. I don't feel like I had much rattle with the stock sub, it was just the terrible sound of the actual sub bottoming out at high bass or higher volumes. Decided it was worth my time and money to do it, so I pulled the trigger on it - Sounds so much better and also added the Kicker Bass knob, so I can adjust the sub volume depending on what I am listening to, which was also a big benefit seeing Ford decided not to give us a separate adjustment for the sub in the head unit.

Oh I see, yeah the sub really does suck. I had to honestly tune down the bass level so I can crank it without it bottoming out as bad. You may be convincing me to make that the next upgrade instead LOL.

 

[MKZoom]

there is a TSB on the subwoofers that are "bottoming out", should be able to get a replacement from the dealer no problem.

 

[23OBX2.7]

Focal 8WM is supposed to be the beall wndLL 8" SUB.

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/threads/focal-8wm-bnib.483288/

https://www.diymobileaudio.com/thre...2/?post_id=6450503&nested_view=1#post-6450503

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