2021 Bronco B&O Sound System Review

[murphtron]

Yeah, the B&O sounds really good...I was surprised. Hope I'm not too disappointed with the stock stereo in High.

I did a dealer soft top test drive with the High package. Honestly it’s not great but it’s also not bad. My expectations were actually exceeded for my needs. I downgraded from Lux. I plan to get this thing dirty and the fewer electronics to break the better. The cameras… wow. Those I hope don’t break too quickly. And having the front camera covered by a winch (should I get one) isn’t a deal breaker. The wheel and 360 cams are enough.

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[Mango&Moose]

Curious, has anyone pulled the the speaker covers and get a visual on the individual componets?

 

[MooreNC]

Yeah, the B&O sounds really good...I was surprised. Hope I'm not too disappointed with the stock stereo in High.

i have the high package / I am very pleased with the sound quality, I will not be upgrading anything in the sound system. At 80 mph on the freeway the sound is better than I expected.
I have a soft top badlands with Sasquatch.

 

[mpeugeot]

I have mixed feelings about the B&O, sometimes, it actually sounds ok, other times (like with Bluetooth content) it sounds like trash. The rear speakers seem very weak, even in the 2 door! The lack of a decent EQ (3 bands (tremble, mid, bass) is not an EQ) is a glaring omission from a premium sound system, the lack of different 'surround' modes is also a glaring omission as well (stereo or 'surround' - whatever that means). Also instead of having more granularity, speed sensitive sound adjust has none, low, medium, and high - which is adequate, but certainly doesn't feel "premium" either.

Is the B&O bad? No, it's just what I would expect in a competent base level system. Is it worth the price of admission? Probably not, thankfully, I didn't care about the premium sound system and didn't spring for the lux package just to get it. So, not hating it, but not impressed either.

 

[Paul Gagnon]

I have the B&O sound system. It sounded a little weird at first but I'm pretty sure that the fader places the sound too far forward, moving it back one or two clicks improved the sound immensely. I will have to play with it some more to get it in the right place.

I did notice that the sub vibrates quite badly with heavy base but I have stuff in the cargo area so I will have to rule that out before I start complaining.

 

[Ksjrb03]

So I owe the B&O a bit of an apology. I trashed the system before based on playing with it in a couple different pre-Prod units. After living with mine a while it is a “decent” system. By no means a premium system. Surround mode is a must.

As the previous guy said the system focused towards the front. No settings will fix this. It’s because the rear pod speakers are crap. They are non amplified and very weak. I will be replacing them and adding an amp for them possibly, see how motivated I get.

The sub is ok, nothing special but I’m not looking to shake the earth so it will stay as is. I actually have the bass turned down because the sub Is causing annoying rattling. I have to track that down along with several other rattle/creaks/noise issues but that’s for another thread.

 

[Rubisquatch]

I finally got my Bronco and I’m pleasantly surprised by the B&O system. I am not an audiophile but I’m way happy with the sound on this thing.

 

[Mdh186]

I finally got my Bronco and I’m pleasantly surprised by the B&O system. I am not an audiophile but I’m way happy with the sound on this thing.

Right there with you. I didn’t expect miracles and the rear pods may well be a bit anemic, but it sounds loads better than the mid version I was able to see at a road show event.

 

[Hossfire]

It seems that the B&O is better than the base, but has a number of annoying compromises. The speakers are probably efficient, but don't look to be durable. There is a big base rolloff built into the DSP for the sub.

Probably the best approach to speaker replacement is to swap out the four 4" and the 6.5" kicks with high SPL aftermarket. The better 6.5s should improve mid-base. I have heard a case of 6.5 replacements being "muffled" but it may be just an inefficient aftermarket speaker.

The sub is a quandary.

That's pretty routine for Crutchfield. They need to try a little harder. They either have no more than what fits main speaker locations or wrong info, at least on Ford products.

Crutchfield does a great job, but the 'fits my car' is sometimes too restrictive. On my '06 Commander, many more 6x9s would fit in the front door than listed with a 1/2" spacer.

 

[Hossfire]

I had reached out to @flip to see if he had access to any spec breakdown of the B&O system. The best he could find is the following:

As for individual speakers - I've seen others post pics of a removed speaker and they are printed with the speaker wattage on the back....

Much speculation here: 660 watts is peak power. So the system is likely around 350 RMS. Hard for me to imagine that more than 120W of the 350 is the head unit. That leaves 230 for the amp. Assuming that the sub is 4 ohms, the bridged power would be about 65% more than the sum of the kick panels. Using this logic, there would be about 45W RMS going to each of the kick panels and 140W going to the sub. Using some higher SPL aftermarket upgrades, the factory setup should be decent. May need to nix the DSP with Forscan and certainly use base blockers on the 4".

 

[choppersean]

Couple of things I caught in the video......
1. If you waited to the end, he came back on to describe the fact if you are using a USB with separate folders of audio tracks, you cannot change file folders while you are in motion. I wonder if it will be possible to disable that feature with FORScan or with a factory scan tool?? Can anyone verify that is possible?
2. Someone's response was that the Jeep's Alpine system was better than the Bronco B&O. The video producer disagreed and said the Bronco B&O is better.

Does that mean the front dash speakers are the same as well? Or are the front and back 4" different?

dcg2.......as for the 4" speakers in the front/dash and back on the upper rear/roll bar locations. I saw a YouTube video where the guy upgraded the base (non-B&O) stereo by swapping just those FOUR 4" speakers out and he said it greatly improved the base/low-end stock stereo. The video did confirm the front and the rear 4" speakers are the same. He updated with a Kicker 4" and said it made a world of difference with just that economical upgrade.

 

[cclkramer]

The problem is that you have to buy a Bronco far above price and pay for shit you don't want to get it. Like 10 grand. And now I get leather or vinyl and ass heaters or coolers or whatever else I didn't want ...but I can get SAS on my base but not a good stereo.
DId Ford do a focus group that showed buyers who like to off-road don't like music or stereos?? JEEZ.
Mine is going straight to the stereo shop for $1500 upgrade (that I would have paid FORD for) if they weren't so dumb NOT TO OFFER IT.

It's like extortion ! Make you buy all kinds of shit you might not want just to get a slightly up graded stereo. I think you are better off upgrading the stock stereo to a kick ass set up! If they offer just an upgrade to the BO it will still cost more than it's worth! IMO. I have the LUX in my Badlands and already plan on upgrading the BO system.

 

[Clearwater native]

I added this to my Badlands Lux B&O system,
it woke it up big time, honestly, I think the 300 watt 12" would have been more than enough but I am happy with the outcome I got from the 500 watt 12"' setup and it is a nice and easy do it yourself upgrade.
Amazon.com: Rockford Fosgate P500-12P 500 Watt / 12" Powered Ported Subwoofer System : Electronics

 

[WildTrak]

I added this to my Badlands Lux B&O system,
it woke it up big time, honestly, I think the 300 watt 12" would have been more than enough but I am happy with the outcome I got from the 500 watt 12"' setup and it is a nice and easy do it yourself upgrade.
Amazon.com: Rockford Fosgate P500-12P 500 Watt / 12" Powered Ported Subwoofer System : Electronics

Pretend I am a simpleton... (not a stretch), what is required to add this to the Badlands with B&O? any pics or write up you can share?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Hossfire]

Couple of things I caught in the video......
1. If you waited to the end, he came back on to describe the fact if you are using a USB with separate folders of audio tracks, you cannot change file folders while you are in motion. I wonder if it will be possible to disable that feature with FORScan or with a factory scan tool?? Can anyone verify that is possible?
2. Someone's response was that the Jeep's Alpine system was better than the Bronco B&O. The video producer disagreed and said the Bronco B&O is better.



dcg2.......as for the 4" speakers in the front/dash and back on the upper rear/roll bar locations. I saw a YouTube video where the guy upgraded the base (non-B&O) stereo by swapping just those FOUR 4" speakers out and he said it greatly improved the base/low-end stock stereo. The video did confirm the front and the rear 4" speakers are the same. He updated with a Kicker 4" and said it made a world of difference with just that economical upgrade.

People are saying that upgrading the 4" rear pods with new speakers is a waste. The DSP cuts out all of the bass to these and they are too far away. Also, they are powered by the head unit in the B&O, not the amp.

I plan to make some modest speaker improvements at first. High SPL kick panels and L/R dash. I'll then proceed to the sub. Sound deadening before each upgrade.

My current favorite for the kick panels are these Rockford Fosgate components. https://www.crutchfield.com/p_575P1675S/Rockford-Fosgate-P1675-S.html

1) They shouldn't need a mounting adapter
2) The crossover is built into the woofer
3) they are high SPL (92dB) and have a meaty magnet. This should result in a nice, tight mid-bass.

If I go this route, what to do with the tweeter is the question. The factory woofer is supposed to be just for mid-bass. Apparently, enough treble goes to them that it makes sense to either have a tweeter or cut off the highs with a crossover. If I go with these, I'll experiment with different tweeter locations and leaving the tweeter off.

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