B&O audio upgrade with DIY soundbar

[Toecutter]

i just wanted to share my ongoing audio upgrades, and where im at currently, its not finished yet but im off to a good start, ill start off by saying ive upgraded the stereo in every vehicle ive ever owned and was hoping with the lux package in the bronco i would be ok with where it was and not need to modify it, i was very wrong, the B&O is nothing special so here are some pics of my mods so far

i knew i would want to run multiple amplifiers and i thought i could make a plan to hide them behind the rear panels in the storage area, but after removing the rear panels i realized with what i wanted to do that wasnt going to be an option, so what i came up with was an amp rack with a hinged lid mounted to the back seats with j bolts holding it on to the tether locations on the back of the seats

the equipment i am using has changed and grown as ive modified here as well, i started off with an lc7i line out converter and a bass package off amazon which included the kicker subwoofer loaded enclosure in the pics along with a kicker 800.1 amplifier and a wiring kit, i got it all hooked up and it sounded good but i wanted more loudness so i went to my local shop and picked up a rockford fosgate power t400x4ad 4 channel amplifier and a set of rockford fosgate components t1650-s, i mounted the tweeters to the dash speaker screens and installed the kick panel woofers without a problem, while the dash screens were off i also dropped in a set of rockford fosgate prime r14x2 full range dash speakers, and i have to say anyone wanting a louder clearer option for a dash speaker drop in without an amplifier these speakers in the dash are a big upgrade

this was all sounding good with the components and the subwoofer installed but i still wanted louder, with the top down the sound gets a little lost, so i purchased an identical rockford fosgate amplifier and started building a soundbar, i found a bar i liked from ds18 the rcbar 46-37 and loaded it with four rockford fosgate pps4-6 6.5 inch full range speakers and 2 skar audio 4 inch super tweeters, i made a mounting system to replace the two rear speaker pods with my new sound bar, i sprayed the brackets with bed liner and i think it turned out nice, its very solid, and the overall result so far is insanely loud, im talking ears ringing after i listen to a song and get out, with the top down its still crazy loud, and i am very happy with the way its turning out so far, i have around the same amount of money in that sound bar as the jbl bar costs and this is way better, and it doesnt completely block my rear view

needless to say with my mids and highs so ridiculously overpowered now my bass is getting overwhelmed so my next plan is to do a big 3 wiring upgrade, build a lifopo4 battery bank upgrade for the rear and get to work building a box to hold either a single or dual competition level subwoofers, i would get a high output alternator but i cant find anyone producing one yet, even places like mechman who custom build alts wont do it because they said its mounted so low it could get water fouled and they dont want to have to warranty it so they wont build it, that sounds like a bunch of crap to me because they build them for cars that sit way lower than any bronco ever would.
ive read the stock alt is 240 amp which is pretty good so im hoping i can limp by on that until someone starts making a higher output alternator

also the hifonics amp in the picture is gone i was overheating it running the components so i went with the fosgate class d amplifier

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[mbagne]

This audio build is something to behold! Cranked up 3/4 with the top down and woofers angled slightly outward should get you an additional 8 - 10 MPG.

 

[EquusBronsis]

Thinking Jesse‘s house from Breaking Bad…

 

[Wannabe Techie]

Wish I knew how to do that stuff. Looks bad ass.
Out of curiosity, why didn't you want to go with shallow down firing subs?

 

[Jdegid_SoCAL]

I have a BL with Lux and agree the BO isn't all that special that it was made out to be. Looking at your build. Couple questions. I see the rear panel removed there seems to be adequate room to modify the side mounting bracket for a larger Woofer, or is this just an optical camera illusion. Curious why people just havent upgraded the stock amp?
That sound bar is massive. Tho not for me I'm sure it sounds way better.

Be interested to hear @Mabett his thoughts on designing of a new plastic roll bar cover with larger front facing speaker holes, no longer requiring an external speaker bar.

John

 

[Altitude]

Be interested to hear @Mabett his thoughts on designing of a new plastic roll bar cover with larger front facing speaker holes, no longer requiring an external speaker bar.

John

I'm on board with this. I think that having a 6x9 speaker mount replace the rear 4 1/2s using the same mounting points would work well.

 

[HotdogThud]

When the stereo is going full tilt, does the soft top inflate and deflate like when you played with the parachute in elementary school gym class?

 

[Lak34ers]

i just wanted to share my ongoing audio upgrades, and where im at currently, its not finished yet but im off to a good start, ill start off by saying ive upgraded the stereo in every vehicle ive ever owned and was hoping with the lux package in the bronco i would be ok with where it was and not need to modify it, i was very wrong, the B&O is nothing special so here are some pics of my mods so far

i knew i would want to run multiple amplifiers and i thought i could make a plan to hide them behind the rear panels in the storage area, but after removing the rear panels i realized with what i wanted to do that wasnt going to be an option, so what i came up with was an amp rack with a hinged lid mounted to the back seats with j bolts holding it on to the tether locations on the back of the seats

the equipment i am using has changed and grown as ive modified here as well, i started off with an lc7i line out converter and a bass package off amazon which included the kicker subwoofer loaded enclosure in the pics along with a kicker 800.1 amplifier and a wiring kit, i got it all hooked up and it sounded good but i wanted more loudness so i went to my local shop and picked up a rockford fosgate power t400x4ad 4 channel amplifier and a set of rockford fosgate components t1650-s, i mounted the tweeters to the dash speaker screens and installed the kick panel woofers without a problem, while the dash screens were off i also dropped in a set of rockford fosgate prime r14x2 full range dash speakers, and i have to say anyone wanting a louder clearer option for a dash speaker drop in without an amplifier these speakers in the dash are a big upgrade

this was all sounding good with the components and the subwoofer installed but i still wanted louder, with the top down the sound gets a little lost, so i purchased an identical rockford fosgate amplifier and started building a soundbar, i found a bar i liked from ds18 the rcbar 46-37 and loaded it with four rockford fosgate pps4-6 6.5 inch full range speakers and 2 skar audio 4 inch super tweeters, i made a mounting system to replace the two rear speaker pods with my new sound bar, i sprayed the brackets with bed liner and i think it turned out nice, its very solid, and the overall result so far is insanely loud, im talking ears ringing after i listen to a song and get out, with the top down its still crazy loud, and i am very happy with the way its turning out so far, i have around the same amount of money in that sound bar as the jbl bar costs and this is way better, and it doesnt completely block my rear view

needless to say with my mids and highs so ridiculously overpowered now my bass is getting overwhelmed so my next plan is to do a big 3 wiring upgrade, build a lifopo4 battery bank upgrade for the rear and get to work building a box to hold either a single or dual competition level subwoofers, i would get a high output alternator but i cant find anyone producing one yet, even places like mechman who custom build alts wont do it because they said its mounted so low it could get water fouled and they dont want to have to warranty it so they wont build it, that sounds like a bunch of crap to me because they build them for cars that sit way lower than any bronco ever would.
ive read the stock alt is 240 amp which is pretty good so im hoping i can limp by on that until someone starts making a higher output alternator

also the hifonics amp in the picture is gone i was overheating it running the components so i went with the fosgate class d amplifier

Did you do the dealer flash update or do you not need it to open up the rears since you are using an amp?

 

[Julz670]

Thats some upgrade! I like how you thought the B&O would be enough, turned out it wasnt, then decided to go way further than you could have possibly expected from the B&O to begin with haha love it!

 

[Toecutter]

Wish I knew how to do that stuff. Looks bad ass.
Out of curiosity, why didn't you want to go with shallow down firing subs?

that would have been an option originally i just found this box for a good deal and have since changed my mind to go way farther with this setup than they could have provided, i tend to take things overboard

I have a BL with Lux and agree the BO isn't all that special that it was made out to be. Looking at your build. Couple questions. I see the rear panel removed there seems to be adequate room to modify the side mounting bracket for a larger Woofer, or is this just an optical camera illusion. Curious why people just havent upgraded the stock amp?
That sound bar is massive. Tho not for me I'm sure it sounds way better.

Be interested to hear @Mabett his thoughts on designing of a new plastic roll bar cover with larger front facing speaker holes, no longer requiring an external speaker bar.

John

i could have probably fit a better quality 8 inch in that factory box but anything bigger would require a bigger enclosure and i didnt want to put the effort into building a custom enclosure to fit in there, im sure jl audio will eventually come out with one of their custom enclosures to fit the bronco but nothing is available currently
from everything ive read about the bronco the factory amp isnt just an amp it doesnt create a full range signal until it processes the signal from the head unit through the amp i tapped into the speaker wire outputs after the factory amp at the sub output and the kick panel speaker outputs i went from there into my line out converter, i have no front rear adjustment at the dash but you can adjust amp gains to adjust it to your liking and leave it set there

When the stereo is going full tilt, does the soft top inflate and deflate like when you played with the parachute in elementary school gym class?

not yet it just pierces the eardrums, once i get some competition 10s in there i bet it will lol

Did you do the dealer flash update or do you not need it to open up the rears since you are using an amp?

im not using the rear channel at all since it isnt opened up, the kick panel output is full range so i have that going in to the line out converter and where the signal comes out i have rca splitters taking it to multiple amps

Thats some upgrade! I like how you thought the B&O would be enough, turned out it wasnt, then decided to go way further than you could have possibly expected from the B&O to begin with haha love it!

i tend to overdo things, i told myself get the upgrade and leave it alone, turns out i cant just leave it alone haha

 

[Clearwater native]

At jeep beach last weekend and soon Broncos will be sporting stereos like this

 

[gryphon1231]

At jeep beach last weekend and soon Broncos will be sporting stereos like this

Yeah and unfortunately will be seeing Bronco's riding around on 30 inch wheels too.

 

[Toecutter]

Yeah and unfortunately will be seeing Bronco's riding around on 30 inch wheels too.

 

[Bo-Ronco]

For all of the B&O disappointees in this thread that might be in the Houston metro area, please look up Ultimate Innovations and tell them you want what they did to my Bronco. Discrete, and absolutely JAMS.

 

[Deleted member 21681]

Your poor neighbors lol

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