B&O sound system complete upgrade - Done ✅

[BAronco]

I finally figured it out. You cannot use the Kicker 200.4 with the B&O system and the plug n play harness kit. Joe was awesome and helped me over the phone. I should have called him first but I just ordered it thinking it would work. Interestingly when I messed with the gains, channel 1 did nothing, and channel 2 only cranked up the center speaker. So I took out the harness and the Kicker key 200.4. I’m running the same setup as OP with the 500.1 and Kicker sub in factory enclosure with all speakers replaced. JL up front in all 3 locations, Focals in rear pods, and Memphis Audio mpj6 in kick panels. Sounds awesome as OP has stated.

Some notes:
1. JL in center location is perfect. Sounds great and is not overpowering the highs.
2. I think Focals up front would be too much though.
3. Kick panel upgrade difference is minor and probably would have been fine to leave stock. Memphis 6.5” are sold as single units. Learned that one the hard way.
4. In order to go all in on the B&O system, you have to bypass the DSP and get the aftermarket unit plus a 6 channel amp to wire correctly. You’re looking at another $1,500 on top of the other upgrades. Call Joe at plugnplay and he can get you setup correctly. If you go this route, you need fronts that can handle more RMS. I think the sub would be too small at that point and you would need a bigger enclosure and woofer to match the upgraded system. This might be the call in the pros setup at that point.
5. Check the fuse on the wire coming off your battery as mine was undersized in the wire I got off Amazon from OP suggestion. Took me awhile to figure that one out. Replaced the fuse with a new one and it is more snug in the ends.

Replaced the kick plates with kicker KS 6.75". If running the stock 6 speaker system(no Amp or B&O) I wonder if the (2) Focals up front will be just the right amount of bass? If its too much I can get the bass blockers. I just don't want to be left lacking the bass I need, and I'm not ready for woofers and amps yet... thoughts?

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[Nothing Left]

Replaced the kick plates with kicker KS 6.75". If running the stock 6 speaker system(no Amp or B&O) I wonder if the (2) Focals up front will be just the right amount of bass? If its too much I can get the bass blockers. I just don't want to be left lacking the bass I need, and I'm not ready for woofers and amps yet... thoughts?

From my understanding, on the base system you really need the 200.4 amp to get any real sound. It is really easy to install with the plug play harness and mounting under the steering column. I still have the Kicker 200.4 and the plug n play harness sitting on my desk that I am not using. If you want to PM me, I would cut you a deal on the kit.

 

[Wolfeman]

Equipped with all the great information on this site I dove into my 2 door Badlands Lux. I’ve been hating the B&O since I took delivery. My gripe (besides all of the rattling panels) with the stock system is the fat, bloated and congested sound. After lots of trial and error I ended up replacing all dash, kicks, and rear pods with infinity reference speakers. I chose them mostly because of their high efficiency. Long story short, my best sound came after I removed the tweeter from the infinity in the center channel and used 200 hz @4 ohms bass blockers on all 3 dash speakers. This cleaned up all the bloated noise so much that the factory sub is somewhat impressive. I still want to do the kicker in the factory enclosure but this improvement is huge! Sounds great in stereo or surround. Anyone have advice on where I can stash a kicker 500.1 amp? The 2 door doesn’t have the space behind the roll bar and I was hoping to avoid the cargo storage area.

I wouldn’t be surprised if just adding the 200 hz blocker’s on all 3 factory dash speakers and replacing the rear pod speakers with coaxial’s of your choice would yield similar improvements.

Edit: I went back and tried the factory speakers with 200 hz blockers. No good. The infinity speakers just sound so much more authoritative.

So, did you just cut the wire lead to the tweeter in the center channel? I thought of doing this to get a true mid-range effect but haven't put in the effort to get it done.

 

[Rick U]

That’s what my plan was but the infinity coaxial has the wires molded into the tweeter assembly. I just used channel locks to break the tweeter off. I had an extra speaker so I went for it.

 

[Hossfire]

The more I read about the "premium" audio system, the less impressed that I am with Ford and Harmon (the B&O name is just a license that Harmon uses).

The system has a built in DSP. You shouldn't have to use bass blockers for 4" speakers.

The center channel speaker is the same speaker used in the rear pods (and the L/R dash in the base audio). It sounds like Harmon has boosted the input for this channel---perhaps it's just less efficient than the L/R dash coaxial drivers in the B&O.

Is the rear speaker really a subwoofer?. From pictures and descriptions, it sounds like more of an efficient mid-bass driver. This is likely why a speaker swap (without adding an aftermarket amp) doesn’t achieve satisfying results.

The lack of factory vibration dampening around the rear speaker is just plain lazy design.

 

[Vsharmamd]

Hi,
First post, I saw your amazing post on upgrading B&O audio on Bronco. I’m not that savvy on all this I was wondering if you just changed the rear 4 inch speakers which seems pretty easy would that make a big difference in audio quality. Thanks for any advice.

 

[Edsasso]

Hi,
First post, I saw your amazing post on upgrading B&O audio on Bronco. I’m not that savvy on all this I was wondering if you just changed the rear 4 inch speakers which seems pretty easy would that make a big difference in audio quality. Thanks for any advice.

Those two are a good start and super easy, it should take no longer than about 30 minutes to do so. I think I used a credit card to pop off the trims. After that, it is 2 screws, a harness plug, some sound deadening and you are done. BTW, after you realize how easy those two are to replace, you will want to do the front 3 in the dash. I agree with most here that say the kicks dont make much of a difference....

 

[Hossfire]

Those two are a good start and super easy, it should take no longer than about 30 minutes to do so. I think I used a credit card to pop off the trims. After that, it is 2 screws, a harness plug, some sound deadening and you are done. BTW, after you realize how easy those two are to replace, you will want to do the front 3 in the dash. I agree with most here that say the kicks dont make much of a difference....

If you don't want to splice wires, Hoel sells the adapters on Amazon and directly (cheaper). Note: Crutchfield doesn't supply these as they are not made yet by their big vendors (like Metra). https://hoelwiring.com/products/ford-bronco-maverick-speaker-harness

 

[Vsharmamd]

Thanks so much. I’m gonna give it a shot, the B&O isn’t exactly hitting the high mark on audio for me.

 

[Edsasso]

If you don't want to splice wires, Hoel sells the adapters on Amazon and directly (cheaper). Note: Crutchfield doesn't supply these as they are not made yet by their big vendors (like Metra). https://hoelwiring.com/products/ford-bronco-maverick-speaker-harness

for sure get the harness. Two crimps per speaker. Spend a few bucks on a set of crimpers…. They are as easy to use as a set of pliers…

 

[Hossfire]

I've noticed that a few members have had audio shops do a full A2B interface (replacing the factory amp) and added a DSP.

Here's a couple questions:

Did you chose to amplify the center dash and rear channels, or keep them driven from the head unit?

What did you replace the L/R dash speakers? 4" Coax, Tweeter only, or Mid+Tweeter?

Without going crazy on detailed settings, at what frequencies did the shop set the high and or low pass crossovers for each speaker?

 

[Rick U]

The more I read about the "premium" audio system, the less impressed that I am with Ford and Harmon (the B&O name is just a license that Harmon uses).

The system has a built in DSP. You shouldn't have to use bass blockers for 4" speakers.

The center channel speaker is the same speaker used in the rear pods (and the L/R dash in the base audio). It sounds like Harmon has boosted the input for this channel---perhaps it's just less efficient than the L/R dash coaxial drivers in the B&O.

Is the rear speaker really a subwoofer?. From pictures and descriptions, it sounds like more of an efficient mid-bass driver. This is likely why a speaker swap (without adding an aftermarket amp) doesn’t achieve satisfying results.

The lack of factory vibration dampening around the rear speaker is just plain lazy design.

Agree, the system uses dsp so you should not have to use bass blockers. We don’t know how efficient each of the factory speakers are but whatever those values are would play heavily into the dsp which can not be changed without replacing the b&o amp with a bus converter and a new multi channel amp with user configurable dsp. $$$
Ford did a terrible job setting up the dsp on the Bronco. Sounds like they were going for a Beats headphone sound with fat exaggerated bass.

 

[Edsasso]

I've noticed that a few members have had audio shops do a full A2B interface (replacing the factory amp) and added a DSP.

Here's a couple questions:

Did you chose to amplify the center dash and rear channels, or keep them driven from the head unit?

What did you replace the L/R dash speakers? 4" Coax, Tweeter only, or Mid+Tweeter?

Without going crazy on detailed settings, at what frequencies did the shop set the high and or low pass crossovers for each speaker?

What I did was almost exactly as the OP did. and it is a major improvement. I did NOT add an additional amp for all the other speakers (in excess of the sub) it is a big job and well, I didnt. The speakers the OP and I used have a link in the original post. One of my earlier posts shows the high and low pass settings that Kicker advised me on. and yes, I agree with the OP that the gain should be turned up a little higher (assuming you will be running the aux bass control)

 

[Vsharmamd]

for sure get the harness. Two crimps per speaker. Spend a few bucks on a set of crimpers…. They are as easy to use as a set of pliers…

Do you have a link to a crimper

 

[Edsasso]

Do you have a link to a crimper

For this job and many others, i like these.

https://www.amazon.com/Channellock-...831802&s=power-hand-tools&sr=1-7&ts_id=553392

Make sure that you use the INSULATED slot as your terminal connectors will be or should be insulated.

There are many other on the market and most all of them work, but I do NOT like the stamped steel model like this.

https://www.amazon.com/Channellock-...2&s=power-hand-tools&sr=1-7&ts_id=553392&th=1

It is an easy process and Im sure there are hundreds of videos on youtube....

BTW, Im old school and I typically cut off the plastic insulation, lightly crimp the terminal and use heat shrink and solder....

Other people will have different opinions, but mine is written above.

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