B&O Sound System Upgrade Tip

[ATLBronco75]

@Wolfeman If you want tips on pulling the center speaker grill I've got a few.

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[Wolfeman]

@Wolfeman If you want tips on pulling the center speaker grill I've got a few.

Before I pull it again, I'm going to order some of the metal clips that I seem to knock off every time I pull the cover. Only done it twice so far but three have come off each time. The first time I was able to find them all but the second time, one went deep into the abyss... I'm sure lost for eternity.

I'm considering ordering the other speaker based on your recommendation and the low price. Only thing that sucks is having to pull the cover again.

First time I put it back on, I couldn't get the back fully seated but I think I had too much of the harness still in the way so I pulled it again and tucked it back down. Released the USB ports from the cover to make it a little easier and that seemed to help. Those clips are definitely in there nice and tight. I think I'm getting much better at it at this point but hope to never become a pro.

@flip - what was that part number again for the metal clips that hold on the center channel speaker cover? If you'll send me a link to where they are in your store, I'll order a few or a pack or whatever.

 

[kvec]

The front Center channel doesn't seem to have a low pass filter on it. After installing a two way speaker with a tweeter I got tons of hiss and almost painful highs. / at low volumes.

TLDR; Don't put a 2-way speaker in the center channel of the B&O system unless you are adding a DSP.

I have to say, I disregarded this advice at first. Bad call.

I also used Focals for all three. With just the FR and FL speakers replaced, the sound is decent but bright. With the C swapped, the sound is unlistenable. The upper treble is overpowering. Sibilance is bad. The speaker itself clearly gets higher volume than the corners as well. It’s a mess.

The stock Center speaker is a midrange woofer, not a coaxial speaker. My theory is the head unit is tuned to overcome the speaker’s limitations, probably jacking up the highest highs. That’s what causes the terrible sibilance. The Focals are bright speakers as well, which is what leads to a compounding effect.

I’m going to disconnect the C channel altogether until I can get a midrange driver to put there. I’ll probably try the PVR (Thanks for the tip, @ATLBronco75).

 

[kvec]

The easiest way to dramatically improve the sound is using a harness, but they are expensive ($600+) then adding and amp and new speakers.

I went the cheaper route and used a Kicker Key 200.4 spliced into the the factory harness before the factory DSP. I also added a Kicker Key 500.1 for a new sub. I'm a semi-audiophile and I am super happy with the results.

How did you splice into the amp/DSP signal for the 200.4? Did you tap each individual speaker wire coming out of the Amp/DSP? Then rely on the Kicker‘s DSP to fill in the the rolloffs created by the factory DSP?

 

[TahoeTexan]

How did you splice into the amp/DSP signal for the 200.4? Did you tap each individual speaker wire coming out of the Amp/DSP? Then rely on the Kicker‘s DSP to fill in the the rolloffs created by the factory DSP?

Yes, I cut the front dash and kick panel wires and used these as 4 channel in on the 200.4. I left the center and rear speakers alone and let the Kicker DSP all the time and level alignment.
I also cut the sub wires going into the stock sub and used these to feed the 500.1 and the new Kicker 12" sub.

 

[swooshdave]

Thank you for making me feel less insane. I highly recommend the PRV speaker in my post. It's dirt cheap and still a much nicer voice coil than the stock center channel.

Free returns on Amazon if you decide that I'm nuts:
https://a.co/d/diKMkNN

So just replacing the center speaker with this is not the magic answer?

 

[ATLBronco75]

So just replacing the center speaker with this is not the magic answer?

I’m not quite sure what you’re asking. But the message of this post is that you should not replace the center speaker with a coaxial speaker because it’s actually a mid range woofer. The PRV I recommended seems to fill that gap.

 

[ATLBronco75]

I have to say, I disregarded this advice at first. Bad call.

I also used Focals for all three. With just the FR and FL speakers replaced, the sound is decent but bright. With the C swapped, the sound is unlistenable. The upper treble is overpowering. Sibilance is bad. The speaker itself clearly gets higher volume than the corners as well. It’s a mess.

The stock Center speaker is a midrange woofer, not a coaxial speaker. My theory is the head unit is tuned to overcome the speaker’s limitations, probably jacking up the highest highs. That’s what causes the terrible sibilance. The Focals are bright speakers as well, which is what leads to a compounding effect.

I’m going to disconnect the C channel altogether until I can get a midrange driver to put there. I’ll probably try the PVR (Thanks for the tip, @ATLBronco75).

Did you ever get a new Center channel?

 

[Ksjrb03]

Replacing the center channel with a 2 way and tweeter is fine. The key is the Focals are just way too bright. Instantly took them out after using for the 3 fronts. JL C1s work perfect up there for me, but I don’t listen to audio books. The Focals work good in the rear pods, the brightness is a plus if you’re trying to get some sound you can hear back there. But if you use bright speakers like more Focals up front it washes out those gains. The center channel is definitely the work horse in the B&O.

 

[kvec]

Did you ever get a new Center channel?

Not yet. Meant to order the PRV you suggested and haven't gotten around to it. I disconnected the C last week. System sounds the best it's sounded yet with just the FR and FL speakers.

Overall, I've been disappointed with the Focal ACX 100s in the dash locations. I have a hard time separating the speaker from the DSP, though.

I have the tweeters from the 6.5" component speakers I put down below. Thinking about trying those out in place of the 4" Focals just to see what I get. Every time I hear the Focals, I can't help but think, "This sounds like a 4" speaker and a *tiny* tweeter." To get a full sound, I'd probably need to put a midrange speaker in the Center, like the PRV. We'll see.

 

[JBMas]

B&O audio system upgrade 90% complete and done well (waiting for rear speakers to come out in Jan). I received my Badlands Lux in July and started upgrades. The B&O audio is woefully lacking and started a quest for understanding options. Many choose to do speaker upgrade only but seems only a slight improvement from the oem source power amp. After a few months of patience by my local installer in Illinois (Benchmark audio Springfield IL), he helped fields all my questions about A2B DSPs, etc. Yesterday they finished installing Metra Axxess DSP, upgrading to pioneer GMD 5 channel amp, custom sub box for Stinger 10” Sk4241 sub, custom bass knob that looks like oem, front Pioneer TSD component 6 1/2”. The DSP has 31 channels EQ! Best money spent to listen to clean, crisp audio and as much bass as you choose to turn up!
Highly recommend Benchmark with 40 years experience of owner Jeff, installer has 25 years.
Btw I have an extra Zen A2b I didn’t use that I bought slightly used for $325 if anyone wants to pay the same ($780 new)

 

[Hossfire]

I Have the Lux package and the B&O system. Although I found it adequate I've done light modifications to the sound system in almost all of my vehicles so I couldn't leave well enough alone. If you aren't going to do a full upgrade including a new DSP consider my experience carefully.

I planned to upgrade the main 5 speakers that most people complain about. Front Left, Right and Center on the dashboard and the rear Speaker Pods. I also stuffed those 5 spots and the Sub with polyfill and added some foam to reduce rattles near the sub.

I used 2 Focal ACX (https://www.focal.com/en/car-audio/.../performance/auditor-new/coaxial-kits/acx-100) speakers in the Right and Left Front channels and 3 Kicker KS4s (https://www.kicker.com/47KSC40) for the rear pods and center channel. Here is where I went wrong. The front Center channel doesn't seem to have a low pass filter on it. After installing a two way speaker with a tweeter I got tons of hiss and almost painful highs. This was super noticeable on Audio books when the reader would pronounce an S. I had to run the system in Stereo mode for a few weeks because the highs from the center channel were so annoying.

So just this weekend I replaced my center channel with a PRV Audio 4" Mid (https://prvaudio.com/products/4mr60-4/). The improvement is hard to overstate. It sounds radically better with a strong front center stage now. Almost all of the high end hiss is gone. Additionally this speaker is much louder and allows me to listen at a lower volume while still getting good mids.

If I could do it all over again I think I might even get 3 of these PRV speakers for the Center and Rear channels and use the Kickers in the Front side channels. The Kickers just sound better than the Focals to me and the PRVs produce huge sound at low volumes.

TLDR; Don't put a 2-way speaker in the center channel of the B&O system unless you are adding a DSP.

what do you recommend for the max frequency of the center channel?

 

[Hossfire]

I'm thinking that a solution (given that I just bought another forum member's 'spare' 4" coax is to add a very small inductor to the positive lead to clip off some of the higher frequencies. Since the shipping is like $10 from parts express, I may just order a couple different frequencies (like capacitors you use a table based on your speaker's resistance to get the crossover point) so I can test to get it right.

 

[kvec]

Not yet. Meant to order the PRV you suggested and haven't gotten around to it. I disconnected the C last week. System sounds the best it's sounded yet with just the FR and FL speakers.

Overall, I've been disappointed with the Focal ACX 100s in the dash locations. I have a hard time separating the speaker from the DSP, though.

I have the tweeters from the 6.5" component speakers I put down below. Thinking about trying those out in place of the 4" Focals just to see what I get. Every time I hear the Focals, I can't help but think, "This sounds like a 4" speaker and a *tiny* tweeter." To get a full sound, I'd probably need to put a midrange speaker in the Center, like the PRV. We'll see.

Update here: I swapped out the 4" Focal ACX-100s in the corners for the tweeters that came with the component kick panel speakers I dropped in (Focal RSE-165). Used the crossovers that came with them as high-pass filters inline.

I added back the factory C channel middler (it's only 4"... doesn't really qualify as a "woofer").

Hard to overstate how much better everything sounds now. Doesn't get as loud as it did before, but everything is SO much more balanced. The kick panels and the middler in the C channel fill in the vocals. The tweeters make the sound of things like guitar strings actually sound like guitar strings.

TL;DR: real tweeters make all the difference.

 

[Bigmoose]

Update here: I swapped out the 4" Focal ACX-100s in the corners for the tweeters that came with the component kick panel speakers I dropped in (Focal RSE-165). Used the crossovers that came with them as high-pass filters inline.

I added back the factory C channel middler (it's only 4"... doesn't really qualify as a "woofer").

Hard to overstate how much better everything sounds now. Doesn't get as loud as it did before, but everything is SO much more balanced. The kick panels and the middler in the C channel fill in the vocals. The tweeters make the sound of things like guitar strings actually sound like guitar strings.

TL;DR: real tweeters make all the difference.

How did you mount the tweeter in the dash? Did you need some type of adapter?

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