Wife's B&O overhaul - m0bridge, speakers, stealthbox & more

[rayofsi]

i'm finally about to atleast install my mobridge.. i have unit serial #1 , bought for my f150 raptor previously, never got around to it, and will be doing it in my bronco raptor instead. need to slowly figure out speakers and all, my drivers side dash died,, crackles, so its time to upgrade. Fraser at mobridge has been great at getting my unit bronco ready.

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[Draughon]

Very curious to understand what the post-install tuning and sound refining is all about. Be sure to post!

i'm finally about to atleast install my mobridge.. i have unit serial #1 , bought for my f150 raptor previously, never got around to it, and will be doing it in my bronco raptor instead. need to slowly figure out speakers and all, my drivers side dash died,, crackles, so its time to upgrade. Fraser at mobridge has been great at getting my unit bronco ready.

 

[Panzer948]

Halfway done with mine... anyone starting this should take others advice and just be ready to remove the HVAC console to add speaker harness to stock radio. I will be honest, it was hard putting the harness in even with the HVAC module removed, but that was partly due to my tight garage which limited me sitting low to look up (with legs hanging out the

door).

Also found some time to add some sound deadening. Got a couple questions in to @mObridge befoe continuing this evening.

 

[eduard4us]

Very curious to understand what the post-install tuning and sound refining is all about. Be sure to post!

Reach out and I’ll be happy to answer any questions. I’ve had the unit for about 9 months now and I’ve been squeezing everything I can out of the mObridge amp with my speaker configuration.

 

[mObridge]

Halfway done with mine... anyone starting this should take others advice and just be ready to remove the HVAC console to add speaker harness to stock radio. I will be honest, it was hard putting the harness in even with the HVAC module removed, but that was partly due to my tight garage which limited me sitting low to look up (with legs hanging out the

door).

Also found some time to add some sound deadening. Got a couple questions in to @mObridge befoe continuing this evening.

This has been a common point of feedback for the install. Clearly I have doll hands!

 

[Panzer948]

All, not sure I should post here or just make a new post to explain how my install went and some things I overcame to make it work. This thread seems to be a "share all" on the JL Audio Stealthbox and MoBridge combo, but I also know it has kind of been hijacked from the original OP, so if any feel I should make a new post out of this, let me know as it's easy to copy/paste this into an entire new post.

First the good news, I have still not started any tuning but I am overall pleased with what I am currently getting. Frasier loaded mine with the JL Audio CL Tune (I think that is what its called) so it's pretty good out of the box. I still need to do some test drives playing different music, which I hope to later today. In summary, this is what I have (JL Audio Speakers were installed last year):

• Front Dash/Top speakers (left, right, center) and Rear Pods: JL Audio C1-400x speakers
• Kick panels: JL Audio C1-650 - component version with separate twitters above & to right of main
• Sub: JL Audio Stealthbox
• Amp/DSP: mObridge K2 8.1.1 CHANNEL

I thought I would share some of the challenges I was up against in getting this installed. Some of the additional things I was up against was the removal and then reinstallation of my cargo area molle panels, as well as removal of the crossovers/filters from my JL Audio components in the kick panel. While in the kick panels, I took advantage of Frasier's advice and removed that factory foam and added sound deadening in its place as I have definitely been getting distortion from this area with the factory amp and JL Audios, especially on the passenger side. BTW, so far so good on that improvement (pic below is before removal).

Moving to the rear cargo area, I had some killmat left over when doing the speaker replacement so used the rest up lining the bottom, left and right cargo area. Not sure if that improves much on a soft top but it was fairly easy to do so, so why not. In order to keep from running out, I did have to spread this out a bit, which seems some do anyway. Below are before and after pics.

As specified in other posts, when mounting the mObridge to its metal bracket and then to the Stealthbox, I noticed it wouldn't sit flush due to the bolts on the back of the mount. Knowing this was already going to be a tight fit I figured I better correct that instead of fighting it. I know some cut or remove the bolt but I decided to use option 2 and pull out my Dremel tool (which I use often for other hobbies) and carve out a hole large enough on the enclosure for the bolt to rest in, but without going all the way through. The bolt just below the top one didn't need this since it fits within the recessed area of the Stealthbox, while the bolt to the far left protrudes to the left of the Stealthbox. So it was nice that you only had to do this for one bolt.

So far so good. However, upon mounting the interior trim over the Stealth Box/mObridge, I realized I was in the same predicament that some others have discovered. I believe most of the obstruction was coming from the top of the Stealthbox's rounded edge, just above the center of the woofer. I could tell this by simply feeling while trying to push the panel inward, plus the top two center trim tabs (near the roll cage bar) would not connect. See pic below.

But even more telling was when I pulled the trim back off I could see scuffing where the Stealth box was making contact with interior trim while I was pushing. The location is where it forms a small shelf just below the cargo light and cigarette lighter socket. I felt the tolerances were so close that even a few millimeters might make a difference so decided to do something a little unorthodox and actually sand the back of the trim as thin as possible where they two were impacting using a orbital sander with 80 grit paper. To do this manually would take forever, but with my orbital sander, it took about 5 minutes. Just have to be careful and not sand all the way through. In hindsight, I sanded it a bit to thin and the plastic does pop up some, however, it was worth it as I was able to get this back on and actually attach those top two clips. Still, it is less than perfect and does bow out some in this area.

The pic below shows where I saw the scuffing and started to sand. It think I took this picture right after I started to sand, so most of that "scuffing" is from sandpaper. I also forgot to take a pic after I sanded the plastic down, but it was more or less within the red circle.

This is how it is now. Yes I was able to connect the plastic clips but you can tell it is somewhat distorted. Especially when you look at the removable access panel (for soft tops) and how the molle panel doesn't line up with the inset section of the cargo light.

But, when all is back together, these are not that noticeable so I can live with it as long as it remains intact. Time will tell with that. Oh, and if anyone is wondering why my panels look a bit different shade of black it is because I repainted them while I had them off. They had gotten scuffed up pretty bad before I added the molle panels.

In closing, I am curious if folks that have only installed the mObridge with the Stealthbox have had this fitment issue or is it also happening with Stealthbox combined with factory (or some other amp or not). If the former, then maybe the mObridge cover is distorting the trim ever so slightly and that is causing a small bend where the panel hits the top curve of the stealth box. Maybe, its the Stealthbox install itself with how we mount the brackets. Then again, maybe the sound deadening material causing some of this. I didn't think it was when I had all the pieces out but when I look at my pics, I can't help but now wonder if the kilamat on the bottom fenderwell has a role. It is just odd that some are having this and not others. Anyway, I hope this helps and helps prove this combination can be installed, even if you need to do a bit of modification.

 

[Draughon]

Thinks exactly what I have installed now (the JL speakers) and I’m looking at the mobridge / stealth box upgrade.

Been reading about fitment issues and poor sound quality / volume from the Stealthbox - I.e. it needed a more powerful sub like the 10TW3-D4 rather than the 10TW1-2.

also, Fraser recommended upgrading the kickers to Morels to take more power from that channel (120w vs 60 or so for those C650s)

how’s the sound? Loud as hell with no rattles?

All, not sure I should post here or just make a new post to explain how my install went and some things I overcame to make it work. This thread seems to be a "share all" on the JL Audio Stealthbox and MoBridge combo, but I also know it has kind of been hijacked from the original OP, so if any feel I should make a new post out of this, let me know as it's easy to copy/paste this into an entire new post.

First the good news, I have still not started any tuning but I am overall pleased with what I am currently getting. Frasier loaded mine with the JL Audio CL Tune (I think that is what its called) so it's pretty good out of the box. I still need to do some test drives playing different music, which I hope to later today. In summary, this is what I have (JL Audio Speakers were installed last year):

• Front Dash/Top speakers (left, right, center) and Rear Pods: JL Audio C1-400x speakers
• Kick panels: JL Audio C1-650 - component version with separate twitters above & to right of main
• Sub: JL Audio Stealthbox
• Amp/DSP: mObridge K2 8.1.1 CHANNEL

 

[Stevoid]

You have to rip out the foam at the bottom of the kickpanels and use dynamat, kill mat etc to create a seal to stop the rattling etc.

 

[Panzer948]

Thinks exactly what I have installed now (the JL speakers) and I’m looking at the mobridge / stealth box upgrade.

Been reading about fitment issues and poor sound quality / volume from the Stealthbox - I.e. it needed a more powerful sub like the 10TW3-D4 rather than the 10TW1-2.

also, Fraser recommended upgrading the kickers to Morels to take more power from that channel (120w vs 60 or so for those C650s)

how’s the sound? Loud as hell with no rattles?

So I just drove around, really for the first time since installation, on freeway and city streets to put it through the paces. At first, I had a little bit of distortion/vibration either coming from the passenger kick panel or rear pods. However, I adjusted the fade from the center to the rear (put the white dot on the rear edge of the console), which places more of the bass to the rear since the tune I have (preloaded by mObridge) reduces the rear pods by about 75%. Upon doing that, the distortion went away and I was driving around at Volume 23 enjoying some very powerful distortion free sound. Note that I mostly listen to 80 rock/pop. I was going to install the software to mess around with the tune but at this point I may leave it as is. Still a bit early though.

I do feel I could possibly make it even better if I upgrade those puny pod speakers by getting a bigger pod mount. I have seen folks add 6.5 inch speakers that way so I am going to be following other posts on that and maybe upgrade down the road.

@Stevoid Yes, about the kick panel. That is what I did. Removed that crummy foam and added my own kilamat sound deadening material behind and in front of that wire connector at the bottom. I forgot to take pics of the after though but similar to yours.

 

[Draughon]

I have the SSV 6.5'' speaker pods in the rear - and they're a no-brainer upgrade - def look into getting those.

My goal with this upgrade is to have the top / doors off and be able to just JAM and have amazing sound.

So I just drove around, really for the first time since installation, on freeway and city streets to put it through the paces. At first, I had a little bit of distortion/vibration either coming from the passenger kick panel or rear pods. However, I adjusted the fade from the center to the rear (put the white dot on the rear edge of the console), which places more of the bass to the rear since the tune I have (preloaded by mObridge) reduces the rear pods by about 75%. Upon doing that, the distortion went away and I was driving around at Volume 23 enjoying some very powerful distortion free sound. Note that I mostly listen to 80 rock/pop. I was going to install the software to mess around with the tune but at this point I may leave it as is. Still a bit early though.

I do feel I could possibly make it even better if I upgrade those puny pod speakers by getting a bigger pod mount. I have seen folks add 6.5 inch speakers that way so I am going to be following other posts on that and maybe upgrade down the road.

@Stevoid Yes, about the kick panel. That is what I did. Removed that crummy foam and added my own kilamat sound deadening material behind and in front of that wire connector at the bottom. I forgot to take pics of the after though but similar to yours.

 

[Stevoid]

I have the SSV 6.5'' speaker pods in the rear - and they're a no-brainer upgrade - def look into getting those.

My goal with this upgrade is to have the top / doors off and be able to just JAM and have amazing sound.

I have having an issue with my @mObridge saving my settings correctly. They reset at every start up and I am noticing distortion. The minute I plug back in the USB and make any minor change it seems to correct it. Maybe you are having that issue?

 

[mObridge]

So I just drove around, really for the first time since installation, on freeway and city streets to put it through the paces. At first, I had a little bit of distortion/vibration either coming from the passenger kick panel or rear pods. However, I adjusted the fade from the center to the rear (put the white dot on the rear edge of the console), which places more of the bass to the rear since the tune I have (preloaded by mObridge) reduces the rear pods by about 75%. Upon doing that, the distortion went away and I was driving around at Volume 23 enjoying some very powerful distortion free sound. Note that I mostly listen to 80 rock/pop. I was going to install the software to mess around with the tune but at this point I may leave it as is. Still a bit early though.

I do feel I could possibly make it even better if I upgrade those puny pod speakers by getting a bigger pod mount. I have seen folks add 6.5 inch speakers that way so I am going to be following other posts on that and maybe upgrade down the road.

@Stevoid Yes, about the kick panel. That is what I did. Removed that crummy foam and added my own kilamat sound deadening material behind and in front of that wire connector at the bottom. I forgot to take pics of the after though but similar to yours.

C1s are rated to 50w, we push 150w to the kick panels. The gain will just need to be dropped down a couple db on those channels, that will be the issue

 

[mObridge]

I have having an issue with my @mObridge saving my settings correctly. They reset at every start up and I am noticing distortion. The minute I plug back in the USB and make any minor change it seems to correct it. Maybe you are having that issue?

This is a new issue I have not seen, I'll have to look into it via a remote session at your next convenience

 

[eduard4us]

I have having an issue with my @mObridge saving my settings correctly. They reset at every start up and I am noticing distortion. The minute I plug back in the USB and make any minor change it seems to correct it. Maybe you are having that issue?

Have you tried to go in sound settings and just move the Bass slider back and forth? I see this issue on my unit where the Bass settings does not stick

 

[Gotchaa]

Right now, the best sounding system IMHO is the mObridge +Morel package with their tailgate sub box. These guys spent a good amount of time developing and tuning the package for the Bronco. After 2 days of finalizing the tuning I believe they have the best combo for our Broncos. More is not necessarily better, the proper tune and install can make all the difference. I have a high end system from Reus with 2 10” subs in a box in my Tesla, and that has been my comparison through all the iterations they have been testing the past year with different speakers and tunes. I am amazed what Morel + mObridge are able to achieve with a 10” sub box, with their speakers all around. I will put this tuned system up against any others.

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