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

[mpeugeot]

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.

Tuning definitely makes all the difference, spending a little money on the calibrated microphone was worth it.

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[Panzer948]

Tuning definitely makes all the difference, spending a little money on the calibrated microphone was worth it.

Thanks for your advice. Can you send me a link to what you purchased to calibrate your system (since I too have mObridge I figured it will work for me as well). Also, I am curious if a local audio installer would be ok doing the tuning even is self installed. I am looking at the mObridge software now and looks like you need a pHd in audio music to understand it...

I have a second question for all. So I have removed that crummy foam insert and adding my own sound deadening material around my kick panel speakers but I am still getting some nasty distortion type sounds, especially from passenger side. Has anyone seen a post that dealt specifically with how the added/corrected this speaker location?

 

[Draughon]

Well... I was considering upgrading to 6.5'' morels for the kickers to handle the higher power channels from the Mobridge... but NOW I'm thinking run all the dash and kick speakers on the lower power channels and save the higher power channels for these bad boys I just discovered..

https://ssvworks.com/products/unive...vh4FxTHGkagoieoi2XQDk0vRAwImUdbHqoJIkaHxkeRAo

 

[Draughon]

And as I was hunting around... you can absolutely go ham and pick this up as well..

https://ds18.com/collections/bronco...nd-bar-system-complete-package-6th-gen-4-door

 

[Panzer948]

Quick update on my distortion in my kick panel, in case anyone runs into this it was an easy and quick fix, my two favorite things.

As I stated a couple of day ago, I was fairly happy with the tune preloaded by mObridge. However, depending on the song, volume, etc. I was getting some vibration/distortion in my left kick panel with loud bass. Hoping I hadn't damaged it already, I took the plastic trim off and started to push around where I had previously added sound deadening material and nothing corrected it. Speaker looked fine too. Next I wanted to see if the screws holding the speaker in the housing were loose but they were snug tight. However, I noticed when placing the tip of the screwdriver on a couple of the screws, the distortion would stop. Hmm.... I thought, well let me try the opposite approach and loosened a couple about halfway. Walah, problem solved. Hopefully it will stay that way when I use it again tomorrow.

It's weird how vibrations are created with these things. So play around with those mounting screws first to see if that solves it.

 

[Draughon]

Here's my new insane plan:

Get the Mobridge and these two 8'' SSV Pods with the Kicker Speakers.

Pick up a Kicker CompR 8'' subwoofer (that fits in the stock B&O space)

Wire it all up, and you'll have full power to 2 x 8'' x 300w speakers in the rear + 1 x 8" 600w sub... should be PLENTY of boom to satisfy all your bass needs.

Am I crazy or could this work?

Well... I was considering upgrading to 6.5'' morels for the kickers to handle the higher power channels from the Mobridge... but NOW I'm thinking run all the dash and kick speakers on the lower power channels and save the higher power channels for these bad boys I just discovered..

https://ssvworks.com/products/unive...vh4FxTHGkagoieoi2XQDk0vRAwImUdbHqoJIkaHxkeRAo

 

[Stevoid]

Fraser @mObridge just left my house and we troubleshooted the issue. It was a software issue that was causing the DSP to not restore properly at vehicle start up. It is now fixed with an updated firmware. Doesn't seem like this issue is mass caused since the firmware I was running was not on many units. I can't speak enough about how above and beyond Fraser and @mObridge have gone.

 

[Spiderwolf]

I have the stealth box installed with @mObridge. I would prob consider something different. Also, the direct shipping from JL only took a few days for me. I ordered 11 days ago from Crutchfield.

Fraser actually came to my house to help troubleshoot some items I had with Morel speakers fitting. We found out the Raptor dash speakers have less of a mounting depth. Overall the customer service is fantastic and the amp works amazing.

The Stealthbox quality is mediocre at best and the fitment is a miss. At least for me. Happy to answer any questions but I am considering removing the stealth box and going to a tailgate sub while in my return policy before I put my panel back on.

I was planning on going with the MoBridge and stealth box. Why is it so bad in your opinion. Ive been wavering between an 8 inch kicker in the factory box or the stealth box. Also, does the Mobridge which mounts on the factory sub box location also mount on the stealth box with no issues?

 

[Spiderwolf]

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.

Question. And its not you as Ive seen many pics of this. Why the random install of kilmat all over the sides and especially on the cargo floor. I could see areas maybe around the subwoofer but what good does it do on the floor and on the otherside opposite the sub. Is it to keep the trim panels and such from rattling?

 

[Stevoid]

I did it also also added closed cell foam on top and on parts of side. To help with sound resonance plus deadening and vibration.

 

[Panzer948]

Question. And its not you as Ive seen many pics of this. Why the random install of kilmat all over the sides and especially on the cargo floor. I could see areas maybe around the subwoofer but what good does it do on the floor and on the otherside opposite the sub. Is it to keep the trim panels and such from rattling?

Like @Stevoid said plus at that time i had a bunch of extra from a year ago that I never thought i would use again (I had initially bought a small box when replacing speakers last year). So while everything was out, why not spend the extra 10 mins and cover key areas as I knew it couldn't hurt. Of course now I have since wished I kept just one of those squares while trying to deal with new vibration problems on my right kick panel speaker, which i did finally correct and described in another post above.

 

[Draughon]

Yup, just stick it everywhere.

Like @Stevoid said plus at that time i had a bunch of extra from a year ago that I never thought i would use again (I had initially bought a small box when replacing speakers last year). So while everything was out, why not spend the extra 10 mins and cover key areas as I knew it couldn't hurt. Of course now I have since wished I kept just one of those squares while trying to deal with new vibration problems on my right kick panel speaker, which i did finally correct and described in another post above.

 

[Panzer948]

Just a shout out to @mObridge. After some phone/message tag, we were finally able to catch-up on a call Saturday morning where he helped me tune the amp/dsp. TBH, I wasn't sure it really needed a lot of tuning but compared to what it was like initially to what it is now, I was glady wrong. As others have reported here, getting it tuned makes a HUGE difference. So kudos goes to the mObridge team for their support to us new buyers. All should give him some kudos as I think he is a one man army over here in the US but he represents his Australian company well!

 

[Draughon]

If I knew nothing else about a company, this story alone would win my business.

Just a shout out to @mObridge. After some phone/message tag, we were finally able to catch-up on a call Saturday morning where he helped me tune the amp/dsp. TBH, I wasn't sure it really needed a lot of tuning but compared to what it was like initially to what it is now, I was glady wrong. As others have reported here, getting it tuned makes a HUGE difference. So kudos goes to the mObridge team for their support to us new buyers. All should give him some kudos as I think he is a one man army over here in the US but he represents his Australian company well!

 

[HmrHmr23]

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.

I too have installed the JL stealth box with MoBridge Amps. I’m having a heckuva time getting the trim panel back on. The stealth box sticks out a little bit, and I have some the wires running over the top edge that are keeping kind of where yours was rubbing the question I have is, did you cut the panel, so the stealth box air releases more. I used their template and put their screen on, but it didn’t tell me to cut the hole any bigger I’m just curious when that stealth box is hitting if that trim piece rattles.

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