Speaker upgrade worth it?

[HushCarAudio]

For anyone with the B&O system you'll have to fully bypass the system before getting any appreciable gains from any speaker swap. It's due to the processing that the amp has. Bypass units range from around $450-780. Once bypassed the truck will sound awesome.

Now for people without the B&O system. Yes the speaker swap will yield a tiny bit of improvement but understand that all aftermarket speakers come with massive magnets on them which requires power to move the cone. The stock radio only puts out around 7 watts max. A cheap and tiny amp that may be hidden behind the radio such as the Kicker Key 200.4 would work well with any speaker choice. It also comes with a built in auto tuning DSP and microphone setup. Let me know if anyone is interested in this stuff via DM or email. [email protected]. I'm the forum audio vendor here.
Regards,
Bruce

 

[gtr09]

I bought some basic Kicker 47Ks to get things going for the moment. (Spending all my $ going faster first). I'll report back any differences once they are installed. After that it's either swap out the APIM for a Linkswell or keep it and go with the Zen Audio A2B adapter, along with Audio Control Amps and a bit better sub, something that fits in the .75 (or 1.0 I can't recall) enclosure already there. I'll also try disabling the DSP with Forscan and see what that does.

@HushCarAudio the B&O system with its 11 speakers + 1 Sub - I was trying to figure out which combination of amps and how I'd hook them up, (mostly Audio Control) I could buy so that I only needed 2 total. Like I wouldn't care if the rearmost speakers didn't balance, maybe the center front speaker could be ditched, etc. Got any hints?

 

[Overtow]

@HushCarAudio - Clearly you have some experience with car audio, what is your opinion about running the lower impedance aftermarket speakers off the factory ACM? You are 100% right that amplification is the way to go, but it seems like there are a number of tradeoffs going this route with the base Sync 3 system. A good example would be that (based on my reading) the door chime sound would be amplified. This is my wife's daily driver, explaining why the chime is so loud would be an uncomfortable conversation for me...

Thoughts?

 

[gtr09]

@HushCarAudio - Clearly you have some experience with car audio, what is your opinion about running the lower impedance aftermarket speakers off the factory ACM? You are 100% right that amplification is the way to go, but it seems like there are a number of tradeoffs going this route with the base Sync 3 system. A good example would be that (based on my reading) the door chime sound would be amplified. This is my wife's daily driver, explaining why the chime is so loud would be an uncomfortable conversation for me...

Thoughts?

Use Forscan and disable the stupid chimes

 

[Left Coast Geek]

the B&O system has quite a few speakers in the car, tweeters in the A pillar, etc, and I almost guarantee the factory amplification is all equalized for the specific speakers in the specific car. I've only had the B&O equipped Expedition for 2 days, but the Harman Kardon branded "Logic7" system in my wife's 2016 Mercedes E350 wagon has like 15 speakers. Ah, the Monroney for my 2019 Limited Stealth says, B&O system with 12 speakers.

B&O automobile stuff is part of Harman International, who in turn is owned by Samsung. Harman has a whole bunch of car stereo brands, including Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, Becker, Mark Levinson, etc etc. The H-K branded system in said Mercedes was actually made by Harman-Becker.

 

[GixxerJasen]

B&O automobile stuff is part of Harman International, who in turn is owned by Samsung. Harman has a whole bunch of car stereo brands, including Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, Becker, Mark Levinson, etc etc. The H-K branded system in said Mercedes was actually made by Harman-Becker.

Funny thing. In motorcycle communicators, there's two major companies in the arena with some fierce competition around technology. One company boasts high quality HK speakers for their unit while the other one boasts high quality JBL speakers. The competition rages on but Samsung is the real winner.

 

[Left Coast Geek]

Samsung bought Harman Industries in 2018, but its still run as a separate business unit, an independent subsidiary, with US management. the CEO & President has been with Harman 22 years.

 

[HushCarAudio]

I bought some basic Kicker 47Ks to get things going for the moment. (Spending all my $ going faster first). I'll report back any differences once they are installed. After that it's either swap out the APIM for a Linkswell or keep it and go with the Zen Audio A2B adapter, along with Audio Control Amps and a bit better sub, something that fits in the .75 (or 1.0 I can't recall) enclosure already there. I'll also try disabling the DSP with Forscan and see what that does.

@HushCarAudio the B&O system with its 11 speakers + 1 Sub - I was trying to figure out which combination of amps and how I'd hook them up, (mostly Audio Control) I could buy so that I only needed 2 total. Like I wouldn't care if the rearmost speakers didn't balance, maybe the center front speaker could be ditched, etc. Got any hints?

I wouldn't suggest the NavTV unit unless you want to spend more for no reason. The PAC unit does the exact same job but easier to install and about half the cost. Nothing in Forscan will help your situation. All people will ditch the center speaker once the system has been upgraded. Stick with a regular component setup and you'll end up with way better audio than the B&O system. Send me an email or DM to discuss further.

 

[HushCarAudio]

@HushCarAudio - Clearly you have some experience with car audio, what is your opinion about running the lower impedance aftermarket speakers off the factory ACM? You are 100% right that amplification is the way to go, but it seems like there are a number of tradeoffs going this route with the base Sync 3 system. A good example would be that (based on my reading) the door chime sound would be amplified. This is my wife's daily driver, explaining why the chime is so loud would be an uncomfortable conversation for me...

Thoughts?

Lower impedance will help with the volume issue but not the actual quality of the audio due to the B&O system limiting what it sends out to each of the speakers. All aftermarket speakers will sound basically the same as factory speakers until the B&O system is bypassed unfortunately.

 

[TonyR0206]

the B&O system has quite a few speakers in the car, tweeters in the A pillar, etc, and I almost guarantee the factory amplification is all equalized for the specific speakers in the specific car. I've only had the B&O equipped Expedition for 2 days, but the Harman Kardon branded "Logic7" system in my wife's 2016 Mercedes E350 wagon has like 15 speakers. Ah, the Monroney for my 2019 Limited Stealth says, B&O system with 12 speakers.

B&O automobile stuff is part of Harman International, who in turn is owned by Samsung. Harman has a whole bunch of car stereo brands, including Harman Kardon, JBL, Infinity, Becker, Mark Levinson, etc etc. The H-K branded system in said Mercedes was actually made by Harman-Becker.

My wife's 2021 Hyundai Palisade Calligraphy has a stock Harmon Kardon system in it. In my 50 years, I've never heard bass response and even low-end bass response from a stock system as this. At volume, it hits hard, like an aftermarket system. Even at a low volume you can hear the low frequencies, which is where most stock systems fail. The midrange are in line and the highs are crisp...you can hear every nuance of the music. I WISH my B&O sounded as good as the system in her Hyundai.