B&O System Settings

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We all understand that sound is very subjective. Some people love the factory B&O system, others can't stand it. I have been generally very pleased with the system.

For the record my ears are 60 years old and have been abused for most of those years by loud music, machinery and occasional gun shots. YMMV.

I also have a Mustang with B&O and have been active on Mustang 6G for quite a while. A professional speaker designer recently did quite a bit of testing and came up with some settings that make the tonal balance of the system pretty much flat. I figured the factory EQ in the Ranger version would probably not be too much different and gave his settings a try. I'm really impressed with the difference it makes in the sound.

I mainly listened to 256 K MP3s from a flash drive with these settings, but tried Sirius XM and heard some improvement there also.

Here's the settings. So far I've only tried it with surround off.

Here's a link to the thread on Mustang 6G - https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/threads/how-i-improved-the-b-o-sound-quality-for-free.141052/

A lot of work went into this.

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Update:
Spent an hour+ in the Ranger a few days ago and listened to a lot of different music with these settings. Still really impressed!

I don't notice much difference with the balance pushed to the passenger side, so keeping it centered.

I increased the bass 1 click.

I think surround sounds better than stereo. The biggest difference seems to be that it tones down the center speaker A LOT. Quite a few people are disconnecting the center speaker in Mustangs. Surround gets rid of some harshness.

Also spent some time in the Mustang and results are the same. I did notice a couple of things:
1. Sync is more responsive in the Mustang. Both are 2019s, Sync 3.3. The difference is quite noticeable.
2. Same volume setting in considerably louder in the Mustang. I guess it's packaging, or maybe they upped the gain because of the louder exhaust?

 

[Zaph]

Kind of surprised you like the sound with the bass turned down so much. In car audio, a boosted low end is often preferred to overcome cabin and road noise. Without it, what would normally be a flat good sounding response while parked with the engine off, will sound bright and lean at highway speed.

Now I'm not talking about teenagers who boost the hell out of their bass so their car vibrates with their rap music, just a tapered response curve so that the low end can be heard over the road noise.

There have been studies in average noise floor of vehicles, and car speaker design is often naturally boosted to compensate. That's why some cars sound bass heavy when parked with the motor off.

In my non- B&O system, I've found the bass setting at zero to be a pretty good designed setting to overcome road noise and have a good tonal balance while the truck is in motion.

I think for me, my only adjustment was the treble up a couple of bumps, and the midrange up a single bump. I get the feeling that the majority of people who try your settings will find it harsh and bright.

But Sirius XM can't sound good no matter what you do. All their stations are 64K bit rate and it's painfully obvious in the way music sounds that has a lot of high frequency content. Strangely, I'm past my 6 month trial period and they haven't cancelled it yet but they aren't getting money out of me for that crap. Their whole strategy is "let's have double the channels with half the quality."

 

[D Fresh]

I'm gonna give these settings a try.

Just got my Ranger Tuesday and the B&O is a HUGE let down.

Bass is way over exaggerated and the speakers could really use a high pass filter.

Anybody who has never spent time playing with the B&O would look at those settings and think you've lost your mind. But having firsthand experience with the "upgraded" sound system they make sense.

 

[grizzly]

Nothing will make Sirius XM sound better. It has crappy sound quality. It's the only reason I don't subscribe to it.

I like Pandora is 100% better.

 

[landiscarrier]

Personally I like the B&O system. I keep it balanced L-R in the center and F-B just behind the drivers seat in the surround setting. For a pick up truck I’m very happy with it!
I don’t believe Sirius broadcasts in stereo so it’s never going to sound great but it still sounds better than commercial after commercial and song repeats. IMO.

 

[D Fresh]

I'm gonna give these settings a try.

Just got my Ranger Tuesday and the B&O is a HUGE let down.

Bass is way over exaggerated and the speakers could really use a high pass filter.

Anybody who has never spent time playing with the B&O would look at those settings and think you've lost your mind. But having firsthand experience with the "upgraded" sound system they make sense.

So after a couple days playing around I would say the above settings do indeed provide a pretty flat response to my ears.

It was definitely a much better place to start fiddling with things than the standard "shallow V" I was starting with.

From there I took the bass up a notch or two, and the mid and high down a notch or two. Feeling much better about the B&O now.

My theory, the lack of sound deadening in the doors combined with the sub being overdriven makes normal bass settings intolerable. By lowering the bass settings for the entire system the drivers in the doors cause less rattling. Yet the overdriven sub makes up for the bass deficiency.

I'm sure that others' reports that sound deadening helps a lot are accurate. However, for those not wanting to put that work in, starting with these settings seems like a good enough compromise. For now.

Also, I'd agree that satellite radio is garbage. Haven't even thought of using the free trial.

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