Our Limited has the more elaborate of the B&O rigs available. Instead, I was experiencing something called ECS: Externally Coupled Subwoofer, a patented feature shared by either of two B&O systems in the F-150 (also added to the Ford Mustang Mach-E). I investigated and did not find subwoofers sunk into the floor pan like our Best of 2019 Genesis G70 or the kick panel like the FrontBass system that debuted in the 2013 Mercedes-Benz SL-Class roadster - both of which were innovations of Harman Kardon, a sister brand of Bang & Olufsen Automotive under Harman International, a parent company recently acquired by Samsung. So when I heard, and felt, the bass in a 2021 F-150 with the B&O Unleashed system for the first time, then looked behind me to see an empty cab, I admit I was perplexed. The previous-generation F-150 offered a B&O Play system with a plastic subwoofer enclosure nicely hidden behind the rear seats that did a decent job, but it wasn’t - couldn’t be - big enough to deliver the goods. Pickup trucks like our Limited SuperCrew are roomier than ever, but they’re trying to maintain their capacity to work, so the same manufacturing restrictions apply here as in hatchbacks: The less added bulk, the better. What was always frustrating about this is that, by contrast, sedan and coupe manufacturers (or owners) could exploit one of the few examples of “free bass” by mounting a modest woofer or two in the car’s rear deck - a configuration that turns the whole trunk into a giant speaker enclosure and provides bass extension that puts the average SUV to shame.Īt this point, you may be fuming at me that the F-150 isn’t a hatchback or SUV, but it’s close in audio terms because it lacks the all-important trunk. They’re also typically made of injection-molded plastic, which is light and formable (thumbs up from weight-conscious automakers), but not very rigid (the last thing a respectable speaker designer would choose). The problem is that they seldom provide enough volume (i.e., interior enclosure volume, not audio “volume”) to deliver deep sub-bass. Instead, they steal whatever space they can with custom-molded subwoofer modules that usually nest in spare tires or the side walls of cargo areas, and these provisions do from very little to a surprisingly good job - for what they are.
The reason is that deep bass frequencies generally require a combination of a large woofer (or woofers) and a sizable enclosure to do so, and automakers don’t want to give up much interior space to accomplish this. The enclosure houses a pair of 12TW3 12-inch subwoofers.View all 2021 Ford F-150 models for sale near 60606Īs the staff fossil and a veteran of the late Car Stereo Review magazine, among others, I’ve been explaining in these evaluations how sound systems in SUVs and hatchbacks struggle to produce extended (deep) bass. The 600-watt subwoofer channel of the amp drives a JL Audio SB-F-150-SCDBL/12TW3/BK StealthBox subwoofer system that fits perfectly under the rear bench seat of the trunk. We also installed a DRC-205 remote level control so the clients can fine-tune the bass level.
#Ford f150 stereo upgrade tutorial pro
The amp is wired with Stinger Pro power wire and is protected by an SPD5801 fuse.
We added an APA-TOS1 TOSLINK interface so we could use a fiber optic cable to connect to the JL Audio VXi amplifier for maximum performance. We used a PAC AmpPro AP4-FD21 interface to connect a JL Audio VX1000/5i five-channel amplifier to the factory radio. Ford F-150 Stereo System Integration The purpose-built JL Audio Stealthbox was a perfect fit under the rear seats. They gave us the go-ahead to upgrade their Ford F-150 stereo. His wife was very impressed with the sound in the truck as it addressed all of her concerns.
#Ford f150 stereo upgrade tutorial full
Armed with a full understanding of how and why we designed the upgrade we did, he decided he would come back with his wife and audition a similar system we had installed. Unfortunately, they hadn’t considered the client’s goals for the system and we felt that the result wouldn’t be much of an improvement. The client was surprised at the complexity of our proposal and showed us a quote from a shop in Tampa that was about a third of the cost. After listening to their concerns, we proposed a fairly elaborate upgrade with a premium digital source unit interface, a high-quality DSP-equipped amplifier, new speakers and a subwoofer. We discussed what she liked about the existing audio system and where they thought it could use improvement. His wife wasn’t impressed with the sound of the factory stereo system. A client from The Villages recently dropped into Ocala Car Audio to talk about a 2016 Ford F-150 stereo upgrade project.
0 kommentar(er)
