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Unorthodox B&O System Upgrade

EquusBronsis

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Well I’m guessing unorthodox in the car audio world but not in the home audio world.

I wanted to wait until I received the Bronco before passing judgement on the B&O system. Reviews from other people like trash, sounds like shit or chest pounding bass really don’t tell you much other than they must like it or dislike it. So one of the first things I did was run a FLAC copy of certain tracks of “My Disc” by Sheffield Labs. As per their description, “For critical evaluation of audio components, listening environments, and your critical listening ability”. The system actually did fairly well. But in my opinion the treble and bass were over emphasized, the treble tipped to the higher end with some “roughness”; the bass was just over done and flubby. I try to run my systems “flat” across the frequency range and let the artist/producer dictate the sound. In addition to “flat” sound I wanted the timbre of all the speakers to be close to the same.

So the experiment begin, because that’s what you do in the audiophool world……

First thing I purchased another B&O speaker from Ford and requested anybody’s B&O take off’s on this forum. So I replaced the center and rear pods with B&O speakers for the same timbre all around.

Next, I replaced the 3.9uF garbage capacitors with audio quality Solen SB capacitors on the R/L/C dash speakers.

With the dash speakers I used sound dampening on the rear of the magnets and cages. Then I used Sound Barrier Foam at the back of each enclosure and a Black Hole America type (denim) lining the enclosure. This is to mitigate the back of wave of the speakers.

On the kick panel speakers I remove the speakers and used the same materials and technique as the dash speakers. In addition I used sound dampening material on the plastic kick panels to reduce resonance frequency of them.

In the rear pods I lined the “pods” with sound dampening material and partially stuffed with acoustic material.

Last I ran a frequency test with a sound meter. I reduced the treble and bass and increase the midrange.

The systems plays beautifully. The capacitors made a big difference. The treble is taken from the higher level to a lower level emphasis with increased clarity. Roughness is gone. There is now more separation between instruments, voices, nice decay on the cymbals, ambiance of the recording environment is better revealed plus a lot of depth and separation in the sound stage. The system is revealing, so shit will sound like shit!

Oh, one more thing, the B&O speakers in the rear pods play much louder then the stock (base) speakers.
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FlyingScot

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Well that's a rare thing, seeing someone try and 'save' the stock speakers in a car audio situation!

Do you have any pictures from your capacitor replacement?
 
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EquusBronsis

EquusBronsis

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Well that's a rare thing, seeing someone try and 'save' the stock speakers in a car audio situation!

Do you have any pictures from your capacitor replacement?
Rare for me too. But I got a solder iron and I'm not afraid to use It. I've been playing in audio equipment since the early 70's; throwing 8 Tracks in my friends cars. I've built speakers, equipment and modified a lot of stuff so it was kinda a no brainer.


Nope I didn't take any pic's. The new capacitors were MUCH larger than the old ones and had to be custom fitted for each enclosure. I used 3M Auto tape for emblems to hold the capacitor to the speaker basket.
 

Blaylock1988

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This sounds like a great improvement without spending tons of money or wiring up more equipment. Thanks!
 

mhtucker78

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Obligatory “when I get my bronco” was gonna reuse front take offs in the back pods and just replace the front three. Got any pictures?
 

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MyBHinds

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Well I’m guessing unorthodox in the car audio world but not in the home audio world.

I wanted to wait until I received the Bronco before passing judgement on the B&O system. Reviews from other people like trash, sounds like shit or chest pounding bass really don’t tell you much other than they must like it or dislike it. So one of the first things I did was run a FLAC copy of certain tracks of “My Disc” by Sheffield Labs. As per their description, “For critical evaluation of audio components, listening environments, and your critical listening ability”. The system actually did fairly well. But in my opinion the treble and bass were over emphasized, the treble tipped to the higher end with some “roughness”; the bass was just over done and flubby. I try to run my systems “flat” across the frequency range and let the artist/producer dictate the sound. In addition to “flat” sound I wanted the timbre of all the speakers to be close to the same.

So the experiment begin, because that’s what you do in the audiophool world……

First thing I purchased another B&O speaker from Ford and requested anybody’s B&O take off’s on this forum. So I replaced the center and rear pods with B&O speakers for the same timbre all around.

Next, I replaced the 3.9uF garbage capacitors with audio quality Solen SB capacitors on the R/L/C dash speakers.

With the dash speakers I used sound dampening on the rear of the magnets and cages. Then I used Sound Barrier Foam at the back of each enclosure and a Black Hole America type (denim) lining the enclosure. This is to mitigate the back of wave of the speakers.

On the kick panel speakers I remove the speakers and used the same materials and technique as the dash speakers. In addition I used sound dampening material on the plastic kick panels to reduce resonance frequency of them.

In the rear pods I lined the “pods” with sound dampening material and partially stuffed with acoustic material.

Last I ran a frequency test with a sound meter. I reduced the treble and bass and increase the midrange.

The systems plays beautifully. The capacitors made a big difference. The treble is taken from the higher level to a lower level emphasis with increased clarity. Roughness is gone. There is now more separation between instruments, voices, nice decay on the cymbals, ambiance of the recording environment is better revealed plus a lot of depth and separation in the sound stage. The system is revealing, so shit will sound like shit!

Oh, one more thing, the B&O speakers in the rear pods play much louder then the stock (base) speakers.
For the Solen caps, what voltage did you get. Do you have a link to the ones you used perhaps?
 
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EquusBronsis

EquusBronsis

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Obligatory “when I get my bronco” was gonna reuse front take offs in the back pods and just replace the front three. Got any pictures?
Sorry no pics, but you will have to do some cutting and/or drilling to mount B&O's in the rear pods
 
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EquusBronsis

EquusBronsis

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For the Solen caps, what voltage did you get. Do you have a link to the ones you used perhaps?
https://www.partsconnexion.com/SOLEN-51541_ss43783.html

I choose the Solen after reading a review in Humble Homemade HiFi. It's description is what I thought the B&O needed plus it's price point. I've used other brands such as Clarity Caps, Sonic Craft, etc.

"Solen Fast Cap SB Film & Foil 150VDC - 3% tolerance

Technical specifications (according to manufacturer): "Tin foil / polypropylene film capacitor; dielectric: bi-axially oriented polypropylene film; round tubular "Square Aspect Ratio" type; axial leads; coating: white plastic tape wrapped, black epoxy resin sealed; electrodes: pure tin foil; winding: bifilar extended foil design; non-inductive, contact: radially knurled extended foil; connectors: tinned plated oxygen free pure copper; capacitance 0,022uF - 4,7uF."

Sound: The Solen Fast Cap SB tin foil capacitor has a nice rich sound. The tonal balance is slightly more on the lower treble than the higher treble which gives it a nice open character and more contrast than (for example) a Mundorf EVO Silver Gold Oil and also more contrast than Solen's own Silver Sound capacitors. The SB tin foil has a nice warmish presentation of fine detail, meaning that you won't get listening fatigue during extended listening sessions. When the programme material gets complex, like with large orchestral works, the Solen Fast Cap SB doesn't get congested. For example where a Mundorf EVO Oil can let you hear all the small details that are going on in an orchestra, it gets messy when the going gets tough. The Solen SB doesn't have this problem, although maybe a fraction less detailed than the Mundorf, it maintains overview and spatial information doesn't get compressed. Comparing the Solen SB to a Mundorf MCap Supreme Classic I found the Supreme to be a little calmer in the way it presents the music. The Solen SB on the otherhand was more tangible, for example with flute music the SB was more realistic, less "in your face" even though the Supreme is calmer. As a reality check I also compared the Solen SB with the Duelund RS-Cu. The RS-Cu was far better in regards to the realism, richness of harmonic overtones, etc. But what would you expect at more than ten times the price! To conclude: I must say that I quite like these SB's!"
 

MyBHinds

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https://www.partsconnexion.com/SOLEN-51541_ss43783.html

I choose the Solen after reading a review in Humble Homemade HiFi. It's description is what I thought the B&O needed plus it's price point. I've used other brands such as Clarity Caps, Sonic Craft, etc.

"Solen Fast Cap SB Film & Foil 150VDC - 3% tolerance

Technical specifications (according to manufacturer): "Tin foil / polypropylene film capacitor; dielectric: bi-axially oriented polypropylene film; round tubular "Square Aspect Ratio" type; axial leads; coating: white plastic tape wrapped, black epoxy resin sealed; electrodes: pure tin foil; winding: bifilar extended foil design; non-inductive, contact: radially knurled extended foil; connectors: tinned plated oxygen free pure copper; capacitance 0,022uF - 4,7uF."

Sound: The Solen Fast Cap SB tin foil capacitor has a nice rich sound. The tonal balance is slightly more on the lower treble than the higher treble which gives it a nice open character and more contrast than (for example) a Mundorf EVO Silver Gold Oil and also more contrast than Solen's own Silver Sound capacitors. The SB tin foil has a nice warmish presentation of fine detail, meaning that you won't get listening fatigue during extended listening sessions. When the programme material gets complex, like with large orchestral works, the Solen Fast Cap SB doesn't get congested. For example where a Mundorf EVO Oil can let you hear all the small details that are going on in an orchestra, it gets messy when the going gets tough. The Solen SB doesn't have this problem, although maybe a fraction less detailed than the Mundorf, it maintains overview and spatial information doesn't get compressed. Comparing the Solen SB to a Mundorf MCap Supreme Classic I found the Supreme to be a little calmer in the way it presents the music. The Solen SB on the otherhand was more tangible, for example with flute music the SB was more realistic, less "in your face" even though the Supreme is calmer. As a reality check I also compared the Solen SB with the Duelund RS-Cu. The RS-Cu was far better in regards to the realism, richness of harmonic overtones, etc. But what would you expect at more than ten times the price! To conclude: I must say that I quite like these SB's!"
Thanks much for the reply. I had looked at the 150v previously so that's perfect that you used the same. Appreciate the detailed info as well.
 

BigMeatsBronco

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That all sounds neat but the BO system is not loud enough for when the top is off(or down) or the windows are open...
Amp and/or better speakers did the trick for me.
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