Is an upgrade speaker swap worth it

[BiggerBend]

Not looking for high powered amps or booming bass. Just wondering if replacing the stock speakers will make a noticeable difference? I have a stock 2024 BigBend

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[hilmar2k]

Yes. Almost doesn't matter what you replace them with. Anything will be better. I went with Kicker CS and even my wife, whose car it is and is not an audiophile, noticed an immediate improvement.

Edit: I replaced the dash and rear pod speakers. No reason to upgrade the kick panels speakers unless you're getting crazy with it.

 

[Squatch]

Yes. Almost doesn't matter what you replace them with. Anything will be better. I went with Kicker CS and even my wife, whose car it is and is not an audiophile, noticed an immediate improvement.

Edit: I replaced the dash and rear pod speakers. No reason to upgrade the kick panels speakers unless you're getting crazy with it.

I agree. Similarly, I replaced the dash and Mabett's 6.5" rear pods with entry-level Focals, used Forscan to get full-range to the rears. It's a totally different experience now, no added amplifier.

 

[Brian_B]

If you are keeping the factory amp - look for speakers with a high sensitivity rating. @burgerking has some good suggestions - you want to look for something with 90db/W or better.

Hertz and Infinity are popular choices, and both continue to work well if you decide to add an amp later on too.

Speakers with lower sensitivies will work as well, but the OEM amp may have trouble getting volume from them - so while they would be clearer, you would have trouble hearing them, especially with the top down or with some tire selections.

 

[crenca]

used Forscan to get full-range to the rears...

From this statement I assume the Ford amp/system is DSPing the rears in some way - maybe shelving lows or highs off? Is it doing same to front as well?

 

[hilmar2k]

From this statement I assume the Ford amp/system is DSPing the rears in some way - maybe shelving lows or highs off? Is it doing same to front as well?

I believe it only does it to the rears. It blocks bass.

 

[Brian_B]

There are two settings to adjust with Forscan - one would be setting the rear speakers from "Tweeter" (or "Tweeter+Sub") to "Speaker" (or "Speaker+Sub") -- which removes the bass block from the rear set.

The other is the factory EQ setting, which I believe affects all the speakers. This one you just kind of got to play with to see if you like it with or without - but most folks with aftermarket speakers I've seen turn it off for fuller/richer sound.

There will still be a roll-off below 50Hz even with the factory EQ setting off. Not much you can do about that with Forscan, but if you are running the factory sub it can't handle anything below that anyway.

And then there is a physical bass blocker - some folks like to use that in the dash corners. I think it's very subjective - some speakers have one already, and if it sounds good to you or not depends on a lot of factors. I tried one with my Infinities, and absolutely hated it, but others swear by it.

There's also talk about using a mid-bass speaker instead of a full range in the kick panels. Unless you are doing an aftermarket amp I don't think this route will yield very good results - just not enough power from the OEM amp, especially since the Kicks share with the Dash speakers, to drive a mid-bass effectively. I'd almost say upgrading the kicks at all with the factory amp isn't worth the investment. Dash and rears are definitely the low hanging fruit there.

 

[mpeugeot]

Better bang for the buck is to just get a Kicker Key 200.4 and harness from plug'n'play kits. You will get much better sound with the self-tuning programmable DSP in Bronco than you will with the speaker upgrade. The biggest problem with the stock speakers is that they are underpowered.

The harness and the Kicker 200.4 is $480 on his website.

 

[BadlandsGrizzly]

If you’re looking for some good drop in’s for the stock amp and head unit. I have two front dash speakers and a center for sale in the classifieds! They come with the plug and play harness to clip into your factory wiring.

To me the drop ins made a big difference, I’m an audiophile though and so just kept wanting more!

 

[Brian_B]

Better bang for the buck is to just get a Kicker Key 200.4 and harness from plug'n'play kits. You will get much better sound with the self-tuning programmable DSP in Bronco than you will with the speaker upgrade. The biggest problem with the stock speakers is that they are underpowered.

The harness and the Kicker 200.4 is $480 on his website.

This is a ~very~ good investment, and a ~huge~ upgrade in audio quality.

 

[Squatch]

From this statement I assume the Ford amp/system is DSPing the rears in some way - maybe shelving lows or highs off? Is it doing same to front as well?

@Brian_B beat me to it. I set my rears to "speaker" and don't have the factory sub.

Tons of B6G members get the Kicker Key 200.4 and the PlugnPlaykits harness.

Just the speaker upgrade, with PAC bass blockers in the dash, made mine a ton better. I can be an audio snob, but I have had Jeeps before. I expect audiophile sound from the new Defender. I want good sound from the Bronco, but I want to hear the engine(manual) and the outside.

@BiggerBend - I think you will be happy with what I did. I am missing lower end bass in certain songs that were mixed for it, but the rest of the range sounds much better.

***Also, two-doors have the advantage of the rear pods being closer to the driver and moar-doors might not see as much of a positive effect without amplification like the Kicker Key.

 

[Hemisfear]

Better bang for the buck is to just get a Kicker Key 200.4 and harness from plug'n'play kits. You will get much better sound with the self-tuning programmable DSP in Bronco than you will with the speaker upgrade. The biggest problem with the stock speakers is that they are underpowered.

The harness and the Kicker 200.4 is $480 on his website.

You had me until KICKER...

 

[Min_Ahn]

The stock rear speakers are basically nonexistent

 

[Figmo]

IMHO….only YOU are qualified to answer this question. it’s pointless to ask others.

Audio is like beauty. I’m sure you find your wife attractive. But somebody else might think she’s a pig.

Would I spend over $20 upgrading the audio on my B&O Bronco? No. Factory system sounds just fine to me.

But I recognize there are others out there that think it sounds like a pig. And will spend hundreds more and hours of their time to improve it.

Who’s right? We all are

 

[Brian_B]

You had me until KICKER...

They aren’t the only option. I’m running a Kenwood unit myself, and there are a lot of choices

Kicker is a popular one and it fits cleanly inside the dash with pre-wired plug and play kits readily available. But there’s nothing stopping someone from doing any brand or model they may like better

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