Speaker Upgrade Question - Need Advice!

[texasmark04]

So, doing a speaker upgrade for my 2022 OBX 4-door with the B&O premium system. I'm going to swap out all of the 4" in dash and rear pods, and the kick panels. Going to add my own amplification and bypass the B&O factory amp. I already have the ZEN Audio Interface kit to bypass the B&O DSP/Factory Amp that way I can add my own amplification. I already purchased Memphis Audio 6.5" MJP6 for the kick panels. I will an JL Audio XD 700/5v2 5 channel amp to power the speakers. I was talking with Crutchfield and I originally was looking at doing the Hertz DCX 100.3 for my 4" replacements. They told me those speakers would not suffice for the amplification I'm looking at. They recommended the Kicker 47KSC404 instead of the Hertz.

Anyone have an experience with these Kickers? Would you recommend? Anyone have them connected to non-factor Amplifier? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

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[MOBRONCO]

So the Hertz are far more efficient than the Kickers, the Kickers will need over twice the power to create the same volume. So even though the Hertz may not be able to handle that much power, they will get plenty loud anyway. Also understand that speakers are not a resistive (constant) load on your amplifier, they are reactive.

I would not hesitate to use the Hertz over the kickers, but for either speaker I would make sure to add an inline filter to roll off the bass frequencies, often referred to as a bass blocker, 300-400 Hz is typically good for a 4” speaker.

 

[texasmark04]

So the Hertz are far more efficient than the Kickers, the Kickers will need over twice the power to create the same volume. So even though the Hertz may not be able to handle that much power, they will get plenty loud anyway. Also understand that speakers are not a resistive (constant) load on your amplifier, they are reactive.

I would not hesitate to use the Hertz over the kickers, but for either speaker I would make sure to add an inline filter to roll off the bass frequencies, often referred to as a bass blocker, 300-400 Hz is typically good for a 4” speaker.

Thanks for quick reply. With having the center speaker, will I need at least 8 channel amp to run all the dash (3 speakers), rears (2 speaker) and the kick panels (2) or can I get away with a 6 channel amp and the 3 dash speakers can be bridged to run on 2 channels?

 

[PghBronco]

So, doing a speaker upgrade for my 2022 OBX 4-door with the B&O premium system. I'm going to swap out all of the 4" in dash and rear pods, and the kick panels. Going to add my own amplification and bypass the B&O factory amp. I already have the ZEN Audio Interface kit to bypass the B&O DSP/Factory Amp that way I can add my own amplification. I already purchased Memphis Audio 6.5" MJP6 for the kick panels. I will an JL Audio XD 700/5v2 5 channel amp to power the speakers. I was talking with Crutchfield and I originally was looking at doing the Hertz DCX 100.3 for my 4" replacements. They told me those speakers would not suffice for the amplification I'm looking at. They recommended the Kicker 47KSC404 instead of the Hertz.

Anyone have an experience with these Kickers? Would you recommend? Anyone have them connected to non-factor Amplifier? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

They simp for kickers.. Its probably their most recommended brand. When I called to budget mine I started the convo with " I am not putting sh!tty kickers in my bronco." So now im on my third set of morels...

 

[texasmark04]

They simp for kickers.. Its probably their most recommended brand. When I called to budget mine I started the convo with " I am not putting sh!tty kickers in my bronco." So now im on my third set of morels...

That doesn't sound very good for Morels!

 

[DJ1]

Thanks for quick reply. With having the center speaker, will I need at least 8 channel amp to run all the dash (3 speakers), rears (2 speaker) and the kick panels (2) or can I get away with a 6 channel amp and the 3 dash speakers can be bridged to run on 2 channels?

You will have a lot going on with that setup. Do you want to control each speaker independently or have them work together as driver front, passenger front, etc? If you go to a 6- or 8-channel amp you will still need another amp for sub(s). You will also be doing a lot of manual tuning to get everything working together.

I am running a 5-channel amp to power 6 speakers and a sub to try and make things relatively simple: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...-dsp-speakers-and-sub-lots-of-pictures.43856/

Using a mix of passive and active crossovers through the DSP. You can use bass blockers, as someone else suggested, but I prefer the DSP route for more control and having one less thing to wire in. JL Audio makes a really good DSP/amp combo if you want to stay with JL for your amp.

 

[texasmark04]

You will have a lot going on with that setup. Do you want to control each speaker independently or have them work together as driver front, passenger front, etc? If you go to a 6- or 8-channel amp you will still need another amp for sub(s). You will also be doing a lot of manual tuning to get everything working together.

I am running a 5-channel amp to power 6 speakers and a sub to try and make things relatively simple: https://www.bronco6g.com/forum/thre...-dsp-speakers-and-sub-lots-of-pictures.43856/

Using a mix of passive and active crossovers through the DSP. You can use bass blockers, as someone else suggested, but I prefer the DSP route for more control and having one less thing to wire in. JL Audio makes a really good DSP/amp combo if you want to stay with JL for your amp.

I went with an Alpine DSP/amp combo (8 channel). Like you mentioned, I will need to get a separate amp for the sub. I'm going to see how it sounds with keeping the factor 8" sub and giving it some amplification. If it sucks, then I will look at swapping out the sub. I just don't want to lose space in the back.

 

[Wolfeman]

I went with an Alpine DSP/amp combo (8 channel). Like you mentioned, I will need to get a separate amp for the sub. I'm going to see how it sounds with keeping the factor 8" sub and giving it some amplification. If it sucks, then I will look at swapping out the sub. I just don't want to lose space in the back.

I am hoping for great results and looking forward to hearing your reviews and anything you'd do the same or different.

 

[texasmark04]

I am hoping for great results and looking forward to hearing your reviews and anything you'd do the same or different.

so finally got around to getting my stereo upgrade completed. Here are the components I went with:

1. Kicker 47KSC404 KS series Low Profile 4inch 4Ohm 15 to 75 watts RMS Power Coaxial (used to replace all 3 dash speakers and back speakers, 5 total).

2. Memphis audio 6.5" Pro audio Midrange speakers 250 watts Max 4Ohm (used to replace the kick door area speakers)

3. SRQ Customs Subwoofer Enclosure with 8" Kicker L7T subwoofer (replaces factor B&O subwoofer by utilizing the same space but with custom built enclosure)

4. NAV-TV ZEN-A2B/DSP12A-A2B audio interface (allows me to keep my factory head unit with all standard functionality in place and bypass the B&O internal amp system)

5. Alpine S-A60M Mono Subwoofer amplifier 600watts RMS x 1 2Ohms (pushing the sub unit)

6. Alpine PXE-0850X 8 channel DSP amplifier 25wattsRMS x 8 (pushing all of the Kicker and Memphis audio speakers - 7 total)

Had everything custom installed at local shop here in San Antonio, TX. The DSP is a very sophisticated set of equipment that can be fine tuned through computer. I had the installer do all of the settings, but may need to read up and understand if I can play with the setting myself at a later time. But the sound is amazing, I can actually hear the music with Windows down and soft-top off (I couldn't hear crap with the B&O). Bass is decent with the new 8" kicker sub, definitely hits much harder than the factor B&O sub, but wish I could have moved up to a 10" (maybe a later investment). All in all, super happy with the new audio in the car, the installed and owner of the audio shop were super impressed with all of the components I purchased. the only recommendation they made was getting a separate amp to run the 2 Memphis audio speakers in the kicker panel areas, they could use some more power. I may look at adding a 3 alpine amp here this summer to run just those Memphis 6.5's.

 

[James_Nguyen_1985]

If

so finally got around to getting my stereo upgrade completed. Here are the components I went with:

1. Kicker 47KSC404 KS series Low Profile 4inch 4Ohm 15 to 75 watts RMS Power Coaxial (used to replace all 3 dash speakers and back speakers, 5 total).

2. Memphis audio 6.5" Pro audio Midrange speakers 250 watts Max 4Ohm (used to replace the kick door area speakers)

3. SRQ Customs Subwoofer Enclosure with 8" Kicker L7T subwoofer (replaces factor B&O subwoofer by utilizing the same space but with custom built enclosure)

4. NAV-TV ZEN-A2B/DSP12A-A2B audio interface (allows me to keep my factory head unit with all standard functionality in place and bypass the B&O internal amp system)

5. Alpine S-A60M Mono Subwoofer amplifier 600watts RMS x 1 2Ohms (pushing the sub unit)

6. Alpine PXE-0850X 8 channel DSP amplifier 25wattsRMS x 8 (pushing all of the Kicker and Memphis audio speakers - 7 total)

Had everything custom installed at local shop here in San Antonio, TX. The DSP is a very sophisticated set of equipment that can be fine tuned through computer. I had the installer do all of the settings, but may need to read up and understand if I can play with the setting myself at a later time. But the sound is amazing, I can actually hear the music with Windows down and soft-top off (I couldn't hear crap with the B&O). Bass is decent with the new 8" kicker sub, definitely hits much harder than the factor B&O sub, but wish I could have moved up to a 10" (maybe a later investment). All in all, super happy with the new audio in the car, the installed and owner of the audio shop were super impressed with all of the components I purchased. the only recommendation they made was getting a separate amp to run the 2 Memphis audio speakers in the kicker panel areas, they could use some more power. I may look at adding a 3 alpine amp here this summer to run just those Memphis 6.5's.

Hi Mark, thanks for sharing this info. It’s very informative for someone like myself who’s also looking to upgrade. If you don’t mind me asking, how much you paid for labor? Just wanted to see if I could also pay someone to do it for me if it’s within budget.
Thanks so much!

 

[Billnchristy]

Just for future reader's reference. Wattage doesn't kill speakers, distortion kills speakers. You will *never* within reason hit peak output on an amp driving crossed over mids/highs and if you did you wouldn't want to be in the car.

A good example, my Sansui 8080db puts out 94wpc and drives my mains at home. I have 2 12" subs. If I listen at "party" volume (90+db) I'm pushing probably 2-5wpc on the amp.

 

[texasmark04]

If


Hi Mark, thanks for sharing this info. It’s very informative for someone like myself who’s also looking to upgrade. If you don’t mind me asking, how much you paid for labor? Just wanted to see if I could also pay someone to do it for me if it’s within budget.
Thanks so much!

$1200 for everything. Dropped of at noon on a Thursday, they didn’t finish until 6pm the next day on Friday.

 

[James_Nguyen_1985]

Thank you!!! That’s definitely a good price

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