What channel amp for b&o

[pony2bronco]

Noob here but getting more into audio. If you're wiring essentially 7 speakers and a sub can you do that with a 5.1 Amp? Or would it require something crazy like a 7 or 8? How would you run it?

Thanks!

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[RagnarKon]

A 5.1 amp is 5 channels and 1 sub channel. Essentially means you can only wire up 5 speakers and one woofer if you are going for one speaker per channel. You can hook up more than 5 speakers if you want, but they would have to share channels.

BUT... if you are looking at a 5.1 amp that would imply that amp is also capable of some digital signal processing. Since the B&O sound system already has it's own DSP, you likely just want a vanilla amp that can take in speaker/line-level input and has minimal processing capabilities.

The stock Bronco sound system is a 4-channel system, two channels in the front, two in the rear—the front kick panels and the two instrument panel speakers share a channel. B&O is a 7.2 system, two channels in the rear, 5 channels in the front, and two separate sub channels.

It isn't fully clear to me why there are two separate sub channels since they are fed to the same woofer, but maybe they got some noise canceling or frequency channeling magic going on. If I am being honest, I am not super familiar with B&O's systems, so many someone with more knowledge than I can chime in and explain to us why there are two separate channels going to the woofer. Back when I was doing a lot of car audio, 90% of the upgrades I did was on lower end systems, and the few upgrades I did on the higher-end factory systems is back when Ford was primarily using Sony for their high-end audio packages.

EDIT— Just occurred to me... I betcha that woofer setup is actually a bridged channel.

 

[pony2bronco]

Thanks for the detailed reply! Still not 100% sure what I'm going to go with but I'll figure it out

 

[MKZoom]

A 5.1 amp is 5 channels and 1 sub channel. Essentially means you can only wire up 5 speakers and one woofer if you are going for one speaker per channel. You can hook up more than 5 speakers if you want, but they would have to share channels.

BUT... if you are looking at a 5.1 amp that would imply that amp is also capable of some digital signal processing. Since the B&O sound system already has it's own DSP, you likely just want a vanilla amp that can take in speaker/line-level input and has minimal processing capabilities.

The stock Bronco sound system is a 4-channel system, two channels in the front, two in the rear—the front kick panels and the two instrument panel speakers share a channel. B&O is a 7.2 system, two channels in the rear, 5 channels in the front, and two separate sub channels.

It isn't fully clear to me why there are two separate sub channels since they are fed to the same woofer, but maybe they got some noise canceling or frequency channeling magic going on. If I am being honest, I am not super familiar with B&O's systems, so many someone with more knowledge than I can chime in and explain to us why there are two separate channels going to the woofer. Back when I was doing a lot of car audio, 90% of the upgrades I did was on lower end systems, and the few upgrades I did on the higher-end factory systems is back when Ford was primarily using Sony for their high-end audio packages.

EDIT— Just occurred to me... I betcha that woofer setup is actually a bridged channel.

basically correct, the sub is a dual coil sub so its set up as one channel for each coil as it is the most power hungry speaker.

i will say using home theater terminology can lead to confusion here as although there is 9 channels of amplification its not quite accurate to call it a 7.2 system.

the X.X terminology is used for home theater to describe how many locations the sound will come from. in the car its not a direct comparison as although there is 10 individual speakers creating sound, its effectively a 5.1 setup.
Front Left (tweeter, mid, woofer)
Center (mid)
Front Right(tweeter, mid, woofer)
Rear Left (mid)
Rear Right (mid)
1 subwoofer

(again this is getting into the weeds and comes down to terminology and a bit of semantics but i dont want someone to have a misconception on what "hardware" there is)

 

[pony2bronco]

its effectively a 5.1 setup.
Front Left (tweeter, mid, woofer)
Center (mid)
Front Right(tweeter, mid, woofer)
Rear Left (mid)
Rear Right (mid)
1 subwoofer

What about the 2 kick panel speakers? Or are you saying they're shared? Would be difficult getting them on the same output on Amp since they have a higher power req?

 

[49faith]

Thanks for asking this question. I've been curious too. Is there just a simple way to amplify all speaker lines from the DSP or head unit?

 

[MKZoom]

What about the 2 kick panel speakers? Or are you saying they're shared? Would be difficult getting them on the same output on Amp since they have a higher power req?

Im not 100% sure what your question is. im including the lower kick panel speakers as part of the front left and front right.

this is where it gets confusing though, although the kick panel woofer+ the IP coax act "similarly" to a single tower speaker in a home theater setup they require a channel for each physical speaker whereas a home theater tower speaker would usually be a single channel.

So from an amp point of view you have 9 total channels of amplification (6 on the B&o, 3 on the headunit iirc)
from a speaker count standpoint you have 10 speakers
from a surround sound POV you have 5.1

so for this reason i would avoid using the X.X notation on amplifiers, its best suited to describe surround sound formats and the locations of speakers in a vehicle.

 

[Ground_zero298]

I wired mine a little different. I only had the 6 speaker setup.

I tapped the left and right kick panels. I turned those into 3 channels.
Chan 1 left dash and left rear
Chan 2 right dash and right rear
Chan 3 and 4 kicks
Chan 5 and 6 sub

then was able to adjust everything in the dsp setting. Backs blend excellent with the fronts like that in a 2 door.

I tuned my kicks first, then the fronts and backs. Last was the sub.

 

[Hossfire]

For the B&O, if you want to do more amplification than adding a sub, you probably need this: https://navtv.com/products/NTV-KIT889/zen-a2b-dsp12a-a2b.html

You lose the factory amp/dsp but it gives you a digital signal to feed the new amp(s) that is leveled, removes the factory dsp and maintains all the nav and chimes/alerts.

Many people find that swapping the cheap factory 4" speakers with decent aftermarket and adding an aftermarket sub with a dedicated sub amp is a good compromise of $s and sound quality improvement.

 

[pony2bronco]

For the B&O, if you want to do more amplification than adding a sub, you probably need this: https://navtv.com/products/NTV-KIT889/zen-a2b-dsp12a-a2b.html

You lose the factory amp/dsp but it gives you a digital signal to feed the new amp(s) that is leveled, removes the factory dsp and maintains all the nav and chimes/alerts.

Many people find that swapping the cheap factory 4" speakers with decent aftermarket and adding an aftermarket sub with a dedicated sub amp is a good compromise of $s and sound quality improvement.

Yeah, that's where I'm at now after doing a 5 speaker replacement. Was happy for a while after speaker replacement but now I'm hungry for more and want to hear the rears/sub and upgrade the kick panels so amp is the only way to go.

 

[RHeinz]

I’m not sure why you would want to mess with the B&O system….. I think it is excellent for its application. Plenty loud enough to cause a serious hearing loss over time.

Oh, I’m probably missing the part about cruising in front of Walmart with the windows down (or top off!) and the base speaker at 1200 watts…. WAMP, WAMP-WAMP, WAMP, WAMP-WAMP…….

Admittedly, an old guy.

 

[JBMas]

I have BadSquatch with lux B&O that is just ok. There is really no great clarity and sound separation quality. I see many just upgrading all speakers but in doing research, I see experts saying upgrading the amp which would entail a DSP processor may do more with existing speakers. Any experience of the two routes which are about a grand either way?

 

[a94cobra]

Sound quality is an opinion in most cases. Some like it louder, some like it clearer, some like more bass, some like more tweeter.

I thought the base was the worst stereo setup I have ever got in a factory car. I havn't heard the B&O so I can't say.

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