Is The B&O Unleashed really this bad?

[ramv]

So backing down the bass and adding some mid and moving the fade back seems to have helped but only listened to some classic rock, not my normal tunes (Octane, RTB, Turbo.)

The reviews and information on the Sounds Good behind the seats subs/amp sounds pretty good even for XM listeners.

Install looks fairly straight forward. Run the power on driver side? Where does the sub control knob go?

 

[JM454]

So what I'm understanding is that the stock 6 speaker system in my XLT actually produces better broad spectrum sound than the B&O... Good thing I like things simple.

Ford has had a bad habit since they stopped the Audiophile system of the base system being better. Last time these had a good audio system was 2009 or so. I remember when my dad traded his 11 XLT in on a 16 Lariat Ultimate the Sony system was a huge let down compared to the XLT’s no name. My current XLT Premium has the 8-speaker B&O and I think my STX F-150 sounded better

 

[ramv]

which is some what bizarre. I had a Cadillac CTS Coupe and I don’t recall what they branded it but it was far better than the system in my Chevy. Plus had the noise cancelling built in. That car was silent inside at 100 mph plus. The BMW is similar but it’s a name brand. My Ram was just on the adequate side. Clean sound just not powerful and definitely not noise cancelling or anything. Just felt like it was a mid range system (Laramie not a premium trim) but a good one.

 

[Avslash]

I've been stalking some of your pics of your Focal install, when you wired up the new speakers did you run all of the Focal crossovers or just plug the new speakers directly in to the OEM wiring?

I had a set of Focal Flax 2way components in my old F150 (and another set of their Access series coax's in a previous truck), been interested in a setup like yours for my current truck but not quite ready to drop the nearly $10k on the SoundsGood plug an play setup with those speakers. I can stomach $3-4k a little easier.

I did not use the crossovers that came with the Focals. I was leery of stacking another crossover in what has to be an already processed signal. The only niggle I have with the current setup is some very bass intensive songs overpowering the front door mid range drivers. I have been contemplating experimenting with the Focal crossovers mounted in the front doors but haven’t gotten around to it at this point.

When I say bass intensive, I mean ‘80s gangsta rap turned up to levels that would have my wife and daughters screaming. It’s a non-issue 99% of the time and for stacking speakers in front of an amp not tuned for them I can’t complain. That is the type of issue a custom tuned dsp/amp would solve, but in honestly don’t think the improvement would be worth the additional $2-$3k.

Also, if you b look around there are some VERY good deals out of Europe on audio components. We evidently get to pay a premium here. Maybe more risk than some are willing to tolerate, but I have always had good luck buying over there and waiting on the shipping.

If you have any detailed questions, post them up and I’ll do my best to assist.

 

[Avslash]

So backing down the bass and adding some mid and moving the fade back seems to have helped but only listened to some classic rock, not my normal tunes (Octane, RTB, Turbo.)

The reviews and information on the Sounds Good behind the seats subs/amp sounds pretty good even for XM listeners.

Install looks fairly straight forward. Run the power on driver side? Where does the sub control knob go?

I put it here. I might eventually break it down and flush mount it.

 

[ramv]

that was my thought too. I like your EGT gauge.

 

[jorligan]

You will notice the most improvement with sound deadener in the door and block off plates. A good test of the stock system is play Go from the Chemical Brothers and you will hear how badly the doors rattle.

Currently, Full sound deadener in the doors with Focal 6.5 K series coax in the rear doors. Front doors with Dynaudio Esotec MW 172 woofers in the doors. Image Dynamics 3 1/2 coax center channel. HUGE improvement especially with the bass. Still need to get the subwoofer sorted out (2 Focal 10 inch Flax in a cabinet under the seat) after I remove the storage cubby.

 

[ramv]

I really like the behind the seat sub (I don’t need crazy bass) but the door speakers are the issue. My initial thought was if I add the rear sub if I can dial down bass on the primary system and take the vibration out of the doors. It worked on my 2nd Gen Ram Infinity system (200 watt RMS sub) but i’m sure improvement on the doors would be huge

 

[jorligan]

I really like the behind the seat sub (I don’t need crazy bass) but the door speakers are the issue. My initial thought was if I add the rear sub if I can dial down bass on the primary system and take the vibration out of the doors. It worked on my 2nd Gen Ram Infinity system (200 watt RMS sub) but i’m sure improvement on the doors would be huge

I have the same behind the seat sub system in my 21 F150. This is the one from soundsgoodstereo. Nice sub and definitely helps but you still need to dampen the doors. VERY easy to remove door panels and put in sound deadening. Soundsgoodstereo actually has a full kit for the rear sub, door panel blocks and sound deadening.

 

[ramv]

that sounds great

 

[StockHeightIsBest]

more than a couple threads on this subject. And yeah the B&O system falls a little short. I don’t understand why they put so many speakers in the truck. If they spent twice as much on the quality and put half as many speakers in the truck it would sound so much better

This is the exact same argument I've had about the C8 Corvette interior. 14 is overkill; 6-8 with QUALITY in the right places--would be far better.

 

[StockHeightIsBest]

The problem with the B&O is the lack of full base.


The Bose systems / alpine ect IMO aren’t as good with the highs but have fuller base which makes the system seem better because most people judge a system based on mids and base.

If you add a real sub behind/ under the back seat all the sudden you will think the B&O is really good. It is what it is

I cannot express how much I desire a 10" sealed sub in the back. Most factory subs are 8" max, and most are ported.

 

[Blade420Play🔪🏆]

At the gas station the other day with the radio all the way up playing some sublime. Got out and was pumping gas and the damn thing sounds better outside the truck. Almost sounded like it would be great on the inside. Then I got back in.... Wonder if we're losing all of our bass to the rear wall.

I e never had show quality bass. But, the "center console box" I built in place of my f150 jump seat would blow this "system" out of the water and it was off brand stuff I got from my wife's cousin for $150.
And I built the damn thing, only one I've ever built

 

[Donnie With A Dee]

somewhere at a Dokken show back in the 1980s.

I knew I liked you! Still to this day one of my top 5 favorite bands. I own EVERY Dokken ever made, ironically, except Don's solo album Up From The Ashes.

 

[Optimus🤖]

Download your songs to a flash drive in FLAC files. You'll be amazed.

 

[StockHeightIsBest]

Download your songs to a flash drive in FLAC files. You'll be amazed.

Sure. But the Truck will still choke on figuring out how to use a USB when you start it up. No matter how long it's been installed in the truck. Ford is really behind on this.

 

[Optimus🤖]

Sure. But the Truck will still choke on figuring out how to use a USB when you start it up. No matter how long it's been installed in the truck. Ford is really behind on this.

Actually, if your SYNC system is 'choking' or re-indexing the USB drive every single time you start the truck, that’s a sign of a hardware or file issue, not a Ford problem.

SYNC is designed to build an index database the first time you plug a drive in. On subsequent startups, it simply checks for changes and boots up almost instantly, right where the song left off. If it’s starting the indexing process over every time, it means the system is failing to complete and save its initial index.

This almost always happens for one of three reasons:

1. Wrong Formatting: The drive should be formatted to exFAT (Master Boot Record). Using NTFS or an improper FAT32 partition often causes the system to hang.

2. Hidden or Corrupt Files: If you loaded the FLAC files using a Mac, it invisibly drops metadata files (like .DS_Store or ._ files) into the folders. SYNC tries to read these as media files, hangs up, and fails the index. Bad ID3 tags or embedded album art that is too large will do the exact same thing.

3. Slow Hardware: Using an older, cheap, or slow USB 2.0 thumb drive will cause the system to time out when reading larger FLAC libraries.

If you use a high-quality USB 3.1+ drive formatted in exFAT with clean, properly tagged FLAC files, it works seamlessly. It’s not that Ford is behind; it’s just that the system requires a clean storage environment to build its database.

 

[StockHeightIsBest]

Oh I'm aware of the NTFS vs exFAT. Everything in the world--including windows--is running on NTFS (My E-Ray did). But then you have exFAT being required where engineers haven't kept pace with technology. Oddly, it plays fine in my Isuzu's aftermarket Pioneer headunit.

You couldn't pay me to own a mac. I may be frivolous with my money at times, but I'm not THAT frivolous.

It's a usb adapter playing an micro SD card with 32 GB file speed. I'm 100% certain that this is not the problem.

 

[Optimus🤖]

Oh I'm aware of the NTFS vs exFAT. Everything in the world--including windows--is running on NTFS (My E-Ray did). But then you have exFAT being required where engineers haven't kept pace with technology. Oddly, it plays fine in my Isuzu's aftermarket Pioneer headunit.

You couldn't pay me to own a mac. I may be frivolous with my money at times, but I'm not THAT frivolous.

It's a usb adapter playing an micro SD card with 32 GB file speed. I'm 100% certain that this is not the problem.

Glad we can agree on skipping the Mac. But you've got it completely backward on exFAT, and your hardware setup is the exact reason your system is choking.

First, the file system:
NTFS isn't 'newer' or 'better' for this application; it's a journaling file system designed for internal hard drives. Microsoft specifically designed exFAT for flash memory (USB drives and SD cards) because the constant journaling overhead of NTFS degrades flash memory and bogs down read/write times. The SD Association literally mandates exFAT as the industry standard for all SDXC cards. Ford’s engineers aren’t behind the times—they are requiring the correct, industry-standard file format for flash media.

Second, the hardware:
'32 GB file speed' isn't a thing. 32 GB is a capacity, not a speed rating (like Class 10, U3, or V30). But more importantly, you are using a micro-SD card shoved into a USB adapter. That introduces an extra, usually very cheap, bridge controller chip between the memory card and the truck.

Wanna know why why your Pioneer works and SYNC doesn't:
Aftermarket head units usually just act like dumb terminals that read folders on demand. SYNC is trying to build a massive, relational database so you can use voice commands to say 'Play artist Pink Floyd.' Those micro-SD USB adapters are notorious for latency spikes and micro-disconnects. If that adapter drops communication for even a millisecond while SYNC is compiling its index, the build fails. The next time you start the truck, SYNC has to start the index completely over.

Ditch the multi-piece adapter. Get a high-quality, native USB 3.1 flash drive. It will index once, boot instantly, and you won't have to keep blaming Ford for your hardware bottlenecks.

 

[Blade420Play🔪🏆]

I think it sounds decent for a stock system, but when I turn it off, all I hear is EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE.

Moral of the story: wear your earpro...

WHAT?!?