lawdog
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As most of you know, Ford is ditching the ***** Sony systems in 2018 to partner with Harman-owned B&O Play for its upgraded sound systems. Ford and Harman are promising an improvement over Sony, but does anyone know particulars about the F-150/Raptor system yet? I've seen reports of a 675w, 10 speaker description, I'm assuming single sub and a center channel.
I ask because the only hard info I've been able to find on actual components was in these two articles on the debut of the system for media in the Fiesta:
Ford reveal exclusive partnership with B&O PLAY: Your car audio will never sound the same again (review) - FLAVOURMAG
Media Discover B&O PLAY Sound System in All-New Ford Fiesta at “Science of Sound†| HARMAN
This article says the 2018 Expedition will have a 12 speaker B&O Play system:
2018 Ford Expedition Is The Ultimate Towing Machine! : Auto News : Auto World News
I was on the fence about buying a late 2017 or ordering a 2018, and the option for a better stock sound system may tip the scales for me. The press review (shocker) was positive, but who knows. What have y'all heard/seen? Could it be any worse than the Sony?
[EDIT - ADDED MY REVIEW NOW THAT I HAVE THE TRUCK]
Well, it's been two weeks, and here's my amateur review of the B&O system:
Overall, not bad, for a factory setup. I still haven't heard a Sony yet to see if it's better, but I assume so based on what others have said/what I've read.
To me, and like almost all factory systems it seems, it has way too much mid-bass bias in stock modes. This system seems to push a lot of bass to the lower speakers in the front doors, instead of the sub. If you don't address/correct this, it gets awfully muddy/boomy. Like most, its output varies greatly by input. I'm not going to fuss over Am/FM or even satellite, due to the compression/vagaries of each.
I was surprised at how little I could do with a good/well-recorded CD...making adjustments to the stock levels still couldn't mask the faults very well.
The best thing I've found, like I did on the JBL in my Tundra, is to send a pre-equalized signal from a digital source...I use my iPod Classic via USB and/or iPhone via BT. For me, I get the best results sending the "Treble Booster" EQ mode, and then adjusting from there. On the Tundra, I would switch between that and the "Rock" EQ for certain types of music, but the B&O puts too much mid-bass in the Rock EQ setting, period. When I do this, I seem to be able to get good sounding output, with more real bass coming from the sub and not the lower door speakers. It's a little disappointing overall, but it's probably good enough that I won't undertake any changes, unless a much easier sub upgrade comes down the pike. It's not as good as the Mark Levinson system I had two vehicles ago in a Lexus GX, but it's certainly not the worst, and obviously not the reason you buy the truck.
Some minor Sync/infotainment issues:
1. The inability to change modes/sources from the steering wheel...dumb, dumb, dumb. Apparently, we have the handsfree button where the mode button is on all other Ford products. Still, there should be an audio/infotainment menu in the main gauge menus, wherein you could navigate source, tracklist, etc. My wife's Mercedes does this very easily. Ford fail here.
2. The inability for scrolling through presets on radio to roll over to the next 6 presets without having to touch the nav screen...again, dumb. It's great to ahve 18 presets, but it sucks to have to reach over and touch the headunit to get to the next 6. My Tundra had like 40 presets for all you could mix how you liked and scroll through all easily. It's especially annoying on a source with many presets you actually use, like Sirius. Same for accessing HD sub-channels.
3. As pointed out above, the entire steering wheel audio control system is needlessly spartan, limited in function/benefit, and poorly thought out. Making people repeatedly take their eyes off the road to look at/touch small parts of the nav screen is a bad idea. Again, an audio menu on the main menus/display would address nearly all of this, Ford.
4. The Genres on an iPod are different/truncated on Ford's system....why? Would Apple Car Play solve that?
5. Many factory systems allow for an EQ to be set for each source...this one does not, and it's definitely not "one size fits all" for each source.
6. Like my Tundra, the Ford's radio reception, especially FM, is hampered by a device charging via USB. On many cars, this is not an issue. At least I'm used to this one.
7. When playing a playlist/through a genre when you have it set on random play, a FF click will only go to the next song on the list, not a random selection. Again, nothing major, but kind of annoying/defeats the purpose of having it set on random when you hit a song/artist you're not in the mood for.
8. System seems to "index" iPod at startup every time...I have a ton of songs on mine, so system will not let you browse beyond current track/playlist for quite a while. [EDIT] I have now found this to be pretty common SYBC issue with the iPod Classics...sucks that this glitch severely limits one of the most common digital music players on planet Earth.
9. On the plus side, it is/plays louder than the JBL on my old 2014 Tundra, so yay for that.
All said and done, I love the truck, and like the B&O...YMMV.
I ask because the only hard info I've been able to find on actual components was in these two articles on the debut of the system for media in the Fiesta:
Ford reveal exclusive partnership with B&O PLAY: Your car audio will never sound the same again (review) - FLAVOURMAG
Media Discover B&O PLAY Sound System in All-New Ford Fiesta at “Science of Sound†| HARMAN
This article says the 2018 Expedition will have a 12 speaker B&O Play system:
2018 Ford Expedition Is The Ultimate Towing Machine! : Auto News : Auto World News
I was on the fence about buying a late 2017 or ordering a 2018, and the option for a better stock sound system may tip the scales for me. The press review (shocker) was positive, but who knows. What have y'all heard/seen? Could it be any worse than the Sony?
[EDIT - ADDED MY REVIEW NOW THAT I HAVE THE TRUCK]
Well, it's been two weeks, and here's my amateur review of the B&O system:
Overall, not bad, for a factory setup. I still haven't heard a Sony yet to see if it's better, but I assume so based on what others have said/what I've read.
To me, and like almost all factory systems it seems, it has way too much mid-bass bias in stock modes. This system seems to push a lot of bass to the lower speakers in the front doors, instead of the sub. If you don't address/correct this, it gets awfully muddy/boomy. Like most, its output varies greatly by input. I'm not going to fuss over Am/FM or even satellite, due to the compression/vagaries of each.
I was surprised at how little I could do with a good/well-recorded CD...making adjustments to the stock levels still couldn't mask the faults very well.
The best thing I've found, like I did on the JBL in my Tundra, is to send a pre-equalized signal from a digital source...I use my iPod Classic via USB and/or iPhone via BT. For me, I get the best results sending the "Treble Booster" EQ mode, and then adjusting from there. On the Tundra, I would switch between that and the "Rock" EQ for certain types of music, but the B&O puts too much mid-bass in the Rock EQ setting, period. When I do this, I seem to be able to get good sounding output, with more real bass coming from the sub and not the lower door speakers. It's a little disappointing overall, but it's probably good enough that I won't undertake any changes, unless a much easier sub upgrade comes down the pike. It's not as good as the Mark Levinson system I had two vehicles ago in a Lexus GX, but it's certainly not the worst, and obviously not the reason you buy the truck.
Some minor Sync/infotainment issues:
1. The inability to change modes/sources from the steering wheel...dumb, dumb, dumb. Apparently, we have the handsfree button where the mode button is on all other Ford products. Still, there should be an audio/infotainment menu in the main gauge menus, wherein you could navigate source, tracklist, etc. My wife's Mercedes does this very easily. Ford fail here.
2. The inability for scrolling through presets on radio to roll over to the next 6 presets without having to touch the nav screen...again, dumb. It's great to ahve 18 presets, but it sucks to have to reach over and touch the headunit to get to the next 6. My Tundra had like 40 presets for all you could mix how you liked and scroll through all easily. It's especially annoying on a source with many presets you actually use, like Sirius. Same for accessing HD sub-channels.
3. As pointed out above, the entire steering wheel audio control system is needlessly spartan, limited in function/benefit, and poorly thought out. Making people repeatedly take their eyes off the road to look at/touch small parts of the nav screen is a bad idea. Again, an audio menu on the main menus/display would address nearly all of this, Ford.
4. The Genres on an iPod are different/truncated on Ford's system....why? Would Apple Car Play solve that?
5. Many factory systems allow for an EQ to be set for each source...this one does not, and it's definitely not "one size fits all" for each source.
6. Like my Tundra, the Ford's radio reception, especially FM, is hampered by a device charging via USB. On many cars, this is not an issue. At least I'm used to this one.
7. When playing a playlist/through a genre when you have it set on random play, a FF click will only go to the next song on the list, not a random selection. Again, nothing major, but kind of annoying/defeats the purpose of having it set on random when you hit a song/artist you're not in the mood for.
8. System seems to "index" iPod at startup every time...I have a ton of songs on mine, so system will not let you browse beyond current track/playlist for quite a while. [EDIT] I have now found this to be pretty common SYBC issue with the iPod Classics...sucks that this glitch severely limits one of the most common digital music players on planet Earth.
9. On the plus side, it is/plays louder than the JBL on my old 2014 Tundra, so yay for that.
All said and done, I love the truck, and like the B&O...YMMV.
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