DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

[Guy]

Octogenarian?

Very cool.

We changed the system mentioned by me in the original post to a system with all Focal speakers. Got to thinking that life is short and being 84 it’s really short. Waiting for the Focals and as soon as the builders remove our 2019 door panels I will send pictures.

 

[lawdog]

Wooh!!! Who is paying me my million??? Lol!

Same FoMoCo crap. Again, it really irritates me that they sell this as a "B&O Play" system, with B&O on the speaker cover, when it's really just a system tuned by B&O that doesn't even have a single B&O speaker in it (maybe the white driver/surround in the sub is). How much more would it have cost to put even modest speakers from the Harman lineup in here? The Toyota JBL systems actually have, you know, JBL speakers in them. Ridiculous.

 

[dhmcfadin]

Same FoMoCo crap. Again, it really irritates me that they sell this as a "B&O Play" system, with B&O on the speaker cover, when it's really just a system tuned by B&O that doesn't even have a single B&O speaker in it (maybe the white driver/surround in the sub is). How much more would it have cost to put even modest speakers from the Harman lineup in here? The Toyota JBL systems actually have, you know, JBL speakers in them. Ridiculous.

Remember that Bang & Olufsen and B&O Play are completely different model lines. Yes, they are the same parent company but these lines have completely different objectives so that fact that there are paper Ford speakers in a B&O Play system is to be expected. The B&O Play line is marketed to be affordable sound quality. You can read the press release about B&O Play on B&O’s website. That’s why I bet a million. For example, the B&O that you find in Audi that costs 7,000 is true Bang & Olufsen. Not B&O Play. Ford wouldn’t offer a 7,000 system in an f150. Just not gonna happen.

 

[lawdog]

Remember that Bang & Olufsen and B&O Play are completely different model lines. Yes, they are the same parent company but these lines have completely different objectives so that fact that there are paper Ford speakers in a B&O Play system is to be expected. The B&O Play line is marketed to be affordable sound quality. You can read the press release about B&O Play on B&O’s website. That’s why I bet a million. For example, the B&O that you find in Audi that costs 7,000 is true Bang & Olufsen. Not B&O Play. Ford wouldn’t offer a 7,000 system in an f150. Just not gonna happen.

I know that...I just didn't type B&O Play over and over. Some of my first posts were about the B&O Play system as I was deciding between a 2017 and a 2018 Raptor, looking at all available information out there on it. I wasn't expecting a true B&O system from the top-line Audis. But I also wasn't expecting paper FoMoCo crap speakers in a system marketed as B&O Play system.

I just think it's very misleading to not have a single upgraded speaker in a B&O Play marketed system. You know a hell of a lot about audio, and I'm not clueless. Even we didn't know who made the speakers until the 2018 trucks came out. If you put 100 normal people in a Ford with a "B&O Play" system, told them how great it was, and they saw the B&O logo on the speaker, who do you think they would think made the speakers in that system?

There are very few items with a greater markup than speaker components. Again, how much would it have cost to put anything not a total POS from the Harman line in here? If anything, it should say "tuned by B&O Play".

 

[Guy]

What it really comes down to is that for the vast majority of owners, a B&O play labeled system is going to be viewed favorably as premium branding and I’m sure it is better than the 2017. Probably for a lot of people who just listen to basic satellite compressed audio, it sounds perfectly acceptable.

Ford is catering to the masses.

 

[lawdog]

What it really comes down to is that for the vast majority of owners, a B&O play labeled system is going to be viewed favorably as premium branding and I’m sure it is better than the 2017. Probably for a lot of people who just listen to basic satellite compressed audio, it sounds perfectly acceptable.

Ford is catering to the masses.

Again, I understand all that, but I still think it is misleading. One of the best factory stereos out there in the past was the Volvo/Dynaudio systems, that actually had Dynaudio speakers in them. That option wasn't anywhere near $7K; it just was an actual collaboration instead of a branding/marketing exercise. The B&O Play system is better than the Sony, but my point has always been it could have been much better, and probably no for a lot more money, if their engineers weren't tasked with milking as much out of ****** paper cone part bin speakers as possible.

 

[Guy]

If you want to start the class action suit....

LOL

 

[jck]

Having had both, I can say the 2019 B&O sounded pretty good for what speakers it was playing through, and a lot better than the 2017 Sony. The new speakers with the B&O sound miles better. I finished with the front door speakers tonight. The foam block that held the Infinity 6x9 weighed more than cheap speaker.

 

[lawdog]

If you want to start the class action suit....

LOL

I have actually considered it...for about 5 minutes...lol.

 

[lawdog]

Having had both, I can say the 2019 B&O sounded pretty good for what speakers it was playing through, and a lot better than the 2017 Sony. The new speakers with the B&O sound miles better. I finished with the front door speakers tonight. The foam block that held the Infinity 6x9 weighed more than cheap speaker.

Glad you like it. I am generally pleased with my JBLs, although I would do components like you did if I had it to do over. I also wouldn't bother with the rears again for just a speaker swap, because the B&O amp has such a front bias. The low impedance of the JBLs/Infinitys makes the upgrade quite noticeable.