terrible rear volume level ('23 Lariat)

[toby_d]

I just discovered that the volume out of my rear speakers ('23 Lariat) is absolute garbage. We can barely hear music from them even with the head unit at full volume. It's the same almost-no volume with the fader set front, middle, back, doesn't matter.

Is this just mine, or typical?

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[rugedraw]

Typical. The B&O systems are tuned to be front-stage biased with the rear speakers there as just fillers.

 

[toby_d]

I hear you, but this is more than "biased" -- it's almost nonexistent. Obviously difficult to convey the true level but either way it's garbage. We can't put anything on in the rear only for the kids, it really can't be functionally heard.

 

[OMO7]

Unfortunately normal.

Just a terrible sound system for a premium truck. Any solution seems more than its worth. Just move the sound stage a couple clicks back and learn to live with it.

 

[toby_d]

Damn. So this is by design? I've moved the fader (sound stage?) rearward but nothing useable back there. I really would prefer to have some sound in the back, rear seat passengers deserve sound, too.

 

[21st Century Truck]

I understand Your frustration.

I own a 2023 non-B&O system XLT. This is how I've reduced the rear seat low volume problem, while upgrading the sound overall at reasonable expense.

Step 1: add the door cavity block-off plates from SoundsGoodStereo.com to all four doors. URL: https://soundsgoodstereo.com/pages/search?query=block-off-plates. This is a not too hard DIY. This will add guitar-style resonance box sound improvement including volume, to all four doors and thus amplify and deepen the sound of all four door speakers. I suggest You mash the block-off plates over the top of the factory clear plastic in the door openings when You screw these block-off plates in, as the black rubber glue edge roll on the OEM plastic will form a sound seal against the edge of the block-off plate as well.

Step 2: junk the four OEM trashy speakers and replace with quality speakers. I went with the JL Audio C3-650 component 2-way speakers all around, although for an easier price, You can go with the JL Audio C1-650 speakers, all available from Crutchfield with the needed speaker mounts and connection kits. This is also DIY.

I found that the combination of the door resonance boxes created by the block-off plates, combined with quality JL Audio speakers in all four doors, has greatly mitigated the rear cabin's lack of sound while significantly improving the overall quality of sound across the entire cabin.

Good Luck!

 

[toby_d]

I understand Your frustration.
.....
I found that the combination of the door resonance boxes created by the block-off plates, combined with quality JL Audio speakers in all four doors, has greatly mitigated the rear cabin's lack of sound while significantly improving the overall quality of sound across the entire cabin.

Good Luck!

Excellent advice, thanks!! I'll work towards something like this. I'm not an audiophile but what this truck has right now is pathetic.

 

[RetiredLightning]

I found that speakers with a higher sensitivity made an additional difference too.
Here’s a Hertz speaker (on right) that I used in the rear doors compared to one of the stock speakers on the left.

 

[Adventureboy]

I have the '23 Lariat as well. My volume isn't great in the rear, but it is certainly audible.
I ran into a similar situation after an update. Try resetting Sync first (while ON, press and hold the Volume Down and Skip Right buttons on the steering wheel controls for about 10 seconds until the Sync screen resets). If that doesn't work, try a full 12v reset to clear the brains of all of the amplifier/head modules and Sync. That should align all of the parameters between the sound system modules.
If neither of these work, you may have a bad component somewhere.

 

[RocketGhost]

How can anyone listen to the system at full volume? Level 12 is the max I've ever had it and it is plenty loud to me.

 

[Space Flash]

It’s intentional and not limited to Ford products. Toyota, MBZ, Lexus, Hyundai/KIA/Genesis, GM all employ this same setup.

We’ve experienced it firsthand and it’s a constant topic of discussion on the dozen or so auto enthusiast forums I belong to.

This is a decent article about the reasoning:

https://integralaudio.com/blog/post/evils-of-rear-speakers

 

[OMO7]

You can change speakers and add sound deadening etc. but at the end of the day it's like putting lipstick on a pig.

The vast majority of vocals are going to come through your center speaker. Your instrumentals will come through the center and side speakers. The more you move the soundstage back the more you'll end up with a vocal to instrumental ratio that ruins the music.

It's just a terrible sound system. It either sounds like a bluetooth speaker on your dash, or everything sounds muddy because the back speakers are 1 notch above garbage.

 

[21st Century Truck]

You can change speakers and add sound deadening etc. but at the end of the day it's like putting lipstick on a pig.

The vast majority of vocals are going to come through your center speaker. Your instrumentals will come through the center and side speakers. The more you move the soundstage back the more you'll end up with a vocal to instrumental ratio that ruins the music.

It's just a terrible sound system. It either sounds like a bluetooth speaker on your dash, or everything sounds muddy because the back speakers are 1 notch above garbage.

IMHO the center dash speaker, when present, doesn't add much. My previous Ford Mach E, with a pretty high trim, is my reference. Some serious audio gurus on the Mach E forum even recommend unplugging the center speaker.

 

[rugedraw]

I found that speakers with a higher sensitivity made an additional difference too.
Here’s a Hertz speaker (on right) that I used in the rear doors compared to one of the stock speakers on the left.

Agreed. I swapped out the rear door speakers for a set of low wattage, high sensitivity rated set of components. Mounted the rear tweeter on the door right above where the factory speaker goes and added an in-line filter so the tweeter only gets high range sounds. Did sound deadening behind the speaker, too. I also swapped out the front tweeter and door speaker for a matching set, but that part has nothing to do with the topic at hand.

I also made some FORScan changes to flatten the EQ and tell the ACM and/or DSP (I don't remember.....this was years ago) that there was a rear tweeter now. All said and done, it made a HUGE difference in rear speaker volume. I can clearly hear them now.

 

[tubby]

I just discovered that the volume out of my rear speakers ('23 Lariat) is absolute garbage. We can barely hear music from them even with the head unit at full volume. It's the same almost-no volume with the fader set front, middle, back, doesn't matter.

Is this just mine, or typical?

I have the same year and model. I would say you have something wrong somewhere. Mine seems fine in the rear when the fader is set to it, except just doesn't get quite as loud as the front.

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