Audio Guys: I need your help

[Storx]

Well this weekend i took the time to investigate the audio system of my new to me 2022 Lariat ER i recently bought. The audio system is OK, but just sounded very off compared to the brand new lightnings i test drove. I also had a rattling in the passenger door that was driving me nuts anytime there was any deep bass in a song.

Turns out the previous owners did a hack job on my audio system. I have not fully investigated everything yet, but took apart all 4 doors and found that i have the wrong size speakers it appears in all 4 doors.

The main issue i am experiencing is its missing a lot of the mid/low of songs and the audio is just overall muttled and overwelmed with the highs.

The Center Dash speaker seems to be outputting the most audio out of the entire system. Seems ok, unsure if OEM as ive not dived into it yet.
The Front Tweeters seem to OK sounding...
The Front Door speakers don't sound good at all, the vocals are not very clear and just overall bad in my opinion.
The Rear Door speakers seem decent, the vocals are way more clear than the front doors, but the overall audio output is low, you can barely hear them and sitting in the rear seat you can hear the dash center speaker over the doors.

Now for the bad part, all 4 doors have the same speakers screwed to the door with self tappers.

Help me figure out how to properly fix this.. i am not really an audio guy so i don't know what i really need and which brands are good or bad. Ive heard of kicker, but unsure if they are good or bad speakers, the front doors just sound bad....

Speakers installed are: Kicker 46CSC654

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[digitaldad]

EDIT: Private attachment was removed.

 

[digitaldad]

Dang, hack job is pretty accurate.

Some of the things you are calling out are inherit with the B&O 8 speaker Lariat system. I think the others are due to the hack job.

I would start with the door speakers first. The speakers you got (bonus) are fine and better than stock. What's missing are the mounting adapters for the speakers to the doors. I also couldnt tell if they were already using the harness adapters but it looks like they may be there.

The 82-5607 are for the front doors, placing the 6.5" speaker into the 6x9 opening in the door. The 82-5605 are for the rear doors.

Take those self-tappers out of the door and mount the speakers into the mounting brackets. You will probably need to find screws that fit where the OEM speaker were taken out (where the mounting bracket will now go, they will line up to those holes in the door).

The 72-5602 wiring harness takes the old connector type of the oem speaker and gives you the spade +/- wires to plu into the speakers (again, it looks like you may already have those).

If they cut off the OEM harness, you already have the wire needed to power the speaker since they are working now (and you do not need the 72-5602 adapters).

You will need to cut a hole on the side of the (raised ring) mounting brackets to allow the +/- spade speaker wire ends to route from the outside of the doors to the tabs on the speakers (inside the door).

This video shows the hole I am referring to -
Since you have the same speakers for all 4-doors, that process is the same for all of them.

You can also add either foam rings, speaker baffles or sound deadening (butyl mat)...or all of them if desired. At least get those speakers mounted correctly.

 

[TaxmanHog]

Edited OP to remove document with Pii

Carry on..................

 

[Storx]

EDIT: Private attachment was removed.

Thank you sir.

 

[bms72]

One of the speaker adapter kits from Sounds good stereo will have everything you need to fix your speaker mounting. They are high quality and if you call, they are really helpful in making sure you order the right one and giving you advice on fixing your audio system.

https://soundsgoodstereo.com/produc...compatible-with-2015-2021-ford-f-series-truck

 

[Storx]

Dang, hack job is pretty accurate.

Some of the things you are calling out are inherit with the B&O 8 speaker Lariat system. I think the others are due to the hack job.

I would start with the door speakers first. The speakers you got (bonus) are fine and better than stock. What's missing are the mounting adapters for the speakers to the doors. I also couldnt tell if they were already using the harness adapters but it looks like they may be there.

The 82-5607 are for the front doors, placing the 6.5" speaker into the 6x9 opening in the door. The 82-5605 are for the rear doors.

Take those self-tappers out of the door and mount the speakers into the mounting brackets. You will probably need to find screws that fit where the OEM speaker were taken out (where the mounting bracket will now go, they will line up to those holes in the door).

The 72-5602 wiring harness takes the old connector type of the oem speaker and gives you the spade +/- wires to plu into the speakers (again, it looks like you may already have those).

If they cut off the OEM harness, you already have the wire needed to power the speaker since they are working now (and you do not need the 72-5602 adapters).

You will need to cut a hole on the side of the (raised ring) mounting brackets to allow the +/- spade speaker wire ends to route from the outside of the doors to the tabs on the speakers (inside the door).

This video shows the hole I am referring to -
Since you have the same speakers for all 4-doors, that process is the same for all of them.

You can also add either foam rings, speaker baffles or sound deadening (butyl mat)...or all of them if desired. At least get those speakers mounted correctly.

Thank you,

I have gone ahead and ordered those mounting brackets, yet both the front and rears are just self tapped into the door. The harness adapters were used, so i dont need to buy those.

The video mentions the Alpines being the best bang for buck, but im not seeing them available anywhere for sale. Im unsure if i should replace both the front and rear Kicker speakers or just buy new front door speakers and keep the rear kickers.

I have been reading a lot of the gasser forums on F150 audio upgrades and a commonly recommended setup for the B&O 8 speaker setup are JL Audio C2-690x (front) and C2-650 (rear) due to the higher sensitivity of the speakers with the lower watt output amp of the system.

IDK.. not sure yet what im gonna do outside of installing mounting brackets and a new 6x9 speaker for the front doors once i figure it out.

 

[digitaldad]

I put 6.5” in front and back as have others but yes, you can simply put 6x9 in the front if desired.

I’d say just get those mounted correctly and listen to the difference since you have them on hand…and then you can move forward based on your ears and desires.

If you go to the bottom details of that video, there’s a link to the video for the front speakers which are 6x9 components (includes tweeters).

 

[Storx]

I put 6.5” in front and back as have others but yes, you can simply put 6x9 in the front if desired.

I’d say just get those mounted correctly and listen to the difference since you have them on hand…and then you can move forward based on your ears and desires.

If you go to the bottom details of that video, there’s a link to the video for the front speakers which are 6x9 components (includes tweeters).

Ahhh,.... i didn't know you could adapt a 6.5 to the fronts with bracket also.. hmmmm

What has me concerned doing that is the sound clarity on the fronts just sounds distorted, the vocals are significantly different than the same speaker in the rear. I had both front and rear door panels off and going back and forth the quality of sound was just way different. IDK if the stock system pumps the audio differently to the front doors, but i noticed that both front doors sound the same lower clarity output.
Its almost like the front door speakers are trying to play more low-mid sounds and the rear was playing more high-mid.

Have you upgraded the center dash speaker? Its so annoying how overpowering that speaker is in the system.

 

[Paulb55]

I understand what you are going through. I went kicker KS 6.5 and 6x9 for door and tweeters.
Grabbed a 3.5 KS for the center channel after doing everything else... that single change transformed the sound. It balanced it way more and wasnt as *bright*

 

[GDN]

I can't compare the speakers that are there to others, but as others noted, start with a decent install kit. One is listed above. Also order and install the block off plates. They go over the big holes in the door. That is the least you can do to get it to a decent install. Nothing is going to sound good right now with the way those speakers are mounted and and the holes gaping open.

Once you get the speakers mounted well you can listen to see how much better it sounds. From there you can go back and you can add sound deadening material to the door. You can upgrade the speakers to a good middle of the road or upper end, all depends on your budget. Or you can also go the way of replacing the amp - you need a device to convert all of the signals out of the head unit to also retain the beeps and notifications from the truck. Then feed that signal into one or as many amps as you want. You can add a subwoofer, etc.

I'll go back to one of the first things you said, I don't believe there is any difference in a '22 and a '25 when it comes to the B&O 8 speaker. So the difference you are hearing is because of the way they mounted those speakers or those speakers could be blown or have other issues. All the same components from the ICE trucks are identical. You can read their forums and that advice and any of their equipment will also work on the Lightning.

 

[lightdawg]

I used a PAC amppro, AP4-FD31 to work a aftermarket system. Should work with your vehicle. I put in a focal component set up front, alpine coax in the rear, and a kicker sub under rear seats, all driven by an alpine 5 channels amp. Sounds fantastic. Good luck

 

[rugedraw]

What a butcher. I am not sure what would compel someone to do something like this. You would think someone would no experience would do some minimal research before doing some DIY project like this. This is just blasphemous.

Edit: It was already mentioned, but yes, they sell adapters to properly mount 6.5" drivers in the front. I did it to my, truck, too. Also added 6.5" components to the rear doors......had to make a hole in the read door panels to mount the tweeters.

 

[canthonyvidal]

This is all great information. This is where I am at. I think I would do it in phases and hopefully I don’t need to get to phase four. I’ll put this down here to get insight from those that have already done this and to give future upgraders another starting point.


Phase 1
Goal: To add Sub frequencies missing in the factory sound

Thoughts:
Need to have a Line Out Converter to be able to take an amplified sound from the factory amp and get a line out subwoofer signal. One problem is the bass roll off at higher volumes, but the real problem is that the 6x9 sub doesn’t have the power or area to hit those low frequencies 20Hz to 30Hz. Bass roll off doesn’t mean you stop hearing it, it means that it stops increasing in volume at the same rate as the midbass, midrange and tweeters. Still increases, but the true bottleneck is the limitations of the 6x9 sub.

Options:
Audio Control LC2i Pro - has AccuBASS setting that can combat the bass roll-off allowing you to not worry about special splicing of harnesses, and just connect to the subwoofer line.
(Other Options: Kicker KeyLOC, JL Audio LOC-22)

JL Audio JD500/1 or RD500/1 - Mono amp to power sub 500 RMS @ 2 ohms (gain-match sub output to the factory signal)

JL Audio JL 10Tw3-D4 - Sub will be ran at 2 ohms up to 400 RMS

Audio Intensity 2024-2025 Ford F-150 Direct Fit Behind-Seat Subwoofer Enclosure - I don’t want to lose the under seat space, this fits behind the seats and doesn’t take up the space where the factory amp is.

Phase 2: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: To improve Midbass clarity and punch by reducing resonance

Thoughts: I’ll need to seal the doors with door block off plates, add butyl-based deadeners to reduce vibrations, add closed cell foam over deader to decouple door panel and prevent rattles, seal speakers to mounts with foam gasket, seal the rear of the speaker basket from the front wave, add foam rings to direct sound into cabin. Maybe test disconnecting center channel.


Phase 3: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: fix current speakers sound stage with A2B unit, DSP and new amp. Self tune

Thoughts: I’ll need an A2B unit to integrate to factory unit as well as a DSP amp. a correctly tuned DSP can make your speakers sound their best.

Options:
Maestro A2B
Arc Blackbird 8ch amp

Other Options:
PAC Amp Pro4 AP4-FD31
Mobridge A2B Ford
Zen F25

Phase 4: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: bite the bullet and upgrade speakers and professonal tune

Options:
Focal Flax Evo 3 way - Front Sound Stage (actively crossed in DSP)
Focal Flax Evo Coaxial - Rear (attenuating rear coaxials in tuning so they don’t pull the sound stage backward)

Other Options:
Focal K2

 

[jackdeaoux]

This is all great information. This is where I am at. I think I would do it in phases and hopefully I don’t need to get to phase four. I’ll put this down here to get insight from those that have already done this and to give future upgraders another starting point.


Phase 1
Goal: To add Sub frequencies missing in the factory sound

Thoughts:
Need to have a Line Out Converter to be able to take an amplified sound from the factory amp and get a line out subwoofer signal. One problem is the bass roll off at higher volumes, but the real problem is that the 6x9 sub doesn’t have the power or area to hit those low frequencies 20Hz to 30Hz. Bass roll off doesn’t mean you stop hearing it, it means that it stops increasing in volume at the same rate as the midbass, midrange and tweeters. Still increases, but the true bottleneck is the limitations of the 6x9 sub.

Options:
Audio Control LC2i Pro - has AccuBASS setting that can combat the bass roll-off allowing you to not worry about special splicing of harnesses, and just connect to the subwoofer line.
(Other Options: Kicker KeyLOC, JL Audio LOC-22)

JL Audio JD500/1 or RD500/1 - Mono amp to power sub 500 RMS @ 2 ohms (gain-match sub output to the factory signal)

JL Audio JL 10Tw3-D4 - Sub will be ran at 2 ohms up to 400 RMS

Audio Intensity 2024-2025 Ford F-150 Direct Fit Behind-Seat Subwoofer Enclosure - I don’t want to lose the under seat space, this fits behind the seats and doesn’t take up the space where the factory amp is.

Phase 2: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: To improve Midbass clarity and punch by reducing resonance

Thoughts: I’ll need to seal the doors with door block off plates, add butyl-based deadeners to reduce vibrations, add closed cell foam over deader to decouple door panel and prevent rattles, seal speakers to mounts with foam gasket, seal the rear of the speaker basket from the front wave, add foam rings to direct sound into cabin. Maybe test disconnecting center channel.


Phase 3: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: fix current speakers sound stage with A2B unit, DSP and new amp. Self tune

Thoughts: I’ll need an A2B unit to integrate to factory unit as well as a DSP amp. a correctly tuned DSP can make your speakers sound their best.

Options:
Maestro A2B
Arc Blackbird 8ch amp

Other Options:
PAC Amp Pro4 AP4-FD31
Mobridge A2B Ford
Zen F25

Phase 4: (if still not satisfied)
Goal: bite the bullet and upgrade speakers and professonal tune

Options:
Focal Flax Evo 3 way - Front Sound Stage (actively crossed in DSP)
Focal Flax Evo Coaxial - Rear (attenuating rear coaxials in tuning so they don’t pull the sound stage backward)

Other Options:
Focal K2

Following this as I’m currently looking at upgrading the audio in pretty much those same steps and pretty much those exact options.

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