Hi All, first post so please be gentle =)
Just purchased a 2023 ST and I'm quite unimpressed with this B&O abomination. My 2020 Grand Cherokee sounded infinitely better in an older $20k cheaper vehicle (bone stock, not the upgraded system with the sub either) with nice defined highs and a nice thump at the bottom end.
Can this garbage heap of a stereo system be saved if I throw some quality components at it? I don't need ear-bleeding volume nor do I want to rattle windows 12 blocks away - I just want clean sound with some bottom end to it instead of the Fisher-Price audio mud experience I'm currently suffering through. I've read through a ton of audio threads on this forum before posting and I'm seeing a lot of mixed messages between the "good enough" and the "sound competition with money to blow" crowds.
So here's the million dollar series of questions: Is the culprit the really really horrible DSP tune from the factory, the 3rd world country level components, or a combination of the two? Can I put in quality drivers in the factory locations, continue to run them from the factory amp, have a custom 10" box built for an aftermarket sub and dedicated amp in the factory location for reasonable sounding results? Will that money be thrown away by the still horrible tune or will the infinitely better components step up to the plate and fill in the gaps (i.e. will the factory sound settings be so bad that it can't be helped without a 3rd party DSP to undo the work of Ford engineers without ears)? Does the factory install use any type of crossovers, or is everything full range with maybe a choke on the tweets and sub? I'm also curious about reports of the factory sub output ramping down as the volume increases - some say it's happening while others don't. I personally can't even tell if the factory sub is doing anything at all as the bass output of the entire system seems to come from mid-bass in the doors so I'm unable to determine - the "sub" frequency response must be absolutely terrible. If I tap into the sub input for a line-level converter for a dedicated amp, will it too be affected by this ramping (assuming it exists and is coming from the head unit and not the amp itself)? Will the noise cancelling and / or fake exhaust cause real problems?
I don't really want to gut the whole thing if I don't need to, but at the same time I can't stand what I'm currently stuck with. Ford should be embarrassed, I know I am. lol
Just purchased a 2023 ST and I'm quite unimpressed with this B&O abomination. My 2020 Grand Cherokee sounded infinitely better in an older $20k cheaper vehicle (bone stock, not the upgraded system with the sub either) with nice defined highs and a nice thump at the bottom end.
Can this garbage heap of a stereo system be saved if I throw some quality components at it? I don't need ear-bleeding volume nor do I want to rattle windows 12 blocks away - I just want clean sound with some bottom end to it instead of the Fisher-Price audio mud experience I'm currently suffering through. I've read through a ton of audio threads on this forum before posting and I'm seeing a lot of mixed messages between the "good enough" and the "sound competition with money to blow" crowds.
So here's the million dollar series of questions: Is the culprit the really really horrible DSP tune from the factory, the 3rd world country level components, or a combination of the two? Can I put in quality drivers in the factory locations, continue to run them from the factory amp, have a custom 10" box built for an aftermarket sub and dedicated amp in the factory location for reasonable sounding results? Will that money be thrown away by the still horrible tune or will the infinitely better components step up to the plate and fill in the gaps (i.e. will the factory sound settings be so bad that it can't be helped without a 3rd party DSP to undo the work of Ford engineers without ears)? Does the factory install use any type of crossovers, or is everything full range with maybe a choke on the tweets and sub? I'm also curious about reports of the factory sub output ramping down as the volume increases - some say it's happening while others don't. I personally can't even tell if the factory sub is doing anything at all as the bass output of the entire system seems to come from mid-bass in the doors so I'm unable to determine - the "sub" frequency response must be absolutely terrible. If I tap into the sub input for a line-level converter for a dedicated amp, will it too be affected by this ramping (assuming it exists and is coming from the head unit and not the amp itself)? Will the noise cancelling and / or fake exhaust cause real problems?
I don't really want to gut the whole thing if I don't need to, but at the same time I can't stand what I'm currently stuck with. Ford should be embarrassed, I know I am. lol
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