B&O Unleashed finally fixed for $329?

[clipperqb]

I didn't contradict myself. I said that, today I hear almost all sound coming from the single speaker in the middle of my dash. It sounds like a nice radio hooked up to one speaker. It IS very directional today, all coming from a single speaker in my dash. I am not trying to increase the rear speaker to the level that all I hear is from the rear. I want to increase the rear to balance out the front so that I hear music coming from all around me, not just one single speaker in my dash.

I get in my BMW and don't notice where the sound is coming from. I get in my wife's Grand Cherokee and the McIntosh system fills the cabin with no directionality. I get in my truck, and it's all coming from the middle of the dash. All three vehicles have the their factory "high end" radio options. I'm not trying to put the stage behind me. I want to be standing on the stage with the sound all around me.

The only thing I've done so far is remove that center speaker. Immediate improvement. Am now looking at amplifying rear speakers as well.

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[TJSparky]

For improving the rear speaker volume, this is a great option/solution. Signal-in - amplified and to the respective speakers. If you use a high-quality brand like Kicker, JL Audio, Alpine, Gladen-Mosconi, or Arc Audio, then you do not need a LOC, just speaker-level (High-Level) RCA signal into the amplifier, flip the amplifier switch to High, then you are good to go.

If you have the regular B&O, you can use the APH-FD02 for a no-splice connection.

APH-FD02:
https://soundsgoodstereo.com/produc...-2019-ford-vehicles-with-b-o-amplified-system

Do you have any info on how to use the APH-FD02 to create a no splice harness? I would like to just add more sound to my rear speakers just as @JJSnell did without cutting into the door speaker wires.

Red Circle- plug go into factory silver "amp"?
Blue Circle- use the rear Green and Purple wires to run to Amp? High Level?
Green Circle- run Speaker wire from Amp to the Green and Purple wires for door speakers?

 

[TJSparky]

Just finished adding the door speakers to my amp using the harness above! Amazing difference even with just stock speakers!!!

I have some Hertz MPX 6.5’s coming Monday. Can’t wait to see how much better it will sound!

Adding a sub and this “rear door setup” really brings the 8 speaker B&O setup alive! Great find @JJSnell

Thanks for providing the info!

 

[rpold150]

Just finished adding the door speakers to my amp using the harness above! Amazing difference even with just stock speakers!!!

I have some Hertz MPX 6.5’s coming Monday. Can’t wait to see how much better it will sound!

Adding a sub and this “rear door setup” really brings the 8 speaker B&O setup alive! Great find @JJSnell

Thanks for providing the info!

I'm not exactly sure what the harness does. I believe you added an amp for the rear speakers, and you still had to run power, ground, and input on to the amp, and the harness just splices into the rear speaker wires? I assumed since the rear speakers were not amp'ed that the rear door speaker wires ran to the radio. Do they actually come back under the back seat?

 

[NDakBoom]

I'm not exactly sure what the harness does. I believe you added an amp for the rear speakers, and you still had to run power, ground, and input on to the amp, and the harness just splices into the rear speaker wires? I assumed since the rear speakers were not amp'ed that the rear door speaker wires ran to the radio. Do they actually come back under the back seat?

My understanding is the rear speakers come from the factory amp. The unleashed, rear speakers come from the ACM.

 

[NDakBoom]

My understanding is the rear speakers come from the factory amp. The unleashed, rear speakers come from the ACM.

Rear speakers from the amp in the 8 speaker setup for clarification.

 

[TJSparky]

I'm not exactly sure what the harness does. I believe you added an amp for the rear speakers, and you still had to run power, ground, and input on to the amp, and the harness just splices into the rear speaker wires? I assumed since the rear speakers were not amp'ed that the rear door speaker wires ran to the radio. Do they actually come back under the back seat?

The harness allows you to tap in the rear speakers without splicing and adding new speaker wires. For the 8 Speaker B&O setup.

low lever RcA to the amp then rear speaker wires from amp back to the harness.

 

[rpold150]

The harness allows you to tap in the rear speakers without splicing and adding new speaker wires. For the 8 Speaker B&O setup.

low lever RcA to the amp then rear speaker wires from amp back to the harness.

Thanks TJSparky and NDakBoom.
Ok, so this won't work for the unleashed. I have everything ready to go, but time.

Had the daughter and grandkids in town this weekend. Coincidentally enough, my wife was in the back with the two granddaughters. I had the radio turned down a bit so we could all talk. Out of the blue, my wife said, is there any sound coming out in the back? I told her that's why I bought the amp and wire, and she confirmed that she really couldn't hear anything coming from the rear door speakers. I have the sound tuned where it should be right behind the center console. I'm anxiously optimistic about installing this amp.

 

[Bob Violence]

I'm the process of hooking up the JL Audio amp to power the rear door speakers only on my 8-Speaker B&O.

I noticed that now the chimes (such as seatbelt, backup, door ajar, startup, etc) now come from the crappy instrument cluster speaker instead of the stereo system.

I've found other posts concerning this (unrelated to the JL amp), and solutions point to a low battery, BCM issues, or APIM connectivity issues.

Just wondering if anyone else who has done the amp install has experienced this, and if so, what was the solution?

 

[TJSparky]

This is too ironic as I just noticed this as well sitting in my truck.

EDIT- I just put my truck on the charger as the battery did get really low while I was playing with all the new sound. At one point I got the you need to turn on the truck or auto-shutdown will occur.

I am hoping the battery was just drained and a charge will bring the sound back through the speakers.

EDIT 3-24-2024 I installed a LC7i pro and used the 20 lgd setting and all my chimes are coming through the speakers again.

 

[rpold150]

Got a late start this weekend on this project and taking my time. Got the power up by the battery through the passenger side firewall down the side rails and across the back to the driver rear seat where I'll mount the amp. Ran the turn-on wire along the same path but started at the passenger kick panel fuse box with a fuse tap on #2, delayed accessory feed.

I took a rear door panel off to see what it looks like. For those that have done this, did you splice the speaker wire at the speaker, in other words pass the speaker wire to and from the amp up the B pillar and down into the door? Or, did you open the wire harness on the B-pillar inside the cab and splice the wires there?

It seems like the right thing to do would be to snake the wires from the B pillar into the door and then splice the wires out by the speaker connector.

It seems like the easy thing to do would be to open the harness going up the B pillar and splice the wires there.

I'm trying to not butcher the wire harness, so thinking about getting a new set of speakers with spade connectors, running the new wires all the way out to the speaker, and using the 72-7602 adapter mentioned earlier. This would mean no cutting of the harness at all.

 

[JJSnell]

@rpold150
It seems like the right thing to do would be to snake the wires from the B pillar into the door and then splice the wires out by the speaker connector.

Yes this. Especially since you're in there already swapping speakers.

 

[rpold150]

Finished, and I now have a lot more volume in the back that I can now start adjusting to my liking with the Infotainment settings, as well as the settings on the amp. I ended up adding rear door speakers, mostly so I wouldn't have to cut any factory wires. I went with jjsnell's recommendations of the JL Audio C2 650X. Last thing I need to do is find an appropriate mounting bracket by the battery for the fuse in the 8awg amp power line, and bolt the amp to the floor. I used the ground behind the back seat, driver side. I ran the power across the back to the passenger side, along the side rails, and through the firewall grommet at the passenger side feet.

Thanks for the writeup and inspiration, @JJSnell.

 

[nitrobass24]

Is there any reason we cant / shouldnt tap into the 2nd 12V battery thats under the rear passenger seat isntead of running wire all the way to the engine bay?

 

[JJSnell]

Finished, and I now have a lot more volume in the back that I can now start adjusting to my liking with the Infotainment settings, as well as the settings on the amp. I ended up adding rear door speakers, mostly so I wouldn't have to cut any factory wires. I went with jjsnell's recommendations of the JL Audio C2 650X. Last thing I need to do is find an appropriate mounting bracket by the battery for the fuse in the 8awg amp power line, and bolt the amp to the floor. I used the ground behind the back seat, driver side. I ran the power across the back to the passenger side, along the side rails, and through the firewall grommet at the passenger side feet.

Thanks for the writeup and inspiration, @JJSnell.

Nice! Glad I could help in some way. I am getting SO much info from this site, my little salt and pepper contributions to the mountains of steaks and potatoes dont compare, but Im glad you got more volume. I no longer have to fade-to-back to get equal\immersive sound.

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