Rate the new Bang & Olson 18 Speaker stereo.

[apMechorse]

with the right source the sound quality is outstanding... loud does not equal quality! Adjust your settings!

That's just it, regardless of the settings some of these people are having very low volume output, regardless of quality. They shouldn't have to turn your volume up past the halfway mark just to be able to start making out the lyrics.

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[Coolrain]

That's just it, regardless of the settings some of these people are having very low volume output, regardless of quality. They shouldn't have to turn your volume up past the halfway mark just to be able to start making out the lyrics.

Source maybe? I don't have that problem at all. It is low at 3 and then around half way is a good level 3/4 starts getting too loud.....

 

[ryken]

That's just it, regardless of the settings some of these people are having very low volume output, regardless of quality. They shouldn't have to turn your volume up past the halfway mark just to be able to start making out the lyrics.

If that is actually the case (and not just people exaggerating on the internet), then those people either have serious hearing loss or a malfunction with their truck. I tested mine again this morning, and I could easily hear lyrics at 6. That was too soft for everyday listening, but I could still make out the lyrics. I would say 10-12 is about where we keep it most of the time, and 15-16 is where we have it if we want it "loud". Anything above 20 is too painful to listen to for me.

 

[Bigtwin]

I have the B&O 8 speaker right now. I compared it to the Unleashed with the exact same music source, songs, exact same tone settings balance set to even, fader just behind the drivers seat and the surround engaged. To be honest, I found the Unleashed to have a very heavy and overpowering midrange presence. My 8 speaker B&O with the balance even, the fader set just behind the axis of the driver's seat, with surround engaged. To be a better listening experience. I surprisingly thought the 8 speaker had more punch and decibels. Just my ears though.

 

[David Gordon]

If that is actually the case (and not just people exaggerating on the internet), then those people either have serious hearing loss or a malfunction with their truck. I tested mine again this morning, and I could easily hear lyrics at 6. That was too soft for everyday listening, but I could still make out the lyrics. I would say 10-12 is about where we keep it most of the time, and 15-16 is where we have it if we want it "loud". Anything above 20 is too painful to listen to for me.

I am 60, I drove around yesterday with it @ 30 listening to some of my favs, it was NOT painful in the least. Normal with wife beside me is 10-14, with us being able to talk.

 

[BMWtoF150]

I am 60, I drove around yesterday with it @ 30 listening to some of my favs, it was NOT painful in the least. Normal with wife beside me is 10-14, with us being able to talk.

I was out with my wife this morning. I usually listen with the volume at 6 - 8. Due to this post I turned it up to 15. We could not hear each other. Even at 10 you cannot carry on a conversation. This was with USB drive as as source. XM is the same level.

Just as a reference I use surround, High +6, Mid flat, Low +4, fader even.

 

[David Gordon]

I was out with my wife this morning. I usually listen with the volume at 6 - 8. Due to this post I turned it up to 15. We could not hear each other. Even at 10 you cannot carry on a conversation. This was with USB drive as as source. XM is the same level.

Just as a reference I use surround, High +6, Mid flat, Low +4, fader even.

I guess

I was out with my wife this morning. I usually listen with the volume at 6 - 8. Due to this post I turned it up to 15. We could not hear each other. Even at 10 you cannot carry on a conversation. This was with USB drive as as source. XM is the same level.

Just as a reference I use surround, High +6, Mid flat, Low +4, fader even.

Mine is broken is all I have to say on this.
It is subpar compared to the BOSE system in my Sierra 1500.

 

[tone_zr1]

There was a service bulletin that came out for my 2019 Ram 1500 and addressed the 19 speaker HK system. It went from very disappointing to pretty freaking great. Only sustained base made it feel like it was losing power. It ended up being an amplifier update. I hope Ford can do something about the B&O unleashed system. If I can talk over max volume then something isn't right.

 

[Bandito]

I absolutely love my Unleashed sound system. It‘s as clear and detailed as a good pair of headphones and has an excellent soundstage and presence for all of the instruments in the music. The surround function really works well and sounds very natural to me.

I also agree that 15-16 is the limit for volume. There’s no way to talk over the system at that level. I can’t imagine going beyond that for actual listening pleasure. For me, 8 is normal listening, 12 is for good music, and 15 for really rockin’ out.

If you can talk over your system at 15, I would definitely think that something is wrong.

It may have already been discussed before, but I stumbled on a speaker test for the system when I was trying to reboot it to clear up another issue. Pressing the audio power button along with the tune down button ( <<| ) for a few seconds will start a speaker test. When you exit the speaker test, there are several other diagnostic tools available, but I didn’t have time to explore them.

To reboot the system, you need to press the audio power button while holding down the tune up button ( |>> ).

 

[Jerry Can]

Funny how subjective sound can be. I think the unleashed is plenty loud and has enough bass for my listening. Though I think the sound quality is on the bright side and lacking detail (I use lossless tracks through CarPlay). I also wish the bass didn’t rattle the rear window. Overall I think it’s good sounding, but I still prefer the Sony in my last truck, and by far the Fender system in my Golf R

 

[machz]

I also had the B&O in my Audis5 and the F150 sounds just as good. The system in my 19 Ram was louder but the sound produced was a mess IMO. The B&O is far better at separating sounds in the music to give an overall better experience. It depends on what you are looking for in a system as others have said but with the B&O it's more about the quality of the sounds vs the volume.

 

[MrHat102]

Just ran the speaker test Bandito posted. "Pressing the audio power button along with the tune down button ( <<| ) for a few seconds will start a speaker test".
Ran it three times and made list as system tested speakers. Only registered 14 speakers during test.

 

[JeffC57]

I couldn't get the @Bandito test to work in my Unleashed system BUT the reboot (Radio power + Tune Up) made a huge difference in the output of the headrest and roof speakers. Before the reboot, there was hardly any sound coming out of them and the front speaker was overpowering. I still need to set the fade back a bit to tame the front speaker but after the reboot, it sounds way better.

Edit: I was able to get the speaker test (Radio power + tune down) to run. The truck needs to be running. There's a metric butt ton of other diagnostics available from there after the speaker test runs. Surely not intended for the end user but if you are curious and like to look at diagnostics for the alphabet modules, have at it!

 

[MrHat102]

When you did the speaker test, did you count the number of speakers it tested?
I ran test again after reboot. I swear when system tested 14 the tone went off twice.
The reboot (Radio power + Tune Up, >>) . For sure it was an improvement. But still seems under powered.
My last three trucks were GMC 1500 Denali's. The Bose system to me was way better.

 

[JeffC57]

When you did the speaker test, did you count the number of speakers it tested?
I ran test again after reboot. I swear when system tested 14 the tone went off twice.
The reboot (Radio power + Tune Up, >>) . For sure it was an improvement. But still seems under powered.
My last three trucks were GMC 1500 Denali's. The Bose system to me was way better.

I just reran the test. I agree that only 14 speakers are tested. Some are tested very quickly so I don’t know which 4 are skipped. Probably one that is skipped is the subwoofer. The frequency of test tone is probably too high for the sub.

I am sure there are better systems than the B&O Unleashed in other vehicles but to me it was worth the extra $700.

EDIT-I found a wiring diagram for the Unleashed system on the "other" F150 forum. There are 18 speakers but the rear door speakers are coaxial so each rear door speaker is powered by one amp channel. There are two speakers (L&R) in each headrest. The two lefts are powered by one amp channel; same for the two rights. So, there are 14 channels in the system powering the 18 speakers. The speaker test is checking the channels, not the individual speakers.

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