Disappointed in B&O Unleashed

[Daily22ssv]

Ok, so I (finally!) got to test drive a Powerboost (Limited) today. I'll give more review elsewhere but for the B&O unleashed I'll add my review here. Due to covid restrictions in Santa Clara county, we aren't allowed to have the dealer with us so he just handed over the fob, meaning I could CRANK IT.

First, my frame of reference is a 2017 XLT 302a with stock speakers and factory installed kicker sub - and I LOVE that system! I used SiriusXM for my test drive, as I didn't want to waste time pairing. Immediate impression was it sounded way too mid-rangey. In the tone settings, all we have are treble, mid, bass (just like my 2017 XLT). I was able to bump up the treble and bass, and bump down the mid to give it a more equalized sound and I was happy. Then I tried as hard as I could but I could NOT hear anything from the headliner tweeters or headrest speakers. Then I saw the "Surround" option and turned that on. Still did not notice anything from those speakers. It sounded like EVERYTHING was from the center dash speaker even though all the balance/fade was centered. SO FAR - sounds great, but honestly sounds just like my old system as I don't notice anything new as far as sound sources.

THEN I decided to crank it on my drive to really enjoy it. I started to notice that the sub was not as powerful as my XLT (?!?) and then the real disappointment - I could not bump up the bass on the sub without it distorting on the dash and doors. It is like they did not set a crossover at 100Hz or 120Hz, it was like it was throwing all frequencies to those speakers, which is going to really limit what you can do on the sub. I did NOT have this issue ever with my XLT - for whatever reason the dash and door speakers are not overburdened with bass beyond their range and sub handles it, up to my comfortable listening limit anyway. On the unleashed, the bass distorts before I hit my ear comfort limit.

OVERALL: I'm very worried that when I get to play with mine, I won't be able to overcome the bad crossover point issue, and without any noticeable effects from the extra speakers I am not sure I'm gonna even enjoy it as much as my current truck. I will keep my fingers crossed that I'll figure it out when I have more infinite time.

Very good review! Ive tried and tried turning it. It's just not that great unfortunately. Base does distort badly. Sub is subpar! The new Ram I think it's a Harmon kardon blows this from Platinum B&O away.
Love the truck though only have had it 3 days. It's amazing compared to the 2016 model by alot! The power and ride quality is insane how much better it's improved!
I've heard people say it's better than Ram sound system keep thinking something is wrong with my truck. The Ram is the best sound in 21 year model I've heard. Tons of rich powerful sound! Taking a trip to dealer tomorrow will test another and see if there is any difference.

It's an upgrade over my 2016 Sony but not not by that much IMO.

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[daemonic3]

Very good review! Ive tried and tried turning it. It's just not that great unfortunately. Base does distort badly. Sub is subpar! The new Ram I think it's a Harmon kardon blows this from Platinum B&O away.
Love the truck though only have had it 3 days. It's amazing compared to the 2016 model by alot! The power and ride quality is insane how much better it's improved!
I've heard people say it's better than Ram sound system keep thinking something is wrong with my truck. The Ram is the best sound in 21 year model I've heard. Tons of rich powerful sound! Taking a trip to dealer tomorrow will test another and see if there is any difference.

It's an upgrade over my 2016 Sony but not not by that much IMO.

CRAP! Don't tell me this ? Honestly it is one of the most important things I was looking forward to, like if my existing one sounds that good, just WAIT until they improve on it! I'm starting to think I just got incredibly lucky on my XLT. In my daughter's Ranger I put an aftermarket deck, sub, and upgraded to kicker 2 ways, and I had to tune the hell out of it (DSP tweaks, crossovers) and it does not sound nearly as good and full and powerful as my XLT I put absolutely zero effort into beyond dialing down the "mid" and bumping up treble/bass.

 

[Daily22ssv]

CRAP! Don't tell me this ? Honestly it is one of the most important things I was looking forward to, like if my existing one sounds that good, just WAIT until they improve on it! I'm starting to think I just got incredibly lucky on my XLT. In my daughter's Ranger I put an aftermarket deck, sub, and upgraded to kicker 2 ways, and I had to tune the hell out of it (DSP tweaks, crossovers) and it does not sound nearly as good and full and powerful as my XLT I put absolutely zero effort into beyond dialing down the "mid" and bumping up treble/bass.

Sorry! It should be better than your XLT by quite a bit. I would think. It's not bad sounding. I've gotten spoiled over other sound systems. This truck B&O was hyped up alot I guess I expected it to sound as good as Ram or at least our Tesla model 3 which is a killer system!

 

[Norheat]

I listened to the B and O unleashed in a Platinum and it was amazing.

It is much Better than the B and O system that is currently in my 18 F150.

Also the B and O system in my 18 was significantly better than the Sony I had in my 15 F150.

For $800 bucks you can't beat it IMO.

 

[Platinum Peasant]

I find this thread interesting because I tried the 21’ RAM Rebel with the 19 speaker Harmon system and then tried the B/O 18 speaker in a Platinum. B&O is the superior system for sure. If the metric you measure a sound system by is *loudness* then you’ll find most high end systems disappointing. There is much more to sound systems than just how loud it goes. I find myself using 25% less volume to achieve better sound compared to my 18’ B/O system.

 

[zdjelar]

My comparison is to the Bowers & Wilkins (16 speaker, 1400 Watt) system that was in my BMW 550xi and the F150 sounded every bit as good if not better. For reference, the BMW one is: https://www.kbb.com/car-news/audio-road-test-bowers-and-wilkins-in-2018-bmw-5-series/

 

[Orlando150]

Ok, so I (finally!) got to test drive a Powerboost (Limited) today. I'll give more review elsewhere but for the B&O unleashed I'll add my review here. Due to covid restrictions in Santa Clara county, we aren't allowed to have the dealer with us so he just handed over the fob, meaning I could CRANK IT.

First, my frame of reference is a 2017 XLT 302a with stock speakers and factory installed kicker sub - and I LOVE that system! I used SiriusXM for my test drive, as I didn't want to waste time pairing. Immediate impression was it sounded way too mid-rangey. In the tone settings, all we have are treble, mid, bass (just like my 2017 XLT). I was able to bump up the treble and bass, and bump down the mid to give it a more equalized sound and I was happy. Then I tried as hard as I could but I could NOT hear anything from the headliner tweeters or headrest speakers. Then I saw the "Surround" option and turned that on. Still did not notice anything from those speakers. It sounded like EVERYTHING was from the center dash speaker even though all the balance/fade was centered. SO FAR - sounds great, but honestly sounds just like my old system as I don't notice anything new as far as sound sources.

THEN I decided to crank it on my drive to really enjoy it. I started to notice that the sub was not as powerful as my XLT (?!?) and then the real disappointment - I could not bump up the bass on the sub without it distorting on the dash and doors. It is like they did not set a crossover at 100Hz or 120Hz, it was like it was throwing all frequencies to those speakers, which is going to really limit what you can do on the sub. I did NOT have this issue ever with my XLT - for whatever reason the dash and door speakers are not overburdened with bass beyond their range and sub handles it, up to my comfortable listening limit anyway. On the unleashed, the bass distorts before I hit my ear comfort limit.

OVERALL: I'm very worried that when I get to play with mine, I won't be able to overcome the bad crossover point issue, and without any noticeable effects from the extra speakers I am not sure I'm gonna even enjoy it as much as my current truck. I will keep my fingers crossed that I'll figure it out when I have more infinite time.

While I have no experience myself with this system I cannot help but think that your choice of source had some impact on your experience.

Sirius satellite radio is highly compressed. The bitrate of the music channels is 40-60 kbps while voice channels can be half that. Compare that to Apple Music which streams up to 256 kbps or Spotify at 320 kbps. A CD is 1411 kbps.

In addition the Sirius compression can be adjusted channel by channel as needed (some genres get more, some less) and is a lot more aggressive than compression algorithms used by streaming services that try to lose as little quality as possible. I couldn't find any data on how many audio channels Sirius broadcasts but I bet it's not more than stereo. So the B&O system is trying to turn 2ch audio to 18ch speakers. That's why some speakers don't sound like anything is coming out. It's doing its best to balance the sound across the whole system and not blast every speaker at the same level.

If someone is going to test this again please don't use satellite radio. If you use streaming audio on your phone make sure you have selected the highest quality option and maybe even download an album ahead of time. Bluetooth can also impact quality so plug into USB too.

Obviously if you listen to satellite radio all the time (or low bitrate Bluetooth streaming) you should test how you like the system using what you will have every day. But don't expect a high quality experience with lower quality audio. The system isn't a miracle worker.

https://www.electronicdesign.com/te...fference-between-satellite-radio-and-hd-radio

 

[Smitdog]

The headrest speakers are (and should be) very subtle. I could not tell any sound was coming from them until I turned my head sideways so that my ear was directly facing the headrest.

Sound should be totally immersive, and you shouldn't be able to tell that sound is specifically coming from any particular direction/area more than any other area.

And I agree with the poster recommending testing using a known quality music source.

FWIW, my wife's brand new Toyota Camry came with a defective sound system... No matter what sound settings we tried, 80% of the sound came from the front speakers. When setting the fader to 100% rear, the sound was very dulled and distorted.

 

[brnt]

I find this thread interesting because I tried the 21’ RAM Rebel with the 19 speaker Harmon system and then tried the B/O 18 speaker in a Platinum. B&O is the superior system for sure. If the metric you measure a sound system by is *loudness* then you’ll find most high end systems disappointing. There is much more to sound systems than just how loud it goes. I find myself using 25% less volume to achieve better sound compared to my 18’ B/O system.

Ditto. High end systems target accuracy and dynamic range, not "bumping base." Without even having listened to the B&O Unleashed, I suspect it's vastly superior in those two dimensions than any system whose purpose is to annoy other motorists while deafening the driver. I'll get to listen for myself in a couple of months...

 

[Daily22ssv]

While I have no experience myself with this system I cannot help but think that your choice of source had some impact on your experience.

Sirius satellite radio is highly compressed. The bitrate of the music channels is 40-60 kbps while voice channels can be half that. Compare that to Apple Music which streams up to 256 kbps or Spotify at 320 kbps. A CD is 1411 kbps.

In addition the Sirius compression can be adjusted channel by channel as needed (some genres get more, some less) and is a lot more aggressive than compression algorithms used by streaming services that try to lose as little quality as possible. I couldn't find any data on how many audio channels Sirius broadcasts but I bet it's not more than stereo. So the B&O system is trying to turn 2ch audio to 18ch speakers. That's why some speakers don't sound like anything is coming out. It's doing its best to balance the sound across the whole system and not blast every speaker at the same level.

If someone is going to test this again please don't use satellite radio. If you use streaming audio on your phone make sure you have selected the highest quality option and maybe even download an album ahead of time. Bluetooth can also impact quality so plug into USB too.

Obviously if you listen to satellite radio all the time (or low bitrate Bluetooth streaming) you should test how you like the system using what you will have every day. But don't expect a high quality experience with lower quality audio. The system isn't a miracle worker.

https://www.electronicdesign.com/te...fference-between-satellite-radio-and-hd-radio

It does sound much better on HD radio. Wireless Android auto using spotify, xm radio and Bluetooth its not so great. Can't get great sound and power really lacks. It's distortion is higher. This could be a amp or crossover issue on my truck. Going to dealer today to find out. Thanks for the info!

 

[SonnyDigs]

Very disappointed in sound quality it lacks power like the previous Sony system. Not even close to the new Ram sound system. Any thoughts on a fix?

Unbelievable, has to be defective or something..
Maybe someone had jacked with the settings...
The one in my truck is amazing...I wouldn't trade it for anything..

 

[SonnyDigs]

Unbelievable, has to be defective or something..
Maybe someone had jacked with the settings...
The one in my truck is amazing...I wouldn't trade it for anything..

I did have to set mine to the surround setting and adjusted the fade drastically towards the. Back the back to get the truly balanced sound I wanted.. I also tweaked the bass, treble and bass to suit my ear..
I find this system superior to any auto system I've heard..
I would start with the fade and then start to tweak to your liking.

 

[Daily22ssv]

Update
This afternoon I noticed my Alex+ Ford app on screen this afternoon is the first time it can up and worked flawless. This is day 4 of having truck. Possibly an update with vehicle overnight idk. Amazon music sounds amazing! It's definitely different on xm or Android auto. I'm now very impressed! Volume is much better, sub kicks doesn't distort at hight level. Major difference!

 

[zdjelar]

Update
This afternoon I noticed my Alex+ Ford app on screen this afternoon is the first time it can up and worked flawless. This is day 4 of having truck. Possibly an update with vehicle overnight idk. Amazon music sounds amazing! It's definitely different on xm or Android auto. I'm now very impressed! Volume is much better, sub kicks doesn't distort at hight level. Major difference!

??

We should be able to quickly query the folks on this forum who have already received theirs what software versions they are running to confirm if indeed a software update was pushed in the last 24 hours.

Having many friends with Tesla's and seeing how often they get updates that legitimately add new features and capabilities (probably monthly), i am curious how much and quickly Ford will really be able to implement this new "ethos" into their approach. I just don't see them doing this...perhaps a periodic bug fix here and there, but i don't see them having the capabilities in their product development, expectations from the customers, risk tolerance, cost, etc. to truly deliver a constant stream of new capabilities. Can you imagine a software update from Ford (like Tesla owners get) that says, good news, here's our Change Log for this update:

- Phone as a Key enabled
- +5 HP and +12 lbs torque added through new optimized engine settings
- 1-2 MPG improvement

;-) Wishful thinking, but this is the kinda of substantive update Tesla owners get...i suspect ours will be very infrequent and pretty boring (except the Active Pilot stuff).

 

[daemonic3]

So just to follow up on a few things:

1) I used SiriusXM because I often use it in my current truck. I am very familiar with how it should sound, and I really only listen to one station. So bit rate and audio quality is same as what I'm comparing to. Not an absolute rating of quality, but relative to my existing system.

2) I am not rating it on just "how loud it can get". I can't turn my existing system up past about 17 (yes I know that will be relative) for example but it goes into the 20's (or more, I have no idea). All I want is for it to sound clean and not distort, at "my max" level. I'm not a teenager cruising with friends trying to shake neighboring cars. Just want clean and powerful like my existing truck.

3) Will definitely be playing with all kinds of sources and the surround setting and listening for headrest effects. I was trying to do a lot of things in the 15 minutes I had, and couldn't do real fiddling while driving.

4) The fade setting is a good idea! If they don't have the crossover set to taper off the lows from that dash speaker, then fade to back some may help me. It will be in list of things to try if I can ever get my own truck!

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