Which Amp Channels Power Which Speakers?

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 4, 2023

I am looking for either a diagram or a list that identifies which channels power which speakers in the B&O 14-speaker system. I found some diagrams online but I couldn't find anything specifying which channels power which speakers. I spoke to someone at Mobridge yesterday about their A2B DSP amplifier and he said he could make me a wiring harness for my vehicle to make it plug & play but we're not sure how the speakers are wired. I have a total of 14 speakers and the factory amp only has 10 channels so some channels must power multiple speakers. He seems to think the rear doors may be coaxial but I'm 99% sure they are actual component (a tweeter and a mid/bass) speakers. The Mobridge only has 9 channels (8 and a subwoofer channel plus one pre-out) so he said I would only lose the Dash (which isn't an issue). If we can get this figured out, I am going to try the Mobridge A2B DSP amp and see how it is. He said I would have a 30 day warranty even if I install it so I have nothing to lose. Can anyone help me out with this?

WaferTech · Oct 4, 2023

If you are going to pay to have a harness made, best to get the information directly from Ford.

You could try a 72 hour subscription here:

https://www.motorcraftservice.com/Home/Pricing

banniar · Oct 4, 2023

Maybe this will help...

https://www.explorerst.org/threads/aftermarket-amplifier-wiring-guide.5615/post-73999

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 4, 2023

WaferTech said:

I'm not paying for it, it will come with the amp. All I need to know is what channels power what speakers. I don't need a pin-out, wire colors, etc. I know people on here have the answer.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 4, 2023

banniar said:

No. I found that one but it doesn't identify the amp channels. I realise this isn't like most amps that have labeled channel outputs. Everything is internal. The Mobridge amp has 6 channels at 75W RMS, 2 at 150W RMS and 1 at 400W RMS. I wouldn't want to feed the tweeter 150W and the woofers 75W! He may be able to use this pin-out though. I'll send it to him. Thanks!

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 5, 2023

From what I found out from Ford is that I would need the actual circuit diagram of the B&O amplifier to know which pins connect to which output circuits in the amp. They don't have that. I guess I would need to get it from B&O. But I think I figured out how to connect the mObridge amplifier. I could power the front door tweeters and mids off channels 1 & 2, the rear door speakers off channels 3 & 4, the D-pillar speakers off channels 5 & 6, the front door woofers off channels 7 & 8 and the subwoofer off channel 9. I would just need to add some crossovers. Or I could ditch the D-pillars and run channels 1-4 to the front door tweeters and mids, channels 5 & 6 to the rear doors, channels 7 & 8 to the front door woofers and 9 for the sub. That way I would be able to use the DSP functions on all 3 front door speakers and just use crossovers in the rear doors. I like this set up better.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 5, 2023

Can anyone at least tell me which speakers are run together with crossovers? For instance, are the front door speakers run together off one channel with a crossover like a passive 3-way component system?

edog · Oct 5, 2023

From what I've seen of the wiring diagram, the speakers get their signal from the individual amps. I don't see any crossovers in the wiring diagrams. And I'm not sure how correct the diagram was, it wasn't a Ford wiring diagram.

WaferTech · Oct 5, 2023

BrooseDaMoose said:

https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/threads/2022-explorer-speaker-wiring-diagrams.502624/

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 5, 2023

edog said:

There is only one 10-channel amp. All 14 speakers are somehow configured to run off of the 10 channels so some of the channels must power more than one speaker. The problem with all the diagrams I've found is that they are all for either the 10 or 12 speaker system and don't show which speakers are considered one channel because it's all done internaly.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 5, 2023

I just talked to someone at mObridge and he said, "The factory system uses 2 different sources for amplification. 4 channels are driven from the headunit and 8 are driven from the amplifier. 2 channels are passively crossed over. This gives 14 speakers in total, 12 separate channels." So as I figured, the rear doors are 1 channel with 2 speakers crossed over. I'm not sure I agree with him about the amplifier only having 8 channels. Everything I've seen and read says it's a 10-channel amplifier. I think maybe it's 10-channels powering 12 speakers and the other 2 are powered from the head unit. I don't know. I was looking at the Alpine Status 12-channel amp. I could use that and power everything. I just like mObridges idea of making wiring harnesses so everything is plug-&-play. The most dificult part of the install will be getting a power cable from the battery through the firewall. I'll tell you, I'm not looking forward to the day I need to replace the battery. They buried it nice and deep!

banniar · Oct 6, 2023

BrooseDaMoose said:

Well this is my interpretation...

I'm not sure about any passive crossovers being used in the door speakers. My guess is the tweeters may have a cap in line, but the larger speakers go full range. Those channels are likely processed with a high pass filter to keep the appropriate low frequencies out.

Also, this harness plugs right into the B&O amp, so I don't think any channels are being driven from the head unit. As far as I know, you have to spend hundreds of dollars for an add-on unit to get an audio signal that hasn't been processed by the B&O box.

Edit: corrected pic... need to learn right from left.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 6, 2023

I've got so much conflicting information about this sound system (from here, other online forums, Crutchfield, my installer, mObridge, etc). that I don't think anyone really knows how it's wired! Some diagrams show speakers connected to a Front Audio Control Module while others show them connected to the Audio DSP Module. I tried talking with my installer today about the mObridge amp and now he doesn't even want to mess with it! He said that unless I put in new everything he isn't going to touch it! He's called a few people but no one has experience with it. At this point I think I'm just going to leave it stock and wait a few years until there is better information. I'm not opposed to building a whole new system but why spend thousands of dollars to tear out perfectly good components and replace them just to gain a little more headroom and bottom end?

banniar · Oct 6, 2023

That’s why I’ve been rocking a line converter, amp, and sub for years now. If you keep the volume below 15 and do not need flexibility to tune the sound quality, an add-on sub offers a marked improvement and can make you happy. I’ve been mostly happy, but there are some things I’ve been wanting to address. The cost of entry to anything beyond that may be a bit much for most folks.

I hate to think about how my wife will react to the price tag on the boxes of equipment that have been showing up this week to take my system to the next level.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 6, 2023

The cost is not an issue for me. Basing my budget on systems I put together 20 years ago I figured $2,500 would get me where I want to be. Well, the jokes on me! The equipment alone is more than that! The install was going to cost between $2 and $3k. So I pushed up my budget to $10k. But there is just no one within 50 miles of me that knows what they are doing when it comes to these systems. Some of the diagrams listed here show speakers connected to the "Audio Front Control Module" while another diagram shows the same speakers connected to the "Audio DSP Module"! One diagram shows the front door tweeters jumped off the wires to the woofer while another diagram shows the woofer on their own and the tweeters connected to the Audio Front Control Module! Another diagram shows what appears to be a passive crossover for the rear door speakers and yet another shows them connected seperately. The rep at mObridge is telling me the B&O amp is actually only 8-channel driving 10 speakers while the AFCM drives the remaining 4. Yet the diagram show it only driving 3 speakers (Center and 2 D-Pillar speakers). So the only way to figure this out is to tear it apart and see for yourself. The B&O are good quality, well built components so why tear them all out? If the mObridge amplifier works as well as the rep says it will then I would be happy with it. He even told me I could try it for 30 days and if it didn't meet my expectations I could send it back for a full refund. It just has to be ordered and installed by a professional installer and now my installer doesn't want to mess with anything factory for fear of hurting something and then it's on him! I talked to someone running the mObridge amp in his BMW and he says it rocks! But again, my installer won't touch it because it intergrates with the factory harness by custom made harnesses. So I'm stuck with either ripping it all out and putting all new components or just leaving it stock. If I could get the 30 day warranty I would buy the amp and do the install myself but that's not the case unfortunately. I may entertain the idea of adding a stand alone subwoofer at some point but I'm just too frustrated right now to think about it.

UNBROKEN · Oct 6, 2023

Just an FYI this “ B&O are good quality, well built components” isn’t really true. All equipment in the car is standard FoMoCo fare. All they did was license the B&O name.
Here’s your B&O amp.

And here’s one of your B&O speakers.

BrooseDaMoose · Oct 7, 2023

Well ain't that some shit! Now I want to rip it all out and replace it! I looked up a lot of stuff on B&O and everything I read said they are expensive because they build their stuff with quality materials. Naturally I thought it would be the same here. What a scam! Thanks for the heads up bro! This will help me make the decision a little easier.

bavarianblessed · Oct 7, 2023

UNBROKEN said:

Hey do you recall whether or not the front door mid and tweet were paralleled with a cap for the tweeter or did they each have their own dedicated channel? I looked through your posts but couldn't tell from the pics

BrooseDaMoose said:

I was looking at that mobridge setup also but wasn't sure how much flexibility the built in DSP offered. As a plugin solution it would be amazing if the DSP is worth a damn also

UNBROKEN · Oct 7, 2023

bavarianblessed said:

Never looked. I gutted 100% of the B&O and replaced it.

bavarianblessed · Oct 7, 2023

UNBROKEN said:

Okay, I need to quit being lazy and pull the panels off anyway lol

Sign Up! To view all forums and unlock additional cool features

Which Amp Channels Power Which Speakers?

Active Member

Member

Member

Active Member

Active Member

Active Member

Active Member

Member

Member

Active Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

Member

Active Member

4000 Post Club

Active Member

Member

4000 Post Club

Member