B&O Speaker Upgrade (Basser Box, Bruce Miranda)

[workerONE]

I was asked by Bruce Miranda to take pictures and write a review.
The speaker replacement methods people have come up with for the S5 and RS5 B&O system are ingenious and provide excellent results.
I purchased this Basser Box and it worked great https://www.ebay.com/itm/233529287345
I purchased this wiring kit for subwoofer amps and it had everything I needed https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I purchased the Kicker KEY500.1 amp and it's perfect for this application.
I purchased a wiring harness from Praneel (Bruce sells this, I think his is the original) (pigtail with RCA - B&O (but you don't need the pigtail if you don't want to use the OEM sub too, I didn't but I just got that wiring harness anyway) here https://www.audizine.com/forum/showt...ubwoofer-Cable
From Bruce Miranda I initially purchased just the center and front door mid speakers. He contacted me and suggested that I also upgrade the front door woofers since I'll be taking the door cards off anyway, so I purchase the woofer mounting kit from Bruce.
For front door woofers I chose the Aurum Cantus AC165/50CK from PartsExpress.com
I also got lower A pillar tweeters from Bruce although I haven't installed those yet.
edit: I finally replaced rear door speakers too, see post below

Subwoofer Installation:
I actually called a local shop and they quoted me around $350 to install.
I watched a couple basser box installation videos, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kxcH...ist=WL&index=2 and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoB7P3X35u0
I set up the basser box and added polyfill (8.5 oz I think) then laid out the wires in the trunk and started following instructions.
I ended up disconnecting my battery (negative then positive) because the fuse that comes with the kit can't be removed from the plastic body. I was pretty stressed out because I kept trying to figure out how to remove the fuse but I don't think it was possible.
The power and ground cables were too fat to fit in the Kicker amp. After googling I decided I would use a box cutter to cut off wire strands until the wire would fit. I did this for both power and ground and it worked great.
I turned it on and it was loud! A lot of bass. I didn't know what to expect. I couldn't get the levels set right.
Yesterday I realized there is a low gain / high gain button on the amp that needs to be pushed in to set it to high gain. This fixed the sound problem and it was suddenly very clean and precise. Then I ran the KEY gain setup and then ran the other setup described here https://www.kicker.com/app/manuals/47KEY5001-QSG.pdf They did improve the sound a bit.
Edit April '23: I just went back and connected the OEM subwoofer so I have both subs connected and it sounds better than without it. I can do this because I purchased the pigtail sub cable adapter that allows both subs to be connected.

Speakers:
I first installed the center speaker from Bruce. I followed this YouTube video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npQcnukJbk4
I was quoted $600 to install speakers, nope.
I had a hard time using the pry tool since the windshield was so close, so I cut a couple of the pry tools in half which let me pry at the corners under the window. Once I got started it was pretty easy and gave me confidence for the rest of the project. I had to go to the hardware store and buy a 7/32" socket for the screws. It's like 5.5 mm or something.
The center speaker really provided a presence to the sound that was previously lacking. With the center speaker and the subwoofer the system sounds good.

The next day I watched this video for the front door speakers https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XftC...index=1&t=704s
The doors were pretty easy to do.
I had a hard time putting the first door card back on when done. You have to line it up and then push it down into place.
After installing one door, I went to the OEM side to listen and compare.
The OEM mids sound like a fuzzy replica of music. They don't sound clear, they never should have been used. The mids from Bruce were clear and sounded great.
When both front doors were done it blew me away. The mids were clear- the presence that I mentioned after installing the center speaker is throughout the cabin. The sound is totally changed.
The bass is strong and clean. You get a lot of bass from replacing the OEM woofers in the doors.
The sound that comes out of the OEM speakers is just unpleasant.
I have my sound adjustment (treble/bass) at the default in the middle (no gain or reduction).
I still need to install the A pillar tweeters. edit: here's a video showing how the clip works on the A pillar trim https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58ZkM5Iesyc

Honestly the basser box install seemed 3x more difficult than the speaker upgrades.

I didn't think I could do the install. If I can do it I think you can too. It was actually pretty fun. I'm excited about it still.

[JohnEnglish]

I've installed the full kit from Bruce. It's a fantastic bit of kit and I highly recommend it. It makes the whole process virtually plug and play. The process is actually very straight forward and easy; it just takes a fair bit of time. I installed mine over several weekends in the summer. I basically set aside one weekend for each door and then one for the front dash and A pillars and one for the D pillars. I still have to get around to installing the subwoofer.

[workerONE]

This is an update after replacing all of the remaining speakers in the B&O system (see my edit at the bottom)
I tried and failed to remove the A pillar so I had my local shop install the lower A pillar tweeters. This removed the harshness and gave me some clarity.
The sound was great but a little rough. I still had the rear door OEM speakers in place and I like to put the fader back a bit. After looking at how to make connections and fit the speakers I asked Bruce Miranda for tweeters that were ready to go and for the rear door mounting kit. I also ordered Hertz C165 woofers from Crutchfield.
I installed the speakers today.
The system sounds wonderful- a real joy to listen to.
On normal stereos loud drums and other instrument "crashes" sound like a wall of sound. With the B&O you hear the actual instruments striking together. You can hear the strings of the guitar, you can hear distortion of electric guitars.
I previous cars I was never was able to balance the subwoofer with the bass- in this car with the basser box and kicker key amp they compliment each other and work together. Also, the system really benefits from how quiet the Audi is inside and how little road noise you hear.
Being able to see peer reviews of speakers is invaluable. Reading the experience of people who tried this before is really priceless and thanks go everyone to tried and struggled with this stuff.

edit: I read that there are 3" rear surrounds that never turn all the way off even if you turn surround all the way down. I think they must play very low volume when surround is turned all the way off/down because I don't hear them.

[ryangphoto]

Hey there.. I am a bit new.. can you link me to buying the speakers from Bruce? Or where I can find more info on them..

Do I HAVE to do the sub install or can I just replace the speakers?

Thanks
Ryan G

[workerONE]

I don't know why I never saw your question before, sorry.
This is Bruce's site: https://www.brucemiranda.com/ but what I would do is email him ([email protected]) and talk to him, maybe describe what you want and what you are thinking then he can point you in the right direction (if you're still interested).
You don't have to install the sub. Replacing the speakers makes a bigger improvement.
I recommend replacing all these speakers: center dash mid, front door woofers, a pillar tweeters, front door mids, rear door woofers, rear door tweeters (list is in sequence from most improvement to less improvement but I'd do them all)

[czechm8]

Does anyone know what mid-range drivers and tweeters Bruce uses in his kits? I see the front door woofers are Aurum Cantus AC165's and the rear doors are Audison ap6.5's

[Lensch09]

Does anyone know what mid-range drivers and tweeters Bruce uses in his kits? I see the front door woofers are Aurum Cantus AC165's and the rear doors are Audison ap6.5's

There's a few different combinations that are "approved" in the B9 circle. You can reference my build thread if you want to see which speaker combination I'm running.

-DL

[czechm8]

Thanks? Very helpful. Did you end up replacing any of the tweeters?

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[Lensch09]

Thanks? Very helpful. Did you end up replacing any of the tweeters?

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Yup - I did the ones in the rear doors and the ones in the a-pillars.

-DL

[wwhan]

Does anyone know what mid-range drivers and tweeters Bruce uses in his kits? I see the front door woofers are Aurum Cantus AC165's and the rear doors are Audison ap6.5's

https://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/975389-B9-5-S5-Coupe-B-O-Speaker-Upgrade?p=14938451&viewfull=1#post14938451

[Flint]

I’m coming from the B&O in the B8.5 S4 and now have the B&O in my B9.5 S5 SB. I did the subwoofer upgrade in my B8.5 and it made such a difference that I didn’t feel the need to change out any other speakers. On the B9.5 it sounds like the consensus is the opposite and the most gains are from upgrading the interior speakers starting with the center dash and front doors? To my ears, the B8.5 system had better clarity, separation, and highs.


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