B&O 10" sub replacement guide

[Drock73]

Just want to verify that DD audio's RL-SW10A has been discontinued and now is replaced by RL-SW10-D4?

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[Jackal]

Just want to verify that DD audio's RL-SW10A has been discontinued and now is replaced by RL-SW10-D4?

From 12/22/2023:

"The difference between the revision you have (current inventory) and the "A" revision is merely the dustcap, that was the revision to that particular woofer series."

-D4 just designates a dual 4 Ohm VC.

 

[ivonovi]

Yeah it won't fit without opening up the hole with that hole being 9.055". When I was doing my research I found these as possible woofers that would require no box hole modifications.
Polk DB1042DVC 85db ~$80
Polk MM1042DVC 86db ~$115
Alpine S2-W10D4 84.5db ~60
DD Audio RL-SW10A 86db ~80
As well as the Pioneer units that most have been installing. Best bang for your buck to me is the DD Audio. Now, I'm in no way affiliated with them. I just feel like the woofer was engineered perfectly for that size enclosure.

mate did you end up going with either of the Polk subs ?

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

mate did you end up going with either of the Polk subs ?

Hi, read my post #667, I went with DD Audio RL-SW10A

 

[ivonovi]

Hi, read my post #667, I went with DD Audio RL-SW10A

thnx mate. I was hoping you or someone had given the Polk a shot. I am based in Australia and we dont have access to the DD Audio sub's here. The sensitivity of the Pioneer is a my main concern.. even though it appears to be the preferred solution here...

 

[Shoebox]

I read all 47 pages, lots of great info. I just picked up my new-to-me 2022 GT Premium with B&O system, and yes the bass sucks. I ordered the recommended DD sub off ebay, and am planning on adding a small mono amp to power it.

For those who did the same, how did you run the inputs to the amp? Did you cut the factory wires to the sub? I assume you ran the sub at 2 ohms? Thanks

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

I read all 47 pages, lots of great info. I just picked up my new-to-me 2022 GT Premium with B&O system, and yes the bass sucks. I ordered the recommended DD sub off ebay, and am planning on adding a small mono amp to power it.

For those who did the same, how did you run the inputs to the amp? Did you cut the factory wires to the sub? I assume you ran the sub at 2 ohms? Thanks

If you picked up the RL-SW10-D4, then that's a dual voice coil woofer at 4 ohms per coil. Try running it with the factory amp first. I found it had plenty of power to drive the DD Audio woofer to sound levels I was happy with. The factory sub box has a dual voice coil woofer in it, so it's one to one swap. If you find that the new woofer does not hit hard enough for you then by all means use an external amp.

 

[Shoebox]

If you picked up the RL-SW10-D4, then that's a dual voice coil woofer at 4 ohms per coil. Try running it with the factory amp first. I found it had plenty of power to drive the DD Audio woofer to sound levels I was happy with. The factory sub box has a dual voice coil woofer in it, so it's one to one swap. If you find that the new woofer does not hit hard enough for you then by all means use an external amp.

Thanks, I'll certainly try it without the amp first, but the amp is on the way as well, so I'm curious how to wire it. Everything I see about wiring DVC 4-ohm subs shows it wired as either 2- or 8-ohms. The amp is also 2- or 4-ohm stable, so I'd imagine it's fine at 2 ohms.

I'm also curious how those who added a mono amp wired the factory sub wiring into the amp.

I also found that the bass is far weaker when I'm running Android Auto with Spotify than just listening to the radio. There are EQ settings in Spotify, but tweaking those still doesn't match the bass when playing the radio.

I wish I could remove the JL 5-ch amp I have in my 2010 and skip whatever the B&O is running. The sound of this thing really is disappointing for a "premium" sound system.

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

Thanks, I'll certainly try it without the amp first, but the amp is on the way as well, so I'm curious how to wire it. Everything I see about wiring DVC 4-ohm subs shows it wired as either 2- or 8-ohms. The amp is also 2- or 4-ohm stable, so I'd imagine it's fine at 2 ohms.

I'm also curious how those who added a mono amp wired the factory sub wiring into the amp.

I also found that the bass is far weaker when I'm running Android Auto with Spotify than just listening to the radio. There are EQ settings in Spotify, but tweaking those still doesn't match the bass when playing the radio.

I wish I could remove the JL 5-ch amp I have in my 2010 and skip whatever the B&O is running. The sound of this thing really is disappointing for a "premium" sound system.

I hear you, I too was not impressed with the B&O. so much so that I went and purchased new tweeters and midranges as well as the sub. However, once I replaced the sub, I was surprised at the improvement in not just the bass but the overall sound quality. That muddy stock sub really messes things up. Yes the tweeters are still a little weak for me, and I'll get to them eventually, but for now, I'm good with it. And I have a theory as to why they suck but that's a whole other topic. Now remember that the DD Audio sub will play much louder than the stock unit since it's db rating is much higher, but with much better controlled and less boomy bass.
You can wire the voice coils in parallel and get 2 ohms for the amp. If the amp has right and left speaker level inputs then just connect them to the wires going to the sub box. If not then I would get a speaker level to line level converter and use that.

 

[Shoebox]

I hear you, I too was not impressed with the B&O. so much so that I went and purchased new tweeters and midranges as well as the sub. However, once I replaced the sub, I was surprised at the improvement in not just the bass but the overall sound quality. That muddy stock sub really messes things up. Yes the tweeters are still a little weak for me, and I'll get to them eventually, but for now, I'm good with it. And I have a theory as to why they suck but that's a whole other topic. Now remember that the DD Audio sub will play much louder than the stock unit since it's db rating is much higher, but with much better controlled and less boomy bass.
You can wire the voice coils in parallel and get 2 ohms for the amp. If the amp has right and left speaker level inputs then just connect them to the wires going to the sub box. If not then I would get a speaker level to line level converter and use that.

Yeah it has speaker level inputs, but I'm wondering if people just cut the stock wiring, or found a connector that can be used to keep the stock wiring intact.

This is the amp: https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-76304-Alpine-MRV-M500.html


Which speakers did you go with in the cabin? I had kickers in my 2010, they sounded great, but they were running off a Dynavin and a JL 5 ch amp. I also read that some people disconnect the center dash speaker to improve the sound. Did you do this? Do you know why it improves the sound, and it it worth the effort?

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

Yeah it has speaker level inputs, but I'm wondering if people just cut the stock wiring, or found a connector that can be used to keep the stock wiring intact.

This is the amp: https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-76304-Alpine-MRV-M500.html


Which speakers did you go with in the cabin? I had kickers in my 2010, they sounded great, but they were running off a Dynavin and a JL 5 ch amp. I also read that some people disconnect the center dash speaker to improve the sound. Did you do this? Do you know why it improves the sound, and it it worth the effort?

Good choice on the amp. I recall someone on this forum finding the connector to mate into the factory harness. I remember a link to Newark for the part. I don't recall the thread, but if you search on here you might find it. As far as speakers go, that I've yet to install, like I said the sound improvement with just the sub helped a lot, I chose air motion tweeters Dayton AMTPOD-4 from parts express and Sky High Audio SH-35 midranges. The AMTPOD-4 can be installed into the A-pillar by separating the pod mount from the front face carefully it's only presses in and not glued. I got some A-pillars from a junk yard and modified them slightly to make the AMTPOD-4 fit right in. So now I can just swap out A-pillars and keep the originals pristine should I go back to stock. Did the same with the 3.5", got some factory ones off eBay cheap just so I can reuse the mounting bracket and mounted the Sky Highs to them.
Now regrading the center speaker, I use a black mouse pad to cover it. It attenuates the sound level where it no longer disrupts the sound. My theory is this, both A-pillar tweeters face each other, the center channel is smack dab in the middle firing up at the windshield. This center channel mixes both right and left signals to create a phantom signal. This new sound wave is bounced off the windshield arriving at a time when the A-pillar sound waves are reaching the center of the car. Since the center sound wave contains both left and right information, this reflected sound wave creates an out of phase signal that can either cancel or distort the high frequency signals thus muddying up the high frequency sound. I like the mouse pad trick, since you can A B the change in real time. I chose to leave it covered and use double face tape to hold it in place and it blends right in. And no need to rip the dash apart.

 

[Rilot]

I just did the Pioneer sub replacement in my 2021. My god what a difference! I can now crank the bass up and not have to listen to god-awful booming resonating the entire cabin. It's punchy and tight now.
I mean, it's no custom system but it's good enough.

 

[Joe Gonsalves]

Update 7/21/25

Well I finally got around to swapping out the tweeters and midranges with the parts I purchased last year. Funny how life can set you back with some medical problems. All good now.
Let me just say, you don't know what's missing until you hear what was missing. As far as speakers go, I chose air motion tweeters, Dayton AMTPOD-4 from parts express and Sky High Audio SH-35 midranges. The AMTPOD-4 can be installed into the A-pillar by separating the pod mount from the tweeter carefully it's only pressed in and not glued. You can separate the Tweeter from the pod housing using a painters tool's curved section. It is the perfect size to wedge into the seam and wiggle the tweeter out from the housing without marring up the face. I got some used A-pillars from eBay and modified the them slightly to make the AMTPOD-4 fit right in. So now I can just swap out A-pillars and keep the originals pristine should I go back to stock. Did the same with the door 3.5" speakers, got some factory ones off eBay cheap, just so I can reuse the mounting bracket and mounted the Sky Highs to them. I reused all factory connectors salvaged from the used speakers. Tip; don't heat the terminals too long with a soldering iron. They will distort and you'll need to straighten them out. The plastic is very soft.
The tweeters sound amazing, nice and bright. You can now hear the cymbals so clearly. I actually turned the highs down. If you look at the datasheet for the tweeter you'll see a nice flat impedance curve, what curve! it's ruler flat! As for the midrange, the B&O speaker was ok and acceptable for the most part, but the SH-35 blows it out of the water. The carbon fiber cone provides a nice crisp, fast attack of snare drums. And voices are nice and clear without being honky, no muddy midrange anymore. I crossed over the midrange at 850hz and I think that helps a lot. As for the tweeter, I crossed it over at 4khz.
I added sonic barrier mat to the doors, but I think it will take a lot of material to dampen them more. Not willing to add all that weight to the door. It's improved enough for the stock B&O woofers. Now the real surprise was the B&O 6.5" door woofers. They are paper with foam surround with somewhat of a decent size magnet. I didn't change them out. For now it sounds just fine, but paper in the door won't last too long and the foam surround will rot out eventually. Don't know why they didn't go with polypropylene like the B&O 3.5" speaker. Also I sonic barrier mated the rear deck speakers. When right over them from the bottom to act as a crude baffle to block off the subwoofer from using them as passive radiators. Since those speakers are still active they would be muddied up by the interaction.
To say it's high end now, I would say it's close. Are there more improvements to be had, of course, but are they worth it? At this point using the stock amps and head unit, I don't think it can be made any better without spending big bucks. Overall I'm ecstatic, the sound improvement is 1000 fold. Don't forget I did the Redline subwoofer as mentioned in a previous post.

 

[Rilot]

I decided that I didn't like the way the Pioneer sub mounted and wanted a cleaner installation with the option to take 8-hole subs too. So, I designed this. I'll stick it up on Makerworld or Printables later once I've got the dimentions dialled in.

 

[Rilot]

Reet. Works perfectly. I swapped the Pioneer out for a Kicker that is around 15dbw more sensitive. I liked the control with the Pioneer but it was too quiet for my liking.

Printed in ABS so it can survive the temperature inside the car.

You can grab the 3d model here: https://makerworld.com/en/models/1637974-mustang-s550-b-o-sub-adaptor-ring#profileId-1730467
Bear in mind though that you will need a printer that can do a minimum of 275x275mm on the build plate. I used a Bambu H2D.

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