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You can test the speaker with a multimeter to determine the impedance.
If you have a Dayton Audio Testing System, you can get all the T/S parameters.
I probably have a Dayton Audio Testing System lying around here somewhere, just can't seem to find it. It's probably right next to my flux capacitor. My bad. j/k
If anyone else who does have any insight with this sub on the D4 B&O system, please do reach out.
One other oddity is that one of the clip connectors was cracked clean off when I pulled the speaker out. Made sure to extract it slowly. Any chance this loose wire could be causing my intermittent issue?
Hi guys, in case anyone is interested in replacing the factory sub in your D4, I just completed a write up on adding dual subs in my S8 B&O system. Not a cheap fix by any means but now my bass matches the rest of the B&O speakers while mostly preserving the stock look. Check it out:
Hi guys, in case anyone is interested in replacing the factory sub in your D4, I just completed a write up on adding dual subs in my S8 B&O system. Not a cheap fix by any means but now my bass matches the rest of the B&O speakers while mostly preserving the stock look. Check it out:
Crypto69 - great set up;
I went the economical route. Since I didn't want to pay for the full >$900 being quoted to me to replace the full sub/enclosure for my blown rear sub coil by my local dealer, I began searching options. I removed the speaker; went to local audio specialty shops (impedance measured 7ohms btw) to look for replacements. The issue was the dimension for depth or height. The OEM B&O sub is compact and I couldn't find an 8" sub with equal or less height from the mounting surface to bottom of magnet. What I found was something VERY close - JL 8W1 (8W1v3-4 - Car Audio - Subwoofer Drivers - W1v3 - JL Audio). I had to cut a hole in the existing housing where the magnet sits down - exposed into the trunk/boot. This is not visible unless you put your head into trunk looking under the parcel shelf.
This now acts like an infinite baffle bass. Since I did not put any processing or clipping into it, it can be slightly muddled (especially on higher gain setting with heavy bass music - like rap). But it shakes if you like that.
The speaker was $140 and my time to drop it in the shelf. I'll post pics of the final install. Attached pics are of the original OEM B&O sub.
So I finally started digging into my rattling subwoofer. The cover removes easy enough with a small flat head screw driver to help. There are a bunch of clips that just drop down into the parcel shelf. And they are carefully working the first two out seems to be the key.
Next was the speaker. Easy enough, remove the 8 Phillip's head screws holding the sub in place. As other's had said, some trimming of the shelf is necessary to get to the screws, which is a sign of what's to come. Once you have the speaker free in it's enclosure, you must now get it past the edges of the parcel shelf. This was more difficult. I had to do some serious trimming of the shelf to get the speaker to pop past it. It took me about 30 minutes, trimming little pieces off as I didn't want to cut deeper than I needed too.
So finally I get the speaker free, disconnect the leads and pull the lump out where I can get a good look. Sure enough, absolutly no indiccation was to what the resistance of the speaker is, who made it, who inspected it. Nothing except a sticker that reads:
800200B00508
by ASK 27012
That's it. Not even a sign that's its a B&O speaker. Nice. Online Audi Parts dealer wants $625 for "Package Tray Speaker" "Center, B&O Audio" Part number is: 4H0-035-621-A.
Did anyone ever figure out a sitable replacement? Or even figure out what speaker's impedance rating is? That would be measured in Ohm's.
I found a speaker that will fit the existing B&O Audi enclosure. It’s a dual 1-ohm coil shallow-depth subwoofer from Kicker. The model name is: “Kicker CompRT 8" 1-Ohm”
A replacement sub from Audi is around $700. This Kicker Sub is of nicer construction, by a long way, and actually sounds better and punches more than the original. The pre-tax price is $112.46 from Amazon.
Also, I reached out to B&O to see if I could at least get the specifications from the old speaker. They refused to provide details… They suggested I call Audi USA. Instead, I tested the old speaker for resistance using a multimeter – while not a direct correlation to impedance, it’s a good correlation. It tested at 1.5 ohm resistance. The internet tells me that translates to a 2-ohm speaker impedance.
Getting the old speaker out has been discussed already on this thread. I will just add it’s not easy. Clearly the factory installs the speaker in the enclosure and then installs the unit on the finished deck from the trunk. There is probably an easy way to get it out via the trunk, but I was too afraid to try. To me it looked like you had to fully disassemble the liner of the trunk. I took the ‘easy’ way out.
The housing of the new speaker is also larger than the old one, but it will fit nicely along the mounting rim of the enclosure. The speaker also got pre-installed foam insulation so the speaker seats very nicely in the existing enclosure. Just be careful trimming, especially once you get to the edge of what can be concealed by the speaker cover. I extended the razor blade down into the enclosure and used it as a guide so I didn’t over trim the deck material. Can’t imagine what it costs to replace that, or perhaps I don’t want too.
The speaker needs to be wired in series to step it up to a 2-ohm impedance – see my attached photo. That’s easy enough to do. You’ll also have to extend one of the factory wire to make it fit. You’ll also have to remove most of the foam that’s inside the factory enclosure. The new speaker is shallower, but much wider than the factory one. It is, in fact, just small enough to work with the space we have. Any larger and it wouldn’t seat onto the plastic enclosure.
The end result is a good compromise for the factory speaker. The tone is quite nice, but I did notice it seems to be more efficient than the old speaker. Bass seems a bit more powerful and harder hitting. I am by no means an audiophile. But for my purposes, it sounds great. Certainly a lot better than a blown subwoofer which was unbearable.
Bottom line: I think this is a good alternative if you’ve got a blown B&O speaker. I wouldn’t call this an upgrade, though I do think this speaker produces more bass than the factory speaker. I would not say it’s as balanced as the factory speaker was. I had to turn the base down in the rudimentary EQ that’s available in the MMI system. I would be tempted to order the same speaker with 2 x 2-ohm voice coils which can be wired for a 4-ohm sub. The higher impedance and higher efficiency of this speaker might just be the perfect option. For now, I think I’m happy. If that changes in the future, I’ll update the thread.
Crypto69 - great set up;
I went the economical route. Since I didn't want to pay for the full >$900 being quoted to me to replace the full sub/enclosure for my blown rear sub coil by my local dealer, I began searching options. I removed the speaker; went to local audio specialty shops (impedance measured 7ohms btw) to look for replacements. The issue was the dimension for depth or height. The OEM B&O sub is compact and I couldn't find an 8" sub with equal or less height from the mounting surface to bottom of magnet. What I found was something VERY close - JL 8W1 (8W1v3-4 - Car Audio - Subwoofer Drivers - W1v3 - JL Audio). I had to cut a hole in the existing housing where the magnet sits down - exposed into the trunk/boot. This is not visible unless you put your head into trunk looking under the parcel shelf.
This now acts like an infinite baffle bass. Since I did not put any processing or clipping into it, it can be slightly muddled (especially on higher gain setting with heavy bass music - like rap). But it shakes if you like that.
The speaker was $140 and my time to drop it in the shelf. I'll post pics of the final install. Attached pics are of the original OEM B&O sub.
So I started thinking about the 7-ohm impedance measurement. I was wired for 2-ohms and it was just way too heavy - lower impedance speakers draw more power and thus more sound. I went to a 4-ohm configuration with what is effectively a slightly different model of the same Kicker Sub. It's 2x2-ohm coils wired in series to produce a 4-ohm load. This makes for a dramatic improvement over the original without rewiring the existing amp and produces a puncher bass sound from a higher quality speaker.
I'm not convinced it's a 4-ohm setup originally, but it's damn close. The 7-ohm resistance measurement would put the original speaker at close to a 10-12 ohm sub woofer. I don't believe that is actually what B&O would install. It could be you were reading higher on the resistance reading because the speaker was blown? Not really sure.
I would caution against putting a 4 ohm speaker onto a factory amplifier that was previously playing an 8 ohm driver. It's likely to damage the amplifier, and if you thought spending $900 was too much to replace a subwoofer, just wait for the sticker shock when you have to replace an amp.
Last edited by subterFUSE; 07-24-2018 at 01:41 PM.
I would caution against putting a 4 ohm speaker onto a factory amplifier that was previously playing an 8 ohm driver. It's likely to damage the amplifier, and if you thought spending $900 was too much to replace a subwoofer, just wait for the sticker shock when you have to replace an amp.
my old speaker tested at a resistance of 1.5 ohms which is why I installed a 2-ohm replacement. To my ears the 2-ohm speaker was just producing sound more at a higher efficiently than the old and rather cheap B&O speaker. Should be perfectly safe to replace a 2-ohm speaker with a 2, 4 or 8 ohm speaker. I chose not to replace the B&O speaker on the fact that it looks like a cheap p.o.s. you’d get out of a Toyota, not because I can’t afford $700 for the part.
06-28-2018, 03:27 PM
j/k
