Mobridge vs....

[Ape Factory]

I've upgraded every B&O speaker sans the sub to the Hertz CX series with the MTI Raptor pods and 6.5" CX in the rear. I am admittedly having a hard time swallowing the $1800 for a Mobridge but I also don't want to half ass it and dramatically change the sound stage. I like my drummer behind me and the bass player to the left!

I went and changed out speakers by zone, one zone at a time, to see which had the largest positive effect on sound. Definitely the dash and pods. Kicker panel speakers made almost no difference.

I do find that at times, it sounds fantastic but it's very much source dependent via wireless CarPlay. I'm assuming it's the lossless bitrate tracks that sound really good but others just don't, particularly un-remastered classic rock which I guess is to be expected. I've plugged my phone in via USB and don't really notice any difference in sound. I stream iTunes in lossless compression.

For $1800+, I'd expect to be absolutely blown away by the change. I do find I have to crank the volume higher with all the new speakers which I expected. And just like a good tube amp, the louder it's played, the better it seems to sound. Or maybe I'm just going deaf.

I've seen some of the plugnplay kits but to amplify the entire speaker system is right up there in cost and probably a lot more complex with less integration.

Has anyone done the Mobridge and thought, man I was expecting more? Are there really any alternatives that may compete from a performance standpoint yet cost less?

I'lll likely upgrade the sub but stay with the 8" and factory enclosure.

 

[Michiganman24]

Down the line I’m gonna upgrade speakers and amp. Hopefully you get some good feedback cause I’m interested in the Mobridge amp too.

 

[ForeWard]

You are in the same boat as myself. I just upgraded from a 22 badlands to a 2024 raptor, moved over my hertz 100.3s in the dash. I had kicker km 6.5s in the pods on the badlands, but the pods don't fit, I am probably going to get the mti pods soon and move the kickers over - they were pretty solid.

I started our with kickers (cs's) in the dash and kick panels in the badlands (from trailseven) but found that they weren't great. The hertz were noticeably better, but still have held off on going the full mObridge route, hope someone can chime in here...

 

[Ape Factory]

I ended up going with Mobridge and upgrading all the speakers with Hertz. I'm fairly happy. I do think it's too bright overall, especially in spatial mode so I need to sit down at some point and fiddle with it. For now I use it in stereo mode only. It's also very source-dependent. I've had to plug my phone in to be happy with the overall sound and even then it depends on how well the song was recorded.

 

[ForeWard]

I ended up going with Mobridge and upgrading all the speakers with Hertz. I'm fairly happy. I do think it's too bright overall, especially in spatial mode so I need to sit down at some point and fiddle with it. For now I use it in stereo mode only. It's also very source-dependent. I've had to plug my phone in to be happy with the overall sound and even then it depends on how well the song was recorded.

That's disappointing that it is still so source-dependent even with the mObridge. Even without it, I have moments where I'm like "sweet, I finally solved it!" but then another track comes on or I switch from apple music to xm (or vice versa) and it ends up being hollow or tinny....

 

[Ape Factory]

Pretty much. I will say it's far better overall than the stock sound system but not all songs are recorded with equal consideration to what they'll be played through and that's particularly true of older songs that haven't been remastered. In my go to rotation of music, I'd say it's less than 20% of the tracks. And any high fidelity sound system, whether it be at home or mobile is going to amplify (I see what you did there) bad recordings.

I will say I was pleasantly surprised by the improvement of using CarPlay plugged in vs. streaming. Maybe some sort of active eq feature would help with the bad tracks.

I've heard the internet repeat it over and over, the Bronco doesn't make for a good sound stage. Dunno if it's true and if so, why that's the case.

The three small dash speakers are probably the cause of my current eq being bright. With the Mobridge, you can literally turn off all the speakers and turn them on one by one. I'm kinda wondering if I should dial down the dash speakers and crank the kick panels, I installed coax speakers in that location and in the current eq, they're delivering lower mids only.