Actual Sync Audio Channels question (23.5 Mach-E B&O)

[MrLoganRoss]

Hi,
I am planning the stereo upgrade for my GTPE. The complexity is that the front 3 dash speakers are powered directly by the ACM, and the 6 doors speakers + sub are powered by the B&O DSP/amp.

I planned to use the the PAC Audio A2B interface to maintain compatibility with car functions (phone, chimes, nav, etc.). I would like to power the 3 dash speakers with the new DSP/AMP so I can take advantage of the SW-based tuning available in the Alpine PXE-C80-88. What is confusing me is how many channels are actually output from the ACM, and therefore, how many inputs I need on the A2B.

The easiest scenario is that the sync system outputs only L/R channels to the ACM, and then the DSP outputs:
(1) L channel sound to the L dash, L front door, and L back door speakers,
(2) R channel sound to the R dash, R front door, and R back door speakers, and
(3) combined left channel and right channel sounds to the center dash speaker
(4) "system" sounds to some combination of dash speakers.

Then again, I have no idea! I realize this question is in the weeds, but if anyone has knowledge or experience in this, it would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

Sponsored

 

[rugedraw]

This may help.

 

[MrLoganRoss]

That more than helps! It is terrific!

It still leaves open the question of whether the PAC Audio A2B has enough outputs. I am not sure whether its TOSlink-out has the same 6 channel max as the analog-out does. Nevertheless - assuming the PAC audio is 6 channels, it seems like I would be covered, right?

Example:
3 PAC Audio outputs for Dash L, R, C
1 PAC Audio output for the LEFT (front & back) doors
1 PAC Audio output for the RIGHT (front & back) doors
1 PAC Audio output for the sub (do I even need this, since I assume the DSP/AMP can use the L/R channel input signals to create a subwoofer output signal?)

*I know the benefit of a DSP/Preamp, is that I can take a signal and send it to multiple speakers - meaning I don't need a PAC Audio A2B channel for every speaker. I just want to make sure I have the right configuration to retain everything in the car today.

This is where community knowledge comes into play! Thank you!

 

[GDN]

There are better audio folks than me, but if you are doing an upgrade you won't run connections from the Pac A2B to the speakers. You will use the outputs from the Pac A2B device into Amps. Amps will take that signal which will then split to multiple speakers.

Depending on the complexity of your system you might have an amp for the left and one for the right or you might have one amp for all speakers and another for the sub. A thousand ways to go from here.

 

[rugedraw]

That more than helps! It is terrific!

It still leaves open the question of whether the PAC Audio A2B has enough outputs. I am not sure whether its TOSlink-out has the same 6 channel max as the analog-out does. Nevertheless - assuming the PAC audio is 6 channels, it seems like I would be covered, right?

Example:
3 PAC Audio outputs for Dash L, R, C
1 PAC Audio output for the LEFT (front & back) doors
1 PAC Audio output for the RIGHT (front & back) doors
1 PAC Audio output for the sub (do I even need this, since I assume the DSP/AMP can use the L/R channel input signals to create a subwoofer output signal?)

*I know the benefit of a DSP/Preamp, is that I can take a signal and send it to multiple speakers - meaning I don't need a PAC Audio A2B channel for every speaker. I just want to make sure I have the right configuration to retain everything in the car today.

This is where community knowledge comes into play! Thank you!

Tbh, I am not sure. I have dabbled in car audio installs in the past, but they were analog systems where you just take stuff out and replace it and done-deal. These newer systems with DSP's are far more complex. It sounds like what you mentioned above would work, but if you are giving the same signal to the front and rear speakers on the left and right sides, you won't have a true surround sound effect (if that is important to you like it is for me). This is why in lieu of what you are doing, I opted to replace some of the garbage cardboard speakers in my 18 speaker B&O set-up with aftermarket components to retain the factory DSP and the improvement was drastic enough to where I am happy with the set-up without having to rip everything out and go full aftermarket. Even with the two 12" subs in my truck, the mids/highs are not getting drowned out by the additional bass.

 

[MrLoganRoss]

Tbh, I am not sure. I have dabbled in car audio installs in the past, but they were analog systems where you just take stuff out and replace it and done-deal. These newer systems with DSP's are far more complex. It sounds like what you mentioned above would work, but if you are giving the same signal to the front and rear speakers on the left and right sides, you won't have a true surround sound effect (if that is important to you like it is for me). This is why in lieu of what you are doing, I opted to replace some of the garbage cardboard speakers in my 18 speaker B&O set-up with aftermarket components to retain the factory DSP and the improvement was drastic enough to where I am happy with the set-up without having to rip everything out and go full aftermarket. Even with the two 12" subs in my truck, the mids/highs are not getting drowned out by the additional bass.

Thx. Did you change your amp?

 

[MrLoganRoss]

There are better audio folks than me, but if you are doing an upgrade you won't run connections from the Pac A2B to the speakers. You will use the outputs from the Pac A2B device into Amps. Amps will take that signal which will then split to multiple speakers.

Depending on the complexity of your system you might have an amp for the left and one for the right or you might have one amp for all speakers and another for the sub. A thousand ways to go from here.

Thanks. And you are correct. I am using the term dsp/amp interchangeably because they are sometimes an all in one unit.

 

[rugedraw]

Thx. Did you change your amp?

All the mids/highs I swapped out are powered by the factory DSP or ACM. For the F150, the ACM powers only the front a-pillar tweeters and rear door speakers. All other speakers are powered by the DSP and all of that is untouched. I added an amp and an LC2i for the aftermarket subs I put in and left the factory sub connected, too.

 

[MrLoganRoss]

very much appreciated.

All the mids/highs I swapped out are powered by the factory DSP or ACM. For the F150, the ACM powers only the front a-pillar tweeters and rear door speakers. All other speakers are powered by the DSP and all of that is untouched. I added an amp and an LC2i for the aftermarket subs I put in and left the factory sub connected, too.

Sponsored