Stereo vs Surround Setting

[MarkS650GT10]

Just curious what everyone thinks sounds the best, the stereo or the surround on the 9 speaker system? I had been using stereo because I read that it turns down the center channel speaker which is not a great speaker. I tried out the surround setting yesterday for a while and did not hear much difference. maybe the vocals come more from that center speaker, but not a big difference that I could hear. went back to stereo setting. maybe I need to listen to the settings for a longer time frame. usually surround sound is more for movies, and stereo for music I would think. probably a marketing thing by Ford saying it has surround sound.

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[Starship Enterprise]

I have the 12 speaker system and surround mode is more spatial. Stereo almost sounds like mono compared to it. That said, the stock B&O system overall is not that great and hope a new center speaker and Pioneer sub improve it a bit.

 

[Cucurú]

Just curious what everyone thinks sounds the best, the stereo or the surround on the 9 speaker system? I had been using stereo because I read that it turns down the center channel speaker which is not a great speaker. I tried out the surround setting yesterday for a while and did not hear much difference. maybe the vocals come more from that center speaker, but not a big difference that I could hear. went back to stereo setting. maybe I need to listen to the settings for a longer time frame. usually surround sound is more for movies, and stereo for music I would think. probably a marketing thing by Ford saying it has surround sound.

Well, coming from a friend who had these systems in a home. We were blasting some Orquesta Broadway, and he mentioned his sorround sound. I said let's try it. He said it did sound right. He was right. Could be different in a car.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

The surround setting is noticeably more spacious and better sounding on my B&O system.

 

[Junkyard Dog]

How do you set "surround" v. "stereo?"

 

[AZ_Ryan]

How do you set "surround" v. "stereo?"

It's in the sound settings.

 

[MarkS650GT10]

click on settings, then sound, then towards bottom have choice of stereo or surround.
Think I will set mine back to surround and try it for a couple days and see if I like it more

 

[erocker]

Surround definitely sounds better to me. I believe I have it faded to the rear by one tick too.

 

[Zig]

Surround definitely sounds better to me. I believe I have it faded to the rear by one tick too.

Are you watching movies or listening to a concert? Although i guess it depends on the source.

 

[Sinthor 5.56]

I have the 12 speaker system and surround mode is more spatial. Stereo almost sounds like mono compared to it. That said, the stock B&O system overall is not that great and hope a new center speaker and Pioneer sub improve it a bit.

Agreed. Surround sound is much more spatial and stereo sounds (to me) almost like mono as you say. Big difference in any case. I have the B&O 12 speaker system as well. It's a nice sounding setup, but not GREAT. Lacking a bit of base, at least I think. Not sure. Definitely good enough though and better than most plain stock setups in cars these days!

 

[Katzenjammer]

I've got quite a few early big band and New Orleans jazz tracks (mono, of course). Now I'm wondering if Surround would be better or worse (confining it to center ?). Have to give it a try.

 

[AZ_Ryan]

I think it would be help to know what the exact difference is between the two. Does stereo turn off the center speaker?

 

[JimC]

It's really hard for me to tell anything about the settings since I am deaf on the left side! So everything is always biased to the right side of the car no matter what setting I use.

However, July 21 I am getting a cochlear implant on the left so I'm really curious if after it is activated on August 12 if I will notice a difference in the way things sound on my car stereo.

 

[Sinthor 5.56]

It's really hard for me to tell anything about the settings since I am deaf on the left side! So everything is always biased to the right side of the car no matter what setting I use.

However, July 21 I am getting a cochlear implant on the left so I'm really curious if after it is activated on August 12 if I will notice a difference in the way things sound on my car stereo.

Congrats on your surgery. I hope you recover swiftly!

 

[MarkS650GT10]

yeah I am liking surround now that I have used it for a couple days.
follow up question, how many of you have it set to all speakers or to driver ?
I have it set to all speakers currently.

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