dhmcfadin

I hope not, moving away from a2b would be going backwards as far as digital audio and can-bus communication goes.

planetix

a2b is a digital car audio bus, but it can run over optical or twisted pair. I would be very surprised if they moved away from a2b itself as that means a more complicated (and heavier) wiring setup. It appears from that pic that they've removed the optical link though and gone with twisted pair copper. Why I couldn't say - perhaps it was limiting other aspects of the design, or less cost effective overall, or some other reason.

As we all know from this thread it certainly made some aspects of third party integration more complex, but I doubt that factored in to Ford's decision. Maybe it was service-related.

HushCarAudio

Thanks for the kind words Pcar. This could be great news for you and a much cheaper solution to use only a harness.

mtordie

Where do you tap into the front doors on a 2018?

woodall01

Are you talking about for an AMP/Speakers? If you want to keep your factory wires use a For-11CK Kit. See link below.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/FOR-11CK-Ea...72.m2749.l2649

mtordie

Have the b&o system and using a zen A2B. I assume there are wires to tap at the factory amp output? If so just need colco codes. Unless there is another place to tap?

woodall01

No, do use my ideal. I did not realize you had the b&o, Hushaudio or dhmchadin would have a better answer to that question.

planetix

You can remove the B&O Amp behind the rear driver side seat completely with the B&O - I did with mine. The output from the HU comes through the digital bus, which the Zen unit interfaces with. For the speakers, you can simply grab those from the B&O amp interface, same wire bundle that has the CAN bus, and wire those to your amp speaker outputs (you'll most likely need to solder extensions to them) - there's really no reason to run new speaker wires for the doors unless you are using some seriously high wattage speakers (also, it is a pain due to how Ford designed the door boot). The instructions that came with the Zen (also available on their site) will give you the color codes for everything you need I believe.

The one exception for the speaker wires as previously mentioned are the pillar tweeters. You'll need to run new wire to those (assuming your new speakers are components, which I recommend) as the factory wiring for those doesn't run to the back of the cab like the door speaker wire. However the pillar tweeters are relatively easy to run wire to.

Dmundz

So did you figure out a place to tap your lc2i to get a proper signal for an aftermarket mono amp for a sub? I would like to add one but don't really want to drop 800$+ for the zen a2b

dhmcfadin

Just grab your signal directly from the sub output of the b&o amp.