19 Speaker H/K Ohms?

[bearlobo]

Does anyone know the ohms of the 3 dash speakers, the 4 front door speakers, and 2 rear door speakers of the 19 speaker Harmon Kardon system?

 

[Schwartz36]

I’ll be pulling mine as soon as my CDT RAM speaker package arrives. Will let you know.

The dash speakers in my truck read 4.4 ohms.

 

[Schwartz36]

Door 6X9s = 4.3 ohms in my truck
Door Coax = 4.3 ohms

 

[bearlobo]

Door 6X9s = 4.3 ohms in my truck
Door Coax = 4.3 ohms

What did you replace your upper front door with?

 

[Schwartz36]

I’m actually out experimenting with a couple different speakers tonight.

CDT 8.0 in the dash. Also testing faitals in the dash and doors. Finally, Hertz DCX 3.5”.

Only the CDT are direct drop replacements without mod. They came with a ring adapter that makes install stupid simple.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Pros and cons to all. For sure the CDTs sound “best” but they are not as sensitive as the others and lack just a little air that a true tweeter provides. I‘m not planning on making any changes to the factory amp right now, but if I had DSP control I‘m confident that the CDT 8.0s would be the choice.

To my ear, the 4 CDT 6X9s in the door made a HUGE difference and might be the only thing I change today. All stock other than that. The awful sub is unplugged. Went from pretty frustrated with my sound to pretty stoked today. Need some time to give it a good listen.

 

[Jokersreven9e]

I’m actually out experimenting with a couple different speakers tonight.

CDT 8.0 in the dash. Also testing faitals in the dash and doors. Finally, Hertz DCX 3.5”.

Only the CDT are direct drop replacements without mod. They came with a ring adapter that makes install stupid simple.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do. Pros and cons to all. For sure the CDTs sound “best” but they are not as sensitive as the others and lack just a little air that a true tweeter provides. I‘m not planning on making any changes to the factory amp right now, but if I had DSP control I‘m confident that the CDT 8.0s would be the choice.

To my ear, the 4 CDT 6X9s in the door made a HUGE difference and might be the only thing I change today. All stock other than that. The awful sub is unplugged. Went from pretty frustrated with my sound to pretty stoked today. Need some time to give it a good listen.

Thank you for the info. Looking forward to the feedback after your experiments. Where did you order the speakers from and what year/model truck do you have?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Schwartz36]

Thank you for the info. Looking forward to the feedback after your experiments. Where did you order the speakers from and what year/model truck do you have?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have a 2021 1500 Limited with the 19 speaker h/k stereo.

CDT was ordered direct from their site. John has been helping me and has been great.

The Faitals were ordered from Parts Express.

Hertz from Sonic or Crutchfield. However, I expected them yesterday and they didn’t arrive.

So, my testing last night was the stock coax vs CDT vs Faital. I dont see this as an apples to apples kind of test because I’m looking at two wideband aftermarket drivers vs the stock coax. Also they CDT speakers have much lower sensitivity. All are about 4 ohms.

Primary takeaway - it’s 100% personal preference. HA! None of them were bad but they all had different strengths. For the stock speakers I could definitely hear a bit more “air” and ”sparkle” from the dedicated tweeter. The faitals sounded super smooth and have similar sensitivity to stock so the volume balance was about the same (I’m using the stock amp so I dont have much in the way of tuning or balancing the system). The CDTs sound amazing but were overpowered due to a much lower sensitivity spec.

I don’t think the the faitals or the Unity8.0s are the right choice for my ear or preference of a drop in replacement. Neither are bad options. In fact, they are both actually very good. Just not ideal for my needs.

Next evaluation will be stock vs Hertz vs Infinity Ref. I’ll be replacing the three speakers across the dash and leaving the upper door speakers stock (for now).

Two other notes:
* The CDT 6X9’s in the doors are outstanning. Truly eliminated my major gripe of awful mids and bass. Highly recommended for anyone with a similar complaint. Will never plug in my sub again!
* If you are removing your door panels for the first time, start with the rear doors. It’s not a tough process but there is a little bit of a learning curve. After you do two or three of them, it’s a breeze. But, I would not start at the driver door as that the one I look at every day.

 

[Ellisstrong]

I have a 2021 1500 Limited with the 19 speaker h/k stereo.

CDT was ordered direct from their site. John has been helping me and has been great.

The Faitals were ordered from Parts Express.

Hertz from Sonic or Crutchfield. However, I expected them yesterday and they didn’t arrive.

So, my testing last night was the stock coax vs CDT vs Faital. I dont see this as an apples to apples kind of test because I’m looking at two wideband aftermarket drivers vs the stock coax. Also they CDT speakers have much lower sensitivity. All are about 4 ohms.

Primary takeaway - it’s 100% personal preference. HA! None of them were bad but they all had different strengths. For the stock speakers I could definitely hear a bit more “air” and ”sparkle” from the dedicated tweeter. The faitals sounded super smooth and have similar sensitivity to stock so the volume balance was about the same (I’m using the stock amp so I dont have much in the way of tuning or balancing the system). The CDTs sound amazing but were overpowered due to a much lower sensitivity spec.

I don’t think the the faitals or the Unity8.0s are the right choice for my ear or preference of a drop in replacement. Neither are bad options. In fact, they are both actually very good. Just not ideal for my needs.

Next evaluation will be stock vs Hertz vs Infinity Ref. I’ll be replacing the three speakers across the dash and leaving the upper door speakers stock (for now).

Two other notes:
* The CDT 6X9’s in the doors are outstanning. Truly eliminated my major gripe of awful mids and bass. Highly recommended for anyone with a similar complaint. Will never plug in my sub again!
* If you are removing your door panels for the first time, start with the rear doors. It’s not a tough process but there is a little bit of a learning curve. After you do two or three of them, it’s a breeze. But, I would not start at the driver door as that the one I look at every day.

Which CDT 6x9’s did you get? You make me want to change my infinity 6x9’s to see if the CDT’s sound better

 

[Schwartz36]

Which CDT 6x9’s did you get? You make me want to change my infinity 6x9’s to see if the CDT’s sound better

The slim “mid woofer”. CL-69S. Direct drop in replacment. No mod needed.

CDT Audio Subwoofer CL-69S

 

[Jokersreven9e]

The slim “mid woofer”. CL-69S. Direct drop in replacment. No mod needed.

CDT Audio Subwoofer CL-69S

Did you go with the 4ohm CL-69S (didn't want to assume)?

 

[german88]

I have a 2021 1500 Limited with the 19 speaker h/k stereo.

CDT was ordered direct from their site. John has been helping me and has been great.

The Faitals were ordered from Parts Express.

Hertz from Sonic or Crutchfield. However, I expected them yesterday and they didn’t arrive.

So, my testing last night was the stock coax vs CDT vs Faital. I dont see this as an apples to apples kind of test because I’m looking at two wideband aftermarket drivers vs the stock coax. Also they CDT speakers have much lower sensitivity. All are about 4 ohms.

Primary takeaway - it’s 100% personal preference. HA! None of them were bad but they all had different strengths. For the stock speakers I could definitely hear a bit more “air” and ”sparkle” from the dedicated tweeter. The faitals sounded super smooth and have similar sensitivity to stock so the volume balance was about the same (I’m using the stock amp so I dont have much in the way of tuning or balancing the system). The CDTs sound amazing but were overpowered due to a much lower sensitivity spec.

I don’t think the the faitals or the Unity8.0s are the right choice for my ear or preference of a drop in replacement. Neither are bad options. In fact, they are both actually very good. Just not ideal for my needs.

Next evaluation will be stock vs Hertz vs Infinity Ref. I’ll be replacing the three speakers across the dash and leaving the upper door speakers stock (for now).

Two other notes:
* The CDT 6X9’s in the doors are outstanning. Truly eliminated my major gripe of awful mids and bass. Highly recommended for anyone with a similar complaint. Will never plug in my sub again!
* If you are removing your door panels for the first time, start with the rear doors. It’s not a tough process but there is a little bit of a learning curve. After you do two or three of them, it’s a breeze. But, I would not start at the driver door as that the one I look at every day.

Great right up! Any further testing to report with Hertz & Infinity?
Also, would love to hear more detail about why the faital and CDT didn’t fit your ear?

 

[tlpollock01]

I have a 2021 1500 Limited with the 19 speaker h/k stereo.

CDT was ordered direct from their site. John has been helping me and has been great.

The Faitals were ordered from Parts Express.

Hertz from Sonic or Crutchfield. However, I expected them yesterday and they didn’t arrive.

So, my testing last night was the stock coax vs CDT vs Faital. I dont see this as an apples to apples kind of test because I’m looking at two wideband aftermarket drivers vs the stock coax. Also they CDT speakers have much lower sensitivity. All are about 4 ohms.

Primary takeaway - it’s 100% personal preference. HA! None of them were bad but they all had different strengths. For the stock speakers I could definitely hear a bit more “air” and ”sparkle” from the dedicated tweeter. The faitals sounded super smooth and have similar sensitivity to stock so the volume balance was about the same (I’m using the stock amp so I dont have much in the way of tuning or balancing the system). The CDTs sound amazing but were overpowered due to a much lower sensitivity spec.

I don’t think the the faitals or the Unity8.0s are the right choice for my ear or preference of a drop in replacement. Neither are bad options. In fact, they are both actually very good. Just not ideal for my needs.

Next evaluation will be stock vs Hertz vs Infinity Ref. I’ll be replacing the three speakers across the dash and leaving the upper door speakers stock (for now).

Two other notes:
* The CDT 6X9’s in the doors are outstanning. Truly eliminated my major gripe of awful mids and bass. Highly recommended for anyone with a similar complaint. Will never plug in my sub again!
* If you are removing your door panels for the first time, start with the rear doors. It’s not a tough process but there is a little bit of a learning curve. After you do two or three of them, it’s a breeze. But, I would not start at the driver door as that the one I look at every day.

I am interested in this, so the front door 6x9’s are components and the rear are coax right? Did you put the 6x9 woofer in all 4 doors? Or did you put a coax version back into the rear doors? I rode one the back one day and it seemed that the head liner speakers sounded weak and the rear door OEM 6x9’s didn’t have much presence.
I really feel like the sound stage up front needs help and maybe your solution is what I need. My wife’s grand Cherokee HK sounds so much better than my truck.

 

[german88]

Decided to see what the hype was about regarding the CDT 6X9's and installed 2 sets tonight. Hardest part of the job was removing the small plastic panel covering the bolt behind the door latch. 9 hold down points for a 3 gram 1" plastic cover ensures it will be totally destroyed upon removal. Lame! Other than that all went smoothly. All 4 door 6X9's are reverse polarity from the factory so therefore require the Metra 72-6514 adaptor be reversed. I did this by cutting and re-soldering the existing connectors and heat shrinking the joint. Not sure why they setup the factor system this way to begin with. Must have been decided during programming of the DSP unit. Makes me wonder if switching polarity on the factory speakers would improve the lacking mid bass...

I was skeptical about a speaker only upgrade being worth the effort. The area I feel was most lacking in the H/K system was mid bass. Subwoofer is a close second. Pics of the low end factory driver made me go ahead with the CDT's. Glad I did as it's a significant difference in output, clarity and soundstage. Anyone on the fence and willing to spend two hours and a couple hundred in drivers will be equally rewarded. Still cant get over how well the factory amp drives the CDT's. Completely satisfied and won't be replacing the factory sub at this point and I've left mine plugged in. Sounds better to my ear and I did try disconnecting and running through all my baseline soundtracks.

Took the time to thoroughly dampen the inside door panels and inner skins with dynamat sound deadening which I'm sure helped. I did notice many of the bolts holding the factory inner panel to the door were quite loose which was allowing the washers behind each bolt to vibrate. These bolts all have a red type threadlocker but I was easily able to go another 1/2 turn or more on all of mine. Big source for potential rattles fixed there.

 

[Johnny_H]

Decided to see what the hype was about regarding the CDT 6X9's and installed 2 sets tonight. Hardest part of the job was removing the small plastic panel covering the bolt behind the door latch. 9 hold down points for a 3 gram 1" plastic cover ensures it will be totally destroyed upon removal. Lame! Other than that all went smoothly. All 4 door 6X9's are reverse polarity from the factory so therefore require the Metra 72-6514 adaptor be reversed. I did this by cutting and re-soldering the existing connectors and heat shrinking the joint. Not sure why they setup the factor system this way to begin with. Must have been decided during programming of the DSP unit. Makes me wonder if switching polarity on the factory speakers would improve the lacking mid bass...

I was skeptical about a speaker only upgrade being worth the effort. The area I feel was most lacking in the H/K system was mid bass. Subwoofer is a close second. Pics of the low end factory driver made me go ahead with the CDT's. Glad I did as it's a significant difference in output, clarity and soundstage. Anyone on the fence and willing to spend two hours and a couple hundred in drivers will be equally rewarded. Still cant get over how well the factory amp drives the CDT's. Completely satisfied and won't be replacing the factory sub at this point and I've left mine plugged in. Sounds better to my ear and I did try disconnecting and running through all my baseline soundtracks.

Took the time to thoroughly dampen the inside door panels and inner skins with dynamat sound deadening which I'm sure helped. I did notice many of the bolts holding the factory inner panel to the door were quite loose which was allowing the washers behind each bolt to vibrate. These bolts all have a red type threadlocker but I was easily able to go another 1/2 turn or more on all of mine. Big source for potential rattles fixed there.

Ok this is what I wanted to hear. Just want to clarify - the four different 6x9s are just one in each door? It sounds like the sound qualities you found lacking align with my tastes. I’m terrible with anything electric and will probably just take my truck to a local car stereo shop and I just want to be able to say “replace these xxxxxx speakers please”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Ellisstrong]

Decided to see what the hype was about regarding the CDT 6X9's and installed 2 sets tonight. Hardest part of the job was removing the small plastic panel covering the bolt behind the door latch. 9 hold down points for a 3 gram 1" plastic cover ensures it will be totally destroyed upon removal. Lame! Other than that all went smoothly. All 4 door 6X9's are reverse polarity from the factory so therefore require the Metra 72-6514 adaptor be reversed. I did this by cutting and re-soldering the existing connectors and heat shrinking the joint. Not sure why they setup the factor system this way to begin with. Must have been decided during programming of the DSP unit. Makes me wonder if switching polarity on the factory speakers would improve the lacking mid bass...

I was skeptical about a speaker only upgrade being worth the effort. The area I feel was most lacking in the H/K system was mid bass. Subwoofer is a close second. Pics of the low end factory driver made me go ahead with the CDT's. Glad I did as it's a significant difference in output, clarity and soundstage. Anyone on the fence and willing to spend two hours and a couple hundred in drivers will be equally rewarded. Still cant get over how well the factory amp drives the CDT's. Completely satisfied and won't be replacing the factory sub at this point and I've left mine plugged in. Sounds better to my ear and I did try disconnecting and running through all my baseline soundtracks.

Took the time to thoroughly dampen the inside door panels and inner skins with dynamat sound deadening which I'm sure helped. I did notice many of the bolts holding the factory inner panel to the door were quite loose which was allowing the washers behind each bolt to vibrate. These bolts all have a red type threadlocker but I was easily able to go another 1/2 turn or more on all of mine. Big source for potential rattles fixed there.

What happens if you don’t reverse the polarity?

 

[german88]

Ok this is what I wanted to hear. Just want to clarify - the four different 6x9s are just one in each door? It sounds like the sound qualities you found lacking align with my tastes. I’m terrible with anything electric and will probably just take my truck to a local car stereo shop and I just want to be able to say “replace these xxxxxx speakers please”.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, one each 6X9 per door. They act as a dedicated mid bass.

 

[german88]

What happens if you don’t reverse the polarity?

Reversing polarity makes the speaker work out of phase or opposite of in phase. Sometimes this is done to achieve a certain frequency response but in the case of the H/K system It robs the mid bass driver of having the authority it needs. The engineers at RAM had a specific sound profile in mind when they intentionally set it that way. It's all a matter of personal taste in the end and up to the user to decide. Many here aren't satisfied with both the mid bass and subwoofer on the H/K system. This mod goes a long way to overcoming those weaknesses for very little outlay.

If someone was inclined they could try reversing polarity on the factory drivers but after seeing what the physical properties are compared to the CDT's it wouldn't be worth the effort IMO.

 

[Ellisstrong]

Reversing polarity makes the speaker work out of phase or opposite of in phase. Sometimes this is done to achieve a certain frequency response but in the case of the H/K system It robs the mid bass driver of having the authority it needs. The engineers at RAM had a specific sound profile in mind when they intentionally set it that way. It's all a matter of personal taste in the end and up to the user to decide. Many here aren't satisfied with both the mid bass and subwoofer on the H/K system. This mod goes a long way to overcoming those weaknesses for very little outlay.

If someone was inclined they could try reversing polarity on the factory drivers but after seeing what the physical properties are compared to the CDT's it wouldn't be worth the effort IMO.

So going with the cdt speakers but not reversing the polarity of the adapter may make the upgrade less noticeable possibly?

 

[german88]

Without testing it’s hard to say how the CDT’s would sound out of phase. My gut tells me somewhere in between “stock driver reversed” and “CDT normal polarity” if that makes sense? The CDT driver is so well made compared to the $5 H/K mid bass, your seeing gains just due to higher quality materials. There’s frequency response data on the CDT’s overlaying the factory driver in another thread that suggest they would sound similar. That’s terribly misleading however. There’s no comparison in sound quality.

 

[UnloosedChewtoy]

I know it wasn't in the original question, and this thread took a small left turn down the CDT route (which is fine), but just to add a tidbit that I haven't seen mentioned yet...

The rear 3.5" ceiling speakers for the H/K system read 3.7 ohms for mine when I was playing with them earlier this week.

Sorry if it was mentioned somewhere and I missed it.