harman kardon is nothing than a bag of trash

[Redfour5]

You're confusing Idaho with North Carolina.

Being from Indiana, I'd say Kentucky... Of course if you are from Missouri, you don't have a very high opinion of Hoosiers... AND I know why on that one. After the Civil War, the Indiana boys came home and were pretty much half animals at that point. The fathers bought them a wagon and supplies and said move west son. So, they would get to Independence MO ready to head west and go crazy until they took off. The Missourians didn't have a high opinion of the crazy hoosiers, to say the least.

 

[jastevenson]

I disconnected the sub because while I like bass, I hate boomy, hollow sounding bass like the HK has.

Unfortunately, it seems that you lose ANC when you do this. I don’t mind losing ANC for city driving, but on the highway the wind and road noise is louder than it used to be which is annoying.

 

[tech97elec]

There is quite a mix of opinions on this system. Some have disconnected their subs, I assume because they weren't able to turn down the bass enough for their tastes. Others have complained that there is too little bass. And still others are quite happy with their HK system (count me among this group). I'm wondering if comments from owners of the Alpine system would have a similar mix of opinions of that system?

Those of you who disconnected your subs, would you care to say why? No judgement, just wondering why you say it's now a better system when you've removed the lowest frequencies from your sound spectrum. I assume you weren't able to turn the bass down enough for your liking.

BOOMY bass is worse than low bass. Its irritating to my ears. Crappy design for so many speakers. You'd think HK wouldn't put a stamp of approval on this, just hurts their branding.

I have an Alpine head unit w just one pair of JL Audio C5's and a sub in my Nissan workvan and it will blow all 19 of the RAM speakers away. Very clean and articulate sound.

 

[mikeru82]

Thanks for the answers guys. Maybe it's my 58 year old ears, but my HK system doesn't sound boomy to me. I think it sounds better than any sound system I've had in a vehicle. I know I would miss it if I disconnected the sub.

 

[Buz]

Those of you who disconnected your subs, would you care to say why? No judgement, just wondering why

Many people have not discovered BALANCED sound; meaning you’re hearing everything from the deep low frequencies to the mid frequencies and all the way up to the really high frequencies, all without competing with each other. This is the hallmark of a quality audio system.
NOT just overbearing license plate vibrating bass.
With the stock HK system I had to have the bass eq slider at -8 just to get close to balanced sound. At that setting you’re missing a lot of upper low and lower mid frequencies, which in turn muddies the overall mix.
With my sub unplugged I can set the bass eq slider at +4 without losing overall balance. I get a much cleaner balanced sound with no mud.
The HK system is so, so poorly balanced from the factory.
But if you just like to hear the thump of bass then it’s a great system

 

[mikeru82]

Many people have not discovered BALANCED sound; meaning you’re hearing everything from the deep low frequencies to the mid frequencies and all the way up to the really high frequencies, all without competing with each other. This is the hallmark of a quality audio system.
NOT just overbearing license plate vibrating bass.
With the stock HK system I had to have the bass eq slider at -8 just to get close to balanced sound. At that setting you’re missing a lot of upper low and lower mid frequencies, which in turn muddies the overall mix.
With my sub unplugged I can set the bass eq slider at +4 without losing overall balance. I get a much cleaner balanced sound with no mud.
The HK system is so, so poorly balanced from the factory.
But if you just like to hear the thump of bass then it’s a great system

You might be right about most people not discovering BALANCED sound. If that's the case I'm not sure I really care to experience it. Call it being ignorant or blissfully unaware. I like the system and am happy with it. I don't know how your system could be truly balanced when you removed the device that reproduces the lowest frequencies.

 

[Buz]

You might be right about most people not discovering BALANCED sound. If that's the case I'm not sure I really care to experience it. Call it being ignorant or blissfully unaware. I like the system and am happy with it. I don't know how your system could be truly balanced when you removed the device that reproduces the lowest frequencies.

I didn’t mean to be condescending.
The HK system is still not fully balanced with the sub unplugged. It is definitely missing the low lows. But it’s much closer to being balanced now.
To each his own. A balanced system can tend to sound a little thin to bass lovers.

 

[Boa24]

I currently have the HK system in my Charger and I optioned it in m Ram that's arriving soon. One thing I did that made a huge improvement was stream music from Tidal using the HiFi setting. The sound is a lot cleaner than Spotify.

 

[Sascwatch]

I currently have the HK system in my Charger and I optioned it in m Ram that's arriving soon. One thing I did that made a huge improvement was stream music from Tidal using the HiFi setting. The sound is a lot cleaner than Spotify.

I do the same with Apple Music, I have no complaints with my HK system.

 

[Wolverine]

Coming from Alpine and now having HK, I couldn’t be happier. Perhaps my old Rock N Roll ears don’t listen as they once did…but mine sounds great!

 

[grimreefer]

Still perfectly happy with the HK... 'course, I've worked in an engine room for the past 33 years.

 

[Reverse]

Doesn't really matter what source I use, HK just doesn't sound very good to me. I currently play uncompressed FLAC files from a USB stick, and it is terrible - all highs, no lows. Truly ear-piercing sometimes. I changed the balance to be much more to the rear and that alleviates the problem somewhat, but it's still not great. The cheap system in our 2014 Big Horn is better than this hyped heap of trash.

 

[Timeless]

Doesn't really matter what source I use, HK just doesn't sound very good to me. I currently play uncompressed FLAC files from a USB stick, and it is terrible - all highs, no lows. Truly ear-piercing sometimes. I changed the balance to be much more to the rear and that alleviates the problem somewhat, but it's still not great. The cheap system in our 2014 Big Horn is better than this hyped heap of trash.

Think you need to make a service appointment as that is not the norm.

 

[Memphsi87]

I had to replace my dash speakers as that started resonating a weird noise on high notes, sounded like spider separation or triple joint separation but that’s a 5 min job to replace those speakers. Still think it’s a great system. First car I’ve owned where I’m not tearing everything out and replacing it with an aftermarket amplifier and components. May add a subwoofer but I’m pretty content for now

 

[Ram-583]

Has anyone Upgraded the Subwoofer? The 19 speaker system and sub is not what the Alpine was in my 2014. I am thinking about upgrading the stock sub.... Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Timeless]

There are threads on here where people have upgrade the sub...should be an easy search.

 

[Louhound88]

I don't have the HK, but I have the Alpine and I think for a stock vehicle audio system it sound pretty good. I have my bass set to +8, and find it's balanced pretty well. Of course it probably only dips to maybe 38Hz so it may sound boomy, but that's what you get with a small form sub with barely any enclosure volume.

From the way some comments read It sound like wiring issues or some other problem.

 

[Sascwatch]

The enclosure used in the HK and most likely the alpine are tiny, you will have a hard time finding any aftermarket sub that would fit in the enclosure or where the factory enclosure go.

If you need to increase the bass your best option would be to use a line output converter from the sub output to a dedicated amp and aftermarket sub or subs. You will of course lose some storage space or your entire back seat if you want to go extreme.

At times I wouldn’t mind to feel the bass a little more, but for what it is the stock sub is pretty good. On certain songs it has no problem shaking the mirrors around, and others not so much.

 

[Handmeawrench]

I'm no audio professional but my HK system definitely sounds better than the Bose system in my previous truck, a GMC.

And see, I think the opposite. My previous truck was a 2015 Chevy Colorado with the Bose system. Man, I loved that stereo! To me, the Harman Kardon is all bass, SO MUCH MID, and very weak (and mid-rangey) treble. And that 3-band EQ isn't an eq...it's just a suggestion box.

My fear is that it will be impossible to adjust to my liking without $$$$.

 

[Jgbstetson]

HK in my wife's Volvo is also trash. I don't know what sound they are going for but the mid-bass is way over the top. There is no clarity in that range.