HK system lacking , next step.

[BigBlueBeast]

Hello all,
I had a post a few weeks ago about the lack of bass in my HK system. Long story short it ended up that the sub was disconnected at the amp.

Now that I fixed that and have suitable bass in my system again, it is time to address the other concerns and system as a whole.

My main complaint with the system is the lack of overall loudness and clarity that this 900 watt system provides. The only way I can describe It as it seems like someone put in the system and forgot to turn up the gain on the amplifier. Maybe I am def who knows but I have to put it up to about 18-20 before I get a level of loudness that I like. and even then I feel as if it is putting out less power than some 500watt systems that I have had.

SO now the major question is, What can I do about it? I have an appointment scheduled at the dealership to go over it and diagnose the system as a whole but I am not too optimistic as I feel the deal will state everything is in tolerance yada yada. So if that fails to address the issue I would like to have a suitable back-up plan.

I have seen multiple threads circulating about various speaker upgrades Faitals for the dash, CDL's ? or CDT's ? for the doors. and then running a line converter aftermarket /amp and subs. I have seen various reviews but they seem to be all over the map.

So I am sorry if i am beating a dead horse with this but I have a few questions.
- The stock speakers except the sub in the HK system are all 4 ohms correct?
- Does anybody know the frequency response or RMS voltage of the stockers?
- for those upgraded speakers, did they make the music clearer at cost of volume or did they make them loud as well as clearer?
- for those of you who have upgraded, would you do it again? what do you have? what do you recommend?

I listen to mainly Rock and Metal. I listen to Sirius along with music from my Thumbdrive. Most of that music is at least 256 quality but I do have some songs that are lacking. so I do understand the better the quality the louder the music.

Thanks for the inputs

 

[Idahoktm]

You must be deaf or something else is wrong with your stereo. I rarely have mine much above 10 and I'm a diehard 80's Metal reject. I listen to Sirius 95% of the time.

 

[dss90c]

You must be deaf or something else is wrong with your stereo. I rarely have mine much above 10 and I'm a diehard 80's Metal reject. I listen to Sirius 95% of the time.

My HK is the same - don't need to turn it up past 10, and there is plenty of bass. Something must be wrong with your unit.

 

[BigBlueBeast]

My HK is the same - don't need to turn it up past 10, and there is plenty of bass. Something must be wrong with your unit.

Honestly, this is what I am thinking. Mine at 10 has more bass than anything else but mids and treble are low up until about 17 I have the mids at like 3 and the treble at 6 slightly above the bass.

 

[BigBlueBeast]

Honestly, this is what I am thinking. Mine at 10 has more bass than anything else but mids and treble are low up until about 17 I have the mids at like 3 and the treble at 6 slightly above the bass.

The system sounds horribly unbalanced regardless of the boomy sub. there is just a sheer lack of punch to any of the speakers

 

[german88]

Hello all,
I had a post a few weeks ago about the lack of bass in my HK system. Long story short it ended up that the sub was disconnected at the amp.

Now that I fixed that and have suitable bass in my system again, it is time to address the other concerns and system as a whole.

My main complaint with the system is the lack of overall loudness and clarity that this 900 watt system provides. The only way I can describe It as it seems like someone put in the system and forgot to turn up the gain on the amplifier. Maybe I am def who knows but I have to put it up to about 18-20 before I get a level of loudness that I like. and even then I feel as if it is putting out less power than some 500watt systems that I have had.

SO now the major question is, What can I do about it? I have an appointment scheduled at the dealership to go over it and diagnose the system as a whole but I am not too optimistic as I feel the deal will state everything is in tolerance yada yada. So if that fails to address the issue I would like to have a suitable back-up plan.

I have seen multiple threads circulating about various speaker upgrades Faitals for the dash, CDL's ? or CDT's ? for the doors. and then running a line converter aftermarket /amp and subs. I have seen various reviews but they seem to be all over the map.

So I am sorry if i am beating a dead horse with this but I have a few questions.
- The stock speakers except the sub in the HK system are all 4 ohms correct? Yes. all 4 door 6X9's are reverse polarity from the factory. Switching back to normal and replacing with CDT CL69S is a huge improvement. You likely won't feel the need to do anything else.
- Does anybody know the frequency response or RMS voltage of the stockers? Might try a search for this. There are a few really informative threads on here with frequency response graphs etc.
- for those upgraded speakers, did they make the music clearer at cost of volume or did they make them loud as well as clearer? Both.
- for those of you who have upgraded, would you do it again? what do you have? what do you recommend? Yes. CDT69s and reverse polarity back to normal.

I listen to mainly Rock and Metal. I listen to Sirius along with music from my Thumbdrive. Most of that music is at least 256 quality but I do have some songs that are lacking. so I do understand the better the quality the louder the music. Sirius XM tuner isn't very high resolution IHMO. I use the USB input from my iphone and stream high res format. Makes a huge difference. FM tuner is somewhere in between.

Thanks for the inputs

 

[german88]

Long thread here but by post #7 the story is told...

H/K audio upgrade - VAST Improvment

I just got done doing some upgrades to my audio system and figured I'd throw the info out there in case there was interest. To start, I have a 2020 Limited with H/K. I can't believe they would put a system in that level of truck that sounded that bad. The subwoofer is a piece of garbage -...

5thgenrams.com

 

[BigBlueBeast]

Long thread here but by post #7 the story is told...

H/K audio upgrade - VAST Improvment

I just got done doing some upgrades to my audio system and figured I'd throw the info out there in case there was interest. To start, I have a 2020 Limited with H/K. I can't believe they would put a system in that level of truck that sounded that bad. The subwoofer is a piece of garbage -...

5thgenrams.com

I did read most of that it seems the door speakers have the most impact on the system so I will most certainly be replacing those. But it sounds like I have to figure out the overall volume issue with the system first.

 

[BigBlueBeast]

I wonder how much the stock HK amp for a 2021 is. I probably don't want to know. I hope the dealership doesn't jerk me around with this issue

 

[german88]

You might ask the dealer about checking your software revision. I know there was an update that specifically dealt with the low output level of the H/K system. At volume 22 it should be rattling your rear view mirror and unless your into crazy loud music it's plenty loud at that level.

 

[BigBlueBeast]

You might ask the dealer about checking your software revision. I know there was an update that specifically dealt with the low output level of the H/K system. At volume 22 it should be rattling your rear view mirror and unless your into crazy loud music it's plenty loud at that level.

I will. I can assure you at 22 mine is somewhat loud but def not rattling anything lol

 

[patriot_tech]

Sounds to me like you have the software issue many were complaining of. Mine gets plenty loud and with the changes I've made - sounds pretty good as well. The stock speakers are really bad and for the cost, the faital's and CDT's are a very worthwhile upgrade. Albeit, I am never happy to spend more $ to get the sound I already paid a premium for.

As I've said before, the engineers that designed the audio systems in our trucks should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore, RAM should be ashamed to charge what they do for it.

 

[Andymax]

As I've said before, the engineers that designed the audio systems in our trucks should be ashamed of themselves. Furthermore, RAM should be ashamed to charge what they do for it.

It's easy to blame the engineers...and largely erroneous. Having had about thirty years of experience selling to the Automotive companies in Michigan, Indiana and Ohio...I'd offer a word of caution about blaming the engineers. In my experience the engineers do a great job designing. Almost inevitably the problems start when the purchasing folks start pushing the vendors for a lower cost. The vendors push back with lower cost options/changes to meet the cost targets, the product marketing folks get involved, eventually a compromise is found, and something that somewhat resembles the original design is what you find in your vehicle. I have yet to find an engineer that set out to design bad stuff.

 

[scottmoyer]

I need to get clarification on the volume that some speak of. I listen to rock/metal mostly and I find the HK system is louder on HD Radio stations than non=HD. I also notice the HD radio stations are clearer and better sounding than SXM. SXM sounds almost muted and with little equalization in comparison.

Now, with that said, I do listen to my HK at volume level 22 when cruising around with the windows open. Nothing is rattling or shaking at that volume, it's just louder than the wind noise and outside noises you experience with the windows down. Windows up, I think I'm around 10-12 when I'm alone in the truck. Even less when the family is there, due to conversation.

 

[SpeedyV]

I need to get clarification on the volume that some speak of. I listen to rock/metal mostly and I find the HK system is louder on HD Radio stations than non=HD. I also notice the HD radio stations are clearer and better sounding than SXM. SXM sounds almost muted and with little equalization in comparison.

Now, with that said, I do listen to my HK at volume level 22 when cruising around with the windows open. Nothing is rattling or shaking at that volume, it's just louder than the wind noise and outside noises you experience with the windows down. Windows up, I think I'm around 10-12 when I'm alone in the truck. Even less when the family is there, due to conversation.

Agreed. 7-9 for background music during conversations with the windows up. 10-12 for a good song. 15+ only when I’m alone in the truck. 20+ with windows up would cause hearing loss over an extended period of time. All of these numbers are for SiriusXM; HD radio is similar for volume, but connected phone sources can be all over the map.

 

[Idahoktm]

I need to get clarification on the volume that some speak of. I listen to rock/metal mostly and I find the HK system is louder on HD Radio stations than non=HD. I also notice the HD radio stations are clearer and better sounding than SXM. SXM sounds almost muted and with little equalization in comparison.

Now, with that said, I do listen to my HK at volume level 22 when cruising around with the windows open. Nothing is rattling or shaking at that volume, it's just louder than the wind noise and outside noises you experience with the windows down. Windows up, I think I'm around 10-12 when I'm alone in the truck. Even less when the family is there, due to conversation.

It's odd to me that a lot of you say SXM doesn't sound as good as other sources. SXM in my truck sounds much better than any FM station in my area and it's almost identical to the music stored on my phone through Samsung Music.

 

[german88]

Trying to compare and contrast audio sound quality on a forum is difficult at best. To subjective. What one person hears is totally different than the next. Some ears are far more sensitive than others. Having said that there is no comparison in resolution from XM Sirius XM @ 48-64 Kbit/s to high res Spotify @ 320 Kbit/s. Granted you will need a premium account to get 320. If you want an even higher res format go for FLAC.

 

[CanRebel]

It could be that you need update.
I know my 2021 Rebel with SXM with windows up, 15 it is loud.
On another forum, people were complaining HK system with SXM was very low, then update come out and fixed it.
Possible you need it.

 

[SpeedyV]

It could be that you need update.
I know my 2021 Rebel with SXM with windows up, 15 it is loud.
On another forum, people were complaining HK system with SXM was very low, then update come out and fixed it.
Possible you need it.

Back in late 2018, the amp TSB made a huge difference to my ‘19’s volume.

 

[BigBlueBeast]

well we will find out, I have an appointment for the dealer to check it out on the 2nd. I'd like to nail down any problem with volume before I pull the trigger on some speakers. My system on 10-12 with the windows up, I can easily have a conversation over it. Something isn't right with it. additionally, the clarity isn't too good. Not what I would expect from a 900 watt 19 speaker system at all. I am hoping a simple software update fixes it. but when checking my version was 21.xx. IDK if that