Sweet Baby Jesus the HK sound system blows goats!

[Ronin]

Quality in better out. The source of the music. makes loads of difference. I hate that it will not play quality CDs. everything has to be streamed and that is most of the problem. Try loading some quality on a flash drive and see what you get. Mine is much better than what comes over air.

Agreed and understood; but this is a VOLUME issue, not quality. I know enough about car/home audio/video to get my ass kicked and understand that while they're interrelated; with all things being equal the volume/loudness is unbelievably lacking. It's a "976-watt 16-speaker" or whatever the fuck it says it is and it's beyond terribad...it's not acceptable as a stock/standard stereo never mind a $2K "upgrade".

Like I said, I didn't order it because I didn't want it; it came with the car because I ended up buying off the lot from Koons. At this point I've read innumerable similar posts on other forums that while subjective in matter, come to the exact same conclusion; it blows goats (and I don't mean GOAT as in Tom Brady...not that I watch the NFL anymore...). I'm gonna chat with HK today and see what they have to say since there's a lot that can be done via a firm/software update and see if that's an option that can be of any assistance, otherwise my next step is replacing the speakers (not subs) with some higher efficiency ones (92, 88 and 93 dB) with an Infinity component in the door and corner tweeter, another Infinity in the center and a set of Polks in the rear deck corner.

I'd rather spend the money on something else and while I definitely enjoy the supercharger and exhaust sounds, I'd like to be able to enjoy music at a volume that it's clearly intelligible above those sounds...

 

[Magnified]

Roger that. I understood what you were saying myfriend

 

[covidcommander]

Agreed and understood; but this is a VOLUME issue, not quality. I know enough about car/home audio/video to get my ass kicked and understand that while they're interrelated; with all things being equal the volume/loudness is unbelievably lacking. It's a "976-watt 16-speaker" or whatever the fuck it says it is and it's beyond terribad...it's not acceptable as a stock/standard stereo never mind a $2K "upgrade".

Like I said, I didn't order it because I didn't want it; it came with the car because I ended up buying off the lot from Koons. At this point I've read innumerable similar posts on other forums that while subjective in matter, come to the exact same conclusion; it blows goats (and I don't mean GOAT as in Tom Brady...not that I watch the NFL anymore...). I'm gonna chat with HK today and see what they have to say since there's a lot that can be done via a firm/software update and see if that's an option that can be of any assistance, otherwise my next step is replacing the speakers (not subs) with some higher efficiency ones (92, 88 and 93 dB) with an Infinity component in the door and corner tweeter, another Infinity in the center and a set of Polks in the rear deck corner.

I'd rather spend the money on something else and while I definitely enjoy the supercharger and exhaust sounds, I'd like to be able to enjoy music at a volume that it's clearly intelligible above those sounds...

Be interested to see what hk says... I have the 6 speaker and it's garbage compared to the hk but I still think the hk is lacking

 

[Ronin]

Online chat and phone call with HK...swing and a miss, two strikes, waiting to hear back from one of their "automotive audio specialists"...

Called the HK number off the website and followed the prompts, it's clearly outsourced to an OCONUS call center and the CSR is likely ESL but is friendly and trying to be helpful. She ends up giving me a number from what I find out after TWO phone calls is a 3rd party repair center. The first call ended up in the clearly agitated CSR hanging up on me because I couldn't provide a part number, the second time I called I was able to deduce the number that HK gave me was for a third party repair company.

Online chat went slightly better, once I linked the system webpage from the HK website to the online chat the CSR was tracking with me. Ultimately he was unable to help and had to generate a ticket with my information to forward to the "automotive audio specialist", so I'll wait to hear back from them and see if that's of any assistance...

Funny when I was on the HK page I saw that Infinity was part of their corporate group now, and that's whose speakers I'm going to use for the front/center channel and the door/tweeter locations...

Pretty sure this system is 2-ohm and the speakers I've picked are 3 or 4 and while that would typically result in lower volume/loudness, which is my primary complaint, their efficiency should be much higher, and without knowing for certain what the specs are for the HK speakers in the system I'm fairly certain the speakers I'm potentially gonna use to replace them will blow them out of the water without being overly expensive. Right now I'm looking at roughly $600 for the 6 speakers (and having a spare/leftover center channel because I only need one but they're sold in pairs of course).

 

[Magnified]

awesome...

I have to track down some information from Ford on reimbursement and warranty related things and I find that process to be disappointing as well. So much better when they actually have other americans doing the CSR phone banks.

 

[Magnified]

My mother in law is not an attorney, but she works as a medical records expert for many big firms and is tenacious. She's better than most attorneys I know. Anyway, she had a door handle issue with her GMC Yukon and she chased through all of this monkey business phone center stuff with GM and in the end actually called the factory in China where the part was made and arranged to have them send her one directly. She was polite but firm and would not be put off. Finally GM just said "give her what she wants! Maybe she will go away."

 

[Ronin]

I'm retired and have all sorts of free time and while most people would prefer to give up or otherwise quit I consider it a challenge...

Case in point my older daughter got into an accident with her '19 Jeep Wrangler (JL). No injuries but the Jeep XJ she hit was totaled and hers SHOULD have been. FIVE months at the USAA approved body shop and she gets it back and in no time the dashboard is a Christmas tree, cruise control doesn't work (which is tied into ABS as a safety fault) and drives like hammered shit. We initially let her handle it and offered our help but once I was able to drive it myself I offered my spare JK Wrangler for her to drive in the interim while I handled it with the insurance company...

Reopened the case with USAA as the vehicle was completely unsat and she was not made made whole. I was an insurance adjuster right out of college and although that was a million years ago a lot of things haven't changed and I definitely can speak the language, understand betterment, etc.

Sitting at the dealership for months while this is going on and find out the right front axle, which was the point of impact is BENT and a huge reason why it rides like dog shit, is devouring tires and is massively out of alignment. Send in the invoice to USAA and hear nothing back from the assigned adjuster. Call and was told by another adjuster that it was denied and I tell them I want my adjusters direct extension (apparently quite a few of them telework now). I call her get her answering machine and tell her she has 24-hours to explain to me how a bent axle at the accident's point of impact isn't covered. I don't hear back from her so I call and get a general property damage adjuster and tell them I want her supervisor's name. I call her and leave the exact same message; call me in 24-hours to explain this or I'm talking to your supervisor...same exact result (even after waiting more than a day) and I end up speaking with the phone number of a second line supervisor at USAA.

Leave him a message prefaced with stating my 34-years with USAA and my situation. Gentleman immediately calls me back and says he's on it...and is. He gave me his personal/cell phone number and all I had to do was send pictures of the invoices and boom, everything got paid.

Long story short, besides the fact that her Jeep should have been totaled, in the 4 months or so I had it between the body shop and dealership USAA reimbursed her an additional nearly $4K in repairs just from me grinding them and telling them her situation and the condition of her Jeep was completely unacceptable, and not taking no for an answer.

So yeah, $2K in this system and I'd like to see if it has the latest/greatest firm/software in it before reinventing the wheel. All other things being equal without spending any (additional) money I've tried everything and in keeping with Occam's Razor maybe all it needs is a tweak instead of throwing money at it...

 

[Magnified]

Been with USAA myself for many years and I am shocked they screwed around like that. Since they started broadening the base of membership and listening to upper management (that apparently went to "business school") I've found they have been in decline from their previous standards. good on you for walking them through and glad your daughter was taken car of. Just frustrating for me. Seems everything in the past that was reliable and good is now on the decline.

EDIT: For awhile it was that they were outsourcing many things to other firms. I found that pathetic and nowhere near the service levels I associated with USAA and let them know. Not that they listen to me, but I suspect they heard from many others too because I've noticed (at least in personal terms, which are not imperical) that that behavior has decreased and that they've moved some of it back in house. Except adjusting... most of these I've dealt with in the last 10 years or so were not USAA employees.

 

[Ronin]

Didn't wanna get off on a tangent and derail my own thread with my tale of USAA woe but they aren't a shadow of the company that they once were just a few years ago. Once they opened the floodgates to where basically anyone and their mother now qualifies they went WAY downhill. Back when I joined in '88 you had to be a commissioned officer or cadet/candidate, now I have to share risk with some maniac PFC in the 82nd whose spending 90% of his entire month's pay for a ten year old Mustang GT that he's financed at a sweet 22.5% interest so when he gets loaded in Fayette-nam and goes sideways into a crowd I end up paying for it too...

Recently they asked me why I took nearly all of business from them after so long and retorted "are you sure you want me to answer that?" and they responded with a genuine "yes" and boy did I let them have it. My premiums have skyrocketed and the service has tanked...I cashed out my subscriber's savings account which was over $12K and used it to pay my insurance premiums, among other things, elsewhere.

 

[Magnified]

Goes beyond that, if your great, great, great uncle served in the civil war you qualify. If you talked to a recruiter once you get a discount

 

[Chunky White]

All this stereo talk is making me want to spend more money on my Hellcat and I know I most likely won't keep this car long because I don't keep anything more than a year or two at most

 

[GdBye]

Overall I like the HK system but fully realize that there are better systems out there. Heard a lot of good things about B & O. Had a factory Alpine system in my 03 Viper that was terrible so the HK system in the HC was an upgrade to that. Best system I have ever had was the Mark Levinson system in an 03 Lexus SC 430. Incredible sound. I'm not in the camp of seeing how loud I can crank it. I'm looking for clarity and feeling like I'm in a small concert hall. Hearing loss (Tinnitus) is no laughing matter when your ears start ringing after attending a concert and that ringing doesn't go away. Some of you probably have experienced that. I've always been careful about protecting my hearing by wearing ear protection with power tools, etc. but screwed up once by having really good seats at a Fleetwood Mac concert and not expecting that the sound level would rival Metallica.

 

[Ronin]

Finally got an answer from HK's customer service, and short story long, it's a (Dodge) dealer issue so any fix, upgrade (firm/software) would come from them and NOT through HK. Figures...

As much as we would like to assist you, we only support aftermarket car speakers, subwoofers, and amplifiers (units that we sell in our website, www.harmanaudio.com). Please be advised that contractually, we are not permitted to sell, service or support any products that our OEM division manufactures for a specific car. Only the manufacturer supports these units. For this reason, we are not provided any information, specification or otherwise for these units. You will really need to contact them.

 

[Magnified]

Makes perfect sense. And like I said the oem.division products are top of the line.

 

[Ronin]

I grabbed the door/dash component system (6"x9" door woofer and 3/4" dash corner tweeter) and rear deck speakers from Crutchfield today while I was in the process of upgrading my daughter's Willy Wrangler for Christmas. The only other speaker I was going to replace if the front center channel/single speaker and I'll do that after I see how these fare...

Door/dash:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R9630CM/Infinity-Reference-REF-9630cx.html?omnews=15858122

Rear deck:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB652/Polk-Audio-DB-652.html

(Future/front center):
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PERF300/Infinity-Kappa-Perfect-300m.html

 

[Diboblo]

I grabbed the door/dash component system (6"x9" door woofer and 3/4" dash corner tweeter) and rear deck speakers from Crutchfield today while I was in the process of upgrading my daughter's Willy Wrangler for Christmas. The only other speaker I was going to replace if the front center channel/single speaker and I'll do that after I see how these fare...

Door/dash:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108R9630CM/Infinity-Reference-REF-9630cx.html?omnews=15858122

Rear deck:
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB652/Polk-Audio-DB-652.html

(Future/front center):
https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PERF300/Infinity-Kappa-Perfect-300m.html

OEM premium (HK included) are 2 ohm.

You may notice diminished volume response as the quoted are 4 ohm... twice the load of OEM.

FYI.

Keep us posted.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

 

[Ronin]

OEM premium (HK included) are 2 ohm.

You may notice diminished volume response as the quoted are 4 ohm... twice the load of OEM.

FYI.

Keep us posted.

Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

Understood/agreed; Crutchfield noted it in their installation/application notes so I was aware of that when I ordered them. While the specs of the OEM system (efficiency specifically) aren't available I'm quite certain these will outperform them. I'm considering adding an amp to the cabin speakers but want to see how it performs with just the speaker upgrade first...

 

[Chunky White]

Why half Infinity and half Polk Audio? I have had both in vehicles years ago and the speakers sound different from each other. Combined in a car I am not sure how they would sound but a car with a infinity speakers sound different than one with Polk. I preferred Polk over Infinity but we each have our own preferences. Even a small amp 4chan amp would be great since the stock amp is really weak. The system in my Challenger is the most quiet of any I have ever had including work trucks. My other Challenger was the same so I don't believe its the stereo in this car

 

[Ronin]

Why half Infinity and half Polk Audio? I have had both in vehicles years ago and the speakers sound different from each other. Combined in a car I am not sure how they would sound but a car with a infinity speakers sound different than one with Polk. I preferred Polk over Infinity but we each have our own preferences. Even a small amp 4chan amp would be great since the stock amp is really weak. The system in my Challenger is the most quiet of any I have ever had including work trucks. My other Challenger was the same so I don't believe its the stereo in this car

I've used both in the past (in addition to others) and have had great results, and the efficiency and frequency response should likewise compliment each other. The center channel, which is next to be upgraded is an Infinity Kappa which should nicely balance the Reference component door/dash corners with the rear deck Polks filling out the soundstage and the stock "HK" (hardly worth calling them that, but anyway) subs being left alone.

The stock system is too boomy on the low end, shrill in the top and the midrange muddled at best. My first step in car audio is always to upgrade speakers first, clean/tweak signal second, sometimes in conjunction with adding amp/power, third. I'm way too old and near deaf to be able to discern the finer points of the audio experience but enough to know the HK system is terribad and should improve accordingly as I have it planned out.

 

[Ronin]

Well after completing the first step of my stereo upgrade I can officially say that my subjective observations of the HK system sucking are officially objective; the rear deck speakers are HOT garbage...

Note it is NOT a 6.5/6.75 or whatever they call it speaker; it's barely 3-inches...



Weight is NOT everything when it comes to speakers, but the Polk DB 652s are used to replace the stockers weight nearly triple the stockers, which aren't even 11-ounces!


Top view comparison:

Polk with mounting bracket:

I have a set of component Infinity Reference 6x9s for the doors but I think I'm gonna just wire them using the supplied crossover for lower frequencies only and use their model 3032/3.5-inch speakers in the dash corners; I just installed a set of them in my daughter's Jeep Wrangler Willys and they're AMAZING.

I didn't expect the rear deck speaker upgrade to make much of a difference, but I'm surprised at how much better it sounds with just swapping them out for these Polks. These speakers just fill in for the doors and dash corners, which do the heavy lifting in this system.

I'm also gonna upgrade the center channel speaker with a 3.5-inch Infinity Kappa just for shits and giggles, which will only be $100 since I'll only need one of the speakers (I'll sell off the other to whoever is interested...)

https://www.crutchfield.com/p_108PERF300/Infinity-Kappa-Perfect-300m.html?tp=105

I'm confident going forward with my plans (which just changed today, but the 3032s are short money anyway...) that it will absolutely (1) meet my needs and (2) stomp the guts out of the stock system, for roughly $500 (with some good deals from Crutchfield) and my time.