Harman Kardon stereo?

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NemosMum
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Joined: Thu Apr 19, 2018 10:58 am

Post by NemosMum »

Hi all, not a moan as such but I’m curious as to what others think of the sound of the HK system?

I wouldn’t describe myself as an audiophile but I’ve spent enough on hifi and home cinema systems over the years to be able to distinguish the good from the bad. To me the HK sounds over processed and the bass lacks control and seems to ‘roll’ instead of being tight. Despite plenty of fiddling and different music types I just can’t get it to sound ‘right’.

I appreciate that sound quality etc is subjective but I was really looking forward to the HK system and would like to hear others thoughts?

Thanks, NM.
XC40 First Edition T5 - Bursting Blue/Charcoal 20"

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pjm007
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Post by pjm007 »

Very happy with my setup. Excellent system all round.
Two XC40s - so far! Inscription Pro T5 AWD Auto - Glacier Silver/Blond/21”, fully loaded, from Jan thro Sep 2021. Polestarred. :) Also one of the first FEs - a D4 AWD Auto - Bursting Blue/Charcoal/20" from Mar thro Aug 2018. Also Polestarred. :o
Sputnik
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Post by Sputnik »

Have you played about with the tone and equaliser settings and also the separate sound experience settings?

I personally like the system, not sure I would of liked to pay the extra for it as an option but fortunate enough to have it FE standard
XC40 FE - White 20” Wheels With headlight washers - Ordered 4th February 2018 & Delivered 10th April 2018
NemosMum
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Post by NemosMum »

Sputnik wrote: Sun Apr 29, 2018 11:23 am Have you played about with the tone and equaliser settings and also the separate sound experience settings?

I personally like the system, not sure I would of liked to pay the extra for it as an option but fortunate enough to have it FE standard
Hi, thanks and yes fiddled plenty with the equaliser and the surround settings. I definitely wouldn’t have wanted to pay extra for it either, I suspect the issue is with the processing, maybe more fiddling required!
NM
XC40 First Edition T5 - Bursting Blue/Charcoal 20"
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pjm007
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Post by pjm007 »

Lots of variables to look into. eg the same music on my iPhone is much better through Apple CarPlay than just Bluetooth. Others have posted about the difference in quality from various file types, eg mp3 v. flac also.
Two XC40s - so far! Inscription Pro T5 AWD Auto - Glacier Silver/Blond/21”, fully loaded, from Jan thro Sep 2021. Polestarred. :) Also one of the first FEs - a D4 AWD Auto - Bursting Blue/Charcoal/20" from Mar thro Aug 2018. Also Polestarred. :o
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Boomer
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Post by Boomer »

Happy with it. Certainly though a marked difference depending I.o source material quality, and how passed through to car I.e Bluetooth steps down the quality, but hard wired via usb (usb card/iPod, or through CarPlay) is a major step up.
XC40 FE [MY18] | T5 AWD Auto | Crystal White | 20" | Lava | Apr 18
Morten
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Joined: Thu May 03, 2018 8:01 pm

Post by Morten »

Hello, I would consider myself a bit of and audiophile.

I was not to impressed in the start, I thought it sound a bit metallic—but after some hours of playtime i think it is much better, all the speakers I have owned also had a bit of breaking in time.

It is different than in my old V60, it only had a normal stereo, no speaker in the dashboard.

I think the speaker in the dashboard gives a different perspective, I would compare it to my speaker setup at home, it gives a good sense of the scene, in my old V60 it reminded a bit more of headphones, you did not get the feeling that the music was in front of you.

Where I live most of the radio stations mess up the sound—all want to be loud, it sounds terrible, but with some music files it sound good I think—I have read somewhere it also supports FLAC, but I want to use it with Tidal through carplay, when I get carplay installed.

Kind regards Morten
senwar
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Post by senwar »

Must be honest, I'm pretty disappointed in it. I expected something a bit more 'wow'

My audio is primarily DAB or Apple CarPlay. But even though I've played around I have not been overly impressed nor feel the volume is that good either (even on full setting).

Looks nice though...
XC40 FE | D4 | Osmium Grey |19" wheels
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pjm007
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Post by pjm007 »

Even on much less than full volume my system blasts it out. Maybe get the dealer :lol: to check the connections and set up?
Two XC40s - so far! Inscription Pro T5 AWD Auto - Glacier Silver/Blond/21”, fully loaded, from Jan thro Sep 2021. Polestarred. :) Also one of the first FEs - a D4 AWD Auto - Bursting Blue/Charcoal/20" from Mar thro Aug 2018. Also Polestarred. :o
senwar
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Post by senwar »

pjm007 wrote: Tue May 22, 2018 10:08 am Even on much less than full volume my system blasts it out. Maybe get the dealer :lol: to check the connections and set up?
Hmm - might have to. I must be honest I was impressed in the showroom via USB but obviously conditions are better there.

I presume the two mesh speaker types in the headlining are phone mic not speakers?
XC40 FE | D4 | Osmium Grey |19" wheels
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