HK sound system
- Thread starter Dekion
- Start date
Some people say no... I say: For every $1 you save using an aftermarket one.... you will loose $5 in re-sale value.
I personally love the system and wouldn't wish for anything better. Some may argue., but personally I like to have a modest interior and not some neon boombox look-alike in my classy ride.
I personally love the system and wouldn't wish for anything better. Some may argue., but personally I like to have a modest interior and not some neon boombox look-alike in my classy ride.
Damn straight. Anyone who is an audiophile or NORMAL understands it doesnt take 2 - 12" subs to make it sound good. A decent component system (like the harman/kardon) is all you need. Speakers are matched, amp and everything is made especially for those speakers. Sure you can get BETTER sounding speakers and whatever, but I personally think subwoofers are a waste of money. Subwoofers are for home theater systems ![[thumb]](/images/smilies/icon_smile_thumb.gif "Thumbs Up [thumb]")
I have no idea how many watts the HK system has, and I would not consider myself an audiophile, but I can tell you that the HK system that comes with the 330i sounds about a thousand times better than the stock system in my previous 325i. It came as part of my premium package, but if I spent the money it alone, it would have been worth every penny. IMHO.
I have heard the HK system in the X5, the M3, the 330, and the 740iL. In all vehicles, the sound system is very impressive. Even Mercedes has switched over from Bose to the Harman Kardon audio system. But I think the overall BEST factory sound system out there is the Mark Levinson premium audio system available on select Lexus models (actually most of them, but yeah).
I tend to agree w/ epj3 and Pushakov-
Stay factory when possible, a nice clean ride is worth a mint. BMW makes alot of nice clean rides.
Compare an older collectable Corvette with Cragars to one with factory rallye wheels, the 1st thing that comes to my mind is-
What dumbass did this to such a beautiful car ?
I know this is personal choice, but I purchased a BMW because I like most of what they do. More often than not a factory/stock vehicle is far more marketable and pleasing to the masses.
This is not saying all mods are bad, just my overall opinion.
Stay factory when possible, a nice clean ride is worth a mint. BMW makes alot of nice clean rides.
Compare an older collectable Corvette with Cragars to one with factory rallye wheels, the 1st thing that comes to my mind is-
What dumbass did this to such a beautiful car ?
I know this is personal choice, but I purchased a BMW because I like most of what they do. More often than not a factory/stock vehicle is far more marketable and pleasing to the masses.
This is not saying all mods are bad, just my overall opinion.
Well I have a premier Pioneer deck... 500 dollars for the damn thing.. I sold my boston 6x9''s and 6x41/2's and my tweats in my other car.. So all I have left is my deck my 2000 watt amp and my 2 12' HE2 Rockford Fosgate 2003 subs and my box so I'd like to add the subs and amp... How much extra is the kit to add those in if anyone knows?
![[:D]](/images/smilies/biggrin.png "Big Grin [:D]")
HK Sound- Don't Do It!
If anyone reads this and is looking for great sound in their BMW, I hope this helps...
I did 4 months of audio research and my only mistake was educating myself too late about HK :-(
But I got a completely stock looking- PHENOMENAL sound system in the end
First things first, whatever you do: DON'T BUY THE HK!!!
If you talk to *anyone* who knows *anything* about car stereo they will tell you the HK is a $200 rip-off being sold for a grand. The head unit is low-end and doesn't even incorporate 10 year old anti-skip technology the speakers are paper, YES PAPER. When materials like silk, kevlar, and titanium are being widely used on modern speakers for depth of sound and fidelity, HK uses paper for extreme cost savings(to them, not to you).
Virtually anything you buy aftermarket will produce much better sound than the HK.
To make it worse, the HK uses built-in crossovers that cut off both the high highs and the low lows, this absolutely kills the dynamic range and makes the music sound extremely flat with no fidelity whatsoever. The best analogy I've heard is it sounds like you put a piece of paper over every speaker- it sounds muted and underwater- even when it's loud. I can't emphasize this more- HK speakers and sound is really really really crappy. The people who disagree have never had so much as a $500 stereo in their car.
Moving on... the reason for the aforementioned crossovers is actually to make it virtually impossible for you the consumer to blow the speakers (and for you to make a potentially costly claim against BMW to fix it), of course this is at an extreme cost to sound quality.
Considering what is on the aftermarket, HK is an absolute rip-off, believe me, I bought it, then bought a REAL stereo aftermarket and the difference is ASTOUNDING.
TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL CLEAN LOOK AND GET KILLER SOUND:
Here's what I did to *Fix* my HK purchase blunder:
For $1500 and a system which is absolutely PHENOMENAL:
1. Stock Head Unit (deck), trust me put your money in SPEAKERS and AMP.
2. Kenwood KAC X650D Amplifier (50 Watts RMS x 4 + 200 to sub)
3. Diamond Audio S500s component speakers in front.
4. Diamond Audio M351i coaxials in the rear.
5. Diamond Audio 3410 10" sub(in small removable box) strapped down to factory strap holders (so no permanent mods to the car and is 15 seconds to remove if you need more trunk space). I didn't want a sub at first- you know a funky box to keep track of in the trunk, but after I heard the difference with a demo at Magnolia HiFi, and saw how small they can make a sub, there was no option, I had to have it. The sound is so very much more rich and full. And I DO NOT listen to boom boom rap music! ALL music sounds better with a good sub. The difference is hard to quantify with words...
6. Dynamat Extreme sound dampener around all speakers.
At first I was furious when I bought the HK and THEN heard my friends $1000 stereo, now with my new system, I'm amazed every time I get in the car ;-)
If I could sum it all up:
1. Don't go HK.
2. Keep factory head unit for stock look.
3. Put your money in speakers and amp, and don't skip the sub.
Best of luck-
If anyone reads this and is looking for great sound in their BMW, I hope this helps...
I did 4 months of audio research and my only mistake was educating myself too late about HK :-(
But I got a completely stock looking- PHENOMENAL sound system in the end
First things first, whatever you do: DON'T BUY THE HK!!!
If you talk to *anyone* who knows *anything* about car stereo they will tell you the HK is a $200 rip-off being sold for a grand. The head unit is low-end and doesn't even incorporate 10 year old anti-skip technology the speakers are paper, YES PAPER. When materials like silk, kevlar, and titanium are being widely used on modern speakers for depth of sound and fidelity, HK uses paper for extreme cost savings(to them, not to you).
Virtually anything you buy aftermarket will produce much better sound than the HK.
To make it worse, the HK uses built-in crossovers that cut off both the high highs and the low lows, this absolutely kills the dynamic range and makes the music sound extremely flat with no fidelity whatsoever. The best analogy I've heard is it sounds like you put a piece of paper over every speaker- it sounds muted and underwater- even when it's loud. I can't emphasize this more- HK speakers and sound is really really really crappy. The people who disagree have never had so much as a $500 stereo in their car.
Moving on... the reason for the aforementioned crossovers is actually to make it virtually impossible for you the consumer to blow the speakers (and for you to make a potentially costly claim against BMW to fix it), of course this is at an extreme cost to sound quality.
Considering what is on the aftermarket, HK is an absolute rip-off, believe me, I bought it, then bought a REAL stereo aftermarket and the difference is ASTOUNDING.
TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL CLEAN LOOK AND GET KILLER SOUND:
Here's what I did to *Fix* my HK purchase blunder:
For $1500 and a system which is absolutely PHENOMENAL:
1. Stock Head Unit (deck), trust me put your money in SPEAKERS and AMP.
2. Kenwood KAC X650D Amplifier (50 Watts RMS x 4 + 200 to sub)
3. Diamond Audio S500s component speakers in front.
4. Diamond Audio M351i coaxials in the rear.
5. Diamond Audio 3410 10" sub(in small removable box) strapped down to factory strap holders (so no permanent mods to the car and is 15 seconds to remove if you need more trunk space). I didn't want a sub at first- you know a funky box to keep track of in the trunk, but after I heard the difference with a demo at Magnolia HiFi, and saw how small they can make a sub, there was no option, I had to have it. The sound is so very much more rich and full. And I DO NOT listen to boom boom rap music! ALL music sounds better with a good sub. The difference is hard to quantify with words...
6. Dynamat Extreme sound dampener around all speakers.
At first I was furious when I bought the HK and THEN heard my friends $1000 stereo, now with my new system, I'm amazed every time I get in the car ;-)
If I could sum it all up:
1. Don't go HK.
2. Keep factory head unit for stock look.
3. Put your money in speakers and amp, and don't skip the sub.
Best of luck-
![[:p]](/images/smilies/tongue.png "Stick Out Tongue [:p]")
Re: HK Sound- Don't Do It!
Once again.. for 95% of all drivers the sound is VERY GOOD. And about going non-stock... you are loosing re-sale value and interior fancy appeal. Not worth it.
3ForTheRoad said:
If anyone reads this and is looking for great sound in their BMW, I hope this helps...
I did 4 months of audio research and my only mistake was educating myself too late about HK :-(
But I got a completely stock looking- PHENOMENAL sound system in the end
First things first, whatever you do: DON'T BUY THE HK!!!
If you talk to *anyone* who knows *anything* about car stereo they will tell you the HK is a $200 rip-off being sold for a grand. The head unit is low-end and doesn't even incorporate 10 year old anti-skip technology the speakers are paper, YES PAPER. When materials like silk, kevlar, and titanium are being widely used on modern speakers for depth of sound and fidelity, HK uses paper for extreme cost savings(to them, not to you).
Virtually anything you buy aftermarket will produce much better sound than the HK.
To make it worse, the HK uses built-in crossovers that cut off both the high highs and the low lows, this absolutely kills the dynamic range and makes the music sound extremely flat with no fidelity whatsoever. The best analogy I've heard is it sounds like you put a piece of paper over every speaker- it sounds muted and underwater- even when it's loud. I can't emphasize this more- HK speakers and sound is really really really crappy. The people who disagree have never had so much as a $500 stereo in their car.
Moving on... the reason for the aforementioned crossovers is actually to make it virtually impossible for you the consumer to blow the speakers (and for you to make a potentially costly claim against BMW to fix it), of course this is at an extreme cost to sound quality.
Considering what is on the aftermarket, HK is an absolute rip-off, believe me, I bought it, then bought a REAL stereo aftermarket and the difference is ASTOUNDING.
TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL CLEAN LOOK AND GET KILLER SOUND:
Here's what I did to *Fix* my HK purchase blunder:
For $1500 and a system which is absolutely PHENOMENAL:
1. Stock Head Unit (deck), trust me put your money in SPEAKERS and AMP.
2. Kenwood KAC X650D Amplifier (50 Watts RMS x 4 + 200 to sub)
3. Diamond Audio S500s component speakers in front.
4. Diamond Audio M351i coaxials in the rear.
5. Diamond Audio 3410 10" sub(in small removable box) strapped down to factory strap holders (so no permanent mods to the car and is 15 seconds to remove if you need more trunk space). I didn't want a sub at first- you know a funky box to keep track of in the trunk, but after I heard the difference with a demo at Magnolia HiFi, and saw how small they can make a sub, there was no option, I had to have it. The sound is so very much more rich and full. And I DO NOT listen to boom boom rap music! ALL music sounds better with a good sub. The difference is hard to quantify with words...
6. Dynamat Extreme sound dampener around all speakers.
At first I was furious when I bought the HK and THEN heard my friends $1000 stereo, now with my new system, I'm amazed every time I get in the car ;-)
If I could sum it all up:
1. Don't go HK.
2. Keep factory head unit for stock look.
3. Put your money in speakers and amp, and don't skip the sub.
Best of luck-
I did 4 months of audio research and my only mistake was educating myself too late about HK :-(
But I got a completely stock looking- PHENOMENAL sound system in the end
First things first, whatever you do: DON'T BUY THE HK!!!
If you talk to *anyone* who knows *anything* about car stereo they will tell you the HK is a $200 rip-off being sold for a grand. The head unit is low-end and doesn't even incorporate 10 year old anti-skip technology the speakers are paper, YES PAPER. When materials like silk, kevlar, and titanium are being widely used on modern speakers for depth of sound and fidelity, HK uses paper for extreme cost savings(to them, not to you).
Virtually anything you buy aftermarket will produce much better sound than the HK.
To make it worse, the HK uses built-in crossovers that cut off both the high highs and the low lows, this absolutely kills the dynamic range and makes the music sound extremely flat with no fidelity whatsoever. The best analogy I've heard is it sounds like you put a piece of paper over every speaker- it sounds muted and underwater- even when it's loud. I can't emphasize this more- HK speakers and sound is really really really crappy. The people who disagree have never had so much as a $500 stereo in their car.
Moving on... the reason for the aforementioned crossovers is actually to make it virtually impossible for you the consumer to blow the speakers (and for you to make a potentially costly claim against BMW to fix it), of course this is at an extreme cost to sound quality.
Considering what is on the aftermarket, HK is an absolute rip-off, believe me, I bought it, then bought a REAL stereo aftermarket and the difference is ASTOUNDING.
TO KEEP THE ORIGINAL CLEAN LOOK AND GET KILLER SOUND:
Here's what I did to *Fix* my HK purchase blunder:
For $1500 and a system which is absolutely PHENOMENAL:
1. Stock Head Unit (deck), trust me put your money in SPEAKERS and AMP.
2. Kenwood KAC X650D Amplifier (50 Watts RMS x 4 + 200 to sub)
3. Diamond Audio S500s component speakers in front.
4. Diamond Audio M351i coaxials in the rear.
5. Diamond Audio 3410 10" sub(in small removable box) strapped down to factory strap holders (so no permanent mods to the car and is 15 seconds to remove if you need more trunk space). I didn't want a sub at first- you know a funky box to keep track of in the trunk, but after I heard the difference with a demo at Magnolia HiFi, and saw how small they can make a sub, there was no option, I had to have it. The sound is so very much more rich and full. And I DO NOT listen to boom boom rap music! ALL music sounds better with a good sub. The difference is hard to quantify with words...
6. Dynamat Extreme sound dampener around all speakers.
At first I was furious when I bought the HK and THEN heard my friends $1000 stereo, now with my new system, I'm amazed every time I get in the car ;-)
If I could sum it all up:
1. Don't go HK.
2. Keep factory head unit for stock look.
3. Put your money in speakers and amp, and don't skip the sub.
Best of luck-
Sorry but I strongly disagree...
I bought the HK system and it is not worth it for ANYONE AT ALL.
It's simple economics- It costs $1000.
It doesn't improve resale value- ask any used auto dealer, a car with a nice stereo is not worth a nickel more than one without. Period.
So...
Any money invested in a stereo, HK or otherwise is a pure expense, NOT an investment. It is for your enjoyment and no other purpose.
That in mind, if you are going to pay the expense, then do yourself a favor and get infinitely more sound quality by going aftermarket.
If you don't trust me, don't listen to Bimmer car fans, listen to stereo fans. Go to your local stereo shop and LISTEN, check stereo forums, not car forums, and you will SEE...
Again- I did not replace my head unit so my system LOOKS 100% factory. You CANNOT see that different speakers are behind the factory speaker covers.
But you sure CAN tell that the sound is a billion percent better than the HK paper junk. So I replaced paper with kevlar and silk and YES, for the same price as you would pay for the HK crap, you can get an AMAZING 100% factory-looking stereo with the clean BMW interior that you love.
![[:)]](/images/smilies/smile.png "Smile [:)]")
I bought the HK system and it is not worth it for ANYONE AT ALL.
It's simple economics- It costs $1000.
It doesn't improve resale value- ask any used auto dealer, a car with a nice stereo is not worth a nickel more than one without. Period.
So...
Any money invested in a stereo, HK or otherwise is a pure expense, NOT an investment. It is for your enjoyment and no other purpose.
That in mind, if you are going to pay the expense, then do yourself a favor and get infinitely more sound quality by going aftermarket.
If you don't trust me, don't listen to Bimmer car fans, listen to stereo fans. Go to your local stereo shop and LISTEN, check stereo forums, not car forums, and you will SEE...
Again- I did not replace my head unit so my system LOOKS 100% factory. You CANNOT see that different speakers are behind the factory speaker covers.
But you sure CAN tell that the sound is a billion percent better than the HK paper junk. So I replaced paper with kevlar and silk and YES, for the same price as you would pay for the HK crap, you can get an AMAZING 100% factory-looking stereo with the clean BMW interior that you love.
Cello or no Cello
Did you know that with the HK stereo that you cannot hear the Cellos on Bethovens 7th...
Nor half of the instruments on Madonna's La Istla Bonita???
Nor can you hear Geddy Lee's bass guitar lead on Limelight...
It simply ISN'T THERE on the HK system!
Yes, due to the crossover 'Clipping' on the BMW HK system, when you lose the highs and lows you lose ENTIRE INSTRUMENTS.
Most sincerely- DO NOT listen to the die hard BMW fans who will tell you that anything BMW sells you is tops...
They are fans and they are in love. Believe me I understand...
But before you kick the Grand for the HK-
Research YOURSELF and go to a stereo store and LISTEN for yourself.
The differences you find between an HK factory PAPER speaker which due to its physical properties simply CANNOT reproduce quality sound, and the silk, titanium, and kevlar speakers that you will find aftermarket today, will simply amaze you. You won't believe the difference in sound quality until you HEAR it. If you are going to consider dropping the $1000 for the HK at least give your local stereo shop a 5 minute listen and you will never go back.
ALL YOU HAVE TO REPLACE IS SPEAKERS AND AMP!
AGAIN THIS CAN BE DONE WHILE MAINTAINING YOUR FACTORY DECK (HEAD UNIT) AND 100% OF YOUR FACTORY INTERIOR LOOK.
This was extremely important to me as I did not want it to be possible for anyone to tell that anything in my car was not factory, well except for the sound![[;)]](/images/smilies/wink.png "Wink [;)]")
Did you know that with the HK stereo that you cannot hear the Cellos on Bethovens 7th...
Nor half of the instruments on Madonna's La Istla Bonita???
Nor can you hear Geddy Lee's bass guitar lead on Limelight...
It simply ISN'T THERE on the HK system!
Yes, due to the crossover 'Clipping' on the BMW HK system, when you lose the highs and lows you lose ENTIRE INSTRUMENTS.
Most sincerely- DO NOT listen to the die hard BMW fans who will tell you that anything BMW sells you is tops...
They are fans and they are in love. Believe me I understand...
But before you kick the Grand for the HK-
Research YOURSELF and go to a stereo store and LISTEN for yourself.
The differences you find between an HK factory PAPER speaker which due to its physical properties simply CANNOT reproduce quality sound, and the silk, titanium, and kevlar speakers that you will find aftermarket today, will simply amaze you. You won't believe the difference in sound quality until you HEAR it. If you are going to consider dropping the $1000 for the HK at least give your local stereo shop a 5 minute listen and you will never go back.
ALL YOU HAVE TO REPLACE IS SPEAKERS AND AMP!
AGAIN THIS CAN BE DONE WHILE MAINTAINING YOUR FACTORY DECK (HEAD UNIT) AND 100% OF YOUR FACTORY INTERIOR LOOK.
This was extremely important to me as I did not want it to be possible for anyone to tell that anything in my car was not factory, well except for the sound