440-watt 9-speaker harman/kardon premium audio system sound quality

[BayratXT]

I have a 09 xt with the "premium" HK system. Took it to dealer couple months ago b/c it sounded like the rear sub was blown. The service tech concurred and ordered me a new sub.

When new sub was finally installed it sounded exactly like the blown sub. I pointed this out to a different service tech and he told me he didn't have much experience with the HK system, he couldn't tell if it was blown. WTF?

Can't even hear the sub unless my ear is right next to it and then all I hear is the cone mashing around and no real bass reproduction.

Service tech blew me off and said he'd talk to his Subaru rep. Needless to say I haven't heard a thing.

Wondering what to do, any suggestions???

[iturtle]

The Outback's harman/kardon system is said to have 9 speakers (440-watt 9-speaker harman/kardon® premium audio system with amplifier, subwoofer, MP3/WMA playback capability and Bluetooth® wireless phone capability), but no where in the manual does it actually point out the location of the speakers, and well, where are all 9?
2 front dash
2 front doors
2 back seat doors
1 rear hatch (sub?)
Are the missing 2 also in the front doors counting two speakers per door?

I also noticed the back seat door speakers do not have the H/K logo on them, yet the speaker (sub) near the rear hatch does have a logo and the front doors do too. Could the poor back seat performance be because they are not actually upgraded speakers?

[burneedog]

Originally posted by iturtle
The Outback's harman/kardon system is said to have 9 speakers (440-watt 9-speaker harman/kardon® premium audio system with amplifier, subwoofer, MP3/WMA playback capability and Bluetooth® wireless phone capability), but no where in the manual does it actually point out the location of the speakers, and well, where are all 9?
2 front dash
2 front doors
2 back seat doors
1 rear hatch (sub?)
Are the missing 2 also in the front doors counting two speakers per door?

I also noticed the back seat door speakers do not have the H/K logo on them, yet the speaker (sub) near the rear hatch does have a logo and the front doors do too. Could the poor back seat performance be because they are not actually upgraded speakers?

The speakers in the rear doors have a dual driver design - there are small built-in tweeters along with the midrange cones...not a coaxial design, but more of a 'piggy back' design...positioned at the top of the speaker.

[theBank]

Have to agree with what seems to be consensus, in my HK no-nav, the sub is just friggn terrible. Really surprising how bad it is / blows my mind that it is tied to the front via the fader. In all my favorite setups the sub was tied into the rear speakers and you could fade back to increase the subs influence. I think we end up turning down the bass not because it is too loud, but because the bass just sounds really bad. imho, with the best home systems large chunk of the spend and watts are in low freq – but it is clear and as a result you don’t notice all the power it gets. (I do realize in cars road noise is in the lower Hz… but I camp/tailgate often and when I do, I like good sound quality..)

For those who know more about installs:

1 - Would it be possible to rewire the sub to fade with the rear? I wonder what effect this would have on the amps ability to drive the rear speakers.
2 - May be worth replacing just the sub with a powered aftermarket product…

Without the limitations of the sub I think the HK system has potential.

[edit]
Today I ran to best buy, picked up a dynaudio .9 ft 3.5mm jack.
The quality of the bass has been completely transformed.. I am thinking the sub is a c/c- not a total failure. The CD/FM preamp seems to be a major issue. When I use my iPod (lossless) the quality is much better.

My settings are now via AUX:
Fade R2
Bass -2
Mid -4
Treble +2

With the AUX I would give the system overall a B+ when using CD/FM a C.

I have ordered the USB media hub / will edit again when installed.

I would buy the HK system before taking chances with a shop tearing up my new car.. I do not know if there is a separate amp from the head unit. I do think the gain stage in CD/FM is lacking.

My Last car was an Audi s4 - it's bose system was much better. I am just saying for a premium system, it is lacking... But still a 'good' system.
[/edit]

[fishoutback]

Originally posted by theBank
...the sub is just friggn terrible. Really surprising how bad it is / blows my mind that it is tied to the front via the fader.

1 - Would it be possible to rewire the sub to fade with the rear? I wonder what effect this would have on the amps ability to drive the rear speakers.
2 - May be worth replacing just the sub with a powered aftermarket product…

Without the limitations of the sub I think the HK system has potential.

I agree the sub sounds terrible, but now I'm wondering if the sub itself is really that bad, or it's just the way it's wired up in conjuction with the fronts. If the sub had its own low-pass crossover from the amp that sent only the low frequencies to the sub, and then we could have separate subwoofer level control like I had with my (old) Alpine, it might be ok. I'm not sure if this is even feasible with the stock headunit. Then replace the rear doors with something, anything other than the stock speakers, and it all might not sound half bad.

Geez, I don't want to be negative, but I wonder if anyone at Harmon Kardon got a chance to listen to their "premium" sound system before giving the OK for production. I think I would rather not have had my name associated with the final product. I can hardly see a stereo engineer thinking it sounded awesome. Not sure I'd trust their judgment for any electronics in the future. Then again, maybe it sounded great before cost-cutting measures took over......I don't know, but the music on my commute sure could sound better.....

[theBank]

Originally posted by fishoutback


I agree the sub sounds terrible, but now I'm wondering if the sub itself is really that bad, or it's just the way it's wired up in conjuction with the fronts. If the sub had its own low-pass crossover from the amp that sent only the low frequencies to the sub, and then we could have separate subwoofer level control like I had with my (old) Alpine, it might be ok. I'm not sure if this is even feasible with the stock headunit.

I would be very surprised if the sub did not have a (fixed) high pass filter. Agree it sounds muddied. That said, I am not going to run out and make changes... have you tried the AUX??

[burnedhog]

Originally posted by fishoutback


I agree the sub sounds terrible, but now I'm wondering if the sub itself is really that bad, or it's just the way it's wired up in conjuction with the fronts. If the sub had its own low-pass crossover from the amp that sent only the low frequencies to the sub, and then we could have separate subwoofer level control like I had with my (old) Alpine, it might be ok. I'm not sure if this is even feasible with the stock headunit. Then replace the rear doors with something, anything other than the stock speakers, and it all might not sound half bad.

Geez, I don't want to be negative, but I wonder if anyone at Harmon Kardon got a chance to listen to their "premium" sound system before giving the OK for production. I think I would rather not have had my name associated with the final product. I can hardly see a stereo engineer thinking it sounded awesome. Not sure I'd trust their judgment for any electronics in the future. Then again, maybe it sounded great before cost-cutting measures took over......I don't know, but the music on my commute sure could sound better.....

I believe Congresswoman Jane Harman is the Chairperson of the Intelligence and Terrorism Risk Assessment Subcommittee.

We should send her a few letters to get her to check this problem out! Actually her husband, who owned Harman Kardon, has already sold the company.

[Carphunter]

reading these audio threads makes me wonder if I should be fully ready to buy a subie with the lowest audio system, and plan to replace head and speakers immediately.... a task I loathe since it's a new car and should be "good" out the door.

[fishoutback]

Originally posted by theBank

[edit]
Today I ran to best buy, picked up a dynaudio .9 ft 3.5mm jack.
The quality of the bass has been completely transformed.. I am thinking the sub is a c/c- not a total failure. The CD/FM preamp seems to be a major issue. When I use my iPod (lossless) the quality is much better.

My settings are now via AUX:
Fade R2
Bass -2
Mid -4
Treble +2

With the AUX I would give the system overall a B+ when using CD/FM a C-.

I have ordered the USB media hub / will edit again when installed.
[/edit]

Thanks for the followup. Now I will definitely have to try out the AUX. If it improves this much, I guess it does imply that the preamp/signal handling in the headunit is the main culprit, not so much the speakers themselves. Do you know if there is a separate amplifier, or is the amp also built into the headunit?

[historyteacher]

So hearing about the quality issues on the HK system, would it make more sense to simply go with the base system and spend the money on an upgrade from somewhere else?