Harmon Kardon

Originally Posted by SoonerJohn

I've been driving my F30 for 4 days and absolutely LOVE the HK system. I should note that I've never had an upgraded sound system in any car I've owned previously, so my standards are low, but I'm very impressed. I listen to a wide variety of music and found this system really shines on the music with "less junk going on" - that is to say that if you throw some current rock/pop/alternative/whatever at it, it'll sound 'good'. But if you play things like classical, musical theater, piano, etc - it sounds *great*! I cranked up The Phantom of the Opera and was blown away by it! Tchaikovsky's Paino Concerto #1 - wow!!! Some other great sounding examples - things like Johnny Cash "I Walk the Line", the whole Andrew Lloyd Weber "Gold" album, etc.

"Bravi, bravi, bravissimi"

If that coming from under your seat, then the HK is a good system.

Let me suggest that MUCH of this is subjective upon ones tastes and music likes. Here are my thoughts though:

I got the HK in a 2011 e90 because for that year the base audio sound was terrible. It seems the biggest factor to the sound quality in these cars is the presence (or lack of) the small tweeter speakers in the front corner of the windows on the front doors. When they are missing (as they were in the base of late year e90s) your treble was coming from lower in the doors and the whole sound suffered.

As an ex audio engineer (I used to record and mix albums for major labels so potentially could be really snobby about this ), I find the EQ settings on the HK to be lacking, mostly because the subs are WAY over producing really low end bass in the 30-60hz range. And you can't take that down unless you turn down the 100hz filter which affects all your bass adversely. Unless you want to show off your Hip-Hop credentials down main street (not that there is anything wrong with that) in my opinion most music suffered from the HK sub woofers. I think I currently have 100hz down 2 or 3 clicks in my E90.

When test driving the F30, to check out the audio I specifically found two cars...one with the HK and one without and even took them home to compare with my e90 HK. I had already told the dealer I would get the HK option, even though I hate having to buy Sirius/XM too.

What I found was that the base in the new F30 was really good (I had to check the sticker to make sure it was not the HK), and listening to challenging electronic music like some Massive Attack reference tunes (detailed & complex lows, mids and highs), I found that to my ears, the HK was not worth the upgrade. So I chose to delete that option, and used the money on M Adaptive Suspension.

Again, to each their own and I can totally see folks getting the most out of their HK set ups...but to those who chose not to get HK, I am sure you'll still be able to enjoy your fine tunes as well.

Hope this is helpful.

Originally Posted by Blax

Let me suggest that MUCH of this is subjective upon ones tastes and music likes. Here are my thoughts though:

I found that to my ears, the HK was not worth the upgrade. So I chose to delete that option, and used the money on M Adaptive Suspension.

Having HK and M Adaptive on my car, I can tell you that M Adaptive is the option to pick

Originally Posted by nofuture

Having HK and M Adaptive on my car, I can tell you that M Adaptive is the option to pick

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Lots of great info in here. Can anyone comment specifically on the HK bass response? I'm not after ghetto levels of bass, but I had grown accustomed to a vehicle with a single 12" sealed enclosure in the trunk. Sounds like the 2x subs on the HK are ~8.5" each, so hoping they be roughly equal in oomph to the old single sub I had. Anybody had a larger sub before and can offer a comparison?

Originally Posted by desertpilot

Lots of great info in here. Can anyone comment specifically on the HK bass response? I'm not after ghetto levels of bass, but I had grown accustomed to a vehicle with a single 12" sealed enclosure in the trunk. Sounds like the 2x subs on the HK are ~8.5" each, so hoping they be roughly equal in oomph to the old single sub I had. Anybody had a larger sub before and can offer a comparison?

Reference my earlier post about "Phantom"... lots of bass in that and it sounds incredible! there is no lack of subs in this setup (for the average person)

love the bass, i listen to dance/electronic and it sounds awesome

It is not about the size of the bass woofer, it is about the frequency it can deliver. Frequency's of around 120-150 is what you are after not around 40-60. You want to feel the pressure on your chest!

I've had my F30 with HK for 1 week now.

Im a little disappointed coming from an Audi A4 with the B&O system. In short it lacks the bass. At low volumes it's just as good but it can't handle crisp tight bass.

Originally Posted by highwaytg

I've had my F30 with HK for 1 week now.

Im a little disappointed coming from an Audi A4 with the B&O system. In short it lacks the bass. At low volumes it's just as good but it can't handle crisp tight bass.

Have you fiddled with the EQ settings yet? I was pretty disappointed in the bass as well until I did that.

Yes, I know for the purists that fiddling with the EQ is a crutch, but this isn't a reference system; this is an in-car system that has to be everything to everyone.

Originally Posted by thumper_330

Have you fiddled with the EQ settings yet? I was pretty disappointed in the bass as well until I did that.

Yes, I know for the purists that fiddling with the EQ is a crutch, but this isn't a reference system; this is an in-car system that has to be everything to everyone.

Yes I really have played with eq settings and they do improve things some what but I'm still left with comparing against my old system. Ah well I suppose I the HK is good and I've just been spoilt with my previous system

Harmon Kardon is doing a great job of making fantastic surround sound systems for german sport cars. I absolutely love the up-graded Harmon Kardon on my convertible 2011, 328i. The quality is great and those 2 sub woofers under the drivers and passenger seats rock the car and the road at the same time.
In a recent review of the sound system on 2013 Mercedes SL series , which comes standard with Harmon Kardon surround system with the $5,800 option to upgrade to Bang & Olafson very fancy sound system ,all the users agreed that the standard Harmon Kardon system is far better than the up-graded B&O systems!

There seems to be a lot of great advice on here, but I am not audiophile. I just know what sounds good to me. And having had the car for about a week now, the HK system sounds fine as long as you aren't expecting too much. Is is worth the $900+? Depends on how much music you intend to listen to and if you appreciate a decent sound system. I know one guy who doesn't care because he only listens to talk radio in the car.

Originally Posted by nofuture

Having HK and M Adaptive on my car, I can tell you that M Adaptive is the option to pick

If you have to go one or the other I agree. I ordered both like you. The HK that I have in the c350 is much better than the base system but I would have given it up (hell I would have gone without any music) if the Mercedes engineers gave us better steering feel.

Originally Posted by Zeichen311

Once you determine the overall shape of the curve you prefer, shift the whole curve down (or up) so that the net gain (or cut) is as close to zero as possible. Then fine-tune as necessary to compensate for any non-linearity or cumulative effects that had manifested at the more aggressive settings.

Using the curve above, the average gain is +5 clicks (4+4+6+6+4+5+6 = 35 / 7 = 5), so you can shift the entire curve down 5 clicks and retain the same relative equalization:

100 - -1
200 - -1
500 - +1
1K - +1
2k - -1
5k - 0
10K - +1

Some bands will need to go up or down a click or two from that arithmetic shift, because the biased curve likely had substantial additive effects. The coarse Bass and Treble controls have different characteristics than the EQ bandpass filters so you'll need to reset those by ear (but definitely toward flat). In short, you may need to retune the curve quite a bit but you should strive to keep the overall average close to zero.

It's important to remember that all filters and amplifiers introduce distortion. The goal is to shape the sound to your liking with the absolute minimum intervention possible to preserve maximum fidelity.

this man speaks truth. the EQ is a relative tweak, you use it to adjust how select frequencies are emphasized or muted. what's important isn't the value of the setting but the relationship of the setting to its neighbors. use your volume knob for the overall level.

base stereo is pretty good - but lacks power and definition. I would say 900 is worth it.

Back in my e92 days, the HK upgrade was a must and it sounded good. Not great as I felt it lacked clarity in the mid-high range. Was good enough for MP3's and daily HD radio and for the price I didn't expect to be blown away.

I don't know how the regular sound system works on 328i but i have harman kardon. And seriously it sucks when compared to Bose. In fact i don't want to compare this with bose. For the record i have 328i with hk and g37s coupe with Bose.
It's your decision. I will say listen to both and decide.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Bimmer App

This strikes me as the kind of thing others cant answer for you. It's all relative to what preferences you have. Those who have HK have clearly revealed their preferences in their choices as have those without it. In other words people who have it will say its worth it and those who don't will say its not. I suggest you go and listen to each and make an informed choice of you own based on what you prefer.

Personally, I can think of a lot better things to spend $950 on than an upgraded car stereo.

With that kind of cash I can see 20-30 shows of actual musicians playing actual live music.

Or I would put that cash towards the M-adaptive suspension.

I guess I shouldn't have used the word "audiophile", as that mean different things to different folks. An audiophile to me is someone who appreciates better sound quality and is willing to spend the bucks to acquire a system that he or she deems to be of high quality. Clear as mud......

My nephew once asked me how much money he needed to spend in order to get a good stereo system. My response was "as much money as it takes to make the system sound good to you".

So, I don't like stock stereo systems. I added a separate signal processor, a power amp, replaced all of the speakers and added a sub-woofer. To the person who said that a car is not a good place to listen to music, I simply say that there is no perfect place to listen to music. All rooms, concert halls and outdoor venues have their own idiosyncracies. Some are better than others. By putting an "audiophile" system in my car, I can enjoy my music much more than I could if I had left the standard system in place. That's good enough for me.

For the person who asked what the system specs were, I can only say that most specs are meaningless. Brochures will often quote frequency response, distortion, wattage, etc. None of these mean anything unless other specs are quoted as well, such as: frequency response - plus/minus how many db; wattage - again, at what distortion level. I've heard many components that had virtually identical specs yet sounded very different.

Use the best testing equipment on the planet - your ears. Believe anything else at your own risk.

:-)

Enjoy!

R

I have the Harmon Kardon system fitted in my BMW 328i and I love it. It blows me away every time I turn the sound on. I used a 320i courtesy car for a day with the stock sound system and the quality is significantly less than with the HK. Just make sure to have the equaliser set up the way described away and get ready to immerse yourself in Utopia sound!

Dopey newbie question here, but do the equalizer settings range from low (bass) to high (treble) corresponding to top to bottom on the screen?

i put a jl w6 in my 06 e90...the bass you can't beat :P those dinky 8's under the seats didn't give me enough bass. ahahah

About the HK if you have standard speakers on your car how much is it for them to put better speakers

or do i have another solution?

^^ you can check out one of the forum sponsors, Bavarian Soundwerks. I don't know if they have a replacement set for the F30 yet but for previous versions they've been running in the $500 range for a new set of speakers.