2019 2500 Harman Kardon sound quality

[Recontango]

I took delivery of my 2500 mega cab a week ago. I was adamant that I wanted the HK stereo as my dad has it in his 1500 so I opted for the Laramie level 2 package. I am very underwhelmed for a ‘premium’ stereo, the Alpine in my ‘17 power wagon was way better. I have to get the volume at least to 25 to really hear any bass at all and I have the EQ all the way up. There is a TSB for this issue in the 1500 (08-123-18) that many 1500 owners have done and it fixes this issue. I am wondering:
- Have any other HD owners experienced this issue?
- Has anyone had a dealer flash the amp using the 1500 TSB with success?

Thanks

 

[ClassicRacer]

I have a 2019 2500 and my HK sounds good to me, however I test drove other RAM's with the Alpine and it was a very impressive system. I'm not sure I'm having your issues, I can crank it up to near max and it blows me out. I will follow up on any SB's

Thanks for the heads up.

 

[Newtype311]

I have a 2019 as well and I have to say I’m not wowed by the bass by any stretch of the imagination. I drove a 2020 1500 with the standard system for 6 days and that system felt far more powerful.

I could say that the overall sound quality of the HK is better. There’s a higher fidelity to the sound across the range. But it definitely lacks the sort of deep bass I was expecting to get with a more expensive audio system and a dedicated subwoofer.

Since audio is subjective and dependent on the style of music you listen to. I’d suspect it’d be hard to convince a dealer that it’s not performing up to spec. Unless you can play the same song in your car and in a 1500 loaner on the lot.

If you come across a solution to this, I definitely want to know about it too. But at the very least, you’re not alone in thinking this.

 

[RugbyRef]

I have a 2019 as well and I have to say I’m not wowed by the bass by any stretch of the imagination. I drove a 2020 1500 with the standard system for 6 days and that system felt far more powerful.

I could say that the overall sound quality of the HK is better. There’s a higher fidelity to the sound across the range. But it definitely lacks the sort of deep bass I was expecting to get with a more expensive audio system and a dedicated subwoofer.

Since audio is subjective and dependent on the style of music you listen to. I’d suspect it’d be hard to convince a dealer that it’s not performing up to spec. Unless you can play the same song in your car and in a 1500 loaner on the lot.

If you come across a solution to this, I definitely want to know about it too. But at the very least, you’re not alone in thinking this.

You make some very good points! For example - I can listen to Sirius/XM and it is very under-whelming in regards to the sound quality and bass with the HK system in my '19 3500. However, when I tune to a local radio station broadcasting in HD (Hi Def?), I get a completely different sound...very rich on fidelity and bass. The same goes for Pandora or Spotify through my phone.

Weird...huh?

 

[16RamHemi]

A while back I remember another thread about this. If I recall correctly, people were saying an update/tsb etc was done and owners were blown away after. Same underwhelming performance prior to update as stated above.

 

[ClassicRacer]

I can see how Sirius can sound worse than local radio, Sirius audio has to be compressed and sent to a satellite, then decoded (decompressed) by the radio, the FM signal is pure digital signal.
Also playing music from your iPhone is also highly compressed and one salesman told me the best sound comes from a (uncompressed) original CD and he said that is why HK has a CD player. HK is said to have 750 Watts of power. So far mine is good to me.