Opinions on 19 Speaker Harman Kardon sound system

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Bcovish

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Just playing devils advocate.....what’s the purpose of having 19 speakers in such a small space. You can accomplish far better sound with half that amount. Maybe it’s to discourage us audiophiles from upgrading the system.
Well this audiophile will upgrade as soon as the R&D catches up with a interface module.
First thing I will do is add a real substage.
 

BWL

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Should make it easier to put 3 way components in the front at least. Seems a waste to pay for the HK upgrade if you're going to gut it though.
 

Bcovish

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Should make it easier to put 3 way components in the front at least. Seems a waste to pay for the HK upgrade if you're going to gut it though.

Unfortunately For me I didn’t have a choice to get the HK. I actually wanted the alpine after hearing the two. :)

I’m hearing a well known company will be coming out with a aftermarket direct speaker replacement. For now just going to redo the sloppy substage and figure out what is exactly behind the grills and panels.
 
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Bcovish

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Should make it easier to put 3 way components in the front at least. Seems a waste to pay for the HK upgrade if you're going to gut it though.
ive never been a fan of manufactures saying if you get “a” package you have to get “b” package. Back in the day you could build a vehicle from ground up and get exactly what you want.
 

Doxmia

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Well this audiophile will upgrade as soon as the R&D catches up with a interface module.
First thing I will do is add a real substage.

There is already an interface for the truck. This system is the same that Dodge has used in other cars in the past so iDatalink Maestro already has a kit and harness for the '19 1500's: http://maestro.idatalink.com/search...9&vehicle_model_id=885&vehicle_audio_id=13510

I've already got mine on order; doing full 3-way active up front, amplified passive rear and 4x 6.5" Subs in custom enclosure under the rear seat(s).
 

Sergio

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There is already an interface for the truck. This system is the same that Dodge has used in other cars in the past so iDatalink Maestro already has a kit and harness for the '19 1500's: http://maestro.idatalink.com/search...9&vehicle_model_id=885&vehicle_audio_id=13510

I've already got mine on order; doing full 3-way active up front, amplified passive rear and 4x 6.5" Subs in custom enclosure under the rear seat(s).

I’ve never used anything to amplify the stock amplifier before. Does this let you adjust the factory speakers on our Ram? Meaning I can actually adjust instead of just hearing the bass coming out of the front and rear bigger speakers, I can set to output mids/highs?

Sorry for the newb question lol, I’m not that good with sound systems or anything but would be something I’d definitely give a shot to and have a local audio place help adjust the speakers!

Thanks!
 

Doxmia

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Not really, it let's you bypass the factory amp and requires you to use your own amplifiers that way you can replace the speakers with higher end speakers and give them more power. (That's the simplified explanation).
 

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My 2015 Hellcat system was not so good either. It must have been a big enough problem for FCA to come out with a software upgrade early on to change the sound profile. It was much better after the update.
 

mdittenber

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I test drove a Limited today and was not impressed with the HK system. It wasn't very loud at all and the clarity was okay. It didn't wow me. Turning off surround sound helped.
 

MarvinK

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I thought the Alpine had more (albeit boomier) bass, but thought the HK was a lot more crisp and clean overall. It's actually one of the reasons I ended up with the truck I did, over a lower trim. I'm really liking the sound. I'm most likely to listen to post-punk or electronic music, fwiw. Those of you unhappy with the HK, what music do you tend to listen to?
 

adrianp89

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EDIT: Reserving my judgement until more time. Sound varies so much on source.
 
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03Scott76

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I purchased my 2019 with the 19 speaker HK system. I was expecting something way more awesome than what I got. It does not get loud, huge difference between Aux, XM, FM, and Bluetooth. XM being the worse (volumn and sound quality). I even took the truck to the dealership, they had it for a week, just to tell me there is nothing wrong. I have installed stereos for many years and it seriously sounds like there is no amp. The 10" sub might as well not even be there. Whats worse is if you do a side by side comparison to the 9 speaker in the Laramie, the Laramie will drown out my 19 speaker set-up in every way. I am very disappointed.

Has anyone else had this issue and spoke to anyone about it? Looking to see what to do next.
 

adrianp89

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I purchased my 2019 with the 19 speaker HK system. I was expecting something way more awesome than what I got. It does not get loud, huge difference between Aux, XM, FM, and Bluetooth. XM being the worse (volumn and sound quality). I even took the truck to the dealership, they had it for a week, just to tell me there is nothing wrong. I have installed stereos for many years and it seriously sounds like there is no amp. The 10" sub might as well not even be there. Whats worse is if you do a side by side comparison to the 9 speaker in the Laramie, the Laramie will drown out my 19 speaker set-up in every way. I am very disappointed.

Has anyone else had this issue and spoke to anyone about it? Looking to see what to do next.

Been a common issue for the HK system for years across models. Nothing is going to happen. The system lacks volume on most Sirius channels, but can boogie pretty decent with car play.
 

03Scott76

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I also noticed that while listening to XM, if I receive a call, the sound only comes from the top left dash speaker. However, if I am listening to FM, Bluetooth or AUX the sound from the call comes from all speakers. I have to crank up the speaker volume while in XM during the call to hear the caller, but, if i switch to FM while on the call, the callers voice then comes from all the speakers and the sound is great. Strange thing hapening or is this suppose to be normal as well with the HK speaker setup? My Alpine in my 15 didn't have this issue either.
 

adrianp89

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I also noticed that while listening to XM, if I receive a call, the sound only comes from the top left dash speaker. However, if I am listening to FM, Bluetooth or AUX the sound from the call comes from all speakers. I have to crank up the speaker volume while in XM during the call to hear the caller, but, if i switch to FM while on the call, the callers voice then comes from all the speakers and the sound is great. Strange thing hapening or is this suppose to be normal as well with the HK speaker setup? My Alpine in my 15 didn't have this issue either.

This bothers me as well.... I think it will be addressed with an update. The Alpine came from the front left speakers so it was a more full sound. I wish the same here.
 

Doxmia

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Got full active 3 way front stage done today (and a ton of deadening). Bass amp is also installed but subs won't be in for a bit the box is going to have to be fibreglass for what I want so hopefully get that started next week.

Used the DSR1 just as an interface but doing all of the processing on my Mosconi. I think the processing on the DSR1 is mostly fine and the bluetooth app is actually pretty decent but I have a lot more faith in my Mosconi processor so just using it to get the flat signal from my factory head unit.
 

Bcovish

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Got full active 3 way front stage done today (and a ton of deadening). Bass amp is also installed but subs won't be in for a bit the box is going to have to be fibreglass for what I want so hopefully get that started next week.

Used the DSR1 just as an interface but doing all of the processing on my Mosconi. I think the processing on the DSR1 is mostly fine and the bluetooth app is actually pretty decent but I have a lot more faith in my Mosconi processor so just using it to get the flat signal from my factory head unit.
Nice!!! What are you using to power your front stage? I assume from out earlier conversations did you put the tweet in the upper door location?? If so what kind of room did you see in there? Possible to put a small midrange?
Congrats!!!
 

Doxmia

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Nice!!! What are you using to power your front stage? I assume from out earlier conversations did you put the tweet in the upper door location?? If so what kind of room did you see in there? Possible to put a small midrange?
Congrats!!!

I'm using 2 x Digital Design d4.90's (120watts x 4 @ 2ohm) as my speaker amps. Six of the channels are powering the front stage (actively) and then I'm running passively on the stock HK speakers in the rear just to keep them part of the system should I ever want to use the surround for the sensors or anything like that.

The tweeters are in the door as there's actually a bit more room in the dash. Typically you'd want it to go woofer and mid in the door then tweet on the dash but because I'm an advocate of no modifications on my limited I went woofer and tweeter and mid in the dash. With an RTA and the time alingment on my Mosconi I'd be shocked if anyone would actually be able to tell the difference on the placement, however.

I plan on taking photos of everything, I've done a lot and just didn't want to take photos one day at a time.. hopefully next week early I'll have some.
 
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