Harman Kardon equalizer settings?

[DeusUrsus]

I'm curious to see how other Ram owners have their Harman Kardon equalizer/audio settings configured? I know it's generally listener preference, and also depends on the type of music you generally listen to, but I still want to know!

I have:
-Surround turned on
-Speed Adjusted Volume on Mid
-Fade is center
-Bass on +4
-Mid on +3
-Treble on +5

It sounds pretty good listening to rock, alternative, electronic and orchestral genres, but I'm wondering if I can get more out of it. After all, there are 19 speakers!

 

[Bcovish]

I’m flat on treble and mid. Bass -4. Lol

 

[Doxmia]

wow, +4 on that bass, hey?

be careful, it's already a very bass emphasized system even at 0 (or even in the negatives). Even at reasonably low volumes (20-25ish) with certain audio sources that might be a bit too much distortion for those speakers.

to be fair I have no idea if the stock system has any sort of clipping protection built in; just don't want you to damage your stock setup. Personally I think ram needs to send an update to pull back on the bass output of this system as it is.

 

[DeusUrsus]

wow, +4 on that bass, hey?

be careful, it's already a very bass emphasized system even at 0 (or even in the negatives). Even at reasonably low volumes (20-25ish) with certain audio sources that might be a bit too much distortion for those speakers.

to be fair I have no idea if the stock system has any sort of clipping protection built in; just don't want you to damage your stock setup. Personally I think ram needs to send an update to pull back on the bass output of this system as it is.

The HK setup seems to handle the bass really well actually! Listening to Underworld for example, who has some real bassy music, sounds great!

 

[Jus Cruisin]

Mine's still at whatever it was from the factory....

 

[adrianp89]

Haven't found a sweet spot yet - but right now bass and mid flat, treble at -3. You are better cutting than boosting.

 

[adrianp89]

wow, +4 on that bass, hey?

be careful, it's already a very bass emphasized system even at 0 (or even in the negatives). Even at reasonably low volumes (20-25ish) with certain audio sources that might be a bit too much distortion for those speakers.

to be fair I have no idea if the stock system has any sort of clipping protection built in; just don't want you to damage your stock setup. Personally I think ram needs to send an update to pull back on the bass output of this system as it is.

Mine seems to be the opposite - doesn't have much bass... well it's there but not overwhelming by any means. Either way - even at +9 on everything - these speakers won't blow - this is why we don't have a lot of volume... they protect the hell out of these speakers. Bass roll off seems to happen around 32 based on what I have noticed so far.

 

[DeusUrsus]

Haven't found a sweet spot yet - but right now bass and mid flat, treble at -3. You are better cutting than boosting.

I’m gonna give this a shot today to see how things sound.

 

[n-humble]

Curious ... not mentioned here, but try turning surround off and see if you get a boost in volume. I've seen others complain about the volume level and turning off surround seemed to help.

 

[Dan B]

minus 5 on the base, plus 4 on the mid's and treble. Surround sound off. That's the best I can come up with as of yet. What's really weird is the volume readout. It's stupid but it seems like it's not coordinated with the actual volume.

 

[jettajam1]

Curious ... not mentioned here, but try turning surround off and see if you get a boost in volume. I've seen others complain about the volume level and turning off surround seemed to help.

Surprisingly enough, turning off surround sound made mine much more enjoyable. Loudness increased and overall, sounded way better.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[SLMinATX]

I've had my truck only a few days and am surprised at how bad the 19 speaker HK system sounds, and I'm not an audiophile by any means. I had factory HK systems in my last 2 cars and was very satisfied, surround sound was great on both. But on this system it's way too heavy on the bass, I have mine at -5 with almost no treble and it's at 9, mid is at 5, surround is off...the bass distorts when on. I test drove it twice before buying but didn't test the audio assuming it would be great with my past experience with HK and knowing it was the upgraded 19 speaker system. I'm beginning to wonder if there's something wrong with mine. Will continue to play with the settings but when I go to dealership to pick up my plates I'm going to ask to listen to another vehicle with the same system to see the difference. I love the truck and hope something can be done to improve it. Would love suggestions from others if you've had the same experience and/or a fix. Thanks!

 

[AnthonyLaizure]

I also I'm not super impressed with the 19 speaker setup. I feel like most my vocals come from the bottom of the doors, the bass is just kinda muddy, and don't have a good rear stage. I feel there should be more control on the system to tune it. Like bass, levels separate from the sub and doors and increase the rear stage without losing front volume.

 

[adrianp89]

In their defense, there should never be a rear stage. It should be used for ambient noise to create more studio or concert effect, depending on your material.

 

[Siff]

Here is the TSB for the Amp upgrade

 

[adrianp89]

Curious on how this changes the system.

 

[soapy]

I drove my Hellcat yesterday and wished my Ram stereo has as much volume and sound quality as it.

 

[Chip Oidos]

I am a new RAM owner and appreciate the information in this thread. I have been trouble shooting the music system and plan to get the dealer to perform the service as outlined by Siff. I am surprised that there is a problem with the sound system since they had it "voiced" by a Nashville music producer. I expected it to be pretty good.

I thought I would share my observations in case they could be helpful to someone. My main problem is with the bass, it is too "boomy" or "muddy". I have the equalizer at Bass= -4, Mid= 0, Treble= -2. I suspect that the cross over between the large door speakers and the subwoofer has too much overlap in frequency.

I initially had a problem with the volume being too low when I played music from my iPhone 6 via bluetooth. Most of the other bluetooth devices that I have control the volume of the phone. This is not the case with the HK system. Once I manually increased the volume on my phone, the HK volume was plenty loud.

I am playing uncompressed WAV files [1411 kbps] that I ripped from the original cd. I observed sound quality to vary by input method: iPhone 6 bluetooth was the worse, WAV files on iPhone connected via USB B was in the middle and files on a usb thumb drive or hard drive connected via usb c was the best.

The HK system would not recognize my iPod classics [I tried 2 different ones- they work fine in my other cars].

I found that the HK system will also play FLAC files but not AIFF files. I was also surprised to find that the system will play high resolution WAV and FLAC files [24/96, 4608 kbps]. I have no way to tell if these high res files are down sampled but they sound pretty good.

I hope this is helpful. I will post again after the dealer service.

 

[Looki]

The base is complete out of balance. Even with the base turn to the lowest setting the mids and tweeters are struggling with the base signal coming in. Most of the base signal should be going to the sub and the mids and the tweeters should be cleaner with a tight punch in the middle and clean vocals on the top. Not sure who set up the software on this unit but there is very little in the way of controls so it is what it is.
My wife Volvo XC90 also has a 900 watts 19 speaker system in it and it is a truly exceptional system, may be the best system I have ever heard in a factory install.

 

[Looki]

I was mess around with the system today and discover a little trick that helps to control the base.
If you the fade towards the rear and towards the passenger side it make a real difference.