DDC, that highlights how individual the sound settings may be, I could not survive without hose settings, lol. I feel we all agree that the HK system does not sound right at the factory settings. Here's my settings, and the fade setting was the biggest change to "correct" the sound of the HK system, and the EQ settings I feel would be more of the personal settings... and I fully expect others will completely disagree on the sound settings for their preferences, as well as the music they choose to listen to, which has a big impact on the settings desired.

 

@norge I totally agree that sound is very user dependent. we all have different tastes and preferences. and we all have an opinion about what sounds best.

but with the HK in our Durangos I make an exception to that statement. don't knock the +5 Mid until you've tried it. for some reason it makes the HK come alive and sound like it really should.

just sayin'.

 

Thanks guys, we’ll certainly play with it some … but no amount of changing EQ or fade/balance will correct for imaging, and that’s one of my big gripes right now.

To correct imaging, you have to either EQ just one side, adjust phase of one side, or sometimes time delay of one side can also be used (although a bandaid).

My point is the user accessible controls in the head unit are great for personal preference, but can’t be used to correct a tuning or configuration issue.

That said, using whatever options are available to make it as good as you can is about the only thing you can do.

 

Thanks guys, we’ll certainly play with it some … but no amount of changing EQ or fade/balance will correct for imaging, and that’s one of my big gripes right now.

To correct imaging, you have to either EQ just one side, adjust phase of one side, or sometimes time delay of one side can also be used (although a bandaid).

My point is the user accessible controls in the head unit are great for personal preference, but can’t be used to correct a tuning or configuration issue.

That said, using whatever options are available to make it as good as you can is about the only thing you can do.

@stoopalini I hear you. I used to run sound for our church for years. that teaches you a lot but also ruins you in some ways because you pick out things others don't even notice.

I'm telling you from personal experience, set your Mid to at least +5 and listen for a little bit. it seemed like my HK finally came alive and sounded like it should with that setting. you may decide to change it back or to tweak from there.

but I'm telling you, try the +5 Mids.

 

Sure DDC, I’ll give it a try. I think the reason the +5 is making it come alive is related to what I observed and mentioned in my 1st post … the mid range and mid bass seems non existent. Pushing the “mid” EQ slider up is pushing those frequencies, so I can definitely see how it would help to compensate for whatever is off.

I’m suppose to get the car back today from the shop and will take some measurements with REW this weekend. If I notice obvious issues, I’ll then contact Harman Kardon with my findings and see what they say.

I’ve been serving on various church worship teams for about 20 years now., so I know what you mean. It does teach you a lot 😊. I’m mainly a guitarist, but have needed to run FOHon many occasions, as well as setup and pinkout large venues.

That, and my home theater hobby, as well as the GTO stereo is why I have the calibration equipment and knowledge on how to use it. All of that experience definitely helps 😊

 

@stoopalini that's awesome. I used to love running sound at the church. we built the building and had a fairly large sanctuary that was also two stories tall. except the design put the sound booth up on the 2nd floor in the back. on paper that made most sense but we learned really fast we had to go down to the floor and walk the room after we had the sound where we 'thought' it should be.

then I changed churches and my new church of now 12+ years has all digital sound board equipment. I tried, I really did. I just couldn't get into using the all digital board. I could understand it no problem but it just wasn't the same for me.

 

I am a former musician, and I ran sound at our church for a long time, I did it in a gym, not easy, but I made it work. I love good sounding music. The HK is passable, but not blow me away awesome like the Mcintosh I listened to in the Jeep Grand Cherokee I drove. I passed on the GGC because the seat was awful, I found the DD seats were much much better.

As for sound I think in some ways the biggest problem with the HK in my 22 SRT is the fact the Subwoofer is in the rear. My 07 Tahoe is in the center console, and it had this tiny 5" Subwoofer, I installed an 8" or 10" sub in my Tahoe and an Amp and it made a night and day difference, it blows me away how good that sounds with that upgrade now. With the DD sub in the rear it gets canceled out by the road noise and the fact it is a long way from the Driver so it loses some definition. I have been tempted to see what the subwoofer is all about under the rear compartment and maybe see if I can make an improvement there, but have not done so yet.

 

adjust phase of one side

It's remotely possible that the speakers are not wired correctly and one of the drivers is wired out of phase.

 

It's remotely possible that the speakers are not wired correctly and one of the drivers is wired out of phase.

That's what it sounds like to me, that one side is out of phase. Could be either a wiring thing or a software/tuning thing though.

Running some test tones, pink noise, and sweeps should provide some insight.

 

So I got the Durango back yesterday, and did play with the settings. The mids pushed to 5 sounds good, along with the bass pushed to +4 and the treble pulled to -3 ... and ... the fader pushed to the rear. About 1/2 way or so.

The front imaging is still not right, as the left and right still sounds independent of each other, but the bass response seems to be resolved with the settings like this. I think the reason it works is because the bass and mid bass are pushed with the EQ, and the volume knob needs to be higher due to the fader. So with the volume knob louder, the subwoofer is receiving a stronger signal.

The fader doesn't effect the sub, only the volume knob does. So fading to the rear makes you turn the volume up more (since the front is attenuated) and therefore the sub gets stronger.

I didn't have time yesterday to take any measurements ... maybe I will today after church though?

 

So I got the Durango back yesterday, and did play with the settings. The mids pushed to 5 sounds good, along with the bass pushed to +4 and the treble pulled to -3 ... and ... the fader pushed to the rear. About 1/2 way or so.

The front imaging is still not right, as the left and right still sounds independent of each other, but the bass response seems to be resolved with the settings like this. I think the reason it works is because the bass and mid bass are pushed with the EQ, and the volume knob needs to be higher due to the fader. So with the volume knob louder, the subwoofer is receiving a stronger signal.

The fader doesn't effect the sub, only the volume knob does. So fading to the rear makes you turn the volume up more (since the front is attenuated) and therefore the sub gets stronger.

I didn't have time yesterday to take any measurements ... maybe I will today after church though?

@stoopalini glad you are making progress on a sound you like. I personally haven't been able to use the fader this way to get a sound I like. to me moving the fader to the rear also messes up the front imaging. I've never found a combination that I like that way so that's why I pull the Base setting down.

if you do come up with something please share.

 

@stoopalini glad you are making progress on a sound you like. I personally haven't been able to use the fader this way to get a sound I like. to me moving the fader to the rear also messes up the front imaging. I've never found a combination that I like that way so that's why I pull the Base setting down.

if you do come up with something please share.

Makes sense. I noticed the "Surround" feature needs to be turned off when fading to the rear like this. If it's turned on then it sounds really strange due to the rear getting more signal than the front. With it off though, I found the front bias is kept .... although there's still no real imaging on mine. The right and left still image as separate signals instead of a combined single stage no matter what I do. This is what is making me think it's a phasing issue.

Initially, before messing with any settings, my wife and I tried Surround on and off. We both agreed it sounded better on with default settings. After I made the EQ and fader adjustments we tried again and both agreed it's better off now.

I also noticed the fader isn't a gradual change with each movement of the icon. There's a point where you lose all front clarity with just a slight movement toward the rear. It's somewhere around 1/2 way mark. Then one slight move/click to the front and the clarity comes back. I noticed a similar thing with the treble control. One click made a huge difference between -3 and -4. It was a lot like what that guy demonstrated in the video ...

 

Not an owner but I rent Durangos very often and have had all 3, base, Alpine & HK and tbh prefer Alpine' setup. HK might have a bit more Bass but I find better clarity with Alpine. Even the base system is not bad in the 23s, this is of course with the 10" screen with LDAC enabled in Android bluetooth settings to highest quality. I plan on buying a 23 in a few years after driving the last 4 model years. Best stock infotainment and for what the stock systems are they are decent once you adjust EQ which is usually -3B,+3M,+6H. For a mid-sized SUV that drives as smooth and spacious as it is, not to mention the looks 😁 can't get beat. Also have a thing for the Chargers & Challengers (I've never been a domestic fan, all import).

 

I have a 22 with alpine audio and I have worked on stereos and such back in the 90s and throughout foe myself and friends and even for the dealer price it's good money for the quality and sound you get. The only thing I would do is throw a Lil more midbass and something to pickup the low end hit and frequency. Now if someone could tell me how to fix saflite's screw up with my poweiftgate not latching .

 

True factory sound systems have come a long way and mostly satisfy my requirements but as I stated before I have yet to hear of a OEM sound system that really rocks and leaves me impressed when compared to a well though-out aftermarket system.

 

I agree. I test drove one with the Alpine and it sounded better than the one I ended up buying, which has Harmon Kardon.

My 2011 Citadel had the Alpine system. Everything since then is sadly lacking.

 

Replace just the center speaker in the dash. You will be shocked at the dramatic difference. I used a 3 ohm jbl. Its amazing what one speaker did.

 

True factory sound systems have come a long way and mostly satisfy my requirements but as I stated before I have yet to hear of a OEM sound system that really rocks and leaves me impressed when compared to a well though-out aftermarket system.

The McIntosh system in the 2023 Grand Cherokee Summit Reserve we traded back in to the TnG was phenomenal! Very comparable to the high end custom system I have in my GTO.

That's really the only OEM system I have heard which compares.

 

We had Beats in our Charger SP, and HK in our Challenger SP, and we now have the Alpine in the DD. Honestly, I like the Alpine the best at moderate to somewhat loud levels. However, I've not experienced any factory system as impressive as the HK at SUPER LOUD/HIGH volumes. IMHO, strangely the HK - at least the one we had - was not that impressive at normal levels, but it became a magnificent beast when super loud.

 

I'm sure you tech savy guys know this ,but for the casual reader, the music source may also play a role in quality. XM not so beaucoup..

 

Yeah grew up in the age of cassettes. Lol just caught the tail end of 8-tracks but my Brother still remembers playing them in his T/A. Lol

 

Me too. I had a blaupunkt I used to pull out and take with me....