Full Harmon Kardon setup V's Aftermarket

[daznkel]

The audio setup in the 190 (Rodger) needs some attention!

As a result, I am debating whether to fit an original HK setup or an aftermarket one. Either way, for the mean time I will be using my WinCE head unit and may upgrade to a Navall 3 or equivilent soon.

I am not an audiophile, but do enjoy clarity and like to feel the bass in my music.

Given that you can buy a pretty good aftermarket setup, for not a great deal more than the HK setup for our cars. What is the general opinion out there?

Thanks in advance.

[Ravinder]

After market will be better. The HK system is very old and is a little better then standard, but not great IMO. You can buy after market speakers for a good price. I would also recommend getting an amp and powering the speakers this way to get the best out of them. And if you want bass, you can buy a subwoofer that will do the job nicely.

[LotusLC]

I too thought about going down the HK route but was told that even today's cheaper speakers would be a better upgrade.

[Southside]

I had the HK setup in my old contemporary. Didn't rate it atall to be honest. The standard factory speakers in my vectra were far better quality.

[awvc1]

in all fairness, the door speakers are reasonable quality, particularly the tweeters. I think people get hung up on them still having paper cones unlike more modern ones.

You can get very nice sound out of them if you have them and a decent head unit, you don't need to go replacing them urgently for the sake of it.

The real problem is the subwoofer, and the line out amp system.

I'd say the door speakers , if you can get them cheap or already have them are reasonable. The amp system, and the subwoofer lets it all down. HK door speakers with a decent subwoofer, or at least a proper amp don't sound bad at all.

[murphyv310]

Hi.
The standard Rover speakers are poor to say the least. One thing I'd like to upgrade eventually!

[oldcarguy]

I replaced my front speakers with HK's and the sound is a lot clearer and crisper.

[awvc1]

Originally Posted by murphyv310

Hi.
The standard Rover speakers are poor to say the least. One thing I'd like to upgrade eventually!

the standard (goodmans) ones are appalling. I'm saying the hk ones aren't really too bad. Are there better ones? of course, and the mountings allow for better sound insulation to improve the sound, since the hk speaker mounts and the plastic pods don't allow for creation of a good seal. But honestly, I think its disingenuous to criticise the hk door speakers unduly. The HK system as a whole is obsolete, but of the individual components, the door speakers aren't the biggest issue. I"m just saying if you have an HK setup and aren't satisfied, a cost effective order of replacement might be:

upgrade HU to a higher quality output unit with pre outs
remove HK amp and use 3rd party higher quality amp, especially for subwoofer
replace subwoofer

only then would i replace the door speakers if i was on a budget.

My reasons? I have replaced the speakers with high quality rainbows in the doors on one of my cars (fully baffled and sound insulated) and used the HK speakers in the other car. Both initially had the HK sub driven with a 3rd party amp. The car with the rainbows sounded much better in that configuration.

However, I found with a 3rd party subwoofer in the car with the HK speakers, the overall sound quality felt as good if not better than the car with rainbows in it. I bought a similar 3rd party subwoofer for the car with the rainbows, and it does not sound noticeably better than the car with the HK speakers now, certainly not enough to warrant the cost of a massive upgrade.

I'm just giving an opinion where your priorities might be best laid. everyones ears are different.

[Rick-sta]

if you're not worried about losing space in the boot, go for an aftermarket subwoofer and amp. If you want to keep the boot floor space clear then the HK subwoofer for the saloon is very practical.

I think if you use the original HK amp the performance is probably not considered great these days, but in my dad's 75 I've replaced the HK sub speakers with Rainbow speakers on the sub enclosure and have connected the sub to a Apline amp. The result was very good and my dad's very happy with the sound quality, and he gets to keep all of the boot floor space.

HK door speakers are quite good, especially the front door tweeters they're worth changing, but after hearing Tony's rainbow speakers in his front doors vs the HK's in the back doors, it was clear that the HK speakers couldn't handle the higher volumes whereas the aftermarket rainbow speakers were still crystal clear.

In my ZT on the other hand I've gone for a 12 inch JBL sub and JBL amp which gives a lot more bass than the set up in my dad's 75. Luckily I was able to get hold of a custom sub enclosure which has saved me boot space



If you're not concerned about boot space, definitely go for an aftermarket amp and sub and then look into replacing the door speakers and tweeters for aftermarket one. If you want to save space and just improve the bass but aren't hoping for massive bass, go for the HK sub but replace the speakers and fit to an aftermarket amp, and again look at replacing the door speakers

[TomRS]

What size are the front and rear door speakers? and what would be a cost effective upgrade?
I will be running a sub & 1500w amp to do the bass, just want something good to make the mids/highs in the doors.
I'll leave the tweeters alone as i dont feel these are too bad, but door speakers need to go.
Thanks