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2010 2011 BMW 5 Series Forum F10 F10 Technical Topics Navigation, iDrive, Audio, Video, Bluetooth, Phone, Coding Harman Kardon sounds bad on F10 2016
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      10-08-2016, 04:40 PM   #1
susabd
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Harman Kardon sounds bad on F10 2016

Hi,

I have had my car for almost 6 months and I have realized that my stereo sounds awful.

At high volumes there is no deep bass and the sound is not clean.

I mostly play music from my iPhone with Spotify. No difference between Bluetooth or lightning USB.

I haven't tried the aux or listened in a different car at the dealer with the same stereo.

I have had different cars before with the Harman Kardon stereo like the E46 or a 2016 Mini Clubman and they sounded really good. You can here a clear and clean sound with deep bass.

Is something wrong with my car??
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      10-08-2016, 05:30 PM   #2
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You need to try some high quality audio files rather than streamed Spotify to know for sure. I'm generally very happy with mine and certainly not lacking in bass.

Stick some music on a USB stick and see if that's any better. The other thing to do is to go proper old-school.....use a CD! Bluetooth audio is generally not that great anyway as it's quite lossy and compressed.

Have you enabled Logic 7 in the menu and adjusted the equaliser settings?
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      10-08-2016, 08:18 PM   #3
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Yeah need to use Flac audio via USB and adjust your equalizer correctly. Bluetooth, satellite, HD radio, and even mp3's will not sound very good.
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      10-09-2016, 01:42 PM   #4
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Of replace the front speakers
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      10-09-2016, 10:07 PM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Almaretto
Yeah need to use Flac audio via USB and adjust your equalizer correctly. Bluetooth, satellite, HD radio, and even mp3's will not sound very good.
right on, FLAC is the way to go.
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      10-10-2016, 07:57 PM   #6
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I'm replacing my tweets with Infinity Kappas. I have HK system. I think that's all I will need to get the sound I want. Mids/Bass are good for me.
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      10-30-2016, 07:50 AM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by susabd View Post
Hi,

I have had my car for almost 6 months and I have realized that my stereo sounds awful.

At high volumes there is no deep bass and the sound is not clean.

I mostly play music from my iPhone with Spotify. No difference between Bluetooth or lightning USB.

I haven't tried the aux or listened in a different car at the dealer with the same stereo.

I have had different cars before with the Harman Kardon stereo like the E46 or a 2016 Mini Clubman and they sounded really good. You can here a clear and clean sound with deep bass.

Is something wrong with my car??
Have you tried fine-tuning with the equalizer? I've found if you don't adjust with the equalizer then it's just not a good sound. I don't know why BMW releases their audio systems without a preset option, but if you haven't it may help a lot.
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      10-30-2016, 10:39 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Meast View Post
Have you tried fine-tuning with the equalizer? I've found if you don't adjust with the equalizer then it's just not a good sound. I don't know why BMW releases their audio systems without a preset option, but if you haven't it may help a lot.
It is frustrating that they do not offer option for EQ presets. I ended up using key profiles to toggle different settings.
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      10-31-2016, 04:04 PM   #9
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If you thought the HK was bad then imagine the standard! I changed my speakers after just 2 weeks of owning my car. Best decision I have ever made was switching to Bavsound stage 1 speakers. They are better than my HK in the ML550 and JPLs in the Tundra. I highly recommend checking out Bavsound. Install was 3 hrs for me with a buddy.
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      10-31-2016, 05:26 PM   #10
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Takumi587 View Post
If you thought the HK was bad then imagine the standard! I changed my speakers after just 2 weeks of owning my car. Best decision I have ever made was switching to Bavsound stage 1 speakers. They are better than my HK in the ML550 and JPLs in the Tundra. I highly recommend checking out Bavsound. Install was 3 hrs for me with a buddy.
I thought they were an improvement, but was underwhelmed for the price. Did you grab a set from clearance?
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      10-31-2016, 07:15 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Almaretto View Post
I thought they were an improvement, but was underwhelmed for the price. Did you grab a set from clearance?
I purchased them new. If I had known they had clearance ones then I would have probably purchased those instead. I was reading their clearance ones undergo quality testing again and pretty much just as good as new.
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      10-31-2016, 08:34 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Takumi587 View Post
I purchased them new. If I had known they had clearance ones then I would have probably purchased those instead. I was reading their clearance ones undergo quality testing again and pretty much just as good as new.
They are basically open box, but supposedly under quality testing. That can mean different things at different places, so I was curious as I had not read a review from someone who picked up clearance.
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      11-06-2016, 01:16 AM   #13
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Maybe this will help

http://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=915843

Quote:
Originally Posted by susabd View Post
Hi,

I have had my car for almost 6 months and I have realized that my stereo sounds awful.

At high volumes there is no deep bass and the sound is not clean.

I mostly play music from my iPhone with Spotify. No difference between Bluetooth or lightning USB.

I haven't tried the aux or listened in a different car at the dealer with the same stereo.

I have had different cars before with the Harman Kardon stereo like the E46 or a 2016 Mini Clubman and they sounded really good. You can here a clear and clean sound with deep bass.

Is something wrong with my car??
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      11-07-2016, 08:45 PM   #14
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My 2014 F10 also sounds bad compared to my Harmon Kardon Mercedes from 2007! It sounds so unbalanced. Not sure why Harmon Kardons quality dropped off so much.
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      11-07-2016, 09:14 PM   #15
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I just had 2016 F10 rental with 676 HiFi System and that was awful. Everything sounded dull and one dimensional. Anything above second "n" in "Entertainment" when adjusting volume became increasingly distorted.
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      11-17-2016, 12:53 PM   #16
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There is no cheap way to make a bad system sounds great, it takes money! There is no magical device that you can install for 100.00 that will transform your system.
I have a 2011 F-10 with the Hi-Fi system, it took me 2k and 2 months of tuning to get my system to the point where now when I sit in the car, I don't want to get out. And this is doing the work yourself! If you have a audio guy install and tune the system, you may want to add another 1,500 to that amount. Everyone that sits in the passenger seat and they take a listen, are blown away at the quality of the audio that they're listening too.

There's an old saying, "Speed costs money, how fast do you want go!"

My audio system upgrades;

BavSound complete driver replacement in front doors, silk dome tweeters in A pillars, center array, rear tray.
Dynamat inside front door panels.
BavSound Ghost Subs under seats.
Bimmer-Tech 82DSP 70x8 Digital Sound Processor. (Direct OEM replacement to the original AMP, no custom installation required. 30 minute install.)

Do the above and you'll never want to get out of your car.
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      11-17-2016, 01:04 PM   #17
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WyGoSlw View Post
I have a 2011 F-10 with the Hi-Fi system, it took me 2k and 2 months of tuning to get my system to the point where now when I sit in the car, I don't want to get out.

My audio system upgrades;

BavSound complete driver replacement in front doors, silk dome tweeters in A pillars, center array, rear tray.
Dynamat inside front door panels.
BavSound Ghost Subs under seats.
Bimmer-Tech 82DSP 70x8 Digital Sound Processor. (Direct OEM replacement to the original AMP, no custom installation required. 30 minute install.)

Do the above and you'll never want to get out of your car.
That sounds about right. With group-buys and BavSound clearance, you can do it for about $1500.
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      11-29-2016, 09:47 AM   #18
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Tweeters

I'd like the replace the tweeters in my 2014 BMW F10 with H/K upgraded sound. They are too harsh sounding (sometimes crackly), but I do like that they are clear otherwise, even at low volumes. Any recommendations on the best option for just replacing the front left and right tweeters? Clarity without crackle is top priority.
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      12-05-2016, 10:13 AM   #19
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Quote:
Originally Posted by code911 View Post
This. See post #11, make adjustments and report back.
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      02-11-2017, 01:22 AM   #20
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Hello Everybody!

I just found this thread, searching for a solution for the crappy sound in my 2015 F10. I was about ready to order the list posted by WyGoSlw when I realized that the bavsound website tells me that the amp upgrade would not be available for my car ("THE BMW AMPLIFIER UPGRADE ISN'T AVAILABLE FOR YOUR 2015 BMW 5 SERIES SEDAN WITH PREMIUM (TOP HI-FI) AUDIO SYSTEM"). I have the HK sound system.

So, what next? Shall I just select "Standard (Hi-Fi)" and not the "Premium (Top Hi-Fi)" option? With this setting it would be orderable.

And, most important, is this still the best option to improve the sound system of the F10 with HK sound?
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      02-11-2017, 06:46 PM   #21
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Bass 0 or +2
Treble 0 or +1

Rear Fad -2

100hz +4
200hz -2
500hz -4
1khz +5
2khz -5
5khz +3
10khz -1
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      02-14-2017, 06:15 PM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MaxAut View Post
Hello Everybody!

I just found this thread, searching for a solution for the crappy sound in my 2015 F10. I was about ready to order the list posted by WyGoSlw when I realized that the bavsound website tells me that the amp upgrade would not be available for my car ("THE BMW AMPLIFIER UPGRADE ISN'T AVAILABLE FOR YOUR 2015 BMW 5 SERIES SEDAN WITH PREMIUM (TOP HI-FI) AUDIO SYSTEM"). I have the HK sound system.

So, what next? Shall I just select "Standard (Hi-Fi)" and not the "Premium (Top Hi-Fi)" option? With this setting it would be orderable.

And, most important, is this still the best option to improve the sound system of the F10 with HK sound?
I would contact BimmerTech directly and see what your options are.
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