harmon kardon retrofit

ok i searched but not really anything new so... is there anyway to retrofit the new harmon kardon speakers/amp? i know an aftermarket solution would probably be better and cheaper but i just want that oem and hidden solution. has anyone tried yet or found part numbers? i should have waited for an 09.

For what its worth I just purchased an '09 legacy and the HK system is not that great. I'm not a car audio snob either.. I'd test drive or just ask to sit in an 09 and listen to the system before you go through all the trouble of doing this.

I'd be interested in this too. I just got a 2008 Legacy 2.5i SE. But aren't there more speakers on the 2009 with Harmon Kardon, and are there some in the back above the back seats? How would that work..

For what its worth I just purchased an '09 legacy and the HK system is not that great. I'm not a car audio snob either.. I'd test drive or just ask to sit in an 09 and listen to the system before you go through all the trouble of doing this.

 

so if the HK system is not that great, imagine how crappy it is without it. i am actually somewhat happy with mine, but improvement is definitely welcomed. i just wish i had some kind of subwoofer. lots of people seem to retrofit the factory sub for the pre-09's and are happy with it. i'd imagine the HK sub is much better. i would imagine retrofitting just involves mounting the speakers/amp, plug and play harness, and cutting a hole in the rear deck for the sub. it would be awesome if one of the vendors found out the necessary parts and sold it as a package.

I know that you would rather go with OEM parts. But I think you would get better sound quality for a cheaper price with aftermarket speakers.

i'd imagine the HK sub is much better.

 

No no no no no. I just bought an '09 OBXT Ltd. The HK is a nice stereo, for classical music. Very clean. Great depth and field to the sound. The sub seems to augment 150Htz only at low volume. It does not pass the litmus test for me.

 

I've been looking to fit an aftermarket ten off the 2 lines headed to the HK dual voice coil 7 (maybe even 6.5?). It looks like its in an enclosure, but its not - more similar to the sedan's free air with less room obviously.

Subwoofer sucks!! Keeps Blowing.

I know that you would rather go with OEM parts. But I think you would get better sound quality for a cheaper price with aftermarket speakers.

 

kinda agree! the speakers themselves are ok. BUT the amp is the source of the pain!!

 

i just bought my 09 spec B couple months ago. It comes with 9 spk + HK amp. Initally the speakers sound horriable. i gave it few weeks to kinda break-in. yea, sound turned ok but i realised that is another problem - the stock amp!

 

unless you want to bypass the amp, otherwise you have no way to mod it. BUT yet, you can't take it off! Why? because it connect to few more things beside speakers: VDC, ABS control module..etc.

 

add crossover? output from amp is not simple as you think: front woofers and rear speakers are in one harness, front tweeter and on-dash sub are in another harness! also, see my other post that about Navigator voice. http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=122837

 

So, what did i do? at the beginning, i placed a 220uF cap "before" the amp and tried to cut off some bass (reduce rattle from front door). but funny thing was, even i cut the front wires (front spk wire from HU to amp) the front speakers were still booming!! see here my other post: http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=121748

 

So later, i moved cap and placed it "after" the amp. but now the mid-low is gone. it can't match the bass from the sub (maybe i should try 330uF or higher, but since these cap can only cut at 6dB octave, so i don't think it 's worth to try again ...) !

 

Actually, few of my friends said now its sound is kinda good. But not for my taste. espacially i used to listen vocal jazz, can't miss the midlow range. but hey, now total is just $3! i think i would rate it 6/10 (stock is 2/10, just better or stightly clear than those bmw/lexus/mercedes!) !

 

i just ordered a new 5channel amp couple days before. hope it can solve the problem.

 

not sure if you are living close to Houston tx, otherwise i can show you how its sound like!

 

mark

Oh, sure, you can disconnect. It takes speed sensor input from ABS/VDC for automatic volume adjustment only. It can be safely disconnected.

I have the 440 watts H/K in my 2010 Legacy and I can tell it's a great sound system.

Lot of power, a rear mounted subwooofer and clean sound.

No problems with Pop, Dance or Trance. classical music is well rendered and the tweeters are very directionnal.

For sure, it's not a 1000W boombox but a very well calibrated OEM sound system.

Oh, sure, you can disconnect. It takes speed sensor input from ABS/VDC for automatic volume adjustment only. It can be safely disconnected.

 

^ yup. No effect on any other electrical systems.

 

I had a stereo shop take out the factory HK amp and place an aftermarket one in it's place (powering new front speakers and a woofer in the trunk).

I have the 440 watts H/K in my 2010 Legacy and I can tell it's a great sound system.

Lot of power, a rear mounted subwooofer and clean sound.

No problems with Pop, Dance or Trance. classical music is well rendered and the tweeters are very directionnal.

For sure, it's not a 1000W boombox but a very well calibrated OEM sound system.

 

wow, will take a look next time doing my oil change at dealer..!!

^ yup. No effect on any other electrical systems.

 

I had a stereo shop take out the factory HK amp and place an aftermarket one in it's place (powering new front speakers and a woofer in the trunk).

 

and your navigator voice is still there?

and your navigator voice is still there?

 

I have a GT, so I do not have the navigation unit. Though I would imagine the navigation voice control unit does not run through the amp, but into the head unit (which then goes to the amp and to the speakers); so changing the amp would still not affect the navigation voice output.

 

There is a picture of the harness that goes into the amp somewhere here - I don't remember seeing a pin from the navigation, but I could be wrong.

 

Edit: Found the post.

 

http://www.legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=112168&highlight=amp+passenger+seat

 

Looking at the plugs into the amp, there does not seem to be an output from the navigation unit, which would mean the output from the navigation unit should go directly to the head unit, then output from the head unit into the amp. Replacing the OEM amp should have no effect on the navigation voice.

oh it's my pic, i asked him to make a harness R316 that male-and-female in one piece for me. but i have n't got any reply from him since then.

 

mark

kinda agree! the speakers themselves are ok. BUT the amp is the source of the pain!!

 

I have the same problem when listening to jazz music with the Harman Kardon speakers in my 2009 Legacy. The lower frequencies of bass are not heard but buzzed by the speakers. Will try to have it fixed at a Subaru Dealer. Will keep you posted.

kinda agree! the speakers themselves are ok. BUT the amp is the source of the pain!!

 

I have the same problem when listening to jazz music with the Harman Kardon speakers in my 2009 Legacy. The lower frequencies of bass are not heard but buzzed by the speakers. Will try to have it fixed at a Subaru Dealer. Will keep you posted.

 

yes, it's because the front speaker is trying to pump some bass out, but the door can't let it sound. So, what we see now is the vibration/rattle.

 

here is what i do: HPF front speaker little bit below 70hz. LPF sub around 40Hz. diminish gradually from 300hz. (e.g. -3dB @300... -4dB @250.... -6dB @180... -8dB @100.... -8dB @63). it's just a scratch idea. i'm still testing/fine tunning. will post after it's done.

 

mark

 

edit: Or, if you are not really a serious audiophile.. and sound is just for entertain while driving. you can also add a capacitor to front spk (before amp) to reduce the bass too. i tried both capacitor and eq/amp mod. i think $2 capacitor can do 60+% of eq/amp job which may cost you $500 or more!

This is my solution, and I love it.

Bass blockers on the factory speakers helps them better produce mids and highs, factory amp still functional

 

http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=87893

 

All in all, I think I was close to $500.

It's disappointing to hear people saying that the premium system in the car sucks now. Maybe you are all greater audiophiles than I, but the OEM premium system in my 98 continues to impress people. It sounds noticeably better than the Bose system in my dad's 06 Audi A6. Was that year just a lucky fluke? Or is it also "bad" by you standards?

It's disappointing to hear people saying that the premium system in the car sucks now. Maybe you are all greater audiophiles than I, but the OEM premium system in my 98 continues to impress people. It sounds noticeably better than the Bose system in my dad's 06 Audi A6. Was that year just a lucky fluke? Or is it also "bad" by you standards?

 

i have no idea why the premium sys is much worse than i thought. i tested drive the regular gt with regular sys. i thought spec.b will be much greater. I thought the sound would be somewhere like M3 or Cooper. but i was wrong while i picked up my spec.B! gave it couple months to break in, but still!

 

my uncle's forester with regular 2din 6cd changer. with its stock regular paper cone woofer and no tweeter sound sys, its sound is much warmer than my H/K sys!

 

i'm not hi-end audiophile. but i 'm a bit picky about what's going into my ears!

 

mark

To be clear, as rereading my post it sounds different than what I intended. I completely believe you guys saying the current one sucks. I am also picky about sound. Just pointing out that the progression must have been backwards from the 2nd gen Legacys since I cannot possibly imagine my system sounding as bad as you guys say the new one sounds.

 

Kind of sad, but hey, it seems automakers think having a brand name audio system will make people THINK it sounds better than it does...

... but hey, it seems automakers think having a brand name audio system will make people THINK it sounds better than it does...

 

well, the unit itself (except the sub!) is good but i think the structure of the door, guage of all wires and the rear deck are basically not designed for upgraded sys.

 

beside sound sys, first thing came to my mind, while i was on the way going home, after picked up my spec.B from dear was... the clutch paddle is a bit far. means - if i set my seat to "just driving" without kicking the clutch, it's perfectly fine. but once i need to step the clutch and shift, the sitting position is kinda weird! i can set my seat either too close or too far to the steering wheel. what does it tell? the paddles are originally designed for auto, not for manual, i guess.

 

mark