Harmon Kardon sounds terrible!

[Xflight29]

I have the HK 17 speaker and am very pleased with my sound. I have heard that some sound great and others not so.

 

[Linked4door]

FWIW, the HK in my 22 Laramie sounds noticeably better than the HK in my 19 limited. Expecially for the mids and lows. Not sure if that is die to UC5, software change or something else.

I am also one of the few people that thought is sounded good in the 2019, so take this with a grain of salt lol.

 

[Hegear]

I have a 2019 with hk and a 21 power wagon with alpine. To me the alpine sounds better. So not worth the upgrade to the hk for me.

 

[Ramsomair]

I have the Alpine in my work truck and the HK in my personal truck and the HK is leaps and bound better sounding.

 

[Hegear]

Funny, I wonder if they are different year to year? Or maybe just personal preference?

 

[Area-51]

Had a 2018 powerwagon with alpine and now have 2023 powerwagon with hk. 2 me the hk sounds better.

 

[Fantastipotamus]

I also had the Alpine in my 2019 1500 and have the HK in my 2024, and I think the HK sounds better. I do recall back when I got it plenty of mixed reviews of the HK at the time, too. So maybe they'd made some changes over the years. I'd upgraded the dash speakers in my 1500 with the Infinity 3.5" speakers which were the go-to at the time and it did improve the sound, but I do think the HK in my 2024 sounds better.

I think in general it would also be helpful if people who don't like the sound of whatever system posted what their audio settings were (including whether or not surround is on, fade settings, etc) and what they're using for an input source.

Generally speaking, any terrestrial radio is going to be lowest, then satellite, wireless Carplay is next, then comes standard BT, then wired Carplay, and the best available to us would be a CD player (I bought a portable one off Amazon) plugged into the AUX input. Here's a link to a comparison done in at least a moderately scientific method re wireless cp/bt/wired cp.

Also keep in mind lots of streaming services like Spotify allow you to separately change the quality during wifi use vs cellular use (and for downloaded songs too). I use 'Very high' (320kb/sec) for cellular and 'lossless' (FLAC). If you've never changed this, it's probably set in midrange quality as it's easier on Spotify's servers - if you have decent service, try upping the quality.

 

[Slutzk]

Like another user said... with the HK its tricky, you really have to get it right. It also really depends what you want, what your doing and where your doing it from. For me personally.... if im listening to more detailed music and or watching a movie/show... the HK blows the alpine out the water. For every day music and wanting loud or bass.... I choose Alpine.

 

[Clifford the Red]

I have the HK in my '24 but was wanting some more thump than the factory sub could do. Added 2 Rockford Fosgate Punch P3 10s in a sealed enclosure and an Alpine S2-A120M.
I had thoughts of running another 4 channel amp for the other speakers, but after the shop tuned it, I changed my mind.
The shop owner even said that if it was his truck, he would leave it stock otherwise.

This is the best sounding stock stereo by far that I have every laid ears on.