Harmon Kardon vs standard radio

[Vietvet]

I had to take my T-Ride in for the first of 4 free oil changes..tires rotated, fluids topped, vacuum (didn't want the wash) and they did an Audio download upload. Honestly...I did notice a great deal of difference in the sound..( play things like Nazareth, ZZ, LZ etc Old but still love it loud... The HK in the SXP works well

 

[Chucksinnc]

I have an EX and I think the sound system is fine. It's equally as good as the premium Bose system I had in my Avalon and way better than the "premium" sound system in my Murano.

I second your comment about the EX radio. Upgrading the stereo was one of the first things on my to-do list when I finally got my Telluride. I was so surprised when I got in the vehicle for the first time last week and realize that the stock radio was great. I am coming from a BMW convertible with an HK system with upgraded speakers and a sub in the back. The Telluride is just as good. I changed the bass/mid/treble to suit my taste. As others have said, the source makes a big difference. In order of sound quality I have found that Apple Car Play is best with Bluetooth and HD Radio in second. SiriusXM is crap, which surprised me but I've never tried it before.

 

[natew]

Is it me or am I missing the option of enabling the Clari-Fi Audio feature with the HK system on the SXP? The website lists it as a feature on the HK system but there's no option to enable it in the advanced menu like there is on our 2019 Stinger GTS. When I enabled the feature on our Stinger, it sounded so much more amazing! As far as I can tell on HK"s site, they're two different features to enable but I can't find any specific mention of Clari-Fi in relation to the Telluride other than on Kia.com.

 

[Nas4atu10]

So I’ll be taking order of an EX trim next month and am interested in upgrading my speakers. This is going to be my family vehicle, so I’m not looking for anything insane (not really looking for a subwoofer, although I’d be interested if it was similar to how my X3 has them under the front seats). Do you guys find that the amp that is in the car is sufficient and just needs better speakers, or the speakers are fine but need a better amp, or both could stand to be changed out?

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[Tellthemride]

@natew I have an SXP and I only have Bass Boost and Quantum Logic features. No Clari-Fi as well.

Savagegeese does a review of the audio system around the 18.75minute mark if that helps. He is also looking at HK system though, which also doesn’t show Clari-Fi.

 

[SVoigt]

So I’ll be taking order of an EX trim next month and am interested in upgrading my speakers. This is going to be my family vehicle, so I’m not looking for anything insane (not really looking for a subwoofer, although I’d be interested if it was similar to how my X3 has them under the front seats). Do you guys find that the amp that is in the car is sufficient and just needs better speakers, or the speakers are fine but need a better amp, or both could stand to be changed out?

I'm looking into getting a small sub with built in amp to put in under a seat if I can get one that will fit. I was thinking of doing that first and seeing if a good amp will improve the sound in the speakers that are already installed. Right now I am not at all unhappy with the sound system, it is far better than the one that was in my Tahoe... We shall see.

 

[stewart55024]

Processing features like bass boost make the sound more artificial and worse rather than more accurate though...

Well then don't turn it on.

 

[stewart55024]

Coming from a Bose system in a Buick to the 6 speaker in the Telluride I would say the sound quality is on par but I am missing the 11” sub as the base is pretty weak. Not as bad as I was expecting and I will be fine with it but I would trade half of the saftey tech in the EX for the high end system of the SX.

We have a 2014 Buick Enclave with the "Bose" System. There is no way that it's a true Bose system because the sound sucks.

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[stewart55024]

I think the sound is fantastic. It also has very good surround sound features if the music you are listening to has it available. I listened to Dark Side of the Moon on Apple Car play and was very impressed you could hear some of the songs start in the back speakers and work their way up front. You need to make sure you have the settings turned on for the surround sound. One think that really impresses me is the volume I am one who likes his music very loud. I am so impressed just driving down the road you can have the volume set at 4 and it's loud enough. In fact my 14 year old daughter has to tell me to turn down the volume even on her music at level 7.

I personally love it

 

[dfalwell]

You’re really going to need to add an AMP and a sub to get any substantial improvements. I’m looking at the one Alpine that 2x2x1 and a 10” sub. The one shop I spoke with said they’re not quite up to speed in dealing with the latest generation stereos. There’s all type of issues like the auto volume controls for instance for warnings and other voice overs. He said theyve done it but haven’t fully conquered it quite yet. He said that any shop that says “sure no problem” is full of crap. So I’m gonna head back on a few months and check to see where we’re at. I’m not going to dump thousands into but I think for about a grand you should be able to add quality power and some better quality bass.

If you’re ever in the Clearwater Florida area, check out 5starcarstereo. Dean and Fernando are two of the best; they even have a YouTube channel so you can check out their work...

 

[Kwim]

In my sx, the factory forgot to connect the led strip light in the driver's door. I decided to fix it myself.
I was pleasantly surprised: the door trimm around has a thick layer of vibration / noise insulation. speaker in a closed box on the podium. So, who cares about a stereo system is not just speakers and a Kardon label but also preparing doors for good sound.

 

[nabatron]

A youtuber Forrest's Auto Reviews was behind the seens with Kia and one of the sound guys had a sheet showing the Telly having 12 speakers and a list of other thing with the Harmon Kardon sound system. I go to Kia's website and it says it has 10 speakers. Not sure what happened with what his sheet said to what Kia's website said.

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[obed96]

A youtuber Forrest's Auto Reviews was behind the seens with Kia and one of the sound guys had a sheet showing the Telly having 12 speakers and a list of other thing with the Harmon Kardon sound system. I go to Kia's website and it says it has 10 speakers. Not sure what happened with what his sheet said to what Kia's website said.

I have the 2021 SXP. I counted 12 total, so not sure why the discrepancy. 2 in each of the doors, one in the dash, 2 in the third row and a sub.

Shined a flashlight through each of the speaker grills and it looks like all of them are occupied. Anyone have any thoughts?

On another note, the system sounds really good. Not as good as my Stinger GT 2, but close. Also, way better than the Atlas’ Fender audio system. That said all of them pale in comparison to the 16 speaker HK system in my 2019 RAM 1500 limited. Definitely the best audio I have ever heard in a stock vehicle.

 

[nabatron]

I have the 2021 SXP. I counted 12 total, so not sure why the discrepancy. 2 in each of the doors, one in the dash, 2 in the third row and a sub.

Shined a flashlight through each of the speaker grills and it looks like all of them are occupied. Anyone have any thoughts?

On another note, the system sounds really good. Not as good as my Stinger GT 2, but close. Also, way better than the Atlas’ Fender audio system. That said all of them pale in comparison to the 16 speaker HK system in my 2019 RAM 1500 limited. Definitely the best audio I have ever heard in a stock vehicle.

Its says on Kias official website it has 10 speakers so maybe they messed up and misprinted it not sure.

 

[obed96]

Its says on Kias official website it has 10 speakers so maybe they messed up and misprinted it not sure.

Looks like it. Shows 12 on HK’s website.

Harman Kardon Automotive Kia

www.harmankardon.com

 

[Batman3365]

Haven't had a chance to listen to the SXP HK sound system, i'm crossing my fingers its some what good. Have a 2008 BMW x5 with premium sound system and that thing is AMAZING! It has a HK (Premium high-fidelity 16-speaker sound system with Digital Sound Processing (DSP), 2 subwoofers under the front seats and digital 9-channel amplifier with 600 watts of power) sound system that is flipping awesome. I highly doubt Telluride is going to sound anything close to it .

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[jw_tx21]

Haven't had a chance to listen to the SXP HK sound system, i'm crossing my fingers its some what good. Have a 2008 BMW x5 with premium sound system and that thing is AMAZING! It has a HK (Premium high-fidelity 16-speaker sound system with Digital Sound Processing (DSP), 2 subwoofers under the front seats and digital 9-channel amplifier with 600 watts of power) sound system that is flipping awesome. I highly doubt Telluride is going to sound anything close to it .

Not even remotely close in front row. Maybe as a passenger in 2nd row. You'll want to play with the fade settings more than likely.

 

[LHunt132]

Has anyone noticed a difference in sound quality when using satellite radio vs apple car play (Spotify in my case). I’d expect car play to be better, but it seems the satellite radio gets much louder & sounds much better in my opinion. Hard to quantify sound quality.

 

[BasilFawlty]

So I thought the same thing until I discovered the “Advanced setting” within the “Sound Settings”

Go to Setup- sound settings- advanced - and check the Quantim Logic and Bass Boost boxes. The sound is night and day difference, believe you me. Super happy with the SX audio package now.

That's good to know! Thanks. I'll do that first thing after I pick up my SX next week.

 

[BrendonSF]

Has anyone noticed a difference in sound quality when using satellite radio vs apple car play (Spotify in my case). I’d expect car play to be better, but it seems the satellite radio gets much louder & sounds much better in my opinion. Hard to quantify sound quality.

That sounds pretty off to me. While I can't speak to CarPlay specifcally, I can tell you that satellite radio is of terrible fidelity. They have to use pretty significant compression to cram that many channels into their spectrum, and the end result is audio quality that is very subpar.