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Model specific boards => Golf mk8 => Topic started by: Ell1207 on 20 April 2021, 18:42
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Hi all,
Considering revising my clubby order to include the HK sound system.
Is it really that much better than the standard equipment?
My days of windows down in all weather banging out tunes are long gone but I still want a decent sound.
Cheers 👍
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Its "different"
Its not the same as the old DynAudio (which was simply better sound but still the same balance).... it wants to throw the sound around the car, which works with some audio sources and not others.
Put me down as meh.
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That’s a good enough review for me :grin:
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Harman Kardon was sh!t in my M4 and M2
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Harman Kardon was sh!t in my M4 and M2
You have to set the Harman Kardon up in BMW's through the Logic Equaliser, standard settings in all cars are meh.
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Hi all,
Considering revising my clubby order to include the HK sound system.
Is it really that much better than the standard equipment?
My days of windows down in all weather banging out tunes are long gone but I still want a decent sound.
Cheers 👍
I’d suggest you speak to your dealer sooner rather than later if you want to make changes to your original order. Once the build date of your car is confirmed, I don’t think you’ll have an opportunity to make any changes, as all the components required to build your car will have been ordered by the factory and your car’s build will be ‘locked in’.
If you did want to make spec changes to your order after you’ve got a confirmed build date, you’d need to start the order process again from scratch, which could add months to any indicated build date and lead time your dealer may have already given you.
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Also hk has been my biggest annoyance with vw. Vw documentation says nothing about the hk sound setup screen. Vw refused to provide me with any saying its not their product and talk to hk. Hk say they can't help with a system licenced to an oem.
That's crap.
Vw told me to go away when I got annoyed with them too.
I'll take the hint, next time I'll choose another brand.
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My Dad got them in his BMW.
I was so impressed with them that I ordered them for my CS
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I wasn't impressed with it in the BMW 128ti either to be honest. I've only got it because my car was dealer stock.
A mk7 with dynaudio is better in my opinion.
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I presume it’s basically the same system in VW and bmw. What I’d say is that on the stock settings in the BMW it doesn’t sound different to a basic system. But when you tweak the equaliser settings and dial back the surround system a touch it does sound very good. I’d pay for it again.
The standard system in the golf7 was good enough, presume it’s the same with the 8.
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I think the BMW one is slightly different. Certainly the controls you have are different.
I can't remember who's technology it is that does the four sound profiles but it's someone else's technology.
The lack of documentation means it's impossible to actually understand what the four things are for. These are on top of the equaliser sliders, which remain the same when you select the profiles. Surround also is another slider that's independent.
It's frustrating and your particular audio track can either work or fall flat. It's not even genre, one bass heavy thumping track can sound amazing, next one sounds like it's being played from something broken.
Something instrumental can sound amazing, something similar next sounds dreadful.
I'm no audiophile, i just love music but I can hear when it's gone wrong.
When it's right it's great but it's so variable and combined with a touch screen that will kill you if you fiddle while you drive...
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Thanks for the info, useful as always! Question for you - how are you playing your music? DAB, Spotify or from your phone (iTunes or equiv)? Does it make any difference or is it equally inconsistent?
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Totally agree with Fred, it’s very annoying not having any guidance at all on how the sound profiles operate. I’ve only been playing around with mine to date so can’t offer a verdict on it yet really.
It’s bizarre it’s not mentioned in the manual, I had a separate booklet for my MK7 Discover Pro...
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OK the software side of things does sound different, in the BMW its just an equalizer that doesn't change by music type and separate settings for the level of 'surround' effect / balance / fader etc
(https://i.ibb.co/Kxp90M5/IMG-0886-1.jpg) (https://ibb.co/HTfrFWK)
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Yes I remember how the BMW one looked, it is quite different.
Kenis, i mainly use mp3 (etc) files from a USB stick. I appreciate that the sound quality can vary but it's not about the audio quality in quite the same way here, it's definitely playback issues as the same files sound perfect on my bose system at home.
Oh and Bluetooth audio is straight up terrible and i can't fix that at all.
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I was considering adding a sub to the standard system as car resonances tend to drown out bass but having cranked up the bass to Max on the standard system it’s ok-ish.
Well worth going for the HK IMO. Just for the sub.
I had HK in a BMW and it wasn’t as good as Dynaudio in a mk7 Golf despite having loads of speakers, but I reckon with a bit of tweaking in a mk8 the HK should sound good. I’d spec it.
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Interesting. I’m committed to the HK now, but by the time it arrives maybe someone will have deciphered how to get the best out of it other than some sort of custom playlist that only has songs that it likes!
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I installed some Audison kit in my new GTD yesterday.
Front mids and tweeters, a 10” sub that fits neatly in the spare wheel well and a 5 channel amp powering the new stuff as well as the std rear speakers.
Having just come from a 2020 BMW 320 with HK upgrade there’s no comparison.
The Audison really sounds impressive.
All for around the same price as the factory option.
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Be good to get some more details/pics/review on that :cool:
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Where is the black box controlling the audio, tuner etc located? Is it easy to get at?
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Where is the black box controlling the audio, tuner etc located? Is it easy to get at?
I've no idea!? I didn't know there was such a thing.
The guys at the shop advised me to let the kit bed in for 12hrs or so of playing time and then return where they'll help me set it up to my liking.
One word of caution - they originally disconnected the centre speaker in the dash. The car doesn't like this and throws an error on the dash which is linked to the SOS call system.
I'll post some pics later
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The centre speaker is used for things like nav announcements etc. Expect that's why it had a melt down.
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(https://i.postimg.cc/zDWc5TtN/7-E40-AB6-C-0-B9-B-4694-BE08-E2791-D9-C66-CA.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/K4GND3hp)
(https://i.postimg.cc/SRWTrp2R/CDA28-A2-A-8-E71-4682-9-E1-F-CC19-F87-D7417.jpg) (https://postimg.cc/tn4NqwzG)
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Don't know about on the MK8, but on the MK7 (7.5) and a number of other VW's the Dynaudio or Harmon Kardon amp and control unit lives under the passenger seat with a cover over it, with the sub in the spare wheel.
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The sub is definitely in the boot, not sure about any amp. Suspect it probably is under the seat though, not looked.
What Exonian is looking for though is where the "stereo" unit is in the car, to see if it has a port for a sub to plug into and if its the same interface as the Mk7 to connect a Helix plug and play sub into it.
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I'll ask the shop next week when I return to have it fine tuned.
So far though, it's so loud that you cannot hear a passenger speak. You can't see in the rear view mirror for the vibrations and it makes your face tickle.
I like to think I'm an audio lover. I enjoy DJ'ing in my spare time and have some fairly decent kit.
Normally I always spec the audio upgrade when ordering a new car, but this one was on a cheap lease from stock.
Having had Alpine aftermarket, B&O in an Audi and HK in the BMW - this Audison set up is different gravy.
It's warm, rich and crystal clear.
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I think third party audio upgrades will always be better than the OEM premium audio option.
The third party guys have a lot more skin in the game to get it right - their business is audio not cars.
Its funny, with the advent of infotainment systems being more than just a stereo in the car (they are actually the controls for a lot of car functions, even before the Mk8) the car audio shops largely went bust.
Its a very specialist game these days.
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What Exonian is looking for though is where the "stereo" unit is in the car, to see if it has a port for a sub to plug into and if its the same interface as the Mk7 to connect a Helix plug and play sub into it.
Nail on head :smiley:
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I installed some Audison kit in my new GTD yesterday.
Front mids and tweeters, a 10” sub that fits neatly in the spare wheel well and a 5 channel amp powering the new stuff as well as the std rear speakers.
Having just come from a 2020 BMW 320 with HK upgrade there’s no comparison.
The Audison really sounds impressive.
All for around the same price as the factory option.
Well done Don. You must be one of the first to install aftermarket stuff. Aftermarket every time.
Sound deadening in cars is also crucial to keep the sound in the car.
Also interesting about the centre speaker causing trouble. So could you not get aftermarket for that one?
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I've had another play around with the hk setup today. I've even gone to the extent of getting some lossless versions of my fave tunes.
It's a bit better but I can't seem to find a workable balance between a lot of bass and tinny sounding trebles. If you need to hear the treble it always sounds tinny. It's very dependent on the actual album you are listening too though, i do have some things that sound amazing...others not at all. These same tracks sounded really good in my mk7.5 and even better in my mates mk7 with dynaudio... Still disappointed with hk.
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The sub is definitely in the boot, not sure about any amp. Suspect it probably is under the seat though, not looked.
What Exonian is looking for though is where the "stereo" unit is in the car, to see if it has a port for a sub to plug into and if its the same interface as the Mk7 to connect a Helix plug and play sub into it.
Yes the Sub [8] is in the boot (Spare wheel) and the Amp [10] is also in the boot (Left side wall)
(https://i.postimg.cc/prvt4Ppv/Screenshot-2021-04-26-at-14-18-21.png) (https://postimages.org/)
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Just thought I'd loop back to this subject as yeterday I made some interesting discoveries.
Up until yesterday, I'd tried a few different audio options...
1) Bluetooth - its terrible
2) Music on a USB stick - its not great
Now #1 I expected, #2 was how I ran my Mk7/7.5's and it was fine with the caveat that your audio files need to be suitably good enough.... only I've been dissapointed - even after I sought lossless FLAC files of my favourity tunes.
Yesterday on my road trip I thought I'd try messing with Alexa again. It actually worked for once, which in itself is a minor miracle but...
The music via Amazon is loud, its got base it totally blasted me, I couldn't turn it up to max, it was totally shaking me! Brilliant!
THAT was what I was expecting HK to do (no distortions either), but I don't really understand why.
It has to be the audio codec on the MIB unit.... I can only assume the Alexa app has its own.
Anyway, tip for anyone wanting to shake plaster off of the walls of houses you drive past.... use Alexa (if you can make it work!)
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Thanks Fred, that's good to know as I've specced it.
I knew it must have some benefit over the standard kit and I'm relieved you've used some witchcraft to finally unleash its potential.
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You might also discover that even standard audio benefits from this tip too...
The audio codec is the same on the MIB unit....
It pains me though to have to say you need to use Alexa and Amazon though.
Even through Android Auto or Apple Car play you don't get the same effect. That too must be using some sort of interface to the standard audio processing.
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I have just got my MK8 GTI and had no choice with extras as it was already built. Given the chance I would have put the HK on as I have come from a new shape focus with the B&O which I have to say was out of this world for sound quality. So I was a little concerned I would be disappointed with the standard system. I have to say I am really pleased with it. I play all my music wirelessly via Apple music and it sounds great. Don't get me wrong, its not out of this world but it is good enough for me to maybe not consider any upgrades but I have not had it long, so could change my mind.