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BMW M5 F90 (2018+) General Forums iDrive, Nav, Stereo, Bluetooth, Electronics    Harman Kardon

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      11-16-2019, 11:37 AM   #1
xrays
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Harman Kardon

Just received my 2019 m5 comp w HK stereo. Anybody know of any after market upgrades, the sound for me at least is sub par.

Any equalizer setting recommendations to improve sound?

Tx!
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      11-16-2019, 12:58 PM   #2
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Sound of the HK will get better as it breaks-in. Usually around 100 hours of playing.

The HK pushes too much bass in the door card speaker by default in my opinion (in the 200Hz range) and creates a lot of distortion even with medium volume.

I boost the equalizer to around +6 for the 100Hz
Reduce to -5, -6 for the 200Hz
Boost again to +4, +5 the 500Hz

Then, the rest, adjust to taste.

After that I adjust the main bass and main treble boost controls based on the type and era of music I'm listening to.

I also seem to like the sound better on the long listening sessions with the Logic7 to be OFF.

Cheers.
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      11-16-2019, 01:02 PM   #3
xrays
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Tx for the info, I'll try that. Was wonderng if worth doing Bavsound upgrade or maybe waiting a bit as you might suggest (100 hrs)
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      11-16-2019, 11:59 PM   #4
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I've read great things about Bavsound although I've never heard their stuff in real life apart than from YouTube.

100hrs goes somewhat fast and my guess is that Bavsound also need to have a break-in like any speaker.

If you can wait the 100hrs and then see(hear), you might then save some $$ and use it somewhere else.

But again, all ears are different and the M5 doesn't transmit sound very well.

I still think my old M4 sounded better with the same HK system but I finally got used to the M5 HK after break-in. Will be 1 year soon.
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      11-18-2019, 02:35 PM   #5
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I too think the HK stereo is pretty meh. No depth to the sound. Is there even a sub in this car? The BLOSE in my Spyder sounded better than this car.
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      11-18-2019, 04:51 PM   #6
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I am a big car audiophile, and compete in sound quality competitions. The upgrade options for the M5 are not very good, unfortunately.

I have contacted Audiotec Fischer, the german company that manufactuers the Bavsound equipment. They said that the 2020 M5 is not yet verified to be compatible with their Match Up7BMW amplifier, which is what gets rebadged as the Bavsound Revenant.

It is possible they will verify compatibility eventually, but for the moment that upgrade is not available to us yet.



My plan when I order my 2020 M5 Comp will be to just get the B&W system and live with it. One thing which I can offer to the board is that I have a lot of tuning equipment which I use to tune my aftermarket audio in my other cars. I can easily run some measurements on the M5 system and see where the EQ can be improved.
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      11-18-2019, 07:44 PM   #7
A Need For Speed
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subterFUSE View Post
My plan when I order my 2020 M5 Comp will be to just get the B&W system and live with it.
The B & W system is fantastic. You will hardly have to ‘live with it’. lol. The HK system on the other hand is a bag of poo.
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      11-18-2019, 10:24 PM   #8
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The Bowers and Wilkins is a pretty good exhaust upgrade. I opted for it on my build for this January.
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      11-19-2019, 11:35 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by A Need For Speed View Post
The B & W system is fantastic. You will hardly have to ‘live with it’. lol. The HK system on the other hand is a bag of poo.

All factory car stereos are terrible, even the expensive upgraded ones.


But my reference is competition-level aftermarket audio.
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      11-19-2019, 12:25 PM   #10
xrays
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I'm considering stage 1 bav sound w subwoofer. I'm not a huge audiophile, just want something better than the HK in my '19 m5. You think there will be a noticeable improvement, even a little bit? Dont want to spend the $$ for no change!
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