europeankar

I have the regular stereo. No mark levesion. how good is the ML compare with stock? what kind of aftermarket setupSFO you guys haves? amp and speakers? Subs? After all, worth it?

PistolWhipC63

It's Harmon Kardon btw.

audifreak

haha.. was wondering how come i didnt see the ML option.

_AMG_

I don't think its worth it unless your really into sound.

DuaneC63

The HK that comes with the Nav Pac is more that enough for most. Beside with the stock pop up nav screen I don't know what you'd replace it with.

Pertplus

+1000. I had a sick *** stereo for my E55, and then once I got the C63 with the HK, it made me realize how good this stock system was in the C. I agree with the above quotes because unless you drive a ton and are a giant audiophile, the HK system should be plenty fine.

Jycke

I did it on my M5. It had stock soundsystem and the very low end one (it was BMW Finland's demonstration car). I can't however see why they wouldn't put a little effort into an M5.
Anyway, i did some changes, changed the speakers, added a sub into the trunk and an amplifier. It was worth it in that case. But if you have HK soundsystem now i wouldn't change it.
The acoustics in a car is not anyway ever going to be as good as in, for instance, a well planned room. HK should be more than enough

jwkim80

HK sounds fine but my previous E92 M3's premium sound system option was MUCH better.

JimmyR

I came from the HK "upgrade" in an E46 M3 and that was woeful really - parcel shelf used to vibrate if too much bass and the whole thing sounded very tinny and mushed, particularly when there was plenty of road noise etc. The HK sound system in the C63 is so much better than that - much better bass, better clarity. This is more than enough for my needs but I expect for the real car audiophiles out there it has its drawbacks.

jvanbrecht

Oddly enough, I cannot imagine replacing the stock unit too difficult as the Comand system is a self contained unit and the screen, is well, just a screen.

Unlike my wife's Inifinit, which also has the HVAC and a few other functions, it was impossible to replace her car's head unit.

As for the quality of HK, well, there is OEM, and their is retail, their retail stuff is of higher quality then their OEM stuff, which don't get me wrong, is much better then most of the vehicle OEM stock audio systems.

I have already blown one of my speakers. Granted, my tastes differ, and alot of my music dips into the very very lows, and extremely high frequency ranges. Most OEM, even the very high quality stuff, will go boom when I crank it up.

skokkosis

with the technology nowadays, you can keep your stock h.u. and get a whole new system using LOC devices, there's a 2 channel one, so you may wire a new sub up, like i did in my car now (if anyone needs aid in that it's pretty much an hour job MAX, and easy too being our batterys are in the trunk!)

like this:



as for the speaker you would need a 7 channel converter like so:



with these two, you can work WONDERS having your stock h.u. just so you can use the interface, while having the 2 converters running into new amps, one amp for your subs wit the rca cables going into the amp for the signal and feeding heavy power for your bass, and then the other converter you would wire up your 7 channels to it, and then again, it would hook up to a new amp, so with some simple research on these converters, an amp hidden in the front foot well of the passenger side, and one amp hidden in the trunk, you have yourself all the wiring needed that an aftermarket stereo would offer you for your system, then, you pick the speakers with the right sizes, wire them up, amazing system without a touch to the class and look of the stock h.u

here's my system! with the wires a little more organized now, this was after install and after i finished detailing my car, hence the mats in the trunk, what you guys think?

skokkosis

can't get the second photo up, give me a min.

skokkosis

Uploaded with ImageShack.us

derspi

To the OP, you're not missing much as the Harmon Kardon upgrade is just merely adequate. For 90% of people out there it should suffice but I'm used to aftermarket systems.

The HK system is a little thin in the bass department and despite the dedicated-looking center channel, doesn't image very well (ie. vocals & most instruments still seem to emanate from the corners of the dash).

skokkosis

another note, i would never touch the sound system, just bass was needed for my liking, other than that man it's a great system

sprfrkr

I love the stock HK system, but I'd like to add a bit more bass. Not too much, just enough. I've heard the inifinity bass link would be teh easiest way to do it while keeping trunk space.

JaZepi

I've heard you can go into the engineering menu and turn up the volume, but for the price what you get is fine.

It's basically a Lexicon system badged HK (parent co).

grane

Use the best sources you can. For example, DVD As rather than iPhones.

IAA-C63

The HK system is good, but not stellar (the Bose system in my '95 MB was the best I've ever heard in a car). Can't compare with the regular system, since I haven't heard it. If you want to listen to music in the car, I'd probably do the upgrade.

europeankar

thanks all for the replies!
Is it possible to retrofit HK on my c63?

Yuille36

The HK in my opinion is great, not the deep bass that I get from my E63. But not bad, could it use more bass yes, more highs and midrange certainly. But I wouldn't change what I got. History tells me, that when you start messing with something, it gets more screwed up in the end. I'm content to leave it as is.

jvanbrecht

Anything is possible, with enough money to throw at the problem..

In your case, see if you can find the comand/HK system in wrecked MB vehicles for the model year of your C63. You could buy it new, but would cost a small fortune. And I do believe that the audio system (HK or otherwise), is the same, regardless of whether or not it is an AMG.

DuaneC63

Given the exhaust set up on Pertplus car you'd need at least several thousand watts and massive speakers to even hear them.