SL/R231 Harmann Kardon Audio Questions...(2014 SL400)

Jul 30, 2023 | 01:45 PM

adm1

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SL400

Harmann Kardon Audio Questions...(2014 SL400)

I appreciate this has probably been done to death already, as I have seen allusions to it in posts I have read, but I have some questions on the HK audio system that my car has. The car is new to me, so I am not fully familiar with it yet.

Anyway, it has the HK speakers and "Logic 7" sound system. It has what appears to be a subwoofer in the back and speakers along the back deck as well.

However, the sound seems to be vert front biased. I have had a play with the audio settings, and I can see sliders for Treble, Bass and Balance, plus an option for Logic 7 on or off.

I don't see any front/rear balance control or any kind of multi-band equaliser. Am I missing something here, or is that indeed it? And if so, is there any way to get more sound from the rear of the car?

My build sheet shows the following items:

810 Premium Sound System
527 COMAND DVD APS with Navigation
537 Digital Radio Standard DAB

There may be others that I don't recognise as audio related...

Thanks in advance!

Jul 30, 2023 | 04:29 PM

Montreal300

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From: Bainsville, Ontario, Canada

SL 550 (2014) Kia Sorento (2016)

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...em-solved.html

Jul 30, 2023 | 04:39 PM

adm1

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SL400

Quote:

Originally Posted by Montreal300

https://mbworld.org/forums/sl-class-...em-solved.html

Thanks, just read through that....

I am in the UK, so the Best Buy option won't work for me and if I want to go the auxiliary amp route I will need to find a good car audio installer and download this knowledge base into their heads. Which may be expensive.

However - I did also read about the fix to get the balance/fader option at least, so will try that in the morning. I did play with the audio a bit this afternoon and do have it sounding better. I do kind of "get" that the rear/surrounds are meant to be more like the rears on a home theatre setup and not kick out a load of noise, but that still sounds like a pretty poor excuse.

I mainly use DAB radio here (Digital Audio Broadcasting) in the UK, which is probably fairly similar to your Sirius or something like that. I believe they do support 5.1 sound, but not sure if my favourite stations actually broadcast that.

My car does have the DAB option, but as it's nearly 10 years old, it may be a more rudimentary DAB tuner. I may need to look for other options. Maybe just an AirPlay integration module using the OEM screen would let me use TuneIn radio from my phone. The car does have Mercedes internet radio app, but that seems rubbish....

Jul 30, 2023 | 05:30 PM

adm1

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SL400

Well, I now have the balance/fader option at least, having had a play with the Engineering menu. Having had a play with it and given a bit more to the rear speakers, it's a little better.

It certainly seems that the system is more set up as a home theatre 5/7.1 system for video rather than regular audio. Strange choice for MB to make....but such is life.

Maybe I will investigate the aux amp option, but it sounds to me that the rear speakers were never meant to be particularly powerful.

Jul 31, 2023 | 11:12 AM

Bitbytr

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From: Central Florida

'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound

I have the B&O option so not the same. However, I listen to BBC 6Music a lot and find that with the mode set to 'surround' and the fader at about -4 (towards the back) I get a wide and deep soundstage. Now, to be clear, that's not DAB so I can't comment on that (we don't have that here and Sirius is rubbish being so compressed as to be unlistenable for me so certainly not comparable, regardless). I'll also say that I use Apple Music and the quality of sound from that is stunning. It surpasses even 6Music. The only way I understand we're able to get proper, full 'surround' sound is with a particular technology that is demonstrated in the disk MB included with the car at sale but nigh-on impossible to find elsewhere today. As you sadly note, mate, "such is life".

I'd like to say I've had no complaints with my system whatsoever – just the source material sometimes (US radio, for example is ABYSMAL. Everywhere. PBS being the only exception which is comparable to Radio 4.)

Jul 31, 2023 | 03:43 PM

adm1

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SL400

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bitbytr

A bit more tweaking today and I am really enjoying the sound now. Now the problem I am noticing with DAB is short dropouts. It is particularly cloudy and rainy here today which may have something to do with it. I am going to see if I can find an upgraded DAB antenna option

I am also using Apple Music via Bluetooth - if I have downloaded tunes using Apple Lossless, then the sound seems to be really rather good indeed. I will have to have a play with tunes using Apple Spatial Audio and see how that comes out.

But for now, pretty happy with the HK system and don't think I will be looking to add an additional amp at this point.

Aug 1, 2023 | 03:16 PM

Bitbytr

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From: Central Florida

'13 SL550 Mars Red, Designo White interior, B and O sound

"cloudy and rainy " you say? LOL! Imagine that in my homeland!

I have no experience with DAB so can't comment. I don't actually even download Apple songs but stream them and then, yes, BlueTooth to the head unit. And I find them stunning: the 'losslessness' is really evident in the bass and treble range. Glad you like the sound now.

Last edited by Bitbytr; Aug 3, 2023 at 10:16 AM.