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Not very pleased with it in my 2020. In terms of car audio that I’ve experienced, with a 10/10 being the Bowers & Wilkins system in Volvo cars, this is maybe a 5/10. The lack of a subwoofer means the bass roll off is sharp at 45 Hz and frequencies below it are nonexistent. Kinda strange because the 6x9s in my 2020 RAM with HK roll off a few Hz lower and play all the way down to 23 Hz or so. The speakers between our 2 vehicles are the same as far as I can tell, but the RAM definitely sounds a bit better... but still nowhere near as good as a decent setup (like Bowers & Wilkins). I’m swapping at least the front 3 dash speakers today with FaitalPRO 3” drivers. I did the same in my RAM and like the sound a lot. I tried the Infinity 3032 previously and they sound way too dark/warm for my taste... not sure if by design or if it doesn’t play nice with the HK amplifier. Also doesn’t help that these door panels vibrate like crazy, which is weird because there is a lot of felt and foam tucked along the edges. Had to add my own foam in a few spots on the sliding doors to kill some nasty vibrations. Here’s the stock FR chart, and it isn’t pretty.
44185
 
Here we go again. This time with charts, too!

I think we need to state the obvious here: No amount of data is going to ever convince me (and arguably nobody) how I / they like my / their music to play. If you want to change the HK setup b/c you don't like it? Sure, knock yourself out. However, don't complain and moan later that your FCA van is a POS b/c has all kinds of electrical issues, when you actually shorted stuff while doing the hackjob to replace speakers b/c you knew better... etc etc. I've seen people curse their cars, but when you really get to the bottom of the issue they did something, they thought it was going to fix A or B, or improve this... etc... in short, they effed the thing, b/c they thought they knew better.

The HK system in the PAC is what it is. Personally, I would concentrate in making the van even quieter rather than adding super-duper fancy painted paper cones, errr speakers... changing frequency response in the speakers, which you probably don't know to begin with, is just a guessing and expensive game, again, if you like playing money pit games, go for it... its fun, until it isn't, then curse FCA for making such a POS van.

If you include all audio systems of all cars I'd say its more like a 6.5/10, which kinda goes along which has already been stated "this is not the best car audio system to ever exist, etc".

The OP statement clearly indicated it was a waste of money, for him, in his opinion, but in my opinion, it wasn't for me. I did listened to all three and I wanted the HK.. and since you like graphs, well, let me tell you, I didn't need to bring my spectrum analyzer to make this decision. Which brings me to the answer to this matter: Try all three systems at the dealer, by yourself, use a high quality encoded music that you like listening and decide for yourself. No amount of data, personal opinions, angry posts with caps, etc, are going to prove which one is better to the listener. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

This kind of threads are just like feeding the trolls, and I guess I am doing just that... need to stop now.

G.
 
This kind of threads are just like feeding the trolls, and I guess I am doing just that... need to stop now.

G.
What a steaming pile a garbage for a post. Heaven forbid people discuss something they don’t like and how to change it on a forum. Just because most people don’t know what good audio sounds like doesn’t mean we should sit by and let FCA deliver a poor system for a high cost. They’re one of the few car makers that tries to listen to its customers. The more people who complain, the better. Swapping dash speakers takes minutes and is inexpensive. It can drastically change the way the system sounds for the front occupants (the ones who likely care the most). Sure you could get crazy with it, but I’m not. I swapped the 3 dash speakers, tested and tuned the EQ, and that is it - happier with it than where I started for minimal effort which is the entire point of my post. I’d love to fix the poor bass response, but I’m not going down that rabbit hole with this vehicle, especially since my wife is the primary driver and she cares less.

Spend effort making it quieter? What exactly are you going to do? FCA already put in a decent amount of effort to do so. Felt wheel liners, padding behind trim panels, foam around and inside the doors, butyl rubber on the floor pan, entire underbody covered by carpeted panels. You want to talk about wasting effort? Go try to meaningfully make it quieter. Not going to be nearly as easy as altering the sound system performance.
 
Your attempts to discredit me, or my post using colorful adjectives won't change the fact that I, and others, like how the HK system on the Pacifica sounds as is, stock.

And to answer once again, the original thread title that stated the HK was a complete waste of money, it was not for me (and others). So, if you want to make your own opinion, go to the dealer, try the three systems side by side, with high quality music and pick the one you like the best. And leave it at that, what you think it sounds terrible it might actually sound delightful to others.

If you need to alter the bass on the HK system then it really "sounds to me" that you and I don't have the same musical tastes, therefore unlikely we'll ever reach an agreement on how things should sound.

Your last "so well thought out" reply augurs that this thread has ran its course. @peterweb

Lastly, what am I going to do? I think you meant to say: what I've already done.... but you wouldn't know any of that, right? b/c with just 5 posts and a "4-days-ago" join date stamped next to your username methinks you've haven't had much of a chance to read much, if any, of this forum.
 
Your attempts to discredit me, or my post using colorful adjectives won't change the fact that I, and others, like how the HK system on the Pacifica sounds as is, stock.

And to answer once again, the original thread title that stated the HK was a complete waste of money, it was not for me (and others). So, if you want to make your own opinion, go to the dealer, try the three systems side by side, with high quality music and pick the one you like the best. And leave it at that, what you think it sounds terrible it might actually sound delightful to others.

If you need to alter the bass on the HK system then it really "sounds to me" that you and I don't have the same musical tastes, therefore unlikely we'll ever reach an agreement on how things should sound.

Your last "so well thought out" reply augurs that this thread has ran its course. @peterweb

Lastly, what am I going to do? I think you meant to say: what I've already done.... but you wouldn't know any of that, right? b/c with just 5 posts and a "4-days-ago" join date stamped next to your username methinks you've haven't had much of a chance to read much, if any, of this forum.
Taste is irrelevant when a complete lack of low bass is present - it's not a good system, and nobody who has heard decent audio would agree with liking it. I don't need to compare all 3 systems because they are all surely crap. Complaining is the only way to maybe get FCA to improve in this area. Yet, you think we should take the turd of a system in stride? No thanks.

I've read what you've done. The thought of improving cabin noise by 8 dB by slapping some foam around is very hard to believe, because I've never seen that much success... nor did people in the Tesla Model 3 world which has notoriously bad cabin noise, and people tried hard to eliminate it. Would've like to see some actual measurements on your results. Changing the tires is probably going to make the biggest difference because, as I said, FCA already put effort into cabin noise suppression, more than most vehicles anyway.
 
No.

Taste is very relevant, whether you admit it or not, especially if you find bass annoying, like I do, among other things in this thread. There is nothing you can do that will ever convince me that the HK system is crap, you can stomp all you want and scream taste is irrelevant until you turn blue, if that makes you feel better. I also don't believe that the HK is the best car audio system ever either. Also, don't put words in my mouth, I never said anything about "taking the turd of a system in stride", first b/c I don't think its a turd, like you do, but let me reiterate what I said once again, heck, since I've tried to explain it twice in English maybe I should try it in Spanish this time: "Vete al dealer de FCA, prueba los tres sistemas de sonido uno detras de otro y el que mas te guste, ese es el que te compras." It doesn't get any simpler than that.

As for "Would like to see some actual measurements..."

No.
 
Extreme audiophiles, like those that take special instrumentation to measure sound waves in their vehicle are never going to be happy with a factory sound system. And a vehicle manufacturer is not going to spend the money on having a sound system that would satisfy this very small % of vehicle buyers. That is what aftermarket vehicle auto shops are for.

Sound appreciation is a personal thing. Some like bass, some do not. You are never going to please everyone. All you can do is research and listen to all the available options and choose the one that best suits your needs. Or choose the least expensive option so you are not wasting money on a system you will be replacing at the audio shop.
 
^^^ Well said, Peter.
 
Extreme audiophiles, like those that take special instrumentation to measure sound waves in their vehicle are never going to be happy with a factory sound system. And a vehicle manufacturer is not going to spend the money on having a sound system that would satisfy this very small % of vehicle buyers. That is what aftermarket vehicle auto shops are for.

Sound appreciation is a personal thing. Some like bass, some do not. You are never going to please everyone. All you can do is research and listen to all the available options and choose the one that best suits your needs. Or choose the least expensive option so you are not wasting money on a system you will be replacing at the audio shop.
No.

Taste is very relevant, whether you admit it or not, especially if you find bass annoying, like I do, among other things in this thread. There is nothing you can do that will ever convince me that the HK system is crap, you can stomp all you want and scream taste is irrelevant until you turn blue, if that makes you feel better. I also don't believe that the HK is the best car audio system ever either. Also, don't put words in my mouth, I never said anything about "taking the turd of a system in stride", first b/c I don't think its a turd, like you do, but let me reiterate what I said once again, heck, since I've tried to explain it twice in English maybe I should try it in Spanish this time: "Vete al dealer de FCA, prueba los tres sistemas de sonido uno detras de otro y el que mas te guste, ese es el que te compras." It doesn't get any simpler than that.

As for "Would like to see some actual measurements..."

No.

Saying everyones taste is equal is just not even remotely true. Everyone thinks they have great hearing. They do not. I was paid very well for my critical listening skills as a recording engineer for 20 years.

Thus my opinion of sound is refined and educated.

What Cadillac Bob stated is 100% correct. And the lack of a Sub is a huge deficit in the audio response of the system. Its compensated for by EQ tricks and compression which sound, relatively, bad.

But you always get people who may be in their 60s and 70s stating "it sounds great"... Your hearing is SHOT by that point. Your upper frequency response is DONE.

But I'm sure this will get lots of responses saying "subjective" and "taste".

Simply put, if I state dog poop smells amazing, then there is an issue with my relativity and credibility. Its the EXACT same thing with audio.

Just because you aren't informed enough to know the difference, or physically can't hear it, or have no REAL developed critical listening skill- doesn't mean you are qualified to make a judgement with any MERIT.

The real issue is most pop on a song they love, crank it, and think that sounds awesome! Thats the emotions of the song combined with your perceptions of those emotions clouding your opinion.

As usual gMan1971 is clueless and just stirring the pot whenever anyone disagrees with him.

But this is par for the course here. But sure, Ive worked on major label records, the biggest online games of all time, have numerous credits and spent the majority of my life studying sound, learning and evolving my hearing- but thats not translatable somehow to others... LOL BUT wait- I was paid because it was translatable and I was asked to make it as translatable as possible... as in that was my JOB.

The HK system sucks. If you have any clue what a good system sounds like. The system that comes stock in the Touring L Plus is COMPLETE GARBAGE... Some of the worst low end representation Ive ever heard.

But please, tell the accomplished audio engineer that he has no idea what he's talking about LOL.
 
I just bought a used 2017 with HK and theater. I purposely looked for those two options, figuring I would get the same quality as my home HK equipment.
I'm an empty nester. So I spend most of my time in the van, alone. I'm rather disappointed with the volume, or lack thereof and the bass is over boosted and muddy. Plus, the door panels resonate something terrible.....sound deadening is in the VERY near future.

I admit, I'm spoiled by aftermarket equipment. All of my other vehicles have high end aftermarket SQ systems. But, the whole purpose of searching for the specific options on the Pacifica (Limited/ HK/theater/ 20" wheels/Pano roof), was so I WOULDN'T be tempted to modify....
 
Saying everyones taste is equal is just not even remotely true. Everyone thinks they have great hearing. They do not. I was paid very well for my critical listening skills as a recording engineer for 20 years.

Thus my opinion of sound is refined and educated.

What Cadillac Bob stated is 100% correct. And the lack of a Sub is a huge deficit in the audio response of the system. Its compensated for by EQ tricks and compression which sound, relatively, bad.

But you always get people who may be in their 60s and 70s stating "it sounds great"... Your hearing is SHOT by that point. Your upper frequency response is DONE.

But I'm sure this will get lots of responses saying "subjective" and "taste".

Simply put, if I state dog poop smells amazing, then there is an issue with my relativity and credibility. Its the EXACT same thing with audio.

Just because you aren't informed enough to know the difference, or physically can't hear it, or have no REAL developed critical listening skill- doesn't mean you are qualified to make a judgement with any MERIT.

The real issue is most pop on a song they love, crank it, and think that sounds awesome! Thats the emotions of the song combined with your perceptions of those emotions clouding your opinion.

As usual gMan1971 is clueless and just stirring the pot whenever anyone disagrees with him.

But this is par for the course here. But sure, Ive worked on major label records, the biggest online games of all time, have numerous credits and spent the majority of my life studying sound, learning and evolving my hearing- but thats not translatable somehow to others... LOL BUT wait- I was paid because it was translatable and I was asked to make it as translatable as possible... as in that was my JOB.

The HK system sucks. If you have any clue what a good system sounds like. The system that comes stock in the Touring L Plus is COMPLETE GARBAGE... Some of the worst low end representation Ive ever heard.

But please, tell the accomplished audio engineer that he has no idea what he's talking about LOL.
Yeah? Who cares about your freaking "expert" opinion... I certainly don't, and nothing you say is going to change my opinion a bit. I like how it sounds, end of the story, if you don't understand that, then there is nothing you can do or say to convince me otherwise. Its a matter of taste, and I like how it sounds; coincidentally, others seem to like how it sounds, too... and by stating such arrogant statements claiming to be an "expert" and I am not, you are calling me, and others, uneducated and unrefined? then you can go foxtrot yourself. I don't give a flying foxtrot about your credentials, or what you did for 20 or 200 years, or whatever it is the heck you might think its relevant for you to try to educate me. I don't want to be educated on what I like by know-it-all foxtrots, like you... I like how it sounds, period. Is it so hard to understand for your "superior brain" that I think it sounds good for what it is?, a factory stereo system in a van?... not a studio reference speaker set?

If you don't agree with me then that's fine, I don't care, but don't feel you are superior or assume you have better hearing than others do, b/c chances are you might not, b/c you don't know me, and you don't know other members on this board either, to emit such a foxtrot retarded assumptions thinking you are the hero... maybe on your own foxtrot movie.

Whatever you say. Time to crack open the ignore list.

G.
 
This thread is starting to sound discordant. :coffee::coffee: Have some coffee, and relax.
 
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