Does anyone who has the 20 speaker, 760 watt Harmon Kardon system think it sounds really fantastic, maybe the best car/van audio system they've ever had? Just curious. I plan to be purchasing a Limited very soon, and I'm an audiophile, but I'm not one to start replacing stock equipment with aftermarket equipment, I have too many other "life" expenses to justify doing things like that. So, what I'd love to hear, is someone who really loves listening to music in their vehicle, with the 20 speaker system to let me know what you think of it. Thanks in advance for any replies.
Mike
I'm a little over the top with audio gear too. Audio speakers in nearly every room of the house, ATC SCM50ASLs, tube gear,etc.. you get the drift.
We have the 20 speaker sound package in our Touring L Plus. I'd say that it is better than average, but no where near audiophile quality. Partially the challenge is source material. The sirius (sp) is highly compressed, including music channels. My wife likes to listen to these "todays best pop" type stations on sirius satellite radio, and not only does the music make you cringe but the sound quality is really poor. The voices have no body, plenty of sibilence and instruments sound like a compressed closet. FM HD radio is better quality, but it is compressed as well and you will hear the poor quality in more detail due to the slightly revealing nature of the speakers.
The sound warnings from proximity also works very well, it is isolated sound (ie if approaching front right bumper, right passenger speaker makes sound. If approaching middle bumper, middle speaker sounds. This might be standard on other packages too, but I'd say it works particularly well with the 20 speaker and advanced safety combination.
For the drive-in movies, which uses FM radio, the system sounds pretty decent, much better than our updated Sienna minivan sound system. Low end is a little lacking, but honestly that is okay since don't want to injure the kids' ears anyway. But is does pack some punch and dynamics while watching drive-in movie content.
The price is worth it for us since I didn't need to tear apart (or ruin?) the vehicle interior to retrofit speakers into some of the additional locations. But don't expect miracles, it will not sound anywhere near your home reference system. And source material (especially satellite radio) might actually be detrimental when combined with the better speaker package.
If we had to do it all over again, I'd purchase the 20 speaker system, just be aware of the caveats.