Ok, I searched the forum and didn't find this one...

I've got the HK stereo and the rear speakers seem to be pretty darn quiet. I've got to move the balance nearly all the way to the rear to get much volume at all out of the speakers.

What I'm trying to do is balance the sound. Right now the sound is predominately in the front (with the F/R balance set at mid point) Is this normal or do I have a bad power amp?

thanks!
petek

Petek,
Surprised you could not find LOADS of discussions about this!
The default HK setup ("MINI HK") is very front staged. The rear speakers *only* do the low frequencies. Since ears are poor at locating the direction of low frequency, you associate the mid/high with volume - thus you hear not much from the rears!


First, try some of the other HK settings - SPATIAL for example puts a reasonable spread of sound to the rears as well as the fronts.

[rant mode on]
Alternatively, you have to get used to it ... others will tell you that the front sound stage is "the best" for car audio - because it sounds like a concert.
Personally, that is nonsense - except for anyone standing on the stage, concert sound does not have the severe left/right association that you get in the car (I guess the "DRIVER MODE" of "MINI HK" might make the car a bit more like a concert).
[rant mode off]

Ok, so it isn't just me :smile:

I did read the article about the HK system and the various "environmental" settings. I've given them a try, some of them sound pretty neat ... but all of them still seem to be forward biased.

I prefer to be in the center of the sound ... I'll just get used to it for now (and fix it later).

thanks for the rapid responce!

petek

petek,
Aloha and welcome to NAM,
Yes, there are many threads about this soft rear speaker effect with H/K. Don't worry about it, just play your music and try out various settings.

This is also good to take a look at
http://www.angelfire.com/in2/guitar/minihkreview.html

Read this (esp the last post by Tacotim)
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...mp;topic=12908
Tacotim mentions:
I haven't yet had the MINI in the lab for measurements of the sound system, but my ears have led me to the following settings:

Bass: -2 clicks
Treble: Detent
Fade: Forward 1 click
Balance: Left 2 clicks
Effects: MINI h/k
Driver: ON

imo, the stereo sounds better with front speaker bias. the rears just don't have
the clear high's or low's.

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