Good evening folks,

I am about to pick up my MCS in about 2 weeks (just showed up to the dealer :smile:

Anyways, at the moment, I did purchase the HK system. I am not per-se a complete audiophile (I believe in a good home system and also have my DJ PA speakers in the BASSment, as a car is subject to lots of outside noise).

I have listened to the HK system, and would deem it a good OEM stereo system. Nothing like a Mark Levinson in a Lexus, but not priced as such either. That being said, however, I feel the low-end of the system is weak. At the moment I have a 10" Kicker Solobaric in a hatchback box and a Rockford Fosgate Power Series 250W amp.

Would this system unbalance the MCS's stereo? In my current setup (2001 Olds intrigue, which has good mids, ok highs and poor under 150Hz) it is turned down and balances the stereo. I do listen to electronic music frequently, but also some jazz, big band, a little rock, and talk (which sounded great even on my 1989 Bonneville :smile:

Perhaps I could replace the sub with something more compact? Just looking for a nice rounded sound, powerful bass, but I don't want to let everyone in a 2MI radius know either! I'm not on a strict budget, but I'm shooting for around $200-$250 for the sub+box, is this realistic? Maybe a 8" or a 10"?

 

I'm a mid range Audiophile (meaning that I can't afford what I want...20k pair of home speakers ) That said, I feel that the quality of the HK is pretty surprising for the 5-6 hundred dollar addition. I use mine in the "Electronic" mode and find that I need to close the windows or lower my volume at intersections because I appreciate the fact that not everyone wants to hear my jams. For more descriminating listening, the HK mode is better suited. See the other thread regarding the HK broke at 3k for more inputs regarding rattles.

 

Matt - your 10" Solobaric is NOT a high resolution driver, regardless what the marketing team would have you believe. The frequency response of the H/K system is not particularly poor in the lower octaves, it' the distortion levels that are horrible. Supplimenting the mess with a subwoofer without high-passing the existing system would mostly cause more acoustic harm than good, and is not recommended. If you had a base stereo, which IS weak in the low-end, I'd be more apt to say Yes to adding a sub. If you must, use a Dayton DSQ or Peerless XLS or similar high quality and high displacement driver that required minimal Vb for a good Qtc.

Hope that helps,
Ryan

 

>>Supplimenting the mess with a subwoofer without high-passing the existing system would mostly cause more acoustic harm than good, and is not recommended.

Ah - so here's my question. Is there any feasible way to high-pass the HK system and add a sub for the low-end?

 

most likely you'd have to impliment passive high-passes to the four woofers - a nice L-R 2nd order would keep phasing under control while providing sufficient slope