I’ve got an 03’ MCS with the Hardan Kardon stereo system with the amp, but the previous owner installed a really nice aftermarket Alpine deck in it..CDA-9884 if I remember right. I don’t know what it is…but I just can’t seem to get a good sound out of the HK setup no matter how much I play with the settings on the Alpine head unit. No matter what I do (and I’ve tried everything), I end up with a sounds that is very “dull” with hardly and bass, and an overall muddy sound to it. The factory Infinity stereo system in my Dodge truck sounds much better than this HK setup does. I’ve played with just about every setting I can on the Alpine, and nothing seems to work.

I’ve heard that the HK systems are supposed to sound pretty good…..so I’m wondering what’s wrong with mine? Is the fact that it’s got an aftermarket head unit and not the HK unit fouling up the sound? It just doesn’t sound as clean and crisp as it should….it just sounds a little muddy. Do I need to change out the HK speakers for better ones?

I’ve ordered an Infinity Basslink to put in the back..hopefully that will add the much needed bass to the system….but what can I do about cleaning up the overall sound???

 

I would track the wiring down and see if the previous owner even incorporated the H/K amplifier into the setup. Without the factory head unit to communicate with the H/K amp, I'm not even sure if the amp would work. What you may be hearing is just the speaker-level output from the Alpine heart unit.

 

I'm assuming that the HK amp is supposed to be located in the "truck" inside the passenger side compartment?? It looks like they pulled the HK amp out, and ran a bunch of wires to bypass it. It looks like they used to have an amp and a sub hooked up to it....and they have some inline crossovers wired into the rear speakers to get rid of the bass signal.

Kind of a rigged up setup...makes me want to tear it all out and start from scratch! I hate it when people make a mess of wiring and make it look like a huge rats nest!!