This is my first Mini so I don't know if all the H/K units in the past have pre-selected equalizer settings. My unit has Spatial,Festival,Electronic and Instrumental settings. Is this new or do all the older units have these? Which setting do most of you listen to your music in?

 

That's what they all have.
Here's a collection of HK info: http://www.gbmini.net/mtblog/archive...kardon_i.shtml

And here's the "famous" HK discussion on how to set up the system to your preferences:
http://www.in2guitar.com/minihkreview.html

 

I consider that the HK system is under-rated, spend some time setting it up and it really can rock.

I am a little deaf, which means that I tend to like my music a little 'bright', so my preferences are to use 'Electronic' Driver* and then drop the bass a couple of stops and increase the treble a single stop.

Even with reduced bass, passengers are always amazed at the punch, and ask where I have hidden the sub. Most find it a little bright, but thats OK for me

Spend time listening and thinking about how it sounds, playing around with the various modes and I am sure that you will learn to really love it.

When my car was being fixed, they loaned me a Mini with a stock system, only then did I realize what a massive upgrade the HK system is.

Like others I have heard better though. A local guy has an Alpine head unit, Infinity (?) speakers and a massive sub in the boot, it sounds better than my HK system, but probably not so much better that I would loose my boot and drop $1100 on the installation for

 

Electronic... again with a bit less bass. With the driver side on as well this will throw you around if you have the ***** to turn it up. I think though, that a lot of it has to do with the type of music you listen to. I wouldn't listen to say... Coldplay on Instrumental settings etc. Kinda depends on what I'm listening to for what settings I'm using.

Spade

 

Hmmm, I may need to delve into the Electronic - Driver setting just to see what it's all about. I've had mine set on the h/k full sound field all the time and I think it sounds fantastic. I tried the others and just thought that the h/k setting gave the best overall sound; punchiness and high end too. The "driver" setting sort of throws me off. I don't feel like I'm getting the big picture of the sound field so I leave that off. I, too, am somewhat deaf on the high freqs (thanks to years of drumming and loud music) so I like keeping the treble at max or one tick below. I also love the kind of bass that makes the hair on your arms move. I listen to everything from Classical music to Jazz to TOOL so my tastes are fairly varied. I think the H/K system does a great job. The extra $500.00 I paid for the option was worth every dime.

 

when solo: mini h/k - driver. I find it to have the most "true to the recording" delivery in the car. driver mode balances all volumes and time delay to optimize to my seating position

when duo: mini h/k - non driver. balanced to me and the boss-lady fairly equally.

when 3 or 4: spatial. gives the back passengers a fair shot at the high end.

HK is definitely worth the addition. very glad I did it.
--tdm