We just picked up our mini about a month ago and ordered the upgraded 8- speaker system. When we were checking out the car and and all the options we chose we were only able to locate 6 speakers. I'm actually hoping we only have 6 speakers in the car right now because that would at least explain the lackluster sound quality (and yes, I did go through the HK tutorial)

Can anyone explain where the last two are (or are there only 6 speaker grills with additional speakers inside?) Any help you can offer would be appreciated -trying to save a trip to the dealership.

Thanks, Bianca
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Welcome to MCO Bianca!

The H/K has much better sound quality than the base-stereo. Keep in mind the system needs time to "break-in", so give it about 24 hours of playing time before being too critical.

There are 8 drivers and 10 channels, as follows:
front upper speakers are a midrange/tweeter coaxial
front lower speakers are a mid/bass
rear speakers are a dual voice coil mid/bass

only the rear speaker is of "normal" size, being a 6"x9". The front mid/tweet coax is quite esoteric, and the front mid/bass is a 5 1/4" with a built-in adapter, making direct replacement tough.

Here is the tuning that I find to have the best sound quality:
Bass +2
Treble +4
Fader forward 2
Balance neutral
DSP on Instrumental
Driver switch OFF (I disagree with H/K's algorithm, it pushes the center of the stage too far to the right side of the car, and is distracting while driving). While having the Driver switch off does not create any usable soundstage, it does have a more balanced power response. I've also heard some erroneous "echo" with the Driver switch on, meaning poor decorrelation algorithms and generally poopy engineering


Cheers,
Ryan