Would be a bad move to debate with folks on the sound system. If you disagree with the OP, you must have tin ears.
I was worried about the system before I heard it. Meh. Nothing to brag on....but then again, nothing to rag on either. At least not for me.
I didn't buy the car for the radio. It plays well enough to suffice, IMHO.

Hope you folks find a cure soon enough for yours. You should enjoy everything about your car.

 

I'm not a car audiophile either, but have experience in pro audio and I actually like the HK in my R53. It's a little hyped in the low end, maybe a little deficient/muddy in the low mids and highs, definitely not a ton of power (esp. w/ sunroof and windows open on the highway) but overall one of the better OE systems in the cars I've owned.

I was thinking with 11 speakers in the Hi-Fi you should at least get a deeper sound stage.

Does one need to go aftermarket to reach the baseline of the HK?

 

Where does everyone keep getting the number 11 from? It's 10 in the HiFi, not 11.

 

Oops, my bad, just started playing with R56 configs last night and must have picked up the 11 speakers from a previous post in this thread...

 

So what I'm hearing here is that even though I ordered the audio package, I might have to go after market to make sure I'm getting my money's worth from all the cool stuff Sirius offers? What's the biggest deficiency? Bass?

 

Quite the opposite. There's actually plenty of bass (not "wake the neighbors" bass, but enough to sound good), and not quite enough mids and highs for most people's liking. I personally think it sounds like a VERY good factory system, that's why I got it. BUT, it does not, repeat DOES NOT come close to a nice aftermarket system. But again, go try and get a nice aftermarket system for $550. Not gonna happen.

 

I'm pretty much an audiophile and I think that when I'm in a car, I really don't listen to a radio all that loud so it's not much of a factor for me, I'd rather listen to the engine and exhaust tones while driving. These days I've been listening to talk raido and that won't make a difference with sound quality. just my 2 cents.

 

Tweeters it is! Or is it are? I probably need the extra highs for my high frequency hearing deficiency, anyway.

 

The HK in the r53 is quite a bit better than the HiFi system. It definiately has tons more bass.