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The HK is really only fair to not bad once you start listening at louder levels, not ear bleed level, just CLEAN and loud. Distortion at even modest volume will kill your ears and drivers. Clean and loud is very listenable.
I was not impressed with the standard audio system once the volume gets turned up, and the HK is not $900 better.
If I were keeping my 335i longer than 3yrs I'd get the standard system and then get a REAL audio system to install, or get installed if you don't want or can't do it yourself.
I'm really disappointed in the HK at very high volume.
The sound is not distorted but it goes flat, which indicates to me there is internal compression to save the drivers from the high distortion level once the volume gets really high.
The HK is rated at something like 625 watts, and I think it's RMS, and the distortion level must be approaching something like 10% before you hit that.
The last system I installed was in my E46 325i. It was a modest system but very enjoyable for clean and loud listening. I used a Rockford Power series rated at 125 watts RMS x 4. I ran 125 x 2 to the front mids and silk dome tweets, and bridged the rear 2 channels at 400/425 watts RMS into a
12" Infinity Reference series sub at 4ohms.
That was an extremely CLEAN sounding system much much cleaner than my HK. And the bass extension and clarity shames the HK even though the power between the systems was similar.
BMW and HK put too many drivers in this system as they spent more time fiddling with Logic7, which is wasted time and money imo.
L7 does nothing to improve the overall sound quality just some fancy software to try and create a better sound field for every seating position while not achieving a great sound field for the driver and passenger.
That brittle high end you are hearing are the titanium dome tweeters, which have a high frequency extension, but the sound is brittle and fatiguing at higher volumes.
BMW's deserve much better standard audio system and then a much better optional upgrade.
10 drivers is plenty
Mids and tweets up front, same for rear, and 2 x 10" subs.
Use better drivers, especially silk dome tweets, then drive them all with clean power.
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