I have a 2001 D2 with an inoperative stereo. In addition to diagnosing it, I started looking into aftermarket solutions. Is it obvious if the truck is equipped with an HK system?

Other posts I've read indicate that in '01, they dropped the HK labeling on the speakers. Hard to get a good read on it through searching.

I guess I need to know
a) how to figure out what system I have
b) what kind of adapter I need to get an aftermarket system to play nice with whatever system I have

Thanks!

 

I thought hk came in hse models only everyone else got an Alpine unit....

 

I have a 2003 SE7... How would I know what stereo and speakers I have? I too have been considering a Stereo/Speaker Swap. Also, gonna get rid of the CD changer!

 

Mark,

I think that if you have the Harman Kardon, there will be an amp under the drivers seat. See page 4.150 of this document:

http://macassemble.com/lrm/discovery...%20Library.pdf

Also, post 6 here seems to indicate that no amp, no subwoofer, and no Harman Kardon badge on the radio means no HK system.

Discovery Series II subwoofer question

Hope it helps.
-Eamon

 

I believe you have a HK system with an apline head unit, a stereo system is not alway made up with matching componants.

 

For what it's worth, I believe they put the same speakers in all cars... Having an "S" model with cassette deck and no CD I assume I had the cheaper head unit.

I've long since replaced the head unit with a Kenwood single din and a JL amplifier under the passenger seat to power the front door speakers and the sub, which i have in a box in back.

The good news is the stock speakers sound great with a better head unit and amp.

The existing amp is still powering the rear door speakers, results not so good.

 

I believe the low line and midline systems have woofers in the doors and tweeters in the a-pillars up front and full-range speakers in the rear doors, while the high-line (HK) have bass, mids and tweeters up front and woofers and tweeters in the rear.

To install an aftermarket head unit, you just need to use the correct adapter to hook it up to your vehicle. I think all of the systems use an amplifier, the HK is just more powerful and has more channels. In my truck, I used a Metra 70-1786 adapter which allows you to plug your preamp RCA outputs from the head unit into the factory wiring to the amp. My Alpine unit has fairly high outputs on the preamp side so it is plenty loud but the factory amp is designed to work with relatively high input voltages so some head units might sound too quiet when hooked up. If you plan to use the high-level outputs from your head unit fed through a line-out converter to get the volume up, then use a Metra 70-1784 adapter.

As for the factory drivers (speakers), they suck. I replaced mine with some $30 Pioneer 2-ways that made it sound way better:

 

Ok so... I have the CD changer under passenger seat, I have the amp under drivers seat and I have the Subs in the rear door, I have 3 speaks at each front seat and 2 at the rear seats. So, this is sounding as though I have the Harman Kardon system in my rig. I just have NO idea what head unit I have, but my stereo system sounds like S***! I think I want to do a full system revamp, just have to figure out what I want!

 

Not sure what you are looking for in a system, but I have an '04 that came with the HK system and had an Alpine head unit in it that used an iPod. The PO had used the line level outputs into the factory amp and it sounded like crap. I swaped it over to the pre-amp outputs feeding the factory amp for the door speakers and then replaced the CD changer with an amp connected to the sub outputs on the head unit. I replaced the woofers in the doors with the Pioneers (I snipped the wires to the tweeters on them first) and replaced the subs with a pair of Kickers. I'm still tweaking the sub setup but overall the system sounds great. If you want something that thumps and gets really loud, you may have more luck using a line level converter to feed the factory amp with higher voltage and swap out the 6 1/2 inch subs for something bigger. The converters are cheap so it might be worth a shot. If that doesn't work, then you will need to use an aftermarket amp to drive everything.

 

my stock unit sounds awesome whats the deal?