Harman Kardon Speakers

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QuietMini

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For those of you who have received their Minis already... Did you get the Harman Kardon Speakers? I heard that because if the demand and shortage that they wouldn't have them but my sales person told me that while most Mini models won't offer them, they are only putting them on the SE models. Is this correct? My purchase order of the Iconic has it listed so I am hoping I get them.
 
QuietMini said:
For those of you who have received their Minis already... Did you get the Harman Kardon Speakers? I heard that because if the demand and shortage that they wouldn't have them but my sales person told me that while most Mini models won't offer them, they are only putting them on the SE models. Is this correct? My purchase order of the Iconic has it listed so I am hoping I get them.
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My advisor also said something similar. They were holding them back for “elite builds”. This is the SE and JCW models.
 
I ordered an Iconic Mini SE 8/28 and received it 9/1 and it has the Harmon Kardon sound system. When we ordered it our dealer said that was the first day when they started letting you order them (instead of giving you a credit). I think if you didn't get a credit you should probably be fine.
 
Here in Scotland I asked my dealer about this a few weeks ago after reading about it being omitted on this forum. HK audio was something I really wanted and they hadn’t mentioned any risk of not getting it when I ordered my level 3 at the beginning of October. They emailed Mini to ask the question and They copied me on this response;

"In May 2021 we communicated that, as a result of the ongoing Semi-Conductor shortage which is creating challenges for the car industry worldwide, we were no longer able to offer Harman Kardon (674) with immediate effect. While we are still unable to offer it as an optional extra at this time, we have been able to secure the parts to reinstate it on the MINI Electric models for which it was previously included as standard. Therefore, from Production Week 35 (September) onwards MINI Electric Level 3, MINI Electric Collection and MINI Electric Shadow Edition will all receive Harman Kardon as standard again. Pricing will be unaffected as we did not make any amends previously due to the temporary nature of the removal."

I assume that since all Mini Electric / SE cars are made in Oxford that you guys in the US and Canada would be in the same position which ties into what ColdCase said above.
 
Nice, thanks for posting that. I've been hoping my Electric Collection would end up having it despite it not being available when I ordered, but I think the long production delay may have done me a favor. I'll find out in another 3-4 weeks.
 
Thanks everyone! Mine won't go into production till the first week in January so I am doing as much research as I can while I not so patiently wait :)
 
Vinnie said:
Ordered back in early August and got the call from my dealership today that it finally arrived. I asked about the HK and my guy confirmed that it did came with the HK.
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Great news! What trim level is your new SE with the coveted harman/kardon sound system?
 
I don't get it guys. I sold high end car audio equipment for many years and HK isn't all that. It was always a middle of the road, cheap audio equipment. Same company makes JBL and Infinity speakers. Samsung bought Harmon a few years ago.

The speakers in my Signature trim sound pretty good. The most important thing for good sound quality in a car is to reduce the engine and road noises. The SE is pretty quiet so the audio quality is very good. If you get better tires, it will sound even better because of less road noise.

Lastly, you can buy much better speakers than the HK ones and ultimately less money. Bavsound.com has a kit for example.

Crutchfield even sells Infinity and JBL speakers for the F56 which are made by the same company as HK. They sell Match Up too which are higher end and they sell that brand subwoofer for under the front seats.
 
You do get the subs and center speaker but like you said, not on the A pillars. Ideally, you want the left and right speaker an equal distance from your left and right but this isn't really possible in a left or right hand drive car. Instead, you place the speakers as far away as possible so that the percentage difference is as minimal as possible.

When you put the speakers on the A pillars, it will make it sound worse because the left speaker is a lot closer than the right one. Putting those speakers in that location is more for marketing than actual sound quality.
 
JonR said:
When you put the speakers on the A pillars, it will make it sound worse because the left speaker is a lot closer than the right one. Putting those speakers in that location is more for marketing than actual sound quality.
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Or symmetry. I use the balance control to "center" the audio, which isn't ideal if you have a passenger. I wonder if just strapping in a HomePod mini with its spatial audio capabilities would be good sound...
 
QuietMini said:
For those of you who have received their Minis already... Did you get the Harman Kardon Speakers? I heard that because if the demand and shortage that they wouldn't have them but my sales person told me that while most Mini models won't offer them, they are only putting them on the SE models. Is this correct? My purchase order of the Iconic has it listed so I am hoping I get them.
Click to expand...

I'm in the US and recently ordered an iconic trim variant. When I placed the order, my dealer said that HK availability wasn't tied to trim level, but rather that each dealer was allocated a certain number of MINI's they could order with HK's in a month (of which mine apparently just made the cut). Not sure how true that is - and my MINI is still at the UK port, so take this with a grain of salt!
 
JonR said:
I don't get it guys. I sold high end car audio equipment for many years and HK isn't all that. It was always a middle of the road, cheap audio equipment. Same company makes JBL and Infinity speakers. Samsung bought Harmon a few years ago.

The speakers in my Signature trim sound pretty good. The most important thing for good sound quality in a car is to reduce the engine and road noises. The SE is pretty quiet so the audio quality is very good. If you get better tires, it will sound even better because of less road noise.

Lastly, you can buy much better speakers than the HK ones and ultimately less money. Bavsound.com has a kit for example.

Crutchfield even sells Infinity and JBL speakers for the F56 which are made by the same company as HK. They sell Match Up too which are higher end and they sell that brand subwoofer for under the front seats.
Click to expand...

I'm not a car audio guy. I just want the best option available for the car I want (no aftermarket). The credit was only $500.

Not expecting to be blown away. My home system is good speakers in dedicated acoustically treated room.
 
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