Hello,

Sorry for the lame post but my shiny new (21yr old) 1996 Range Rover has it's original cassette deck and a CD multi-changer (minus cartridge thanks to the cockwomble who sold it to me) which isn't impressing the wife and kids. It has Harmon Kardon speakers fitted, does this mean it has the uprated sound system? If so, does this mean that there are issues with imply fitting a replacement head unit?

Thanks for any help,

Smiler.

A '96 HK system won't have the DSP amp (thankfully) but will have separate amps in each door. You can fit any after,market head unit (some can even be programmed to allow you to retain the steering wheel controls) but rather than one with line level unbalanced outputs (which will hum), your best bet is to use the speaker outputs and make up and fit some attenuators, see http://www.rangerovers.net/rrupgrades/entertainment/headunitadapt.html

There isn't really anything 'upgraded' about them by having the HK badges on - as I think HK did all the audio for the P38's, but the 'mid line' and 'high line (which I guess you have if you've got a subwoofer and cd-stacker) means that instead of the head unit having amplifiers that drive the door speakers, each door has an amplifier in it, and the head unit just sends a balanced line level signal to each door amp.

The good news... the amplifiers in the doors sound really nice, and are far better than what a head unit amplifier would do. The bad news is that you can't just rip out the factory stereo and put a new head unit in and have it work.

You can however use the amplified outputs from a new head unit and feed them into some attenuator circuits which the information about is here:
Stereo attenuator circuits

Yes, the link it to the 'other' site, but it's the main website part - not the forum..

The attenuators are cheap to make, and bring the amplified outputs from a replacement head unit down to the level expected to be input on the door amplifiers that you will have.

The subwoofer (if fitted)... most people just put an RCA plug on it and plug it into the line out subwoofer feed from an aftermarket head unit - but sometimes the level isn't high enough to get decent bass... it isn't on my P38, so I put a booster in line with it, which is fine, except I get a pop from it when it powers up/turns off - so I might look at either a) adding something else to filter that out, or b) fit an aftermarket subwoofer amp which is designed to take a lower line-level input.

Hope this helps..
Marty

Edit - Gilbertd typed faster than me... but SNAP at linking to the same page...

I have a cd changer with tray sitting gathering dust, if anyone wants it. No original head unit in my car so not much point in lugging the changer around.

God alone knows what's in mine.

The head unit is a Blaupunkt Heidelberg (IIRC) with a matching 10 CD changer, which is very firmly in "Stuck" mode. Looks like they were fitted here in around 2004. As far as I can see, all the speakers I've looked at, whilst doing other things are shot as well so I may have to bite the bullet one day and replace the lot.

At least I'm not bothered about the steering wheel controls.

Good luck with yours.

With the attenuators as mentioned above and a PAC SW1-RC programmable steering control adaptor, the Sony CDX-GT5 (aka not exactly expensive) head unit that I've got in the '95. which had the high end setup like yours sounds surprisingly good.
With a bluetooth dongle in the head I use my Galaxy Note for Spotify and nav and my whole universe of ex CD music is accessible via a micro USB stick in the head unit.
If I were going to do it again, I'd probably stick in a DAB capable head unit but apart from that I'm happy.
EDIT- if your current system (apart from CD changer) works OK and you want to keep it original, you can plug a Grom BT-3 unit into the redundant CD changer inputs, get bluetooth connectivity and use your phone/ tablet whatever through your standard system
http://gromaudio.co.uk/products/bluetooth-hands-free-and-a2dp-car-kits/bmw-mini-rover-bluetooth-integration-kit-666.html

Thanks for all the replies, I haven't a clue what I have fitted if they put HK badges on all of them. I don't remember seeing a sub in the boot, where would it be if it has one? I'll take some photos later and post them up.

Cheers,

Smiler.

If there's a sub it'll be on the left as you look into the boot, behind a cover. You'll see the CD player sticking out at the bottom.

As Gordon says, remove panel on l/h side of boot (seat folding required) the cd changer is mounted on a frame below the sub, when the sub is removed, behind the insulation behind the sub, your find a dsp amp,, all nicely hidden away

You won't find a DSP amp on a 1996 DSE... subwoofer maybe...

My bad, didn't know year of rangie

First post of this thread ;)

The HK badges were only fitted on cars with the high line HK system. There were 3 levels, low line with just woofers and tweeters in the front doors and woofers only in the rear, all driven directly from the stereo so no amps in the doors. The mid line had woofers, midrange and tweeters in the front doors and woofers and midrange in the rear, again driven directly from the stereo. The high line had the HK badges because the speakers are actually HK and not generic LR speakers, as well as everything the mid line had, it also has a sub in the boot and everything is driven by an amp in each door and another in the sub housing.

So if you had the low or mid line system you can simply slot in any aftermarket head unit and the DIN plugs on the loom connect straight to it. It is only the high line system that needs a bit of jiggery pokery.

The 95's sadly lacking in HK badges anywhere but definitely has a High Line system. Speaker drivers only have LR part numbers. Maybe the HK branding came along later?
Ah well, what's in a name?!

Apparently the HK speakers sound better although to my ears the standard ain't that bad. Mine originally had the low line speaker setup and no radio at all (plod didn't order one, they wanted to put something else in the hole obviously) but I bought a set of door cards with the mid range speakers and wood strips (which mine also didn't have). Admittedly, I think I've worn out the woofers as they don't produce a lot of bass and rattle a bit when the stereo is cranked up beyond 25 (eat your heart out Marshall!).

The HK kit with DSP and subs sounds really nice, but I don't have any CDs these days so it's either my wife's music or one of those Aux->Tape convertors which can only ever sound as good as a tape, at best.
I should really get a grom, who bothers burning .wav CDs in 2017? are there any CD changers that would be able to read mp3 and convert to something the headunit could handle?

Thanks for all the help. I will be pulling the door-cards anyway to service the handles so will have a look for in-door amps. I'll also have a look for the sub.

Cheers.

Does any of this make any sense?

Does the disconnected shielded cable indicate anything?

The box in the last photo isn't mounted at all, just floating on the cable loom. I don't like the look of the tape on the shielded cable. Alarm? Carphone?

Big black box is the subwoofer for sure....

Small box to the side... any markings/stickers/part numbers on it? My guess would be car phone - if you don't have navigation, then it's about the only other thing I can think of that would require a screened coax cable...

I shall try to get a better look tomorrow. It certainly isn't in keeping with the rest of the vehicle and the car phone is the only after market addition I have found other than what appears to be an older hands free kit (microphone on dash and speaker under drivers seat) which might be connected to the car phone anyway as there is no obviou mobile connection.