I once owned an Audi A5, 3.0 litre TDi Quattro Twin turbo. It was equipped with a factory fitted B&O premium system. When I first heard this system played in the showroom I couldn't stop laughing. Amazing sound. And after buying, the car, everyone who drove in the car noticed how clean, and clear the system sounded.
As an owner of myltiple great vehicles I have two BMWs with one of each system, The B&O is forsure the better to have the bass kicks so hard you feel it in your core, The drivers on the HK is lacking just a tiny but but a really close second place.
The B&O on my 2018 A4 was amazing. The B&O on my 2022 Q5 was pretty bad. The 6.5" sub was nothing compared to the 10" on the A4. I installed a 12" downfiring solo baric on my Q5 and tuned the bass to how my A4 was. Now it sounds a lot cleaner and where the Q5 should be. I even turn on the 3D to get all the speakers playing.
@@DanielGuzman83 I think allot of it also has to do with the shape of the vehicle, I have recently testdriven a 2021 X series with the B&O and it just sounds like my H&K I currently have in my 2021 3 series. In short, They perform better in more compact vehicles.
There is a clear difference between the two systems. To my ears, neither is a bad system, but HK sounds less polished and has more brute force in the bass region.Treble is muffled and there is no upper air extension. B&O has extended treble and high mids are accentuated to make an ilusion of more articulation or making sounds too harsh. The air, or above 10kHz is where B&O shines, it makes vocals sound more expensive. Bass is lighter, but lacks that brute force HK has. HK is good for rap, and rnb. B&O is for jazz and classical. Rock and pop can be handled well by both systems.
B&O uses a closed cabinet as opposed to Harman Kardon's ventilated cabinet and even though B&O's ABL (Goolge B&O ABL, If you wan't to know what that is), can smooth out the lower frequencies when there is an extra capacity available in the driver and amplifier(ICEPower) to provide a deeper bass and increased volume, then the B&O system is still limited in terms of the cabinet's liter dimensions. However In return, this may give B&O the advantage of a more controlled bass.
To me, HK produces very rich and deep sound while B&O sounds sharp, treble and real. Both is good for me in different ways. I would prefer daily use of HK because the rich sound making hearing more comfortable, and B&O is very impressive at first but overtime, i might reduce the volume due to the treble and sharp sound. Personally i would use b&o to play music like live, orchestra, instrument, etc. It will also be good for movies because of the realistic sound
Not bad Listening thru the b&o beoolay eq earbuds I think Ima go with more bass than clarity I’m a bass head but that clarity on b&o is stunning too makes it sound like if yoyr there with the singer
Ok this is why i Like B&O. The HK sounds bass heavy and not as crisp as the B&O. Perhaps due to better passive filtering on the B&O System. Happy that i Ordered B&O on my Etron Sportback 😁
Excellent comparison, thank you. Found the HK have much deeper bass, lacks clarity in the highs. Whereas the B&O lacks low end, but compensates with much more clarity & clear highs. It’s a personal preference depending on which genre of music you listen to.
B&O has way more low end. It has subwoofer with lower fs, more xmax, bigger voice coil and more powerful magnet. B&O subwoofer peaks like 10hz lower around 30hz instead of 40-50hz on HK.
B&O sounds better for me, more clarity, more space. I have B&O on an audi A4 and its amazing. every user has his sound prefference. it is like food. there is no one size fits all. the best way to hear difference is to get in the car and listen :)
I am curious how that new McIntosh system sounds. I have a pair of the Focal component speakers in custom made cabinets. They sound good but expensive. $1200.00 a pair. Testing this audio difference on RU-vid’s compression with RU-vid’s MP 4 Audio Codec is a mute point even with headphones.
my audi a8 2014 has b&o and i must say that when im listening to a song , after a few seconds i forget that im on the road driving , it's so smooth and clear it makes me think i have headphones on best speakers a car can have i paid extra 4000chf(4100usd) here in switzerland but it's totally worth it i have 20 years of warranty from b&o on those speakers
To me the differences can clearly be heard @ 4:33 and @ 5:47 - - plus @ 6:53 and @7:53 - - I've based my decision off of that~ B&O is clearer but is it so clearly worth it..lol
I have a DINDIN bluetooth speaker, I absolutely love the sound quality, the lighting, it works everywhere, it makes me happy every time I use it, I have been using it for a year, this product deserves more praise.
B and G sounds more deep in bass. A little bit more immersive than Harmon Kardon, but HK is still ok if you're just casually driving. But, if you're an enthusiast, Bang and Olufsen is where it's at!
i dont own any of this 2 superb brand...but from this clip, i prefer the vibrance of harman kardon, it gives space, surround like, againd that vibrance it is lacking BO. For me a novice in sound i prefer the wow effect of HK.
B&O sounds a little crisper and better mids and highs, listening on AKG headphones. Is it more expensive? How does it works on F15 is it just the matter of option, or a part of some sound package? Thanks
Hello, I've got a G30 from 2018-06 (last 7 code : WC19647) with the headunit SA609 (with wifi). How can I be certain that this headunit will accept HK retrofit ? Tks a lot !
Just sold my 2019 Audi S5 and it had the factory B&O, it sounded alright, nothing special in my opinion. My BMW M4 has the factory HK and I have no complaints. I actually prefer the HK because of the ability to fine tune the equalizer.
B und O klingt wie eine krasse Opernhalle oder ein gehobenes klassisches Orchester. Harman ist eine geile Soundanlage wie bei einem "normalem" Konzert.
How much did it cost to swap to these Bang and Olufsen speakers? It sounds very very good! And did you add the headliner speakers or just every harman kardon speaker change?
Please remember, *Gary Summers who won the biggest car audio Sound Quality competition in the world* (Gary - sound engineer for - The Empire Strikes Back, Return Of The Jedi, Avatar, LOTR, Terminator 2, Indiana Jones, Saving Private Ryan … and more) implied that these home brand, in-car audio systems, are only good for "Hype ... and brand recognition" Gary Summers on Better Car Audio - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-BGBy2aUtSug.html
Harmon owns the rights to B&O's automotive division as well as the B&O play products. They bought it like 10 years ago almost, and have been manufacturing and supplying everything for all the different automobile companies during that time. If you didn’t change the DSP or amps or anything except the speakers and stuff......... You basically didn’t do anything but replace one design for the same design with different cone colors/materials.
As a person who retrofitted in his E90 N54 Bang Olufsen 16 speakers + amp. vs my neighbors who have a GT F series which has factory option Harman Kardon the only difference is in the high tones and it's better quality than the Bang Olufsen because you are using a factory amp. factory harness and factory speakers you are using factory Bang Olufsen but without repining the amp and changing and coding it. To test speakers and how they are working you need to get a 12V battery and to put in exactly the same place and time and the song to be played at the same time. Even if you are having factory hi-fi and just changing the speakers, you can get different sound effects because of the CIC E90(f10,F30) signals depending on the model. The test for me is not accurate. It depends on the settings is it you are testing on the same option in your AMP settings. Are you using suggested settings for Bang Olufsen?People are so naive to trust someone who is not professional and to upload his own opinion on the internet.
I actually heard almost no difference between both systems except for the tweeters. But the air you hear from the high frequency’s is only dependent if your speakers are on axis and capable. If your Tweets are of axis or really off axis than good night. Speakers are 20% a good amp is only relevant if you have the skill to tune it and installation is 80%. Even low quality speakers outshine are expensive speaker system with shit installation. And btw the fact to promote the B&O because of clarity is dogshit if you compare it with a hk tweeter that measures like a 10 dollar Chinese Boulevard speaker.
No one in the comments realize that Harman International owns B&O and H/K automotive as well as Bowers & Wilkins, Infinity, JBL and loads of other brands making car audio. They sound different yes - but the hardware for B&O is also very differrent and a lot more expensive so you would expect that. Same in the new 7 series - the B&W system also sounds way better than the H/K system (which BTW sounds a lot better than stock) so i guess they all have their place. Harman just covers all the bases at all price points with the different brands.
It was 8000 for the B&O it was not worth it.. specifically for the M5 M6 vehicles with carbon fiber roof.. since the weight reduction was neglected by the heavier B&O system.
Thankfully not a massive difference - I just upgraded my BM from BMW business to HK, that was a huge difference. Didn't even know there was a B&O option.
Actually as i know to be able to use full functions like ambient lights of the tweeters you need to have the software coding and unlock bang olufsen menu under media tab@emanuelV8
Actually as i know to be able to use full functions like ambient lights of the tweeters you need to have the software coding and unlock bang olufsen menu under media tab@emanuelV8
Ich finde Dass das harman kardon ein besseren klang erzeugt, also man hört den bass dort gut aber gleichzeitig den rest auch perfekt. Man spurt eif das die musik da ist . Bei dem Bang Olufden klingt es alles so künstlich und einfach so unecht
If you like heavy bass, B&O is not for you. I like B&O and have owned several products by them since 1997. B&O has a sound like you are at a live symphony performance.
