Harman Kardon bass output compared to factory nine-speaker stereo

[MerlintheMad]

That track was put up on the forum a couple weeks back (maybe longer; can't remember where, or who shared it) as the best way to test your car's bass. And boys howdy yes it does that! When I play it, I feel instantly self conscious, as if people nearby will be looking at my Stinger down their long noses: "What a ricer!" Hah.

I've always wondered if I would have insisted on the Harman Kardon (it was one of my three non-negotiable must haves), if I had listened to the factory nine-speaker stereo: since it has the 8" subs under the seats and the subs in the doors, would there have been a noticeable difference in the bass between them?

Until yesterday, that question went unanswered. I pulled up the bass boosted track linked to above: which I downloaded a while back onto my USB stick (I listen exclusively to USB sourced music). @ryno5514 then went over to his GT and accessed the song via his cellphone. I have my bass set at +8: he put his at +10 (maxed out) and the bass was palpably less than from my HK system: still very good, but less.

Since then (this was yesterday morning). I've wondered if the difference might be (instead) the sourcing of the tracks. Could the USB deliver more of a "lossless" quality, whereas pulling it in via cellphone loses some clarity or "oomph"?

Or is the difference explained by a difference in receiver/amplifier? Is the "factory" stereo equipped with a less powerful receiver/amplifier than the HK?

The answer is important to me, because I want to understand why the same bass speakers, in both cars, deliver such a noticeable difference in bass output.

(Somebody on here knows, because we have some real sound system geeks: I just don't remember anyone other than @andrew tay : so, calling on Andrew and anybody else who can answer this: thanks)

 

[Ric 'Ochet]

It depends on how the original track was compressed. When you change delivery methods you do encounter lossless sound quality however minor it may seem.
Equally important is the format it’s saved in, speed of the reader, etc.

 

[MerlintheMad]

It depends on how the original track was compressed.

We can rule that out in this case: since the track is exactly the same: I downloaded it from YouTube, and it was pulled by a cellphone from YouTube, the very same video track. The original compression is therefore one compression; but how the track gets to the stereo, that is the difference: I play the original directly from USB; the GT receives it via cellphone app. And the receiver/amplifiers are likely different (I do not know if that hardware in the "factory" stereo differs from the HK).