[jfactor]

Newbie here. I am curious how I would go about upgrading my OEM sound system on my 03 Discovery HE7. The current system (I believe it is the Alpine) is just very poor in sound quality. I had an 00 Discovery with the Harman Kardon and it was much better.

Would I need to switch out all the speakers, the head unit, amp, etc.? Where could I find the parts used other than eBay? Is it as simple as unplugging the old and plugging in the new? Or is it more complicated than that?

I realize the best route would be to upgrade to an aftermarket system. However I like the OEM approach...call it a character flaw of mine.

Thanks for you advice.

 

[Disco Mike]

On the up-graded Harmon Cardon system, the only difference was the amp.
If toy want to improve the sound of your current system, up-grade all your speakers.

 

[redtruck12]

Correct me if I'm wrong mike ( you have before ) but when I swapped some speakers from a 2001 non Harmon kardon system to my 2000 with , some of the wiring plugs were different
I switched pillar speakers mids and left the large bottom / base speakers alone but had to switch up some of the connector pin configurations so take a close look.
I also swapped the subwoofer on the rear door (no modifications needed) sounds great as loud as I care to go!

 

[jfactor]

On the up-graded Harmon Cardon system, the only difference was the amp.
If toy want to improve the sound of your current system, up-grade all your speakers.

Disco Mike, so to confirm, the only difference between the OEM sound systems was the amp? Not the speakers? Was there only one type of OEM speakers for both the Harman Kardon and the premium systems?

 

[TrailRunner]

Wondering the same thing about H/K vs Alpine systems. Is the difference really only the amp? I just dropped an H/K amp into my stock Alpine system and the sound was good, but definitely different. Highs and mids seemed to sound almost like they have reverb on them - not as "direct" sounding as with the Alpine amp.

 

[Disco Mike]

I have to stand corrected, my original statement was wrong, the speakers are also HK and the wiring harness is different between the 2 systems so you can't plug a HK speaker into a Alpine system.

 

[TrailRunner]

Thanks for the reply, Mike. From what I've been able to experience thus far, it seems like the HK amplifier will plug into the Alpine system, but the sound is slightly off (seems to be missing the mids and the low are VERY present). From these two links, it appears that the wiring is the same, but who knows what else is going on. Also, who knows how accurate Crutchfield is with this. There's a reason why it's called "electrickery" :-D

2003-2004 Land Rover Discovery with Harmon Kardon Wiring Information

2003-2004 Land Rover Discovery with Alpine Wiring Information