Car Factory Speakers Upgrade Featuring Harman Kardon FIT6CF and FIT6F

Our vehicles get us from point A to point B, but we also want to enjoy the journey. Listening to our tunes help us do that. Car manufacturers provide a radio and speakers, but they aren’t the greatest, especially the standard stock system. If you want speakers that will sound better and last longer, it could be time for an upgrade. There are a lot of options for this, and Harman Kardon is a good one. A brand offered as an upgrade to some vehicle’s sound system, now Harman Kardon offers aftermarket speakers. Up for review is their Harman Kardon FIT6CF and FIT6F speaker system.

 

FIT6CF Features and specs:

Speaker Size: 6.5 inches (165mm)

Speaker Type: 2-Way Component

Power Handling:

Continuous: 50W RMS

Peak: 400W

Sensitivity: 1m/1W: 88dB@2.83V: 91dB

Frequency Response: 57Hz - 40kHz

Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms

Features:

Plus One™ Glass Fiber Woofer Cone

Edge-driven Textile Dome Tweeter for high-resolution audio (up to 40kHz)

Uni-Pivot & Angled Tweeter Design with adjustable output level (0dB or -3dB)

Slim and Smart Crossover Design with 2-way/3-way upgradability

Dimensions: 3"D x 6.5"W x 6.8"H (Note: Dimensions might vary slightly between sources, these are approximate)

Weight: 3.65 kg (8.03 lbs) (Note: Weight might vary slightly between sources, these are approximate)

 

FIT6CF Features and specs:

Specifications

Speaker Type: 6.5" (165mm) 2-way Coaxial Car Speaker.

Power Handling: 45W RMS / 360W Peak.

Sensitivity: 92dB (@2.83V) / 88dB (1m/1w).

Frequency Response: 58Hz – 40kHz.

Nominal Impedance: 4 ohms.

Features

Plus One™ Glass Fiber Woofer Cone: Patented technology for improved sensitivity and low-frequency output.

Edge-driven Textile Dome Tweeter: Delivers 40kHz high-resolution audio.

Uni-Pivot & Angled Tweeter Design: Allows adjustment of the tweeter's direction for optimal sound staging.

Adjustable Tweeter Output Level: Provides options for 0dB or -3dB attenuation to tailor the sound to the listening environment.

Slim and Smart Crossover Design: Features pre-wired cables for easier installation.

3-way Upgradability: Compatible with an optional 3.5-inch midrange unit for expanding into a 3-way system.

High Sensitivity: Designed for crisp vocals and balanced acoustics across various music genres.

 

 

The Harman Kardon FIT6CF and FIT6F came in a nice-looking color printed box with photos and specs of the speaker system. Opening the box revealed a well-protected speaker held in place by custom card board and wrapped in a cloth bag. Materials used in the construction was mostly metal, glass fiber, rubber, and some plastic. Quality of materials used as well as fit and finish was very good. Also included were the grills, mounting hardware, and QR code for the manual.

 

I really like the design of the Harman Kardon FIT6CF and FIT6F. They are very economically priced, but cutting the right corners to keep the price down such as using stamped baskets, which is just fine for their power rating. Yet you still manage to get a rubber surround and glass fiber cone for many years of use. There’s even tweeter attenuation. This is a far cry from your standard stock IEM speakers that manufacturers provide using planned obsolescence.

 

Don’t get me wrong. Car manufactures have come a long way, as many of them offer upgraded premium systems that do sound very good. But for the regular stock system, there is much to be improved on in the sound, as well as their planned obsolescence. And if you don’t know what I’m talking about, they use cheap surrounds and paper cones. So to make things worse, in addition to their just ok sound, they are made to need replacing. Many of you may be in the middle of this dilemma. Either you want better sound, and/or one or more of these cheap speakers in your car may be blown.

 

And this is where Harman Kardon comes in. Their speaker systems are offered as upgrade systems by some manufactures, and now they want to help others by providing aftermarket speaker systems that fit directly into the factory locations. They offer 2-way and 3-way components as well as coaxials. Tweeters use silk domes for natural sounding yet extended highs, and the midranges incorporate a solid glass fiber cone for a stiff driver that provides smooth mids with tight extended midbass. They even have attenuation for tweeter levels on the crossover network for the components, and on the tweeter housing of the coaxials. That allows you to adjust the tweeter output to your liking.

 

The Harman Kardon speaker system went into a 2012 Toyota Carolla. The 6.5” component system is going into the front factory speaker system, a direct fit. And the 6.5” Coaxial is going into the factory speaker location on the rear deck. Installation was very simple.  And installed in the factory locations, the speaker grills were not needed. It looks completely stock. They are also efficient enough to be powered by the factory electronics. Yet if one were to decide down the road for a future upgrade, you could get a separate amp for them as they can handle a good amount of power.

 

As a review on upgrading your factory speakers, our listening test will first start with the factory system.  We will then listen to the upgraded Harman Kardon speaker system.  After all, this is a review on upgrading the factory system.  This way we include the sound quality of the stock system, and compare it to the Harman Kardon system. Now let’s see how they sound.

 

Disturbed: Sound of Silence – vocals had ok texture, piano had ok tone, as did the guitar and violin. And the tympani came through as did the cymbals. But they all lacked crispness, details, and resolution. It was just really flat.

Nat King Cole:  L-O-V-E – vocals were smooth, cymbals were dynamic and piano had good tone. But the vocals lacked resolution of the timbre, cymbals lacked resolution of the crispness. And the harmonics you would expect from piano wasn’t there. Trumpet was smooth and had decent harmonics. Bass had ok extension but lacked authority.

Rush: Tom Sawyer – vocals had ok texture, guitar was raw. Drums had ok dynamics. But the vocals lacked resolution of the timbre. Drums had some dynamics but not as much as expected. Cymbals had some crispness but was lacking. Snare drums also provided some dynamics, but the resolution of the sticks on the pad was also lacking.

Now let’s listen to the Harman Kardon speaker system.

Disturbed: Sound of Silence – piano sounded natural with nice harmonics. Vocals were silky smooth with very good resolution of the texture of the timbre. Violins were also smooth with good resolution of the bows across the strings. Tympani was dynamic with good resolution of the impact on the pad. Acoustic guitar was crisp and clean, being able to hear the decay of the strings played.

Nat King Cole:  L-O-V-E -vocals were really smooth and had really good resolution of the texture of the timbre. Cymbals were dynamic and piano had really good tone of the strings and harmonics.  Cymbals were crisp and clean with good resolution of the decay of the impact. Trumpet was smooth with really good harmonics.  Bass had good extension and played with authority.

Tom Sawyer – vocals were smooth like honey, with really good texture. Cymbals were really crisp and clean. And it was a drum smorgasbord. Snare drums were really dynamic with excellent resolution of the stick on the pad. The various tom drums also provided similar dynamics and resolution of the stick on the pads, and very good pitch definition of the mids and midbass. Kick drum was nice and tight, with plenty of authority and low-end extension.

 

The Harman Kardon speaker system, comprised of their FIT6CF and FIT6F, proved to be a great performer. They are well made to provide years of performance. Installation was simple with it fitting in the factory location of many vehicles. And they also sound great! Based on its design, features, quality, and performance, the Harman Kardon FIT6CF and FIT6F has earned our Highly Recommended Award. For more info and complete specs, check out their website at www.harmanaudio.com.