Navigation & Audio Quick Poll: Who's had Harman Kardon amp failure?
#51
02-05-2013, 11:05 AM
#54
02-26-2013, 11:13 PM
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Hmmm....
Received my used HK amp the other day. I already notice something is different. The amp that's blown in my 2004 has a single tab with a screw that is visible when you remove the access panel in the right rear. There are no wires visible on this side going to or from the amp. OK, so get this, my used replacement amp also has a tab for the screw, but all of the electrical wiring going to or from the amp is on the side with the single tab for the screw!!!??? What the??? I triple checked the part numbers with the Factory's list of six different possible numbers for the HK amp that will fit a 2004 MCS, and one of the numbers did indeed match, (#65126959010). So what gives??? My Mini does have Factory NAV, but I doubt that that has anything to do with the wiring plug being on the opposite side??? The only other thing I can come up with is that maybe my replacement amp came out of a right hand drive Mini possibly from Europe where things are maybe moved around a bit??? Any light on this subject would be appreciated. I don't think the wiring loom is going to be long enough to accommodate the replacement amp. Thanks a Brazillian!!!
MinisRcheeky
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#55
03-16-2013, 03:57 PM
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IIRC, there are two or three screws to remove, including one on the upper left side. If you don't take that interior panel off (I didn't), you need a loooong screwdriver to get at it. If yours is held in with only one screw, it may have been replaced before. My replacement is held in by just one screw.
You don't need to remove the back seat, Scoopy.
It's probably best to disconnect the battery, but I don't remember if I did or not.
Good luck, and don't forget to post your experience here so that others can benefit.
You don't need to remove the back seat, Scoopy.
It's probably best to disconnect the battery, but I don't remember if I did or not.
Good luck, and don't forget to post your experience here so that others can benefit.
How do you reach the screw on the upper left side without removing the interior panel??? I got the nut and the screw on the right side off that secures the bracket, but I see no access to another screw? Something is definitely still attached. Thanks! MinisRcheeky
#57
03-18-2013, 10:47 AM
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LowMo,
How do you reach the screw on the upper left side without removing the interior panel??? I got the nut and the screw on the right side off that secures the bracket, but I see no access to another screw? Something is definitely still attached. Thanks! MinisRcheeky
How do you reach the screw on the upper left side without removing the interior panel??? I got the nut and the screw on the right side off that secures the bracket, but I see no access to another screw? Something is definitely still attached. Thanks! MinisRcheeky
#58
03-18-2013, 12:38 PM
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#59
03-18-2013, 12:44 PM
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#60
03-19-2013, 07:14 PM
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JL Audio XD600/6 amp ordered today through Amazon. I just couldn't bring myself to drop 4 or 5 hundred on a used ebay amp that could die tomorrow. Yes, I know I will lose the fader, but that's a small price to pay for a better sounding more reliable system.
I think I might try making a harness that goes between the plug from the original amp and the XD600. If I hack the plug out of the old amp and solder wires to the terminals, I might be able to create a plug and play solution. I'll post results.
Thanks to Paul and gbmini for the legwork and inspiration.
I think I might try making a harness that goes between the plug from the original amp and the XD600. If I hack the plug out of the old amp and solder wires to the terminals, I might be able to create a plug and play solution. I'll post results.
Thanks to Paul and gbmini for the legwork and inspiration.
#62
03-24-2013, 07:10 PM
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Just finished installing my new JL Audio XD600/6 amp in the MINI. Huge thanks to Paul Griffin for his information in this thread. Great stuff!
I initially tried to salvage the female plastic plug from the old amp. I thought it might be nice to make a short harness that I could pre-attach to the new amp and then just plug it into the existing harness. No go. Too many small pins and too flimsy of a plug. The heat to remove the solder was enough to melt the plug. Ah, well. In retrospect, I doubt that the pins were long enough to attach wires to anyway.
So I followed Paul's note, extending the woofer A lines and ignoring the woofer B lines. I left the wires I didn't use right in the plugs and just tucked the plugs back behind the panel. I ran a big fat ground to the post right near the amp, and a new positive feed to the battery (easy on the S). To mount the amp, I had to dremmel off the stud used by the stock amp and make a small bracket for the front side. The rear I just drilled and screwed into the body. There is not much room to mount the amp, but at least there is plenty of clearance on the plastic panel.
With the car assembled, I still have access to all the adjustments on the amp, which I am still dialing in. I found Paul's settings to be a bit too bassy for me. I gave the woofers a little higher frequency, and dialed back the input a hair. Still tons more bass than stock.
So far I've driven about 5 miles, and I already love the improvement.
Thanks again, Paul G!
I initially tried to salvage the female plastic plug from the old amp. I thought it might be nice to make a short harness that I could pre-attach to the new amp and then just plug it into the existing harness. No go. Too many small pins and too flimsy of a plug. The heat to remove the solder was enough to melt the plug. Ah, well. In retrospect, I doubt that the pins were long enough to attach wires to anyway.
So I followed Paul's note, extending the woofer A lines and ignoring the woofer B lines. I left the wires I didn't use right in the plugs and just tucked the plugs back behind the panel. I ran a big fat ground to the post right near the amp, and a new positive feed to the battery (easy on the S). To mount the amp, I had to dremmel off the stud used by the stock amp and make a small bracket for the front side. The rear I just drilled and screwed into the body. There is not much room to mount the amp, but at least there is plenty of clearance on the plastic panel.
With the car assembled, I still have access to all the adjustments on the amp, which I am still dialing in. I found Paul's settings to be a bit too bassy for me. I gave the woofers a little higher frequency, and dialed back the input a hair. Still tons more bass than stock.
So far I've driven about 5 miles, and I already love the improvement.
Thanks again, Paul G!
#63
04-17-2013, 04:48 PM
#64
04-19-2013, 12:11 PM
I've had the opportunity to drive my wife's '03 MCS to work the past week, and having to listen to her horrible stereo has made me revisit my original Harman Kardon amp replacement. A few years ago the original HK amp went bad, same symptoms as indicated there, then nothing. I decided to unsolder the terminal block from the amp and use that to make a plug-in-play harness, just in case a factory amp came up for sale cheap, but that won't ever happen...
I had a ~10 year old Sony 5 channel (4 channels plus a 'sub') xm-405eqx amp and at the time I though this amp was only good for 4ohm. I wired the front speakers in series knowing the filters on the tweaters would limit all the mid range, but the wife only listens to sports/talk radio so she didn't care, as long as some sound came out. The rear speakers were also wired for 4 ohms (series on each speaker's coil). The 'sub' channel was left unused.
So fast forward to last week, trying to find a 2 ohm stable replacement amp, and this thread. I was about to buy the JL amp listed in this thread off amazon, then decided to first try my old sony wired 'traditionally' with each channel at 2 ohms. I had nothing to loose really. For laughs I entered the sony model number into google and crutchfield's site said this amp is good for 50 watts x 4 + 125 x 1 at 2 ohms.....well sh*t. That was dumb of me.
OK long story short, I redid 4 wires on my harness so the door speakers & tweaters have their own 2ohm channel, have the rear speakers in parallel on the 'sub' channel, and, well, it absolutely rocks so darn awesome I can't believe how happy I am. The sony amp has 5 equalizer dials on each zone to tweak the sound, HPF on the main channels, LPF on the 'sub', gains on all...so everything I need to make it sound pretty good, just like the ~$350 JL amp here, but much larger. Amazing what 10 years worth of technology gives us, packaging wise.
Long amp is long, but for free, it works for me. The wife will just pile her misc 'stuff' on top like before.
Thanks everyone for the inspiration!
Pics:
The red goo is that liquid electrical insulator stuff. I couldn't find the wife's glue gun to pot the terminals, so I made due. It's not like anyone will see it...
I had a ~10 year old Sony 5 channel (4 channels plus a 'sub') xm-405eqx amp and at the time I though this amp was only good for 4ohm. I wired the front speakers in series knowing the filters on the tweaters would limit all the mid range, but the wife only listens to sports/talk radio so she didn't care, as long as some sound came out. The rear speakers were also wired for 4 ohms (series on each speaker's coil). The 'sub' channel was left unused.
So fast forward to last week, trying to find a 2 ohm stable replacement amp, and this thread. I was about to buy the JL amp listed in this thread off amazon, then decided to first try my old sony wired 'traditionally' with each channel at 2 ohms. I had nothing to loose really. For laughs I entered the sony model number into google and crutchfield's site said this amp is good for 50 watts x 4 + 125 x 1 at 2 ohms.....well sh*t. That was dumb of me.
OK long story short, I redid 4 wires on my harness so the door speakers & tweaters have their own 2ohm channel, have the rear speakers in parallel on the 'sub' channel, and, well, it absolutely rocks so darn awesome I can't believe how happy I am. The sony amp has 5 equalizer dials on each zone to tweak the sound, HPF on the main channels, LPF on the 'sub', gains on all...so everything I need to make it sound pretty good, just like the ~$350 JL amp here, but much larger. Amazing what 10 years worth of technology gives us, packaging wise.
Long amp is long, but for free, it works for me. The wife will just pile her misc 'stuff' on top like before.
Thanks everyone for the inspiration!
Pics:
The red goo is that liquid electrical insulator stuff. I couldn't find the wife's glue gun to pot the terminals, so I made due. It's not like anyone will see it...
Last edited by miatatim; 04-19-2013 at 12:20 PM.
#65
06-03-2013, 06:12 PM
#66
06-06-2013, 10:56 AM
Just had my amp die today, came here looking for possible answers. 2005 MCS, ~120,000 mi.
Quick question, if anyone knows, if I change the factory amp, will I lose my satellite receiver for Sirius? I've had free satellite radio since I bought the car 2 years ago and I'd love to keep it if I can.
Quick question, if anyone knows, if I change the factory amp, will I lose my satellite receiver for Sirius? I've had free satellite radio since I bought the car 2 years ago and I'd love to keep it if I can.
#67
06-29-2013, 09:09 PM
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Hello,
I'm wondering if someone can help me out. Out of the two diagrams linked here. One for a black connector and one for the grey one... There are two sets of wires for the rear speakers. Which ones would go from the HU to the amp and which ones go from the amp to the speakers? I have searched and found no clarification. Thanks in advance.
I'm wondering if someone can help me out. Out of the two diagrams linked here. One for a black connector and one for the grey one... There are two sets of wires for the rear speakers. Which ones would go from the HU to the amp and which ones go from the amp to the speakers? I have searched and found no clarification. Thanks in advance.
I put in a JL Audio XD600/6 (M600/6, the marine version, will work well if you have extra dampness) in our 2004 Mini Cooper (R50) this weekend -- took me about 7 hours in total and not too tough if you have some DIY in you. I got a refurbished amp on eBay for under $300 and spent about $15 on connectors. There are lots of these amps out there in the $350 range and, if you choose to go this route, it will let you keep your Harman Kardon (HK) head unit intact and connect up to your existing HK 2ohm speakers. It cost much less than the $1000+ Mini wants to replace with 8 yr old HK technology, and you'll have more watts and cleaner sound, and as I mentioned, you can definitely Do-It-Yourself. No add'l crossovers needed either -- this is a 6 channel amp with adjustable crossovers and level input adjustment at the amp. You'll lose the front/rear fade option since that was controlled digitally between the HK Head Unit and the HK amp, however a JL amp wired remote is also available if you should so feel the need (JL Audio HD-RLC ~$25), but you can also just set-and-forget the input levels at the amp for balance between the 3 sets of channels. Be careful not to overdrive your speakers by over cranking the inputs.
Firstly though...
Disclaimer: I'm not an electrical engineer or car audio installer, so anything posted here is solely my experience. Caveat Emptor.
This site was a lot of help in the seat and panel disassembly. Starting here and the next couple of pages forward: http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/rearseat.htm
NOTE: Before you do anything with the amp, DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY. 300/600watts is a lot of juice and could be lethal. Safety first. Make sure there is no way the lead can spring back to your battery while you are working. I put the plastic cover back over my battery to be sure.
Also, I like to wire up all the new speaker connections first, then the amp ground connection, 12v power and remote last.
These maps of the wires I found to be accurate and were essential:
http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/hk-plug-grey.htm
http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/hk-plug-black.htm
After you disconnect the wiring harness from the amp, pry this wiring plug apart with a jewellers screwdriver or a knife and a black half and grey half should pull out of the connector. Release the triangular tangs that lock the wires in the halves with nail or tiny screwdriver. The metal tangs on the wires work pretty well without stripping, you can plug them straight into the XD600/6 wire connection holes -- tighten down on them with the alan key provided.
Its fairly straightforward to wire everything up. Just follow the diagrams that will tell you which coded wires the tweeters, door speakers and woofers connect to. The power, ground and remote, as well as the input leads from the HK head unit need to be wired up as well. That's about it.
You'll need two RCA connectors to wire up the two-channel input from the HK Head Unit to the amp. Positive (+) goes to the center pole. There is a switch at the amp to accept 2 channel input, and that's what you'll need to select.
You'll need to extend the Subwoofer A speaker leads to the amp (I ignored Subwoofer B, those leads seemed redundant and everything seems to work without B just fine) by about 4"/15cm.
The biggest part of the job for me was cutting and drilling a thin metal plate to mount the amp back onto the original HK bracket. Its a tight fit but the JL Audio XD600/6 does work in the same space the Harmon Kardon fit in and another reason to go with JL -- their stuff is very compact. The remounting job will take up the most of your time since you'll be inventing/re-jigging. But all in all it, I found it a fun weekend project.
If you find you have amp hiss, even without the Head Unit switched on, turn your inputs all the way down and mix back up from there. That should fix it. Use the included JL manual to learn about and then adjust the frequency filters (crossovers) and inputs. Adjust to your taste with the head unit controls set flat. Again, don't cook your speakers by over dialling the inputs. Keep the inputs as low as possible to minimize noise.
One note: I have to mail order and run some 4AWG wire that JL recommends for the 12v power since I live In-The-Middle-Of-NoWhere but in the meantime, I'm using the stock Mini power to the HK amp and it seems to be working fine for now. I'll let you know if it starts blowing fuses.
So bottom line...
I did it myself. Saved at least $700. Looks like a factory install. Sounds awesome.
If you have any questions, I'll try and answer.
Firstly though...
Disclaimer: I'm not an electrical engineer or car audio installer, so anything posted here is solely my experience. Caveat Emptor.
This site was a lot of help in the seat and panel disassembly. Starting here and the next couple of pages forward: http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/rearseat.htm
NOTE: Before you do anything with the amp, DISCONNECT YOUR BATTERY. 300/600watts is a lot of juice and could be lethal. Safety first. Make sure there is no way the lead can spring back to your battery while you are working. I put the plastic cover back over my battery to be sure.
Also, I like to wire up all the new speaker connections first, then the amp ground connection, 12v power and remote last.
These maps of the wires I found to be accurate and were essential:
http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/hk-plug-grey.htm
http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/hk-plug-black.htm
After you disconnect the wiring harness from the amp, pry this wiring plug apart with a jewellers screwdriver or a knife and a black half and grey half should pull out of the connector. Release the triangular tangs that lock the wires in the halves with nail or tiny screwdriver. The metal tangs on the wires work pretty well without stripping, you can plug them straight into the XD600/6 wire connection holes -- tighten down on them with the alan key provided.
Its fairly straightforward to wire everything up. Just follow the diagrams that will tell you which coded wires the tweeters, door speakers and woofers connect to. The power, ground and remote, as well as the input leads from the HK head unit need to be wired up as well. That's about it.
You'll need two RCA connectors to wire up the two-channel input from the HK Head Unit to the amp. Positive (+) goes to the center pole. There is a switch at the amp to accept 2 channel input, and that's what you'll need to select.
You'll need to extend the Subwoofer A speaker leads to the amp (I ignored Subwoofer B, those leads seemed redundant and everything seems to work without B just fine) by about 4"/15cm.
The biggest part of the job for me was cutting and drilling a thin metal plate to mount the amp back onto the original HK bracket. Its a tight fit but the JL Audio XD600/6 does work in the same space the Harmon Kardon fit in and another reason to go with JL -- their stuff is very compact. The remounting job will take up the most of your time since you'll be inventing/re-jigging. But all in all it, I found it a fun weekend project.
If you find you have amp hiss, even without the Head Unit switched on, turn your inputs all the way down and mix back up from there. That should fix it. Use the included JL manual to learn about and then adjust the frequency filters (crossovers) and inputs. Adjust to your taste with the head unit controls set flat. Again, don't cook your speakers by over dialling the inputs. Keep the inputs as low as possible to minimize noise.
One note: I have to mail order and run some 4AWG wire that JL recommends for the 12v power since I live In-The-Middle-Of-NoWhere but in the meantime, I'm using the stock Mini power to the HK amp and it seems to be working fine for now. I'll let you know if it starts blowing fuses.
So bottom line...
I did it myself. Saved at least $700. Looks like a factory install. Sounds awesome.
If you have any questions, I'll try and answer.
#68
07-01-2013, 11:15 AM
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#69
07-01-2013, 11:40 AM
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#70
07-10-2013, 06:55 AM
#71
07-17-2013, 08:22 PM
My HK died about a year-and-a-half ago (03 MCS). I kept the stock HU & went with an Alpine (forget the model) 4ch Amp.
On a whim, I pulled the radio & found that the rear outputs are there, just missing the wires in the harness. I re-purposed a couple of the HK input wires (same ends as radio outs), plugged them into the HU harness & ran rear channel wires back to the amp.
Don't let them tell you you'll lose your fader if swapping amps!
On a whim, I pulled the radio & found that the rear outputs are there, just missing the wires in the harness. I re-purposed a couple of the HK input wires (same ends as radio outs), plugged them into the HU harness & ran rear channel wires back to the amp.
Don't let them tell you you'll lose your fader if swapping amps!
#72
07-18-2013, 11:01 AM
For those of you with faulty amps, the fix is apparently quite simple (not easy, simple). One of the DC DC PSUs in the amp has failed and can be replaced.
For hose of you replacing the HK amp, be aware there is zero filtering at any speaker or tweeter in the car. All filters were located in the amp.
For hose of you replacing the HK amp, be aware there is zero filtering at any speaker or tweeter in the car. All filters were located in the amp.
#73
07-29-2013, 11:59 AM
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#74
09-04-2013, 07:19 AM
For those of you with faulty amps, the fix is apparently quite simple (not easy, simple). One of the DC DC PSUs in the amp has failed and can be replaced.
For hose of you replacing the HK amp, be aware there is zero filtering at any speaker or tweeter in the car. All filters were located in the amp.
For hose of you replacing the HK amp, be aware there is zero filtering at any speaker or tweeter in the car. All filters were located in the amp.
#75
09-04-2013, 09:25 AM
