Boca Raton, FL

 

Thanks! Just a few more questions, and you can message me offline if you prefer.

I just talked to the install manager at my local Best Buy. He looked up the car and said it looked like the front door speakers were 5.25", not 4". I told him that perhaps those were either the under the seat speakers or the HK system. He said he had very little info on the vehicle (surprise).

So, I mentioned that another owner had done this at a Best Buy in Boca Raton, FL. He said he could call down there and inquire if he had either the service tech or the customer's name, and an approximate install date.

Would it be possible to email or message me this info privately? Whatever you're comfortable with?

Thanks!

David

 

Yes, they are that bad. The sound system is really the only thing I TRULY wish I upgraded.

 

I went through the same situation. For some reason none of the industry information sites have information on the cm. Crutchfield had nothing and Best Buy has the front speakers as 5.25. The correct size for the door speakers is 4 inches. That's it - don't listen to any other comments on the size. Good luck

 

Not sure why everyone is using Best Buy- I would ask your Mini mechanics to recommend car stereo installers. That's how I found the place that did mine. I would imagine most midsize to large cities have some very good car stereo places. Based on what my installer did and said- this was a very simple job for him. "just saying"

 

I just asked the head of service at my Mini Dealer if they could recommend an installer. Here was his answer:

They could do it at the dealer if it was a direct replacement:

"by direct replacement I meant they are the same size as the factory and the same resistance (impedance). If so, we can install them for you. I could not find the resistance of those speakers. Less resistance than the factory speaker will damage the amplifier."

Found the info for him, but they want $179 to install...

http://www.focal.com/en/universal/36...056750108.html

 

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If you ask me "to much over thinking". First it is not an issue if the replacements are a few mm smaller or larger. There is sufficient flexibility in the door cavity. Second the original speakers are direct wired at the factory. The installer just connects the replacements with a set of wire connectors. Third the original speakers are such junk that any mid-priced replacement will dramatically improve the sound quality. After watching it done, this is a really easy reinstall for any one in the business. Personally I wouldn't pick the dealer - "to much rear end protecting". Just pick an efficient replacement due to the low power of the cars head unit and use a reasonably priced installer, as in Best Buy with I used. Good Luck

 

BEE1- you have spoken the gospel. This is way simpler then what some folks are making it. In any city there are car installers (besides Best Buy)- Based on what I saw and my installers comments- it is a simple replacement- they charged me $35 for the install.
To pay more then $100 to install means you should go somewhere else. As for different speaker types- I don't have a clue since I only looked at the Focal brand.
I will say (with some support of other posters) that YES changing just the speakers makes a world of difference in sound quality and volume levels.

 

Best Buy it is then. Focals should be here Tuesday... I'll see if I can get in Wednesday...

 

Best Buy it is then. Focals should be here Tuesday... I'll see if I can get in Wednesday...

 

fkelly5,
bee1,
and the other "Focal-guys",

sounds very good. I`ve spend hours to find replacement speakers - without any success. I m u s t have the Focal speakers.

1, could please confirm if you used the Focal IC 100 or the Focal ISC 100 (I do not what to order the wrong speakers).

2, Because I do not have any car stereo installers in my village, I`m asking myself if the job could be done from my local garage. But they do not have any wiring lead and no sound-insulating material for the doors.

3, is there really zero effect, if I change the front door and rear door speaker - simply said, a waste of money?

Thank you very much for your answer in advance.

Take care

hotknife

 

double post

 

Is there a difference between the two, or just an update or variation?

The focal website lists the IC 100 as an archived product, while the ISC is current.

 

I saw on Crutchfield the Focal ic 100's are 100 bucks. Very tempting ....

 

As stated earlier, it would be a waste of money to upgrade the rear speakers. Your garage could handle the installation. You don't need wire leaders they can just splice the connection. Finally, there is no additional insulation added in the install. Good Luck

 

Iogdka,

will you replace the standard speaker for the Focals 100 yourself or by a pro?

Today I drove 50 miles to the next car hifi shop. Those guys told me the Focal will not improve the sound of my CM.

So I have to try it myself and looking forward for the result of Iogdka speaker replacement.

 

Best Buy. I can't see how they could NOT improve the sound. I'm not looking for thumping bass, just more clarity in the sound coming from up front, and a little more firmness in the mid-lower range.

 

Iogdka,

I gave them a list of speakers and asked them if other than the standard speaker could improve the sound.

(speaker list: Focal 100IFS, JL Audio TR400, Hertz DCX100, Helix Esprit E4X)

Told them that other guys already had fixed the speakers above with good results. Those "pros" even meant that my CM does have an amp, because of the good loud lows. Told them about the standard speaker under the front seats. The sound could not only come from the radio boost cd was the answer.

Took me lots of time for some foolish information from "pros".

So I will wait for your experince. I will order the Focal 100IFS online and ask the local garage to put them in. As Bee1 already mentioned, someone do not need add. insulation and wire.

I`m looking forward for you Focals expert know-how.

hotknife

 

Traveling right now and will have to get home to tell u the exact Vocals I got. They were $175 for the set. going from limited memory I think they were the ICS line.
Question 2 ..don't really have an answer for the lead or insulation. I don't think my dudes used either.
Question. whoever said they don't make a difference r out of their minds. I played them for my mini mechanic and he was gonna go check out a pair they sounded so good. Also u mentioned front and back maybe being a waste of money. depends.
99.9% of the time it is just me and/or the wife so no one is in the backseat. the car is small and I personally feel that the fronts would overpower the speakers in the rear.
so I would not spend the extra dough on speakers. I would upgrade to an amp if I wanted to make any more improvements.
if u make the change please let us know what u think.

 

I asked Focal in France about the difference between Focal 100 IC and 100 ICS. The ICS is the successor of the IC and has identical technolgy with only very little optical improvements.

So in general it is the same speaker. If you can grap the Focal 100 IC`s cheaper, go for them.

@ Iogdka,
did you receive your ordered speakers?

 

Here are the that I got installed. Paid $175 with the dealer who did the install.

 

fkelly5,

didn`t you face any problems of the speaker measurements of you FOCAL 100IC, because of the inverted tweeter? Drawings (please check drawing below) show 49 mm mounthing depth, but someone has to consider the 17.4 mm buildup for the tweeter. I thought the top of the tweeter grill will hit the standard metal speaker coverage?


Thank you for your anwer.

Take care.

hotknife

 

@hotknife- I had no problems at all with the install of these speakers. I did notice the tweeter was sitting out from the speaker cone- but there were no issues.
My best advice to you is to put the researching aside, go to a reputable car installer and get them installed.
As I stated on several occasions my guy told me 1 hr to do the install since it was a pretty straight forward deal. After 1 hr I was driving away happily listening to my tunes.

 

fkelly5,

thank you very much for your answer.

Now I`ve the following option

Focal with no add. cross over no amp
1, front speakers --- 2 x Focal 100 ISC
2, front and rear speaker --- 4 x Focal 100 ISC

Hertz with no add. cross over no amp
3, front and rear speaker --- 4 x Hertz ECX 100.5
4, front/rear + speaker under both seats --- 4 x Hertz ECX 100.5 + 2 x Hertz EV165.5

German Maestro
5, front speaker --- 2 x German Maestro EFS 4008 with sep. cross over
6, front speaker --- 2 x German Maestro EFS 4008 + Andison/Mosconi One amp
7, front speaker + speaker under both seats --- 2 x German Maestro + German Maestro + Andisin/Mosconi amp

Very hard. What do you think???