I used to have it at +3 / +4. Now it's +2 / +1.

I measured the system with an RTA. +0 / +2 is actually very, very flat. But flat doesn't mean nice sounding - it needs a bit of a "house curve". So +2 / +1 did it for me. Also, the fact is that the little 4" can go as high as 9 KHz or so, but it doesn't sound clean at all that high, so lowering treble is a good idea. YMMV, of course.

 

I honestly do not know that much about audio, but I thought "+" was adding and "-" was lowering. Do I have that backwards??

Jim

 

I attempted to do the swap myself, but got stuck with the tough lower panel. Fortunately k6rtm lives few miles from me and blessed my cooper with his magic last weekend. Thanks much Bob, I am enjoying the upgrade!

 

Thanks to all the hard work on this thread. Did the mod on my 09 MC JCW in about 30 minutes. Sounds way better! Now to upgrade the front speakers...

 

Just did this mod on my 08 MCS..didnt take too long though i was in a rather uncomfortable position.
I wonder if anyone noticed/experienced this: besides the Fade control being opposite (front is rear, rear is front), the Balance control for Left and Right speakers are also flipped over (turning it to the left makes the right speaker louder..vice versa).

I rechecked all the colours and they are all right. So I ended up jsut swapping all the left wires with their respective right wires (eg +left front swap with +left right etc etc) and now the Balance control works normally.

Strange? anyone else?

 

What did you use to remove the pins that made it so easy? I tried the torx bit thing and the copper tube and both didn't seem to do anything to help remove the pins. Is there a trick to removing the pins? A certain twist of the tool or something I'm missing. Haven't been able to remove any pins yet because of the difficulty in getting any movement from them.
Thanks for any tips you can offer.

 

With the proper diameter tool, the pins come out quite easily. When doing the swap on a car a few weeks ago, I found I was pressing pretty hard (on a female pin) -- tugged gently on the wire end, and it came right out. So the next one, I pulled a little on the wire as I pressed on the pin, and it came out quite nicely. I didn't feel or hear any spectacular click or anything, so if that's what you're looking for as a sign of success, try a little tension on the wire!

Cheers--

 

My fade is reversed. Balance stayed correct though.

The funny thing with my current set up right now is I have my sub in the trunk tapped to the left channel, so there is no bass when I switch the bal. to the right :(

 

Hey Robin, has anyone confirmed this? Based on my experience, I don't think there is any cutoff in the HIFI system. I am thinking about adding an amp and this may change what I do.

Thanks!

 

The bass roll-off at somewhere around 100-150 Hz at the 6x9's speaker wires of my 2007 HIFI was determined by k6rtm with his test equipment. He also determined that the roll-off was not present at my X9331 connector.

 

I did the channel swap this morning on my 09 MCS. (I just bought it 5 days ago.) A vast improvement in the sound... I can actually hear vocals now. Took me about 30 minutes to do the whole procedure. Thank you to everyone that took the time to investigate and write up the instructions!

 

Thanks for the info. Was the roll-off as extreme as in the base system?

 

Yes.

 

Thanks for the confirmation - I just took delivery of my 2010 this afternoon and was feeling a bit ambivalent about the quality of the audio compared to the (in every other way) crummier Saturn I traded in. Now to work up the chutzpah to perform the mod. The pins are the easy part for me, I just have a bad history with those little christmas-tree rivets.

 

Can anyone who's performed this mod and installed a modest powered subwoofer (like the BOSS Audio, Infinity BassLink, etc.) say whether it's worth doing this mod if you install a sub? I'm just wondering if this boosts the low end enough where I won't need to bother installing a sub of that size.

Also, if anyone can recommend good tweeter replacements that drop right into the for the upper door speaker pods I would love to hear about them. The stock system suffer from severely clipped high end as well.

 

My view on this may be somewhat biased...

Yes, it's worth doing the swap, even if you install a sub. For me at least, the fronts sound better as well.

I continue to recommend a phased approach:

(1) do the channel swap. Is that good enough?

(2) replace front and rear OEM speakers. Is that good enough?

(3) add a sub, such as the bass600. Is that good enough?

...If you've gotten through (3) and it still isn't good enough, go for the E55 AMG...

Cheers--

 

I would say there is one more step before the E55 AMG and that is to add a separate amp for the front and rear speakers, but that is just my opinion.

k6rtm, i agree with your signature about the "Need Larger Alternator" with al the electronics in have in mine I need more power as well.

 

I did the front/rear swap today, apparently not as quick as most of the posters here, as I spent a couple of hours at it.
I cut the black tape shroud back about 3/4" to allow more slack in the wires, and also slid the translucent plastic inner sleeve out of the body. I'm not sure if the latter step made it easier, but using a T20 torx screwdriver it was quite easy to push out the pins from the female side, twisting slightly while pushing.
Re-installing the black body to the side of the car before replacing the trim cover, it seemed the connector body was not on as solidly as previous. I tried it a few times and it never improved, so maybe I snapped a small piece of the retaining pin, even though I rotated it counter-clockwise 45 degrees before removing.
A quick listen (after connecting the ground wire to the battery) revealed improved sound, I'm hopeful it will sound as good as the Boost system in my R50.
Anyone worried about the bluetooth phone calls through the rear speakers after the swap need not worry, to me it sounded better, as I found calls through the front speakers too bright and shouty.
Thanks to all the NAMers for their investigative efforts.

 

Just did this along with my first oil change today. It took some time before I realized the female pins were only held in with friction and just needed some oomph with the torx bit. Having pliers (and long fingernails ) were essential for me to get the pins back in place. Thanks for everyone's hard work and input - the sound is noticeably better.

While I removed my panel, i noticed some of the retaining pins were still attached to the panel and some were not (either plugged in the frame or just fallen off). Be sure reattach them all to the panel for a secure fit.

 

I hope that couple of hours was in a heated garage!

 

Nah, it was about 35 F here, and I had the garage door wide open for the light!

 

Yeah, around this time of the year, 35 is a heat wave.

 

An outfit I worked for a number of years ago sold me out as a specialist; I got to spend a summer in Houston and a winter in Ottawa and Saskatoon -- definitely out of phase!

And that's one of the reasons I'm on the Left Coast!

 

Thanks to everyone for the info in this thread - it really helped, especially the step by step instructions(they were spot on) I used the back end of a drill bit to pop out the pins - a little twist and turn action worked like a charm. I did the swap this weekend and there was a notable improvement in the bass. Now I'm debating replacing the fronts with components, or 2 ways. Components sound like a hassle to replace, and I'm a noob at this, so 2 ways may be my best option. If I don't use components do I need to make any adjustments to the existing settings, or just switch them out and leave everything as is?

 

Hint -- replace the fronts and the backs with 2-ways. Yes, the backs are a PITA, but you only have to do it once.

The only thing difficult about doing the backs is the incantation required to remove the folding seat backs, and even that is detailed in the speaker swap thread.

Once you swap speakers, you'll want to futz with settings -- bass, treb, balance, and if you're driving the system from an iPod or other music player, the most important setting is the aux input level (set it high, but below the point where things clip).

Cheers--