Where in Canada you at? The dealer wouldn't give one to me free, really don't want to pay $100 for it.

 

I did the swap tonight on my 10 MC Clubman. It sounds much much better....

I used a smalll flat head screwdriver to pop out the female. It was easy...No Torx needed. I just twisted the driver while pushing it. The connectors came out quite easily.....Took only 5 mins for swapping.

Thanks for everyone's work on this.

My next project is to upgrade speakers and add tweeters on A-pilar !!!!

 

Any tips how to remove the plastics?

 

If you haven't pulled the panels before (and you have a newish or new-to-you car), you're queasy about applying too much force...

Work from the bottom, and pull! It takes more force than you'd expect the first time (innuendo left for different forums), but gets easier from there (still trying to resist...).

Keep track of where the little plastic clips (white, pink, blue?) are. If you end up pulling and putting back the panels a few times, you'll need to buy more clips; not a big thing to worry about. You can get them on eBay, or other online sources.

You can also get plastic trim removal tools at auto parts stores and places like Crutchfield. But for the first time, fingers work well enough.

 

I did the swap today in about a half hour and am happy with the results. I used a small Phillips screw driver from my Swiss Army knife to push out the female pins and mini needle nose pliers. I will now proceed with the expensive part of the audio upgrade and buy aftermarket speakers.

 

One more thanks; just did my '10. No problems once I got the hang of it, and it worked fine.

Of course I found a different issue while digging around in the car; now I have to figure out why there was a quart of water in the bottom of the boot in the spare tire well.

 

Many thanks to all those that went before me to figure all of this out.

I did it on my lunch break. It sounds much better, but the factory speakers are still really weak. I'll upgrade the speakers soon.

But it's still only a patch fix until Urban MINI releases the R55 sub box and then I'll run everything through a 5 channel amp.

 

I am new to this stuff but am getting the hang of it. I understand the swap of the back and front speaker channels to help distribute the lows to the back.

I am planning a whole upgrade, front and rear speakers, possible an amp (if necc) and possible a sub system in the boot.

I will need to spend some serious time on all these threads to plan it out. This thread seems to be particularly helpful however.

What I am wondering? Do you need to purchase an additional amp when using this fix?.. or does this allow you to use the stock amp? I have a non-wifi R56 (not even sure it has an amp?). Do I even need to buy an amp when using this method? I will be purchasing new front and rear speakers, which leads me to think I would need an amp. Maybe focals or possible genesis. If I get a sub in the back, I would definetely need an amp, but I am mostly concerned with front and back speakers right now.

Does this allow you to not use an OEM amp?

Thanks.

 

The non-Hi-Fi R56 doesn't have a separate amp, just the head unit.

I still recommend doing things in phases, much as you suggested:

(1) Do the swap. This will improve your bass.

(2) Replace the speakers, front and rear. This will improve the sound all the way around. Yes, the rear speakers are a PITA, but you only have to do them once!

(3) Add a sub. I'm partial to the little Bass600; it's a good fit for the Mini.

I stopped there. I'm comfortable with the way things sound. Others want to take it further. That involves a 4 or 5 channel amp (such as the Alpine PDX), and a lot more work.

Depends on what you want, how much work you are willing to do, and how much you want to spend.

As I've joked in the past, for me, the next step after the sub is the E55 AMG...

Have fun, and let us know what you do and how it works out!

 

I joined this forum to say thanks to the OP and others who contributed to this thread. I completed the swap yesterday and cannot believe the difference.

Thanks!

 

Thanks fellas! I'm not sure if I noticed a dramatic difference although I may be tone deaf or my mp3s are horribly converted. Maybe tomorrow when I have fresh ears I'll hear the difference.

EDIT: VERY COOL! I actually felt some bass in my gut. I didn't crank it up as high last night (neighbors) but today, wow. It is really noticeable. I'm also hearing tones I didn't before, the music is much more clear than before. The volume can also go higher before it distorts.

You guys rock!

 

did this today, fantastic mod!

next step will be to change the front and rear speakers. Then possible add a sub

 

I've said this before and I still don't get it... Why would anyone want the channel with the superior fidelity to be routed to the rear, I mean like behind your back??? So many people read this channel swap crap and believe it is a good idea. Its not, its wrong.

When was the last time you sat backward to listen to music at a concert or any performance? This is just dumb.

The problem is not the channel swap, the problem is the front speakers suck. The solution is to replace the front speakers with better speakers, not swap the channels. The back 6x9's suck too.

BTW, accepting a falicy as a truth because "everyone says its true" is defined as "dogma" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dogma

 

how-to! I'm going to do this when I upgrade Couper's speakers (a 2011 New Year's resolution). Would another side effect be reversal of the front-rear fader

 

Back in the day, stereo/Hi-Fi purists once said, "If God had intended 4-channel sound, He would have given us 4 ears" and then we had Regular Matrix, SQ, QS, and CD-4, and Dolby Labs only minimized tape hiss. When installing speakers in the rear package shelf of my '63 Dodge Dart GT, a buddy suggested that instead of connecting the speaker ground terminals to the ground wires, simply connect them together. So I connected them that way and it did indeed cause the rear channels to sound different from the fronts. Not being grounded in audio electronics, perhaps someone could explain the effect and advise whether this is electronically sound.

Can anyone recommend a commercial product to connect between the head unit and the speakers to produce a surround sound effect? TIA

 

It's all about bass. The main difference between the front and rear channels is that the rear channel has the bass clipped. This is odd because the rear speakers are larger (6x9 vs. 5.5) and more capable of bass. The suspicion is that MINI had some problems with keeping the rear plastic panels from buzzing with some heavy bass, so instead of fixing the panels, the disabled bass to the rears. That's the latest conspiracy theory, anyway.

Otherwise, the mid and high ranges should be the same coming from the head unit. So, all the swap does is change where the bass goes.

 

Yes. Another effct is that those with Park Distance Control will hear the beeps through the front speakers, rather than the rears.

 

There is really no such thing as 4 channel sound, as where there are 4 discrete channels, in car audio. You just see front stereo and rear stereo with a fader between. It's not a true 4 channel presentation as Quadraphonic sound was back in the early 70's. In most automotive sound systems the front and rear "channels" carry the same signals. Some OEM systems have separate "channel equalization" to optimize to the particular car but the signal is not discrete. This is and is not so in the Mini. In the Mini the rear "channel" is significantly compromised in the lower octaves and as such should not be used. A good system in the Mini will drive the front speakers, and rear if used, off the front L+R outputs only and disregard the rear outputs.

The speaker wiring configuration you mention was developed and promoted in the early 70's by audio and electronics genius David Hafler. This configuration was commonly known as the "Hafler Channel", or "Hafler Circuit" or "Hafler Hook-up".

The idea was to arrange 2 speaker opposite of the main stereo speakers and to the rear of the listening position. Then these "rear or surround" speakers would be wired in series using the positive output terminals of the power amp to the respective positive terminals of the Left and Right rear speaker then connecting the negative terminals of each rear speaker to the other as in left to right. This method actually worked fairly well compared to the other systems available at the time.
For a little more discussion on this subject check here: http://www.sa-cd.net/showthread/18552/40473

Cheers

 

Thank you for that explanation of the Hafler Circuit!

You suggest driving the front and rear speakers off the front outputs and disregarding the rear outputs. That infers that the R56 standard system has only 2 channels. Another thread states that the standard system has 4 channels and, depending on the radio, amplifier power is 4 x 15 w (4 ohms). What instrumentation is necessary to determine if my R56's standard system has 4 channels or only 2?

 

I am a bit confused by your question regarding testing 4 channels??? Are you suggesting that they really are 4 discrete channels, as in Quad??? Just because there are 4 outputs from the head-unit doesn't mean that they are truly 4 discrete "channels".

As I stated above, almost all Car audio is front and rear stereo. They are really 2 left and 2 right outputs, 1 stereo set for the front and 1 stereo set for the rear. The rear L+R outputs off the MINI Boost head-unit have the lower mid-range and all the bass signal clipped so any one using those "channels" would be foolish.

 

Does this mean that you're using only the front signal for both the front and rear speakers? Where and how did you tap into the speaker wires? The kick panel or the head unit? Or did you buy a loom from NewMINIStuff.com?

Thanks to everyone at NAM for all the great information posted here!

 

mellowmac to answer your question... yes and no.

I currently have upgraded my front speaker system only, the rear remains stock with the fader toward the front to reduce the rear speaker output.

I'm one of those "crazy" people who believe that music is best enjoyed when it originates from in front of the listener, spread out on a soundstage if you will. So many "Authorities" on this forum and others seem to think and promote that the majority of the high quality sound should come from behind the listener's head. As such they insist on "swapping" the superior fidelity front channel with the significantly compromised rear channel. Many of these "Swappist Authorities" have also been known to insist that their seats be turned round when they attend live concert performances. Who knew?

My front system is composed of a Focal 3 way component system (Polyglass 165 V3E) driven by a 2 channel Kenwood (KAC 7502) 170 wpc amp. mounted under the passenger seat. I am using a loom from NewMINIStuff in the kick panel as well as the OEM hifi A pillar trims.

The amp I chose was recommended to me by the people at NewMINIStuff for use with their "Kickwell speaker splice" loom. I was advised that the "speaker splice" loom causes the least "disruption" of the stock wiring and the least potential for problems.

I have considered the addition of a rear channel set of Focal 6.5' coaxial speakers driven by an additional amp in the rear piggybacked off the front channel amp. In addition, I am toying with the idea of adding a subwoofer module in the back.

I may not do anything with the oem rear speakers. If you ever heard the Focal system I have... you may chose to do nothing more also. It is absolutely the best sounding speaker system I have ever heard in a car.

I remember the first day I had the system installed. I drove around laughing at how good it sounded. Each day for the first 5-10 days it seemed to sound better and better. I would recommend this system to anyone, it's a blast.

Cheers

 

djdraddy: I hear ya. I can only imagine how good that must sound in a small space like the Mini.

I totally agree that the primary sound should come from the front, with only minimal or reflected sound from the rear. Apparently the whole 'rear is better' idea is a throwback to when the only way to produce any quantity of sound (regardless of quality) was to place large speakers in the only place available, which was the rear deck.

Since I purchased my (used) Mini exclusively for the driving experience, my expectations for the performance of the audio system were low to begin with. That being said, I DID do the front/rear channel swap last weekend on my stock Boost system, with surprisingly good results. Because low frequencies are for the most part omni-directional, the swap did result in an improvement in the depth of the music without significantly altering the soundstage.

Now I've got the bug to upgrade. With a significant investment in my home audio system already however, my funds for this project are extremely limited so no Focals for me. I do have a pair of JL Audio TR650-CSi components coming this week though, which I think will be a big improvement over the stock speakers. Bad news is, now I have to reverse the front/rear swap in order to take advantage of the new speakers. I'll probably add the NewMINIStuff loom while I'm at it, so at some point in the future I can upgrade the rears and possibly add a sub, using the full-range signals.

Thanks and happy motoring!

 

Hello all, I have done the swap on my Mini with the Boost system and the result is amazing ! Thank you
I would like to know igf this swap works with the Wave CD system ? (non MP3 player)

 

OK I'm pretty much stuck. I was able to loosen the base of the female x9331 connector so that it is free from the tabs and I can pull it completely off the main part of the connector but I still don't see how a T-25 or 5/32 or 3/16 frees the female pins to remove the cable from the connector.

I am really surprised no one has posted a video detailing how to do this step or what tools actually work...seem to be a big mix of tools that work (flathead screwdrivers, pin removal tools, torx bits).

Anyone in the tri-state area can help me out or maybe just detail how these connectors come out? Do I just jam a torx bit in there and push or turn left/right or what? How did those of you with small flat-head screwdrivers work them out??