i have a mini cooper S ordered with the harmon kardon sound system, and currently have a sony xplod sub in my honda civic and wanted to transfer it to my mini once i got it.....first of all is this hard? and second i know it may not be necessary but would it be a really kick *** system if i did?

 

Welcome to the MCO!!

Add some filter caps to the front lower speakers and add your sub woofer. The system would kick butt! It's my feeling that the front lower speakers attempt to produce too much bass adding to door noise and rattles as well as some distortion.

 

Depends on your definition of "kick *** system". Do you want it to sound LOUD, or do you want it to sound GOOD?

I think the HK has all the bass you really need. If you add a sub, it will be louder, but the nice frequency curve that the HK has will be thrown in the crapper.

My previous car had a $5K+ custom sound system in it. The HK sounds just fine the way it is, IMHO (although, it could probably use some dampening material in the door panels). Now I'm parting out the old system and selling it off...

 

Oh, one other thing, audiophiles I've heard from that have analysed the MINI's HK system say that the sub woofer frequencies are missing. So adding a sub to handle the 20-80Hz would be a great addition.

 

My HK system sounds like it has TWO subs in the boot! I dont know what your talkin about. I have enuff rattles without adding a sub!

 

So the music goes...

boom rattle rattle
ba boom rattle rattle
ba boom shake rattle rattle?

 

nbame786-
First you should just listen to the HK system as is and do some tweeking of the settings. Then see if it sounds OK as is. IF there is not enough bass for you and you want to add a sub then you will need an amp to drive the sub. Space is small in a MINI so that is a consideration. I know that Pooky13 has the original HK speakers and still added a JL strealthbox sub but she also had two ZAPCO amps. That quite a bit more cost. If done right the sub can improve the sound but at what cost for a quality amp?
If I were you I would just keep the HK for now and try it out for at least a month. No added cost and keep your storage space in the boot.

 

On a related (yet retarded) note:

A Car Stereo That Can Kill You



I think my previous stereo was measured at ~130 dB. Pretty pointless, in retrospect...

 

This comment has been puzzling me, so I decided to test my own HK system a bit further. I went home on my lunch break today and rummaged through my CD collection. I dug out a hardcore electronic bass CD from back in my days of high-dollar car audio toys. This is the CD:

Techmaster P.E.B. - Bass Computer

This CD hits some *serious* bass notes, bordering on sub-sonic - way deep down in the 20-80Hz range that was mentioned. The results? I have to admit, the HK system really suprised me in how well it handled this music! It hit just about every note that I listened to, with the exeption of a couple really *REALLY* low notes. I just sat there with a grin on my face!

Now, with that said, I don't think I would play this type of music at high levels with the HK - this CD will pop a woofer in short order - believe me! However, it definitely had no problem hitting the low bass at reasonable volume levels. One of the more suprising findings was that it didn't cause excessive vibration in the MINI - apparently, this bass was lower than the resonant frequency of the MINI interior!

_________________
__Jason<p>

03 BRG/W MCS

Deals Gap MINI Rally!

 

>>This comment has been puzzling me, so I decided to test my own HK system a bit further. I went home on my lunch break today and rummaged through my CD collection. I dug out a hardcore electronic bass CD from back in my days of high-dollar car audio toys. This is the CD:
>>
>>Techmaster P.E.B. - Bass Computer
>>


I have this same CD from around 6 years ago when I first bought it. Buy it and play (track) Computer Love...I guarantee blown speakers if you dare!

 

I actually have 3 or 4 of Techmasters PEB's CD's... good old school Bass, definitly... The Best of the era... DJ Magic Mike... (shiver) HARD and heavy bass.. i love it.

 

>>I actually have 3 or 4 of Techmasters PEB's CD's... good old school Bass, definitly... The Best of the era... DJ Magic Mike... (shiver) HARD and heavy bass.. i love it.

Definitely one of the greatest DJs from old school BASS music! I'm glad I'm not the only one who enjoys this kind of music. From time to time I like to play stuff like this cause I like the way my eyebrows vibrate from it....

 

From my experience, all systems benefit from a sub regardless of how good they sound at all volume levels. Adding a sub allows your other spearker to function like they were intended - in other words, they don't have to reproduce frequencies which they cannot as accurately produce (20 - ~120 Hz).

I miss the system I had in my old 1979 Porsche 924, which featured two small 8" JBL subs in custom built cabinets in the rear. They didn't take up much space at all, didn't take much power to drive, and with ANY kind of music at ANY volume the sound reproduction was absolutely incredible. It sounded great with techno, d'n'b, jazz, and classical.

If it were me, I'd stick with something that would fit in small sealed boxes, since I like nice, tight bass reproduction.

Just my humble opinion...