I've been researching the forums a bit and would like your thoughts as to what I'm thinking about as far as a new system.

I have an 08 with the Boost System. It sounds like crud and I want to improve it. However I don't know anything about installing amps so I want to keep it simple. I figure there's already a built in amp so I might as well take advantage of it.

My plan is to install speakers in the front only. I'm going to install a component set and a 4" set. I'm not going to do anything with the crossover included with the crossovers.

Would it be as simple as removing the old speakers and plugging the new ones in? I know I'm not going to get spectacular sound, but I just want a decent improvement.

I figure I can get the two sets of speakers for a total of $160.


Polk Audio db6501

6-1/2" component speaker system

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB65...1&ssi=0&tp=106



Polk Audio db401

4" 2-way car speakers

http://www.crutchfield.com/p_107DB40...+&ssi=0&tp=102

 

You will notice a differnce, and yes it is a simple as unpluging and pluging in, you might however need to make a trip to the local hardware store and get a spliter depending on the wire set up, i have not tackled this yet in my MC but plan on doing a whole stero override, amps, speakers, subs and all....let me know how it works out. Also i would not order from crutchfield, i have had bad experances with their CS and just businees in gereral, i would take the product numbers and go to like american, or ultimate electronics, or onlinecarstereo.com etc.

 

The Boost System is the basic audio with no tweeters in the A-pillars. The amp is built-into the head unit, and not very powerful. The HIFI and H/K systems have separate amps.

Since you are not changing the rear speakers, you will probably have to change the front/back balance to keep the rears from being too loud.

If you have the Boost System, I assume you will not be using the tweeters with the 6.5" component speakers, as there are no wires for them. Using the crossover would not work well because the 6.5" speaker in the front is already filtered to receive mostly bass.

You will have a tweeter in the 4" so if you did figure out a way to wire the component tweeter in, it would probably be too much tweet.

Not really. The plugs on the MINI speakers will not fit the Polk speakers. You will have to cut the plugs off and use solder or crimp connectors. Also, the 6.5 speaker wires attach to the front of the MINI speaker. You need them to connect to the back of the Polk. You'll find a rubber grommet that just fills a hole in the sheet metal. Poke a hole in the rubber and run the wires through there to the back.

One of the trickiest bits is dealing with the controller for the side mirrors. Be sure to see how it goes together so you can put it back correctly. It is a bit trickey.

All in all, it isn't a difficult job, but it is more than just plugging in new speakers.

 

Actually all the Systems say BOOST Audio on they the only telling difference is the A Pillars.

So NO tweeters in A Pillar = Base Audio System

Tweeters in A Pillar No markings as to brand = HiFi Sytstem

Tweeters in A Pillar with HK label = HK System.

 

Check the thread marked "hifi system by alpine". This is a plug and play system that will give you 6 speakers, an alpine amp, and a factory wiring harness. I paid about $750.00 for the lot. Two of us have order it, I recieved it and neither of us have installed it. It's a long story.

 

I just went through a speaker upgrade on my '09 MCCS (I have a thread with lots of pics in this forum). I did the fronts only at first and then a few months later, did the rears.

By far, the biggest bang for the buck was doing the rears and swapping the front/rear channels. Echoing schatzy62 and Robin on all points.

To my ear, the stock speakers are shrill (probably designed that way, so they give the impression of being "loud"). Swapping just the fronts, I could hear a lot more of the music, but the rears were overpowering (a little fader adjustment fixed that). It sounded better, but was clearly less loud. It was a nice improvement in quality, but I was a little disappointed with the overall sound.

The new rears, combined with the front/rear channel swap, really made a huge difference in the sound. The volume is back and the sound is full, with much better bass. I have the non-hifi system and did not add an amp (speaker swap only). It was a relatively inexpensive (<$500) upgrade and fairly simple to do. I'm very happy with the results.

 

What car do you have? If you have the non-HiFi system and an R55 you can do the rears without removing all the stuff in the trunk and rear seats (which is a pita job). Basically you will want to do things in this order:

1. The front rear swap and run the speaker wire for the high level input to the sub at the same time.

2. Change the front 6.5's (I personally wouldn't waste the money on replacing the front 4 inch since the stock ones are good enough for what they do, which isn't much other than a little mid-high range, and the money for the 4's can be much better spent on the 6x9's and a Boss Audio Bass600 sub.

3. The rear speakers, which I discuss in detail below.

4. Add the powered sub, which fits like it was made to be put in the sub-trunk.

Personally I also think it is a pretty big waste of time and money to make a custom harness for the x9331 connector or to make a special tool since you can just pop out the female side plugs with the torx driver in your trunk.


The 6x9 in the club door is similar to the fronts but actually easier since there are less clips on the door panel and the 6x9 aftermarket speaker mounting holes line up with the mounting holes in the car. The driver side (LHD) is a bit trickier. You have to take the seat bottom out which just pulls straight up and out. Once the rear seat bottom is out then just work on the clips and a couple of screws on the panel. You will get everything free except the most upper part of the panel. When you try to pull this part of the panel free you will discover that they don't use the regular plastic clips you are used to unsnapping by this point, but rather, there are metal v shaped clips which will go flying all over the place as you pull what you think is just more plastic clips Now the panel is freed up enough to pull the panal far enough away from the speaker to do the swap. Then I just picked up all the metal clips I could find then redid the couple of torx screws and all the plastic clips and just ignored the metal clips since I figured I would just get them part way back on and they would end up rattling. The panal fits snug and doesn't rattle at all without these so I dont see any problem with leaving them off.

Good luck.

 

hi all, thanks for the many replies! sorry i couldn't get back earlier...i was out of town...

anyway, i have the "hifi" system with the 10 speakers in an 08 MCS

are replacing the tweeters tough in the a pillars? what's this front rear swap?

 

Planning similar speaker upgrade(db6501+4" stock speaker) for my 2010 MC Clubman with non-hifi sound and have few questions....
I am new to car audio and just did front rear swap.

1. Tweeter(from db6501) and 4'' stock speaker.

I really want to have tweeters on A-pillar!!!! and keep 4" stock speaker for mid-range(I know db6501 can cover mid-bass range). Then the problem is the total impedence will be only 1.33 ohm(three 4 ohms in parallel). My speaker will blow up? I like to have both speakers...

2. Without 4'' stock. Tweeter at A-pillar

Let's forget about 4'' stock speakers. The crossover from db6501 is still useless for my non-hifi system? Since I swapped front and rear, some signal for tweeter is expected at front? (Remeber I am new to car audio)

3. About 3-way component.

The impedence of Focal Polyglass 165A3 3-way is 4 ohm. Does it mean the total impedence is 4 ohm or each speaker is 4 ohm?
If the total is 4 ohm, the volume will decrease in my non-hifi MC Clubman? -> Amplifier recommended?

 

gagamel,

The Focal component system, like most component systems, has a separate crossover module that shows about 4 ohms nominal to the headunit or amplifier. The individual drivers are to be connected directly to the crossover module and the amplifier connects to that. the Amp "sees" the system as a whole.

BTW, this is actually a much more complicated topic than most people realize. The "impedance" or "load" is dependent on a number of factors so the value listed in most applications is usually referred to as the "nominal impedance". The amplifier is really dealing with a varying "load" over the entire frequency spectrum, but that whole discussion goes way beyond the scope of this venue.

Good Luck, Cheers

 

recommend not doing this as the mid range will then be over bearing.

It is usefull and infact your really need to use it or you will blow the tweeters.


[quote=gagamel;3056546]Since I swapped front and rear, some signal for tweeter is expected at front? (Remeber I am new to car audio) all four channels have high frequency support it is just the low end (bass) that is lacking on two channels so the swap moves those to the front where the speakers can not really handle it as well.

It means the crossover shows 4 ohms to the amplifiers and it does not really matter what the actual speakers are.

As fro teh volume that is more dependent on the efficiency numbers I.E. are they 92db or 83db as 1 watt at 3feet than onthe actual impedance (ohm rating).

As djdraddy stated there is a lot more to it than just the one number and this venue does not have the space to teach it all.

Now from experience the Focal Polyglass 165A3 3-way are slightly less efficient (will not sound as loud) than the stock speakers but the clarity is so much better it is worth the change.

 

Let me get this straight. If one were to replace the front speakers for the stock Boost system, is it preferable to go with the HK A pillar upgrade and mount the tweets there, and then leaving the smaller stock speaker hole unconnected, thereby running a two-way system? And a two way system is preferred over a three-way in the front because of what, better sound staging? Or is it better to get a 3 way component system?

 

The three way would be better put the poster seems to already have the two way system. So in that case he would be better off with that than spending the money to get the three way do to the extra cost and very low return on sound quality. If he were adding an amp then he would definitely want to go the three way route.

 

Thank you for quick replies.

My budget is less than $300. Focal + amp would cost too much.
Polks 2-way component speakers are cheap($150) with decent quality(better than stock speakers).
I will give up 4'' stock for tweeters^^.

 

Just beware the A-Pillars with tweeter openings will cost you a couple hundred as well to purchase as you do not have them in your car.

You could always mount the tweeters in the 4" location and save a few hundred on the A-Pillars. There is a thread here somewhere with instruction on how to make a tweeter holder for the 4" location. It even has a link to a template for the piece you need to make.

 

With that limited a budget I agree with schatzy62, scrap the A-Pillar Tweets.

 

I am expecting around $100 for A-pillars. Am I wrong? Here is my plan for tweeters.

Each A-pillar with a tweeter hole costs only $33.81(51432756767 and 51432756768). Wiring from door to A-pillar should cost less than $20. I guess this wiring will be tricky....^^

6-1/2" speaker <----------|
1'' tweeter on A-pillar <---+------Crossover---signals from lower door stock speaker

I don't want to play with X9331...

 

For those of you who want a tweeter adapterr for the 4" hole, check out Urban Mini's adapter. It's very slick.

http://www.urbanmini.com/UrbanMINI/R...r_Adapter.html

 

If you can get them for less than $35.00 each go for it.

I would if I were you put the crossovers under the passenger seat and that way you do not have to run wires back to the tweeters from the doors. I would also purchase a X9331 connector splice kit form newministuff.com. That way you can easily extract the signals you need to go to the input of the cross over. then you can run back to the X9331 connector for running the signals back to the door speakers and only have to run wire from the crossovers to the pillars.

If you were to use the 4" door location then you would need to make or purchase the tweeter mounts as listed in the post above. Put the cross over in the door handle and then there is only ashort piece wire that needs to be run from the crossover to the 4" location. This would be the easiest.