Hey Guys,
This is my first official post. I've been lurking since I picked up my 08 Clubman S last May. I love the car, but was less than happy with the factory sound system (I had the standard system not the Harmon Kardon). Anyway, I poured over all of the posts pertaining to improving the sound system. Everything from the wiring harness rewire trick to a full replacement of everything except the head unit. I wanted better sound but I was definitely intimidated by a lack of experience with stereo installation and honestly I did NOT want to screw anything up on my beautiful car. I finally decided to look around on City Search and Yelp for some reputible stereo installers. My thinking was that I would see what they had to recommend, compare the price to what I was considering doing on my own and go from there. I searched and found a guy in my area who was consistently given 5 star ratings. To say I lucked out would be a major understatement. The guy was professional, a perfectionist and he absolutely knew his stuff. I'm posting here to tell others what he came up with in the hope that it may help them on their journey.
He initially proposed replacing the front 6.5" speakers with CDT CL-6EX speakers. These speakers combine a midrange and a tweeter into one speaker so he proposed CDT ES-02 2" Extended range mid tweeter for the 3" port. He built an inclosure with dampening for the mid tweeter.
The effect is remarkable. It almost seems like there is a stage on my dashboard. He initially proposed putting an amp in the spare tire area and possibly replace the rear speakers with subwoofers but the quote was a little more than I wanted to spend. We decided to go with a 2 phase approach with the speaker replacement being phase 1 and the amp and possibly the subs being phase 2. I'm attaching photographs of the process in the hope that it might help someone else whose going to do this on their own.
Cheers,
Mark

 

Here are the rest of the pics. I didn't realize that there was a 3 pic limit (I told you I was new ).
Mark

A special thanks to schatzy62 (Swiss Miss) for his numerous posts. I believe we have the same car (I cant really say for sure, I haven't decoded all of the acronyms and abbreviations you frequent posters use) and his posts have been a great source of information and inspiration

 

Who was it?

I'm waiting on my CMS, and I think I may be wanting to upgrade the audio right off the bat, and I'm in SoCal.

 

I was hesitant to post the shops name for fear that people might think I was putting up a commercial. I have absolutely no connection to this guy other than being a satisfied customer.
Method Sound www.methodsound.com

 

I take it you had base system or HiFi? Was considering swapping mine OEM with POLK's but you got me thinking now....

 

I had the base system. Everyone I spoke with recommended against swapping out the head unit (I think that's what you are proposing?) because of it's interface with the on board computer. By way of update, the speakers have started to "burn in" and they sound even better.

 

No leaving stock unit, just interested in swapping out speakers to see the difference...any crossovers installed for your upgrade, or just the co-ax and mid tweeter in up top?

 

Crossovers, I dont believe so....feel free to contact him directly...He added resistors (I believe thats the correct term, I'm not an electronics guy obviously) which would only direct frequencies above a certain level to the speakers. I've read other posts recommending that, they are about $3 from Radio Shack.

 

Does anyone reading this know of a professional stereo shop in North Jersey/NYC or surounding area where I could get the same or similiar upgrade to my stereo?
Feel free to Private Message if you want.
Thanks in advance,

 

DJ auto sound in Greenwich CT (on the Port Chester, NY border) is a great installer and fair prices.

 

Thanks Burnt

Thats close enough! I'll have to reach out to them.

 

Ask for Jim and tell him James (blue mini clubman JL/Hertz) sent you!

 

Thanks. Will do.