I have an MCS with the Harman Kardon sound system. The literature says it has 8 speakers. I can only find 6:
-2 Tweeters (one on each front door near the door release handle)
-2 Speakes (one on each front door, near the front bottom corner of the door)
-2 Speakers in the backseat (one on each side near the arm rest)

That adds up to 6. Anybody know where the other two are?

 

there are two speakers in the tweeter area, a mid and a high

or, they could be reffering to the fact that there are 2 voice coils on each rear speaker...

 

how's the bass in the system?...is there no sub-woofer?

 

Bump- I'd like to know as well..

 

the bass comes from the DVC rear 6x9's, acting as subwoofers. they are lows, the bottom speakers in the doors are misbass and the tweeters are mids and high's

HK sounds decent, but an aftermarket system of the same value will blow it away.

 

Whenever anyone weighs in on the HK system, please remember that it's totally subjective. In other words...how it sounds to ME.

I think the whole HK sound, the bass in particular, sounds manufactured. It's there, but its nowhere near as deep or resonant as aftermarket systems of the same cost.

Last month at a rally, I heard the standard, stock, non-HK speakers being driven by nothing more than an Alpine 9853 head unit. No aftmkt sub or amp.

To ME, it blew the HK away.

 

now, come over and listen to my setup...

CDA9851
Alpine iPod interface
Infinity 6 1/4 in the doors
Infinity 3 way 6x9's
Infinity 1030 SVC Sub
Sub driven by an Alpine V12 amp

a little over $700 spent on the setup, but, in comparison to my old HK in my 05, this one makes the $550 factory option sound like a boombox.

 

well, remember the days (back in the late 70's early 80's) when boomboxes didn't have much "boom" ? that's wat my non-HK sounded like.


until i swapped out the front sp and added a BassLink. HUGE difference,
ofcourse.

but imho, the HK sounded pretty good for what you get... but the buzzing
was not too friendly.

 

Hmm- interesting. I was figuring that I would end up building my own system eventually. I am going to try to stay with the OEM h/u, because it matches the interior, but I will probably upgrade speakers and maybe add an amp to the 6x9's...

 

Why keep an inferior part of the syetm?

might as well just leave the speakers stock then, there isnt going to be any change in power output to them...

Its only going to get 10x better by swapping out the stock HU for an aftermarket one!

 

It is funny this dicussion has once again graced NAM. When I purchased my 04 MC, one of "must have options" I THOUGHT I had to have was the HK system. From the first song I ever listen to, I noticed the HK puts out too much bass. "What?!" you say, too much bass. In these days of people bumpin' up and down the streets, you would think the bass would be a good thing.

Well, maybe I'm actually gettin' old, but the bass starts to wear on me and all I would like to do is turn it down. But on the HK, you cannot turn it down all that much. So, IMO, this is why the passenger door speaker is buzzing, again! I have already had the speaker replaced under warranty, and now the replacement is buzzing on certain songs. The right rear passenger area near the speaker also buzzes on not so high volumes. VERY annoying!!

The thing is I'm not even that upset at the $550 I paid for the option as I am at BMW for not researching the HK system on all levels. It would seem that someone in the testing and research of the system would have stood up and said maybe in some respects the system has too much bass and at least incorporated a way to cancel it out if need be.

So now this Monday, in addition to having my entire bottom seat cushion replaced due to a malfunctioing heat seater, I have to now convince Classic MINI that the pass. door speaker once again should be replaced. I shouldn't have to go through all this after paying $22.000 for an economy car! Don't get the wrong idea here, I love my MINI and will keep it until the day I die, but most people wouldn't be as patient. I have owned Japanese cars my whole life before my MINI, and I have had to take my MINI to the dealer more than any other car I have ever owned. To this I say, it truly must be love. Thanks for listening to me rant. Cheers!

 

So the Infinities front and back are running only off the 9851 head unit? Or is the V12 driving them too?

hs

 

yeah, i dont have an amp for them now, it really doesnt NEED it, altho, it would help.

 

Like I said above, I was totally impressed with how the 9853 made the stock mini speakers sound. I believe the 9851 and 53 have identical power output. Your Infinities are better speakers than the oem, and very efficient (92? 94db?) I probably wouldn't add an amp unless I needed much more volume, and as you know, the Mini just isn't that big.

Bet your system KICKs

 

the speakers handle power so well, from probably 20 watts all the way to well over 350 (Peak). Infinity rates their speakers very conservatively. Ive had a 400 watt RMS rated, 1000watt peak Infinity sub pushing over 600 watts RMS and 1800 Peak, and it ran fine for the 5 months i had it in my vette!

now, scale that down and compare it to how much a component can handle!


the one weak link i see now are the tweeter, the stock ones are just all around crappy.

 

Overall I find the HK to be a disappointment. Speaker buzz is a persistent problem for many, including me. Not sure what its due to, components vs. installation or what, but no system sounds good when yer speakers buzz. When space and money allows I plan to change it all out and add a sub.