Brought my MINI to a very respected installer for evaluation for upgraded stereo. Some of the things they found were:

The stock head unit had a respectably flat EQ curve, with a slight drop in lower bass, but nothing significant. This would obviate the need for a Cleansweep, and retain stock volume control (and MFSW control). I'm not sure if they tested the output signal from the head unit or from the speakers, but if the latter, I have the HiFi upgrade.

There is room in the A pillars for other tweeters.

Front speaker enclosures will fit the 7" Dynaudios (with slight mod of the midrange grill to hold the domed driver, but the lower opening will fit the 7" beneath the stock cover)

A bass enclosure in the back would be a significant improvement (a no-brainer).

The system I liked, with a custom fiberglass sealed bass enclosure (where the HiFi amp is now), 10" driver, 2 McIntosh amps, 7" Dynaudio component speakers (no rear speakers), and installation to appear stock (with a raised floor in the boot to accomodate the massive amps, and slight reshaping of the left boot panel for the subwoofer), would run slightly over $8000. Not something to do on a whim, but definitely nice to dream about.

This is a shop that took 4th place in a worldwide competition with a similar system, and numerous 1st place finishes in other competitions using similar equipment, and going up against cars with tens of thousands invested in gear. They put it in a Porsche, which is a daily driver of the owner in the winter, and spends summer months at competitions.

If you're in the PA area, and want top notch equipment, service, and install, I would highly recommend them. Bob & Ron's Worldwide Stereo

 

Did you see that post a week or so back, where the service dept wouldn't | wasn't able to upgrade the ECU because the amp was missing from the "bus" ... This is the only thing that makes me leery of swapping out the amp.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=119461

-L

 

Thanks for the info. I don't know that I would have ever been able to spend that kind of money on a stereo system, but I would consider upgrading and the likelihood of using the space the amp was in for a SW enclosure was quite possible.

But it is outrageous that a car's configuration cannot be altered with just a mouse click at the dealer. Who ever designed a system that has to have all original components attached for a software update to occur should be hanged by his procreational component system.