Actually, the extra "speakers" in the HIFI are all tweeters. However, if you just want to upgrade speakers (not add amps, etc.) then the HIFI is the way to go. The bass clipping seems to vanish with good speakers.

 

I get a really good deal on H-K, Infinity, and JBL stuff this time of year (most look to be about 50% of msrp). I just need to figure out what I need and if I can get it in there. I'm not against adding subs and amps - I had a 900W amp with a 12" sub in my Alero, and I kinda miss it. There's just not that much room in the MINI, so I want to stick with the 10-speaker setup.

 

Good to know, thanks. I want to change out the speakers, without adding an amp, except also add a small powered subwoofer. I just wish JBL or somebody else would make a woofer box for the side of the boot of the R56! I need BASS!!!

 

Here are the speakers I used. Some sizes seem larger than the stock speaker specs, but fit well.

Infinity Kappa 693.7i (rear 6x9)

Infinity Kappa 60.7cs 6-1/2" component speaker (front door bass). I had to use the plastic shipping protection ring to keep the foam on the door panel grille from crushing the rubber than connects the cone to the outer edge. This seems to work well. I did not try fitting the Kappa 5.5" speakers. Separate tweeters come with this set. You could use them in the A pillar, if you take it off. I haven't done that yet.

Infinity Kappa 42.7i 4" 2-way car speakers. These fit well in the small opening in the door. The stock are 3.5", but the Kappa 3.5" are way too small.

These speakers can be had through Amazon.com (Globazar) for a total of about $310 plus shipping.

Some drilling required, no grinding.

The Infinity Kappas are fairly "bright" speakers. Some people don't like that. I'm used to it with NHT speakers in my home audio system. The clarity of the Kappas is much better than the stock HIFI and the distortion has been pretty much elimiated. Do they sound as good as my 7.5 home system with NHTs, SVS sub, and 100 lb. amp with separate preprocessor? No.

 

Thanks again for the info.

Did you add a sub at all? That would certainly help with the "brightness" I would think.

 

Robin, if I recall from the mega-thread, you encountered issues with low end being filtered out to the rears, for some odd reason? If so, is it worth the replacing those w/o solving that issue?

I got the impression the crossovers are in the head unit, and not in the HiFi amp. So, I'm wondering if a cleansweep between the between the headunit and the HiFi amp would solve this? Sorry if that is ignorant - I'm not a car audio buff, and don't have a good overall picture of the audio wiring in the R56. I would like to swap out all the speakers cleanly and retain the stock HiFi amp, if possible, to avoid having to put it back in whenever I have to go in for a SW upgrade. Or, maybe I should just stick with MM's suggestion and just swap out the fronts and be content.

 

Huh?? Isn't that the amazing floor brush that the british guy sells on TV, you know the commercial, "The cleansweep picks up everything, your hair, my hair, dog hair, all hair...."!!!

 

Very valid point - didn't consider that but I'll definitely look into it now. I won't be doing my upgrade for awhile anyway but that's good to know.
Thanks.

 

Same thing I'm wondering and also why I only planned to upgrade the front speakers.

 

There are others who understand this better than I do, but is seems that not sending low end to the 6x9s is by design. The system seems to rely on the big door speaker for all bass. You can find more info here:
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=120789

I've not done anything about it. You could try just replacing the fronts and see how it sounds. The front and back pretty much are separate projects. Some have suggested adjusting the balance to turn off the rears, but the PCD audio only comes from the rears. There may be other car signals that come from the rear as well.

It is too bad that the largest speakers in the system don't get bass, but that seems to be what they intended. One of dark mysteries of the R56.

 

My hi-fi sounds fine.