I have a Cooper Clubman on order and have been trolling around the forums here and have not found any one's over all impression of MINI's audio system sound quality. I am not looking to do much modification to the standard system beyond adding the iPod adapter but I would like to know what the word is on the street. Does road and or engine noise obscure what you are listening to much? Can you listen to classical and other more dynamically varied music and expect to hear quieter passages? Or should I just plan on blasting the classic rock and later period Coltrane if I want to hear anything?

Thanks.

 

I have the hi-fi system in my 07. I am very happy with it. It doesn't have deep, car shaking lows but highs and mids are very crisp and clear. Sound is very subjective to your own ear. Depending on the music, it has enough lows to shake the door panels and give a little bit of shake to the seats. I notice that mostly with HD radio stations. So far, listening to audio CDs, MP3 CDs, and the Sirius radio, HD radio sounds phenomenally better than the rest. One of the local HD stations has a second channel that plays classical. It sounded good for the few minutes I was listening. I just recently figured out how to switch to the second channel on HD stations so spent a good bit of time checking out everyone that was available, HD and regular FM.

As far as road and engine noise, the car has speed sensitive volume control. It adjusts the volume to counter the affects of road and wind noise. How much it changes the volume is adjustable. I find it works well.

 

The hi fi sounds great. An excellent value for $500. Don't get the ipod adapter. It's a pain and doesn't work well. I wish I just did the aux plug and saved $700+ the H/K in the R53 sounds good too.

 

I agree that the hi-fi system is good, but I disagree on the assessment on the Ipod adaptor. I used the auxiliary input from the time I picked up my R56 in April until having the adaptor installed in November. The sound quality from the adaptor is noticeably better and for those of us with the navigation system, a big plus is to have the menus come up on the nav screen.

 

I'm very unhappy with the HiFi in my '07. It sounds good at normal volume with most music, but not with a lot of lows. Turn it up a little and it seems to just fall apart.

 

I have heard that but not with all audio sources. What were you listening to at the time it sounded bad? Some CDs I've tried just don't sound good while others sound very clean.

 

CD and Sirius both distort when I turn it up. Learned my lesson and I keep it down 'till I can gut it for a new amp. It's true that some sound alright, but for my $500 that's just not acceptable, my favorite stuff seems to be the worst - across all genres.

 

The HIFI system distorts with some kinds of music. Replacing the speakers seems to cure the problem.

Yes, road noise is a big problem -- especially with OEM runflat tires. I've insulated and Dynamated the back, but still need to do the front.

 

Quote from vendor mikeythemini:

 

Agemusic, as you can tell from the discussion, and there have been other threads on this as well, since sound quality is so subjective, your best option would be to get down to a Mini dealer and listen to both options. Be sure to adjust bass/treble settings and try different types of music. Maybe bring some of your own CDs or mp3 CDs. See if you can test drive a model with the standard and one with the Hi-Fi.

I don't think dealers have any Clubmans yet but driving and listening in a Cooper or Cooper S will be just about the same sound experience. If you can get a test drive in a Cooper, with and without the Hi-Fi, you'll be able to make a good decision of if it's worth the money to you or you think it's better to get the basic system and build a system in it.

 

Minidrivr and everyone else, thanks for your input. I ordered the Clubman with the standard audio system and will decide down the line if it will be worth the time and expense to make and after market upgrade. Now all I have to do is wait to get the car. March has never seemed so far away...

 

I'll withhold opinion as I just got my MINI but here is another thing to think about...

The HIFI has tweeters in the A pillars. If you want to upgrade your system in the future it might be nice to have this space pre-wired and holes there for the after market tweeters.

Anyone know if the standard system uses different A pillars without the holes?

 

Exactly, also the HiFi system comes with a separate amp. Both of these allow future upgrades to come much more easily.

As far as sound it's good IMO, although it definitely does distort at high volumes with the bass set anywhere above 1. Also for my tastes it's significantly better than the standard system. Best thing would be for MINI to make the HiFi system standard, then offer a true high fidelity upgrade, but I don't see that happening any time soon.

 

+1

 

My only advice is: if you use an iPod do not plug a wire into the headphone jack, use the docking port to connect to the Aux input. Makes a world of difference, trust me.

 

+1
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Compared to the HK System on the R53 I think it sucks, but it's certainly better than the stock R56 system. As far as whether or not you'd like it, go down to the dealership with a CD and pop it in.

 

That does make an improvement; however, it's not as good as the quality of the signal going through the Ipod adaptor.

 

Don't have that, but I fail to understand why it would sound any better than the dock connector. It all goes to the same audio system through an aux input, right?

 

TheOfficeMaven reported the same result, and it is a bit of a mystery. The iPod adapter uses the line-out in the dock connector, same as what the Ziplinq type of cable provides. The difference is that the iPod adapter uses the CD changer connection and he thinks the aux input may be lower quality.

 

What's the secret? I haven't found it yet and was wondering if it is even possible.

 

+1.

There are times I think, "Wow, this system almost sounds great." And then there are (more) times I think, "Who made this thing? Mattel?" Bottom line, the sound is inconsistent and certainly not upper-shelf.

 

AGREED!

 

+1 to both of those. It's almost bizarre as with certain types of music and at certain volumes it sounds quite nice. While the majority of the time, at anything but the most modest volume, it sounds like half the speakers are blown...

That said I'm still glad I got it. To me the base system sounded consistently lacking with all the music and volume levels I tried with it. Just wish MINI would offer a better system even if they charged more. With such a small interior I wouldn't think good sound would be so hard to come by. Even given the road noise. Could be wrong, however.

 

Same here, this system is not up to the standards of the competition. . . at low volume its ok, but turning it up shows the weakness of low power and cheap speakers. I'm considering an upgrade of an amp and speakers.