Ok, after learning the hard way that the front speaker replacement job isn't an easy swap, I'm going to order some components from Crutchfield. They will give me the mount for the midrange speakers which hopefully is a relatively easy install, but what about the tweeters? The rep from Crutchfield says this will need to be a custom mount as they do not have a mount for them.

How did you who replaced your front speakers mount a new tweeter? Can I get some suggestions or tips on how to do this? Thanks in advance!

 

I have not done this, but many have just cut the original ones out and mounted the new ones there...others have cut holes and mounted them where they preferred...Hope this helps...look around I know there are some good threads here somewhere...

 

It's really not that bad. Most 1" tweeter housings can fit neatly in the bracket where the stock tweeter/midrange goes. Jus use a little bit of silicone, tape it in place while it dries, and that should do the trick.

Good luck.

 

i used small zipties, and glue.

 

Awesome! Thanks for the tips! I think I'm ready to do this soon.

 

Which components did you get?

 

I haven't bought them yet, but I'm probably gonna get these:

http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...7DB6501&tp=105

Hopefully they show up soon after I buy them as I am relying on my rear speakers to provide all of the music right now. The front ones are completely blown and make a real annoying buzz sound if any music tries to go through them.

I see you're from York cristo. I'm from North Wales. I would like to attend a Mini event around here, so if you know of any let me know. Thanks!

 

Yep, those are the ones I would get, too, but broke at the moment, and
my stock ones still work.
Our local MINI club folded a few years ago.

 

those components are pretty nice

 

Thanks, just ordered them this morning. Hopefully they will be here soon so I can get them installed. Then it's on to the rear speakers & then an aux port for my iPhone.

Thanks again for the help!

 

are you installing an amp?

 

No amp, just a quick (hopefully) speaker swap. I gotta do the rear speakers after these are in. Then MAYBE a new head unit and amp. We'll see how much dough I have.

 

I have the db 6500's components.

I cut out the mesh part of the tweeter holder on the door and used a little bit of silicone to hold the speakers in.

No problems with them staying in after over 1 year of use.

 

Cool! I may have to go this route. Do the mesh covers come off the tweeters so you can use the stock tweeter grilles in the door? I have the speakers but haven't opened them up yet. I think this is going to be my project for this Saturday.

 

I used the grills on the Polk tweeters, just match the grills to the opening you create when you remove the factory tweeter grills.

 

My left front lower door speaker just bit the dust (the magnet ring in the
back shifted and pinched the voice coil).
so...
just ordered the Polk db6501 components that Nubwagon is getting.
Also ordered 4 sq. ft. of dynamat extreme.
I'm gonna just leave the back ones stock for some bass fill for now.
These speakers should be efficient enough to work without an external amp,
and I'm hoping they'll be a significant improvement over the stock front ones.
Still wondering exactly how the tweeters will go in and where to put the
crossover.

 

I ran mine for 6 months or so without an external amp.

They do sound much better than the stock speakers. I also have 690's in the rear. I believe you will be glad you upgraded your front speakers. Mine sounded much better after I got rid of the factory speakers.

You can mount your crossovers just behind the opening for your front speakers on the front door.

As I said above, just dremel out the speaker grills that the tweeters are attached to on the front door. Do it slowly and check often to see if the Polk tweeters will just slide through, you want a tight fit.

Glue them in and let them set overnight, it's that easy.

 

Great, Thanx!

 

Ok I took some time today to get the front speakers installed. There's a bit to learn about these. Here are some highlights:

1. The mounting rings that come from Crutchfield are worthless. You can use the stock mounting rings that come with the speakers.
2. The tweeters can be mounted using the stock mounting hardware that came with them, as you will see in the pics below.
3. Crossover install is optional. I installed these without the crossovers and they sound great!

When you get the door off and the woofer out, mount the ring that came in the box. The holes will line up perfectly. Then use the wiring harness that came with the mounting hardware from Crutchfield and plug those suckers in. Next, unscrew the tweeter mount/door handle mount. Use the metal X mount that came with the speakers and wedge one of the wings under the tweeter mount (see pic). Then screw in the cup mount with the lip to the X mount. Then take the stock tweeter cover/door handle cover (the silver thing you see on the outside of the door) and line up where the tabs for the tweeter would pop in. They won't fit yet because the lip from the new tweeter mount is in its way. Mark off where the tabs would go in with a pencil. Then cut out of the lip a part for the tabs after you unscrew it from the X mount. Then screw it back on and run the wires for the tweeter through the back. Push the tweeter in place and wham! A flush mount tweeter install without using any additional hardware. Connect the tweeter wire (the red stripe wire is positive on both ends), button up the door and whammo! You got a new set of speakers!

Here are some pics to help out. Please let me know if you have any questions. The whole install took about 3 hours due to a learning curve. Hope this helps!

 

Couple of questions. Did you have the upgraded HK before or just stock?

And what kind of HU were you running without the amp?

 

You might wanna be careful there. Unless you've got filtered outputs, those tweeters could get mucked over real fast.

 

Puck, the way I see it is like this. Why would Crutchfield give out the harnesses to plug the midranges into the stock midrange plugs if they were not supposed to be plugged in? The stock setup had 2 wires going to the midranges and 2 going to the tweeters. Doesn't this set up suggest there is a crossover already installed somewhere? Or does Mini not care about sending certain frequency ranges to certain speakers?

 

I was running the stock (non HK) head unit.

 

Great point! But then that begs another question.

Are there actually crossovers for the HK speakers in the door? Or is the filtering done at the HK amp. I always assumed it was on the HK amp. I don't know but I was throwing it out there in case there are no crossovers.

Anybody know the answer?


I'm working on building a new system myself and it would be great to clear up some of the foggy stuff... like why the HK has A left/right and B left/right rear outputs.

 

The stock tweeter has a little capacitor in its back, distal to the
connector to make a first order high pass filter. There's no crossover
to the oem midrange 5 1/4" oem driver nor to the rear 6x9. No danger
in sending too much high frequency signal to woofers and midranges, but
it doesn't make best use of them.
I would (and will) use the crossover supplied with the Polk components.
It should sound better and it will be safer for the tweeters.

My order is supposed to arrive at my work tommorrow. If work isn't slow, I
may have to wait until weekend after next to install it.