Hey,

I've recently upgraded the audio system in my 2008 mini. It had the regular Boost system. I decided to go with Pioneer gear mainly because of the cost of their flat profile and size 10" woofer. The box was totally custome built and a small Pioneer mono amp was mounted under the passenger seat. The subwoofer and amp install is extreamly impresive and sounds like a 400 watt single ten from a much nicer setup.

My second step was installing a pair of Pioneer 3 way coaxial 6x9s which I found brand new off Ebay. As it turned out, these speakers are lightyears better than the stock pile of **** 6x9s and am very very satisfied at their cost and sound pressure level. They costed $45 shipped!

Next bad thing: my fronts are now completely drowned out by the exsessivly efficient 6x9s, which are rated at 93db sensitivity...

I plan on matching this sensitivity by replacing the fronts with a set of 6.5/6.75 components, however I am having a tough time finding what would work the best with keeping the stock amplifier and 4 ohm load speakers. I want a set with 92db or better because of my need to keep the stock amp at this point.

Pioneer doesnt have anything I require in anything more sensitive that 89db. I was going through Crutchfield, and found a set of Polk Mobile Monitors. Please take a look at the the following; http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Produ...ures_and_specs

They are 3ohm speakers. Will they work with the stock boost amp rated at 4 ohms?? What happens when 2 ohm speakers are used??h

 

You could always adjust the front/rear fade to solve your problem

A 3ohm speaker will probably work OK.
Lower impedance increases the load on the circuits in the HU, it might shut down immediately with 2ohm (if it has short-circuit protection), or it might shut down after a while due to overheating.

 

Take a look at my gallery, I have what the Ohm's were for my 07'. Might help. I have had these speakers in for over a yr now and have had no problems.

 

Did you put an amp in or did you just replace the speakers. If you did put in an amp where did you take audio from?

 

Do you think the 08 model would be the same?

 

Just replaced the speakers.

 

I would assume so, but you know what happens when you ASSuME!!

 

Nice info and writeup... however.. I have a boost system which is technically only rated for 4 ohm speakers.

To add, since the subwoofer install, I've had to reduce bass on the HU to -3 to keep the small speakers crisp.

Also an FYI, Best Buy is now selling Infiniti Kappa 60.9CS (6.5 components) speakers for $149 (Down from $259) on national retail store clearance (Not priced this way online).

Will Infiniti Kappa 2 Ohm speakers work with the stock boost system at Bass -3?

 

Whatever speakers you choose, your fader, bass, treble & balance settings will be heavily influenced by the number of passengers in the car or how tall you are. MINI can't get around bad speaker placement for treble response. It is better in the HiFi set-up, but you'll still need to compensate for all the blockages in the tight interior space.

And I have to say, decent 4-ohm speakers are not under-matched with the non-HiFi HU. Good ones sound great with it. Use 2-ohm only with the HiFi set-up.

 

No, they should only be used with the HIFI system. My understanding is that you can use a 4 ohm speaker on a 2 ohm system, but not the other way around. If the speaker has a lower ohm rating than the system is designed for, it may overheat the amp and destroy it.

 

The stock system has two 4 ohm speakers in parallel, which presents a total impedance of 2 ohms. You can use the Kappas as long as you only put in one per side.

 

So on the non-hifi system the front speakers (two per side) play full range and are wired in parallel?? Can someone prove this?

 

Well, as full a range as you can get from a 6.5" and a 4" speaker (assuming you swap out OEMs.) My 6.5" claims to go down to 59Hz, but I channel swapped mine so they probably don't get down that far with gusto. I get that low range back in my rears with the CS.

I don't claim any expertise in electrical wiring, but I did notice that when a wire was loose in my lower speaker, I got no sound from the upper one as well. Does this mean they are wired in parallel?

 

The wiring diagrams show the two speakers on the door to be directly wired in parallel. The front speakers receive full range (before applying the pin swap mod), as discussed extensively on other threads.

 

OK, I'm confused.

If the two speakers were wired in parallel, disconnecting one should not kill sound in the other. If they were wired in series, disconnecting one breaks the circuit for both, right?

If in parallel, the ohm rating of the circuit would be half the rating of the speakers. So, two 2 ohm speakers would present 1 ohm of resistance to the amp, and 4 ohm speakers would present 2 ohms, right?

If they were in series, 2 ohm speakers would mean 4 ohms for the amp, right?

I've put two 2 ohm speakers in the door because it was said here that the HIFI took 2 ohm speakers. I hope that is right. Otherwise, I might be toasting the amp.

 

Robin - I have the non-HiFi which could mean my speaker wiring is completely different from yours.

 

I'm confused also. Disconnecting one speaker should not kill the other, for either HiFi or non-HiFi. If you meant a loose wire directly on or behind the speaker, I don't understand what happened. However there is a connector next to the lower speaker that splits the signal and sends it to both speakers. If that was loose, it would indeed cut off both speakers.

 

[Keeping in mind that I'm not anything close to an EE...]

When I had my "loose connection" I may also have had a short. At the time, I was twisting the speaker in its hole trying to get the holes to line up. If one of my (-) crimped ends came loose and were twisted toward its (+) friend, that may have caused my sound to die.

 

So,
with the ohm discussion again,
I have two infiniti 5022i 5-1/4" 2way speakers from my old audi... they are 2ohm speakers...
now if I want to put these in the front doors, do i need to disconnect the smaller 4" speaker (non-hifi)? Otherwise, if I run the 4" and my 2ohm 5-1/4", then im going to probably overheat/blow the amp, right?

 

In the non-hifi system, both door speakers are connected in parallel -- look at the WDS site.

If I was to put one of your infiniti speakers in the door, I would disconnect the 4 inch speaker. The resulting load should "look" about the same to the radio.

(Again, referring to the WDS site, in the HiFi system, each of the door speakers is wired separately.)

Check your work carefully, you're on your own!

(but let us know how it works out!)

cheers--

bob