While doing some research for my '09 Cooper, I found this on Edmund's website:

"Mini's base six-speaker unit made it sound as though we were listening to our music through a telephone. If you care about such things, ante up for the premium sound system and don't look back."

Is the 6 speaker stereo really that bad?

 

Good question. There's a thread here (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...d.php?t=151132) that tells you about how much of an improvement can be made in the 6 speaker system if you swap front/rear channels around. Those who've done it seem to be impressed.

That being said, no one who has opted for the $500 10 speaker system has felt that it's worth the money (including me). Some have opted to get it with the intent of swapping all the speakers out with better ones.

So for me, I did ante up for the premium sound and I did look back...waste of money.

 

It depends on what you are used to.
I was down to one rattling speaker in my honda.
I get the mini (base stereo) and I was
WOW MAN GREAT WAHOO

Then I got around to putting the $100 baupunkt stereo
and 4 new low model infinity speakers in the honda. ($150 for 4)
I ended up driving it for a month because my wife's VW
was being worked on. I get the mini back I was like
HUH WTF
"me no likey"
Same thing for my wife's car now. I put in a Dual basic unit
I think about $140, and 4 polk audio speakers ($150). We go
on a trip I'm like hey, nice. Back to the mini and its like
"sigh"

I'm working on the upgrades that have been suggested here.
The swap and eventually a speaker upgrade.

But yes. It's pretty bad. I don't buy that many cars.
I'm also not an audiophile. My budget is usually about
under $400 for speakers, amp, radio, when I buy a car.
They are all about 50X better than the stock mini.

 

There are many people here on NAM that think the HiFi system is a definate waste of money. Me included.

For the $500.00 i could get a lot more aftermarket that would sound so much better.

As Tim, I antied up for it based on the fact that my BMW's upgraded sound system did sound so much better that the stock but i have looked back and found that i should not have spent the money.

I also drove a MCS for a week while the dealer had my car to fix the HiFi system sound. guess what the standard sound system actually sounded better even with out the front to back swap than my HiFi system. After getting my car back from the dealer they told me they did a software upgrade to the amp. Well they did and it was still bad and i have nto been able to get an answer from mini if they can actaully fix it.

The extra wiring and changes to the wiring harnesses for the Upgrade make it a lot harder to upgrade the system even more with aftermarket amps. I am going thru a nightmare trying figure out how i am going to upgrade the system. I may ahve to run all new wireing to every speaker location. Not an easy job.

My recomendation is to save theh money and go with the base system and imediatly do the swap mentioned above and then upgrade if you need more sound and quality.

 

If it is that bad it makes me feel better about spending the $500 for the upgrade. Lately my nstereo has sounded better for sime reason, but it still is sub-par for an "upgrade."

 

Unfortunately I'm kinda an audiophile.

I'm use to hearing clean "tube" like sound for electrostatic speakers;@ home.

But i think my $500 would be better appreciated in upgrade my home system, where the environment is controlled and undisturbed by outside noise.

Don't get me wrong, I would love an upgrade car audio, but with elevated noise factor of the Mini engine and outside environment-wind , road etc, I have to just appreciate the stock audio- it is what it is.

I'll try the "swap" trick and maybe just put in a amp in the future...

 

I've had good luck with crutchfield.

I would like to add one note. Although as stated not
an audiophile, I can definatly hear a big difference between
infinity and polk audio.

The infinity are very, very bright, I now realize to the point
of being a little harsh.
The polk audio are crisp, and more full sounding.
My intention is to upgrade the mini with polk audio.

crutchfield usually has a buy one get one 50% off, but only
certain models. I'm going to hold out for PA when I decide to
buy.

 

First, the MINI is not a quiet car. So, tire noise is going to make enjoying music difficult on some road surfaces. My area has a lot of those surfaces at highway speeds. I have taken a number of steps to reduce noise, but I'm still working on it. If you do a lot of low speed rush hour or city driving, a good sound system would be worthwhile. If you are mostly driving at 50 mph or above on bad roads, it might not be worth the investment.

I went with the HIFI and upgraded to Infinity Kappa speakers. Yup, they are bright. Didn't have a way of hearing any speakers before making the decision.

My next move is to install a Boss Bass600 powered subwoofer because the rear 6x9 speakers get little bass. All the bass goes to the front speakers, which are smaller.

With the standard system, it is fairly easy to swap the front and rear signals. It is not so easy with the HIFI. However, if you swap, bluetooth calls will go through the rear speakers, rather than the front.

Crutchfield is a fairly expensive place to buy car stereo stuff. I used them for the Infinity Kappa 6x9 speakers because I wanted their tech support. Turns out they gave me bad information. I had to call Infinity to get the correct info.

It is hard to know what is the best way to go. You can get the HIFI, upgrade the speakers and add a powered sub. Or, get the standard, add an amp, speakers and sub. I expect that you could get a really nice amp for $500.

 

I think my HiFi system is pretty good. I've always had premium stock systems (BMW, Jeep, another Jeep). What made a diff for me was: using a dock wire for the iPod, not headphone (big diff), messing with iPod EQ settings.

 

The (U.S.) stock 6 speaker system doesn't sound that bad, and it doesn't sound that good.

The upgraded systems sounds a little better, but from my point of view, if you intend to upgrade things, you're better off with the stock system! If you have the standard system, adding an amp is easy. If you have the "upgraded" system, adding an amp is extremely difficult.

I've spent less than $500 upgrading my stock system, and I'm pretty happy with the results. (Replaced front 6.5 inch speakers, rear 6x9 speakers, did channel swap, added powered sub.)

As Robin says, it's a noisy car, but that's part of the deal. I may do some sound deadening work this winter, but it's not urgent.

And who knows what they're going to do in the 2009 cars... At least with the R56 chassis, we've documented what to look for, and where to look.

 

They're still calling it the 10 speaker hi-fi system in the configurator. To me, that indicates that the system hasn't changed.

 

Stupid question - where are the 10 speakers in the "upgraded" system? I ordered an '09 MCS with the upgraded audio. From what I recall, there are 2 tweeters on the A pillars, 2 mid-range in each door and 2 speakers (unk) beside each back seat. There's gotta be a sub somewhere, too. That totals 7 speakers. Where are the rest?

 

2 in A Pillars - Tweeters
4 in Front doors - Two mids, Two Woofers
4 in Rear seats - Two Tweeters and Two Woofers(6x9)

that equals 10 of the lowest qualtiy paper cone speakers you can find. I couel get better speakers for under $1.00 each (and yes i did say one dollar each).

I have had them out and replaced them as they are such poor quality they sound like S**T.

 

I wasn't trying to say your infinity speakers were a bad choice.
The kappa series are in my opinion sounding like the PAs.
I got the kappa series for my honda last go around, but the
regular ones (forget) this time (entry level).

If the kappa series were on sale 4 for $150 I
would probably get them.

I don't mean today. Nobody is buying anything now.

 

OK - I get it that the 10-speaker "upgrade" probably isn't worth the $500. Is it at least better than the stock system? Will a simple drop-in replacement of some of the speakers help enough to warrant the trouble?

 

You'd really have to listen to each system to see if you think one is better.

My thoughts are that if you're going to swap out speakers, you might as well swap out the six speakers in the base rather than 10 in the upgraded system, unless you really feel that you'll get better sound from 10 aftermarket speakers than 6 aftermarket speakers.

 

Can the stock head unit/amp be enough to power to drive the the aftermarket 6 speakers?

 

Agreed that sound preference is just that, but it's a tad late for me as my '09 with the 10-speaker system is nearly done in the factory. So given that I already have it (not in my possession yet, though), is it any better than the standard 6-speaker or should I start shopping for drop-in replacments already?

 

Personally, swapping out the speakers is on my list of things to do. But financially, my house projects come first right now. I feel very limited when I drive my car and I know that I can only turn the volume up so loud before the music sounds incredibly distorted. I have to keep the bass level set at 1. If I were you, I'd start shopping. Just to clarify, I have the 10-speaker system.

 

The speakers to drop out/in are the front doors. The rear 6X9s require a lot of disassembly to get at. You basically have to gut the rear entirely. For the fronts you usually just have to remove the door panels, sometimes the window units too, depending you what speakers you use. If you do the windows you'd better know what you're doing. Same for the rears.

 

+1 ... i've heard from more people who were glad to have spent $200-300 after delivery to replace the six speakers in their basic systems RATHER than those who spent that and more (and were disappointed with the result) on MINI's ten-speaker "factory premium" system (and subsequent fixes).

 

I've got the HiFi in my MCS that's coming in a few weeks... If I decide to replace the front speakers, what are some cheap but good (under $100) speakers that I could use as replacements that would only require removing the door panels?

 

read the "R56 speaker replacement" thread (https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=95211) for recommendations ... it's LONG, but there's LOTS of useful info, including speaker choices and installation tips.

 

I don't listen to music when I drive, but the wife insists on having it on, and they sound awesome from where I come from. But I come from a family where the Ford Focus was an awesome car when it came out. Not too much experience with "premium" equipment. The four speakers in my wife's 1996 MB C280 Luxury are worse than the MINI if that's any help.

I could see how you hate 'em if you like music loud. They don't quite get up there in volume, hehe.

 

The stock speakers on most American cars are better than the stock or upgraded system in the MINI. I'm still waiting for someone to start a class action suit against MINI for bilking so many people out of $500.