IMO the 500 is much better spent putting components up front coaxials in the back and a 4 channel amp in and it will sound 100x better then the HIFI

 

Hey, I know you from the Corvetteforum.

 

Ahhhhh....20/20..wish I had it

 

You sure do.......we will be a vendor here the forst week of December

 

A couple hundred hours?!?! thats crazy. I am a serious audiophile, and i have a complete sound system in my other cars and install them for friends. If there is a break in period which is nothing ive ever dealt with, i know for sure it would never take that long because by the time your car system broke in it would be about time for a new mini! i believe the 500 dollars is a poor upgrade reguardless if it sounds better than base unit or not

 

Maybe a couple hundred hours wasn't right, maybe a couple days (48 hours). All I know is I used to frequent a headphone forum (you think you're an audiophile, you ain't heard nothin!) and they all broke their thousand dollar units in before they listened to them. Makes sense, there's a mechanical membrane that has travel to it that moves the sound, if it's stiff/new it will not sound the same as when it has loosened. I just remember he said never to listen to brand new speakers until you break them in.

 

yes i understand. my setup in my car costs around $4500.my headunit alone cost $2,400 its eclipse 6600. And my infinity speakers and soundstrem equalizer arent cheap. back to the point i was just stating how i felt about the 500 upgraded speakers and the breakin period

 

That's exactly what I did, and it helped greatly. And I just like keeping my cars as OEM-ish as possible, and have better things to spend my $$ on than in-car hi-fi upgrades

 

i didn't pay for the upgrade. but a simple 'upgrade' of swapping the front and rear channels made the stock system sound much nicer. the next simple upgrade will probably the door speakers as i read the rears are hard to get to.

 

I bought the HIFI ($500) upgrade. I've changed all the speakers and am about to add a sub. No amp upgrade.

One thing to keep in mind as you upgrade, it is best to leave the HIFI amp in place because the OBC is connected to it. Some software upgrades may be difficult if the amp is missing. One user reported that his dealer said that a software glitch in the DSC system couldn't be corrected because the software wouldn't load without the amp on the network. No one else has confirmed this, that I've heard.

One nice thing about the HIFI system is that the X9331 connector has unfiltered audio from the head unit. On the standard system, the filtering is done before the X9331 connector.

 

What Sub are you going to use without adding an amp? They require quite a bit of power. Let us know how it turns out.

 

Were looking at 4 channel amps..many to choose from. Should have an idea of what components I will choose this week. Don't want to go to crazy so cost is a consideration. Going to replace the Tweeters, mids and loose the 6x9's and replace them with 8" subs.

 

The biggest problem in both the non-HiFi and HiFi R56s is the absolute crap quality of the stock speakers. If you saw one of these things in your hands you'd rush out and replace it immediately.

The good news is that replacing them yourself isn't that hard or expensive.

If you have the non-HiFi, do the channel swap for bass (apparently there's a bass blocker in the HU for the rear channel so you have to fix that) and get some decent 4-ohm, efficient replacement co-axial speakers. If you have the HiFi, get some 2-ohm component ones (for separation) and don't do the F/R channel swap as it won't help.

For both, the addition of a sub-woofer is optional. Depends on your need to feel the music.

Lots of discussion on this in the R56 speaker replacement sticky thread. For non-HiFi folk, also see the Channel Swap - Just Do It thread.

 

*raises hand in dissapointment* I've said this in another post, but I LOVE everything about my JCW except for the audio.

It's funny because the reason I ended up on NAM this evening is that I was looking for the Focal model number everyone seems to be so pleased with (165 vr3).

IMO to get the stereo system up to par with the rest of the vehicle the upgrade cost is going to be around $1500 after everything is said and done. That's including the Focal 3way up front, some mid-price rear fill (still looking), a 4 or 5 channel amp (still looking), and a JL sub (either a 10w3v3 or 13tw5).

 

What I would do is just drop a couple hundred bucks on an Infinity Basslink or Basslink II and leave everything else as-is for the moment. Trying to get an overall acceptable sound out of a system without a sub usually results in some part of the sound getting washed out. A lot of times, getting the bass right with a seperate sub will let you use the stock components to adjust the mids and highs to an acceptable level.

I've fooled around with car stereos for years and for me, getting the bass tuned right for overall sound always seems to be the most rewarding. Most stock systems are just underpowered and trying to adjust some level to get it where you want it a lot of times results in voltage clipping which is often misinterpretted as a bad speaker.

As for speaker break-in, yes it is often recommended. I've had a few different brands of subs with a break-in period. It usually pertains to a speaker with a surround and is most noticable in a woofer or subwoofer. Since you're starting off in most cases with a stiff surround, you want to give it a chance to break in and become more flexible before applying maximum power. Doing so will let it get to its maximum excursion easier. Some speakers come with a warning of possible damage by applying maximum power before the surround has a chance to break in. Break in also gives your ears a chance to get used to the speaker. Especially in the case of a subwoofer, you can often notice that over time with a new one you can start to turn to level down for the same perceived amount of bass. Since the surround is becoming more flexible it is able to move easier with less power. Think of running a 100m dash without stretching first (although these days I'd still be sore for a week).

 

" Break in also gives your ears a chance to get used to the speakers"
Reminds me of my first time I ate chow in Boot camp.
After a couple weeks I was "used to it"

But I agree with everything else you said.

 

I ordered the upgrade for my 2009 because I was pleased with the way it sounded over the normal High-fi.

I think that means alot since my present system consists of An Alpine CDA 9881 deck to a Rockford Fosgate limited edition Power 1000 25 to life 5 channel. running to MB Quart Components in the front and Fosgate mids in the rear followed up with 2 Fi Audio 12" subs in IB config.
My goal is Sound quality. I already have a RE audio 10 and Sundown SAE1000 waiting for the MINI . I am leaving the stock amp in and may upgrade the OEM speakers later.

 

After reading all of the complaints about the HiFi I had prepared myself to be disappointed when I got my MCCS with HiFi option. I've only had it for two days now, but I am pleasantly surprised on the sound quality. Sounds good to me and can handle some decent volume levels (granted, not as good as the stock Bose HiFi system in my Chev 2500HD, but still good).

 

While I don’t think anyone can argue the HiFi is an upgrade over the stock system, it leaves sooo much to be desired from a premium sound standpoint. Do I regret getting the HiFi? No, but only because the base system is so awful to my ears. I believe the HiFi should be the entry level system. Give us a REAL audio option as an upgrade. It might not be the radio though, its really let down by the speakers. After examining the speakers it appears they are very cheaply made. (Does kraco still make speakers? ) Hopefully I will be more satisfied with the system when I replace them.

 

Yep, I did, and I enjoy the sound. I think the response is good and the quality is good. I'm not sure what the base system sounds like as I had no opportunity to compare. Granted, I would agree that calling this package a "premium" system or whatever else is quite an exaggeration. I expected more, but I am not disappointed.

Compared to my soft top Wrangler, sure, the MINI isn't that bad. But compared to another of my previous vehicles--a 1974 Chevy Nova with a bored 454, headers, and pipes--sure, it isn't that bad. But it is a noisy car compared to most any other vehicle in its class that I've ever been in. I'm shocked that even the engine noise at idle is as loud as it is. I could barely hear my Wrangler when it was running.

Just the little quirks.

That is EXACTLY my complaint--no midrange EQ!!! I'm quite satisfied with the upper and lower ranges, but the middle is quite depressed compared to these.

 

What's the db level of road noise in your MINI? After a fair amount of Dynamat and sound insulation material, mine is still around 85 and can get into the 90's on certain road surfaces.

 

My Clubman is noisy. The MINI is not a particularly quiet car, but it's about what I expected. A Lexus it's not.

 

It seems to me that all you get for the HI-FI system is a couple of extra holes to put replacement speakers.. that's it.

If I had to do it again, I'd just get the base system and replace THOSE speakers (with amps). I had planned to add a sub anyway, but now that I've heard the POS quality, I'm replacing everything except the 6x9s.

One thing I've noticed... The system seems to handle certain types of music pretty well and others very poorly. Rock-n-Roll and Pop sounds okay, as there isn't very much sustained base in there. I listen to a lot of electronic music, and the system absolutely sux for this type. The base response is pathetic. I don't even try to listen to my music in there, not until I can get my system installed.... I listen to NPR. NPR comes through just fine.

Marz