I have been trying to wade through all this wonderful information on here but I have gone from wading to drowning. I have determined that I will do:

• The channel swap thing.
• Upgrade my stock speakers.
• Then add the amplified sub (If I feel I need more bass).

My problem is:
I'm unclear on what speakers to use. I don't want to spend a fortune on speakers but do want good results. I have seen speakers mentioned anywhere from Walmart stuff to speakers costing $4000.

This may make some of you cringe but when I upgraded my other car I think I used Kenwood speakers and was happy with the results.

So, what size speakers do I need and what brand would you recommend?

07 MCS standard 6 speaker system.

Thanks

 

When I added my sub and amp, I stripped out the entire rear of the car and replaced the 6x9's with Focal 690 CA1. VERY HAPPY. So happy in fact that when I disconnect the sub, the Focals can hit hard enough if you don't want to venture down the sub route.

Enjoy.

 

Price wise here is a list in price range order more or less depending on where you purchase

Infinity Reference
Infinity Kappa's
Polk Audio
Focal
Other high end speakers

IMHO even the Infinity Reference speakers are still a very good choice over the OEM. I personally went with the Focal's as I got them for about 50% off from a NAM Member who's car was totaled in an accident.

Sizes - Check this thread out and it should give you most of the info you need in the first post. As for getting two way, three way etc that is up to you. This thread also has some very good info in it about what others have done to put a two way in the door by mounting the tweeter in the upper speaker opening and the mid/woofer in the lower door opening.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...nt-how-to.html

 

Schatzy62, thanks for this information. It helps alot!!

 

Very thorough and objective post, schatzy62.

 

Honestly, Kenwood is still a HUGE improvement over stock.

In my opinion though, if you're looking to upgrade your sound system, save up and invest in gear that you can slowly expand upon. I didn't think about this in the beginning and ended up kind of regretting some of the lower quality stuff I put in my MINI... I have the standard setup btw.

This is a kind of old thread, so I doubt dortho is still reading this, but hopefully some of this is useful information for someone else...

This is what I'd follow if I could time travel and slip a letter under my door (signed, MYSTERIOUS HELPING HAND):

- 1st!! Front back channel swap. It really does make a huge difference. Yes, it's a pain, but there are numerous NAM members who've done it and loads of threads on it. Plus, it's a great introduction to the build of your MINI which will be useful once you decide on other mods. Intimate time with your MINI, what's not to love about that?

- 2nd! Rear 6.5"s. While you're loving your MINI in step one, you'd might as well take a whack at this one too. There's a bunch of threads on this as well. I went with a full range... As far as staging is concerned, a full range or a mid is probably ideal for this location. I recommend Polk or Focal for all your speaker upgrades. JL's are ok... I used those the first time around, but they're definitely not as balanced as the Polks which are around the same price range. I'm not familiar with any of the higher end speakers, so I couldn't recommend any of those...

- 3rd! A nice 4 channel amp. I wouldn't recommend an amplified sub because your tastes might change and you might want an amp with a bit more power, a sub that's got a little more oomph, or whatever. Why an amp first? Well, an amp is the foundation of any sound system. Your MINI's stereo just does not have the juice. You NEEDS one if you're planning on anything serious. Some serious re-wiring will have to be done depending on where you place your amp. Yes, a pain, but it NEEDS to be done. Alpine makes some awesome and compact amps that are perfectly suited for this purpose. Again, don't go with any bargain brands on this. All amps are NOT NOT NOT the same. A weak amp will not pull the full potential out of everything else in your signal chain. There, I warned you. Yes, I had to learn this the hard way too.

- 4th! Door speakers. These are the easiest to replace. Again, I recommend either Polk or Focal. At this point, we're thinking about sound staging. The lowers should ideally a mid-ranges. The uppers... well tweeters, I guess... The thing is, MINI didn't put a tweeter here because it's really not a good place to put a tweeter. Don't get me wrong, It'll improve your sound. I only gripe about it because I'm trying to deal with this myself. It's not proper staging. Still, a tweeter will fill your sound better than another mid or full-range. And, ANYTHING's better than MINI's Malaysian sounds like a boombox stuffed in a sock speakers.

-5th! Dynamic equalizer. Why? The MINI stereo only covers bass & highs from "-5 to +5" so, alright, that might be kind of a dumb question. More practically, some music needs a LOT of bass. Your metal collection might feel more inspired with some screaming highs. I have to say that Jim Morrison sounds pretty sexy with the mids turned up. The list goes on and on... As far as brands go... they're all kind of the same to me, but if you're an audiophile, you might benefit from something with a super accurate sonic spectrum. But, in my opinion, it's a CAR. You might feel like you're flying with those MINI wings on your back at times, but once you're back to earth, I'm sorry, it's still a CAR. It's a little box that rolls that around the earth. It creates a lot of wind noise, it's small, it's not the best space to create mind melting sound in. Still, I love my MINI (I love when it flies too), and I'm willing to deal with these drawbacks. Speaking of, try and find something compact. I mounted mine to the ceiling of my glove compartment, just to keep that clean look, but mount it wherever you want... or can. I'd love to put it somewhere easier to access, but the MINI's center stack is pretty limited on the subject of aftermarket ad ons... I've also thought about the left center column wall just underneath the key... an afterthought. I mounted my boost there in my last car.

-6th! A subwoofer. Optional... well, kind of. Even if you don't listen to music with a lot of bass, you might still want a small sub to cover the subtle stuff. Otherwise, if this guy typically gets a lot of abuse, a cheap one will blow out pretty quickly so invest in something that'll last a little longer.


Afterthoughts:

*Once you've installed an eq, remember to set your MINI stereo settings to flat (volume, highs, mids, fader, etc). Otherwise, your amp might react badly with the signal and start distorting your speakers. Not good.

*Unless you're replacing your head unit, which is close to impossible in an R56, your signal will travel something like this:
sound from MINI stereo > eq > amp > speakers > ears > mind/body/soul

Please, take care in choosing each of these elements wisely.

*With a nice sound system, you'll find you really don't have to crank the volume very high to enjoy whatever you're listening to. But, don't listen to me, listen to your music however you want. But be courteous around cops. They have tastes too... and they might not like yours Also, if I can hear you bumping yourself down my block when I'm trying to sleep, believe me, I'll come out with a baseball bat and ruin the rest of your week.

*If talk radio starts to sound like the voice of God rattling your windows... You might've gone a little too far.

I'm not totally serious about all these, but then again, I kinda am... Use common sense guys. We're all adults here, well most of us, I'd think.


Everything I've written here is to be taken with your own discretion. I only say that because even with the amount of research I've done, I know there's still MASSIVE ground to be covered.

PLEASE feel free ask any questions, bash anything that I've written, give me suggestions, etc.

edit: Yay! First gear

 

The only comment i have on this is:

Speakers are the MOST important piece of an audio system. They are the one thing that actually produces the sound. Yes an amp is important BUT you can put eh Best and most expensive amp in and with lousy speakers it WILL still sound lousy.

Order in which components are prioritized for making a difference.

1. Speakers
2. Amplifier
3. Head Unit (unfortunately rather difficult to change out in the gen2 MINI's)
4. Auxiliary Equipment (i.e. equalizers, cd players, etc.)

 

I think you mean rear 6x9s.

Interesting. Many say door speakers, rears, then amp, in that order. Why so little emphasis on the doors?

Have you listened to Image Dynamic speakers? Opinion?

With the HIFI system the lower door position gets mainly bass. So, component speakers seem to be the best choice. What about components for the standard audio with the tweeter mounted elsewhere?

The HIFI has a tweeter location near the bottom of the A-pillars. What do you think of that location, vs. the upper location in the door? Some people have purchased the pillar covers for the HIFI and put them in MINIs with standard systems so they could put a tweeter there.

With the HIFI option, you can't do the front/rear channel swap at the X9331 because the filtering happens at the rear amp. So, a sub nicely fills in the bass missing from the rears.

 

I totally agree with your logic, but the reason I prioritized an amp over speakers is because speakers can get expensive. If you invest in a solid amp first, then slowly add in new speakers, you'll have a clearer idea of what you'll need later to enhance what you already have. This is coming from someone who's debating selling their tv to pay for a new mattress... If you've got great speakers and say, no amp, then you'll have no idea what those speakers are capable of until you get an amp. If you find that your speaker setup isn't balancing well once you've installed an amp, then you might be replacing speakers, which is more money, and a pain.

Just my two cents. Thanks for your feedback schatzy62


If you have the standard radio and have done the channel swap, the rears will fill out the sound better. Once you've replaced the rears, it'll change the way the way the sound creates space. (It'll actually feel like space!) At this point, you'll get a better idea of how you want the sound to fill from the front. You could do the rears, doors, then amp, but I feel that the rears first is really important. (If you do the channel swap).


I haven't tried the Image Dynamic speakers. But I'll probably check them out later this week. I ordered the tweeter pillar upgrades from newministuff. I'm not too sure about the Pioneers that come with them, so I'll give the IDs a try while I check out some other options at Fry's.


Currently, my tweeters are mounted in that upper location in the door. The pillar covers for the high fi system are a much better option, which is why I bought them I remember deciding to put a tweeter there and almost regretting that decision as I made it... It's not a natural position for a tweeter. High-hat should be up vertically in line with your face and a little in front. The pillars might put the tweeters a tad bit too forward, but it'll still be a lot better than my current setup now.


I'm not too familiar with the hi-fi system. I have the standard system, all new speakers, amp and eq, and even with the channels swapped, still the bass range is lacking. I'm thinking a small sub in the back will compliment really well. After buying the pillar tweeters, I don't have the cash to spare, unfortunately.

 

My friend your logic is totaly flawed there as there is already am amplifier in place, all be it the head unit. So the Number one item to start with is the speakers as the amp in the head unit is not bad for someone that does not want a lot of power behind the system. There are many here that have just replaced the front speakers and said WOW that made a big difference without even doing the channel swap.

I will agree that speakers are no good with out an amp but when you already have an amp of some sort the speakers are the place to start the upgrade.

Here you make the mistake of putting rear sound fill before the sound stage. The fronts create the sound stage (placement of instruments and vocals) and the rear only add ambiance (sound fill), and these speakers do not need to be anywhere near as good as the fronts. This is why Dolby Surround Sound and THX Pro Logic have very high standards for front speakers and lousy standards for rear speakers and lousy frequency response.

 

In my MINI, I found that my stock head unit would start distorting at higher volumes... Though, this might just be my oddball experience.

edit: Could we agree that if you've replaced all your speakers with aftermarket (jl audio/polk or better), you'd be missing quality without an amp?

I didn't know this, though now that you say it it seems quite obvious.

edit: In risk of sounding like a fool, I think I might've just been blown away after replacing my back speakers first. Even now, my rears might be a bit overpowering, I have Focal 690CA1s in the back. They were as expensive as all 4 of my front speakers put together. I think I've been compensating for lack of bass response. I'll tweak the levels a bit to see how it sounds with the emphasis more up front. Thanks for putting up with an idiot

schatzy62, since you know a lot more than I do (not sarcasm!), could I ask what type of components I should replace my current tweeters with? My tweeters are currently located in the upper speaker mount in the door. Since I ordered the pillar tweeter add-on from newministuff, I'm wondering what frequency would work well in that location...

edit: I'm thinking of replacing my door tweeters with 4" coaxials. Probably Polk db401s. They're in my price range (under $100), an opinion would be great. After I see how this turns out, I might consider swapping all the fronts out with a 3 way component system. I'll keep the rears as is, and upgrade to a 4+1 channel amp for a possible sub enclosure. But that's a LOT later on.

edit: Nevermind the upper door speakers. I'll just leave them blank.