Hey all,

I'm a complete noob when it comes to car audio, so bear with me

I went to the best known local car audio dealer today and got some info, but in this information age i always feel like it's folly to take a salesman at his word, so i thought i'd ask on this forum for some opinions as well as do some googling before i make a decision.

Couple things to note about my needs:

a) Not interested in a subwoofer at this point, just want CLARITY, which is something severely lacking in the stock system.
b) I have the basic system in my 2008 MCS, not the Hi Fi.

Here are my questions, if you have any thoughts at all please comment, i'm a bit overwhelmed by the number of options out there on the internet, and i could really use some direction!

a) The local dealer told me it's not necessary to bother with the back speakers, it won't be much help to the sound. Is this true? I certainly can't complain about not having to spend more money, so i hope that's the case

b) The local dealer mentioned that i'll have to get an amp that can't be fit in somewhere out of sight, he suggested the back of the back seat (in the trunk). I really dislike this idea because i often put those seats down and pile luggage and such on them, which i'm assuming wouldn't be wise if i had an amp there. Have any of you managed to get a decent amp installed and more or less out of sight or if not out of sight, at least out of the way? If so, where and what amp?

c) The system he seemed to be trying to push was front speakers - Boston Acoustics SPZ50 for $900 bucks, and a JL Audio 300/4 Amp for 600 bucks. Keep in mind i'm in Canada. Can i get the same quality as that for less? He said the BA speakers retail for 1500 dollars but are on sale, and i have seen them online for more than 900 but even 900 still seems pretty high for just front speakers...all in all including installation he estimated about $2000, which includes dynamating the doors.


I did have a listen to the BA speakers in the shop and the sound quality and clarity was quite impressive, so if i can get that quality with some less expensive combo of speakers and amp, i'd sure appreciate any suggestions!

Thanks!

 

If you're really interested in these two items, go to Amazon.com. They have the speakers, sold through dealercostcaraudio.com for $499.00 and the amp is $348.98. Rest is up to you if your're going that high end.

 

Search the forums here. The fist thing you want to do is the front/rear channel swap if you have not already done so. That will add clarity straight away as it gets the base freqs out of the speakers that can not handle it.
here is the thread.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ust-do-it.html

Then after that listen to it. You will probably want to get new speakers, and if you are not looking for a sub or high volume then you should be okay. The rather horrible paper cone speakers they put in the car i can get here in the US for about $1.50 each.

Take it in steps and as zug4zip said check out pricing on line before shelling out any money to a audio shop.

 

Swapping speakers alone will improve clarity. If you do it yourself, about $400 should be enough. Less, if you just do the fronts. You can try the fronts first, and see how you like it. The rears are a lot more work to swap.

I wouldn't bother with an amp if only the front speakers were being replaced.

If you plan on just doing the front speakers, the X9331 front/rear swap might not be such a good idea. You would probably want adjust the front/rear balance to minimise the rears, so you would want full signal going to the fronts. Also, if you use Bluetooth for phone calls, the swap will send the calls to the rear speakers.

In a MINI, a sub actually makes sense if you replace the rear speakers with higher quality. The rear speakers get very little bass, so a sub fills in what is missing.

 

Starting with just the fronts is probably a good idea. Do you have any recommendations on a nice set for the fronts that would also allow me to expand the system in the future without replacing them?

Hm, that's an interesting point. So i guess what you're saying is, if you have decent speakers in the front and crappy ones at the back there's no point in having the back speakers do any work at all. Makes sense, and i suppose if i did replace the back speakers in the future i could always do the swap then...

I'm not sure if i'm brave enough to install the speakers myself, i'm not exactly a DIY kind of guy, but if i shop around for speakers online to take to a local shop to install, can i basically just get any set of 3.5" speakers and 5 1/4" speakers or are there any sort of specs i should keep in mind? For instance, if i got a particularly nice set of speakers like the BA's i mentioned above, would they be a waste with the stock amp?

 

Thanks for that tip, seems like some fantastic prices at that place! Anyone here ever ordered from them?

 

I have purchased alot through Amazon because they have many resources for the products, many times you are just dealing with the source. Another place to check, that I have purchased from, is onlinecarstereo.com. You have to shop around before laying down your hard earned money nowadays. If you follow the links on these forums, you CAN replace your speakers by yourself, just takes patience and follow the instructions.

 

I purchased the following from onlinecarstereo.com:

- Diamond Audio D362.5 - Fronts
- Diamond Audio D363.5i - Rears
- Diamond Audio D3 500.4 - Amp

No problems and good customer service and communication.

BTW, the amp fits under the passenger seat if you do not have DSC.


Good luck.

 

Many of us chose 6.5" rather than 5.25" and a 4" rather than 3.5". You may want to check the sticky at the top of this forum for depth (I forget those specs)

Also lots of people here opted for

JL Audio TR400-CXi and TR650-CXi
or even CSi (not CXi) -

Infinity Reference or Kappa (Reference probably better for you)

You Need a T25 torx to unscrew front speakers.

RT = Rot = Red
GE = Gelb = Yellow
GN = Grün = Green
BL = Blau = Blue
VI = Violet = Purple
GR = Grau = Grey
BR = Braun = Brown
WS = Weiss = White
SW = Schwarz = Black

For the fronts:

Front Left Woofer (6 1/2")
41 - Black/Red (+)
42 - Black/Purple (-)

Front Right Woofer (6 1/2")
39 - Yellow/Purple (+)
40 - Yellow/Gray (-)

Front Left Mid/Tweet*
33 - Blue/White (+)
34 - Blue/Brown (-)

Front Right Mid/Tweet*
11 - Blue/Black (+)
12 - Blue/Brown (-)

 

I don't have enough experience with different car speakers to make a recommendation. I use Infinity Kappas, but they are 2 ohm, and I think the standard audio is 4 ohm. The HIFI is 2 ohm. So, you should go with Infinity Reference if you want to go with that brand.

The Kappas are on the "bright" side. So, good for clarity, but not to everyone's taste. I might choose something else, if I were to do it over again.

I first bought the 6x9 speakers through Crutchfield because I wanted their tech support on a custom speaker box I was making. However, it turned out that their advice was bad. I learned that later when talking to an Infinity tech. As an expample of bad Crutchfield advice, they recommend speaker baffles that they sell. Infinity says that using them will kill any bass from the speakers. Several people on NAM tried using baffles on the 6.5" speakers and found that they did kill the bass.

Amazon seems to change their car audio vendors frequently. I bought the 6.5" and 4" through Amazon for half of what Crutchfield was charging. Later, I went back to look at Amazon, and they were only selling through Crutchfield. Later still, Crutchfield was gone from Amazon, and a new dealer was listed.

Yes, you at least might want to favor the fronts. There is a front-to-back balance adjustment, so you can set them as you like.

If you have the Park Distance Control option, you wont want to turn the rears off completely because the beeps come only through the rears.

I would say it is easy, except for the controller for the side rear-view mirrors. It comes apart when you remove the driver's door and is somewhat challenging to put back together for the non-mechanically inclined.

I don't know anything about taking your own speakers to audio shops. I'd talk to them before doing that. Also make sure they have had experience with 2nd Generation (2007+) MINIs.

 

No kidding! I recently had my drivers side window smashed and my iPod stolen (the one time i forget to take it with me!). I took my car to a local repair shop and not only did it take them a week to fix it, after i freaked out on them for taking so long i think they rushed and obviously weren't too familiar with the car because the door panels were loose and falling off when i got it back

Lesson learned...be paranoid and don't let anyone work on your baby that you don't trust!

 

Hm...If you like bostons...then go for the Boston Pro60. It's only 320 bucks...alot cheaper than the Z series. It sounds clear but not harsh. Good quality too. But if you want more midbass..then look for Focal. They're not that much more expensive and you'll be happy. If you're not planning on a sub then definitely Focal over the bostons. The rear requires taking out everything..seats side panels...everything. While you're back there...might as well dynamat it. I have Focal 6kp's in the front and 6x9 Access in the back...with the JL 450/4 pushing them. The JL has good bass...the music sounds full. The amp costs me 400 bux shipped via ebay. Access 6x9 costs 150 shipped. The KP about 300. Dynamat was 135. Wiring kit was about 100. I used a used Alpine H.U. which I put in the "secret" compartment. The amp I made a false board in the back boot. You wont even know anything is beneath it...lost aboout 4" of the trunk.

 

IMO they are way over selling you. No need to really spend more then 300 dollars on door speakers IMO unless u are an audiophile, adding processing, and tons of sound deadening. If you arent adding a sub I would personally do rear speakers. Check out the polk momo line of speakers. 6.5 components up front and the 6x9 coaxials in the rear. Pick up an Alpine PDX4.100 amp and you should be able to hide it for sure, there is room under passenger seat depending on how your car was optioned, or possiably where the hifi amp would be if u had one

 

Definitely consider going with just front components (even though I am a rear speaker advocate). If you get a pair that will highlight the low mids beautifully, since it is such a small space, you'll be good. That and a good 10" sub in the trunk with a hidden amp shouldn't even cost you $2000, at least I think. Definitely, do the dynamat and if you can get the door plates off then you could probably do it yourself. Buy the dynamat on-line and you will get an awesome deal on eBay probably. The Alpine PDX amps are perfect for the size, I actually fit 2 in my trunk with a 10" Image Dynamic (see pic below, not sure if it will come through, first time using site). I spent some time making it work but half the fun is trying.

Checks threads and get oppinions of good component sets that will fit the need of the small enclosed space of a cooper and stick with a good 10" sub.

 

You're on the right track.

Ideally, you'd want to have most of the sound coming from the front of the car. When you go to a live concert or show, where is the band? That was why the salesguy was trying to sell you on front speakers and the amp only. higher frequencies are more directional, which is why for rear "fill", separate components are useless and some people don't even use them.

However, the mini's rear quarter panels have 6x9s locations and with some decent speakers properly installed with sound deadening there with some power, they'll thump like an 8" or 10" sub. The 6x9s would have a tweeter in there which would ruin the soundstage by putting from the front of the car to above your head, or you can fade the speakers slightly to the front or even run a low pass crossover to them filtering out the highs, or even disconnecting the tweeters altogether. Genesis makes a set of 6x9 subwoofers. CDT makes one too. But some people don't really care about soundstages and perfect sq systems and just want to enjoy their music and have it sound good. I think your salesguy was trying to oversell you on product.

I'm piecing together a system right now. I have the 6x9" subs and nice 2 way components for the stock locations up front. An amp to power them is next on the shopping list, hopefully small enough to mount in the left side panel with some modification and trim panel if needed. Or possibly under the seat, but the car has DSC. On the other hand, if you can afford to give up that dip in the trunk, you could always mount the amp there and have a trim panel go over it to make the new floor flush with the back of the seat. Under the panel, you'll have room for storage like oil, jumper cables, rag, whatever and still keep the car practical. Mounting the amp on the back of the seat should not be even considered. Right now, I'm thinking where I could mount an Alpine PDX4.100 and have it almost hidden and out of the way.

 

Thanks for all the info guys!

After some research and wandering around to various stores listening to speakers i think i'm going to go with a decent set of Focal 2-way components in the front powered by an amp, probably positioned in the back. Not sure what amp yet, the Alpine 2.150 is looking pretty tempting because of the form factor and apparently it runs quite cool (it could get pretty hot in that trunk in the summer). I've been warned against going under the seat because of dirt and snow. I'd love to hear about your experience with the Alpine when you've finally got it and set it up, and where you managed to stash it.

Another benefit of a small form factor is that down the road i might want to put a subwoofer in the trunk as well. One question i have though is, when buying an amp, since i'm not interested in doing the 6x9's in the back, should i still go for a 4 channel and use the remaining two channels for a sub or is it better to have two separate amps for this purpose? I'm not a bass freak, and i think overall i'll be happy with the fronts but it would be nice to be able to fill in the low end. What kind of wattage/sub size would people recommend for this?

 

physonect,

Under the seat...

There is no room under the seat above the floor for any thing. the seat mechanisms are there and do not allow for anything more than about 1/8" thick.

That being said there may be room in electronics compartment under the seat. Depending on your cars configuration there may or may not be room under the passenger seat. There a number of different OEM Modules that can go under there.

Now if there was going to be a problem with dirt and snow MINI woudl not have put electronics down there. It is a covers well and mine was perfectly clean after a full year of driving and living in Massachusetts where we have lots of sand and snow. BTW the car also has 18,000 miles on it. So i was pretty supprised to find not a spec of snad in there when i opened it up last thursday night.

Also a Alpine PDX series amp will fit under there with some room to spare. Depending on the size of the crosovers for the Focals you are thinking of they may fit there as well. The 3-way Focals i have have very large crossovers so they both would not fit in there with the well with a PDX amp.

Good luck to you on your endevor.

 

I'd definitely grab a 4 channel amp. With a 4 channel amp, you have more flexiblity now and down the road. Some passive crossovers give you the ability to biamp and run an individual amp channel to the tweeter and mid. On some amps, you can run them fully active by crossing everything other electronically, but it complicates things. I'd just get a 4 channel to power your new components up front and use the rear channels to the STOCK 6x9s for now. With some sound deadening behind it and some more power, they will sound pretty good and keep you happy enough while you try and figure out the next step. You probably aren't a bass freak, but you still appreciate low end because bass adds substance and foundation to music.

If space is not an issue, a sub built into the floor with room for an amp would the way to go.