Has anyone changed out the Harmon Kardon speakers in their R-56? A Cartoys techie told me not to upgrade to a Focal or JL because the factory speakers/amp were all tuned for the car and adding other speakers would reduce rather than improve the quality of the sound. I just installed a 10" JL subwoofer but just doesn't seem to have overall sound quality. Appreciate any advice.

 

Assume you added an amp with the subwoofer?
Where did you pick up feeds for the amp/sub?

I'd agree not to change the speakers.
In the doors, there is no crossover between low and mid/high speakers - there are separate outputs from H/K amp with "crossover" done in software inside the amp. If you buy aftermarket speaker separates, there's no chance the H/K crossover algorithm will match the speakers hardware crossover, so you'll get awful sound.

In the rears, existing speakers are dual voice coil - replacing with single voice coil will halve the power (and therefore reduce the sound).

 

Harmon Kardon was the sound system used on the 1st Gen MINIs, I think. Not sure the 2nd Gen. are made by them. I took mine out and they didn't have a brand name on them. Very cheap-looking paper speakers.

I replaced the speakers in my 2007 MCS (HIFI) with Infinity Kappas. The sound quality improved considerably. They are much clearer, for one thing. I think I would prefer warmer speakers than the Kappas, as they are rather bright, but they are a huge improvement over the stock speakers.

 

Yes I added an amp for the subwoofer and the used rear speaker leads coming out of amp located at rear of car, driver side. I'm of the vintagae which lives by the 13th commandment which says Thou shalt always replace factory speakers with aftermarket (after you bumped the wheels and tires).

Thanks

 

Unless they changed it recently, the rear speakers don't get full bass. So, not a good place to connect a sub.

You don't say whether you have the HIFI option or not. If you do, you can connect the sub to the rear channels before the amp, at the X9331 connector (search the forum for a thread on X9331).

If you have the standard audio, the bass is filtered at the head unit. So, you need to connect your sub to the front speaker leads at the X9331.

 

Two note of interest for you.

The speakers int eh R56, R55 are made by Phillips not Harmon Kardon. I do not have mine anymore and did not take pictures of them but they had Phillips written on them as well as MINI Part Numbers.

As for the sound i had a great improvement in sound by changing to Focals and using the OEM amp. Sound quality increase was very dramatic. I did not use the crossovers with the Focals and the OEM amp.

Then when I decided to make an even more pronounced change in the sound quality I added an Alpine PDX5 and the crossovers and new wires for the speakers and it now sounds awsome. There is some information here https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-upgrades.html

Now onto the Sub woofer you installed. As Robin has said there is a rolloff in the frequency responce of the rear channels.

You mentioned that you connected to the amp output for the rear channels in the rear of the car. This means that you must have the HiFi system. The question is which rear channel outputs did you use. Ther are two pair of outputs for the rear channels, one is for the woofer and one is for the tweeter. Both have very poor low frequency response. The tweeter channels do not go below about 800hz and the woofer channels have a rool off at 100 hz and below of about 12 db. So you will get very little bass from either of them.

There are three three pair of outputs for the front channels. Tweeter, Mids and Woofer. None of these are really good for use as a sub woofer input as they all have variying frequency responce.

The best is to use the front channels at the X9331 connector in the drivers foot well as they are full range. The rear channels in the X9331 have a 100 hz roll off at about 3-4db when connected to the OEM amp.

This si probably why you are not seeign an increase in base response. As for the overall quality, make sure you replace the very poor sounding $0.10 (yes i said 10 cents) OEM speakers. I can purchase speakers that are of 100% better quality at my local DIY Electronics store for $3.00 a piece.

Now the OEM amp is made by Harmon Becker Group of which Harmon Kardon is only a subdivision. but the OEM amp can not be claimed as a Harmon Kardon as it would never meet there minimum specifications.

Also of not for you is tha tif you do add anohter amp to power your speakers teh OEM amp MUST stay in place.

 

Question, is changing the speakers in my 07 R56 MCS (with HiFi) to Focal 165 VR3's and 690 CVX's a good option using the stock HiFi amp OR should I go through the pain in the rear (and cost) of adding a Zapco DC360.4 to the system?

Thanks,
Joel

 

This is a good start. IMHO try this first. Listen to it for a while then if you still want more add an amp. Listen to that for a while and add as needed.

I put int the focals and found it was a very large change for the better. I of course listened to this for the winter and found myself wanting more, not just clarity of sound as it was good but more volume with clarity and also the ability to carry my whole music collection of 69,000 plus tracks. so it did this.https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-upgrades.html

 

I've noticed quite a few people enjoying the Alpine PDX amps. The size is very attractive given the limitations in size in the mini. If I did chose to add an amp, the PDX would fit well in the rear boot bottom cubby, my Zapco DC360.4 would fit nowhere comfortably.

I have SAT radio, so my space under the passenger side is filled already. So, I'm thinking of selling my DC360.4 and buying a PDX. Is this a downgrade in performance? Given the focal 165VR3's and 690CVX's is it really worth it to get the PDX-4.150 or stick with the PDX-4.100?

Thanks in advance for the great info and help.

Joel

 

Personally I have never liked the Zapco amps. My opinion on them is that they add to much digitaizing to the sound. So my opinion is swayed away from them.

The Alpine on the other hand IMHO sounds very good for what it is. Are there much better? Yes and at much more cost and size.

Depending on options you may have room under the drivers seat as well so check that out. Usually it is much less than the room on the passenger side but there may be just enough room.

 

damn that alpine PDX is @ $550 !

ive recently been looking for a set up for my R57 - being limited on trunk space, was going to go with a 10" sub, with a custom built fiberglass box to the one side of the trunk and an amp either in the tire-jack well, or under the passenger seat.

I didnt want to have to replace the speakers as well but from the sounds of what you guys are talkin about...

 

What do you think about ARC Audio Mini series KS125? the Noise to sound ration is quite a bit better than the PDX, although the price is up there as well.

-Joel

 

The tech is right.. the amps are tailored for those specific speakers. The crossover points, etc. must be optimized for them. Changing the speakers is like a shot in the dark - you may end up with a better system, or a worse one.

If I were to change speakers, I'd change the amps, too, and use the stock speaker crossovers, or active filtering.

 

The speakers in my 08 Cooper with the HiFi option said Philips and the amp in the back is labeled Harmon Becker. I have been reluctant to put the Infinity Kappas I bought about 6 months ago since I don't want to void my warranty yet on the audio system.

 

Actually the OEM Amp is NOT taylored to the stock speakers and any upgrade of spekaer will enhance the sound output. The OEM amp does have some fltering characteristics to it but wil work with many speakers, and anything will sound better than the stock crap Phillips that are in the car.

I will agree that adding an amp is a good thing, BUT the OEM amp MUST stay in the car for programing reaons even if the output is not connected to any speakers.

As for crossovers for stock speakers there are none. All the filtering is done in the OEM amp.

 

I've been trying to keep up with these types of threads for a while now. I was wondering if there is any reason why we can't tap off the factiry amp line in for the front speakers to get a signal for an after market amp? This would keep from having to run a wire all the way to the front of the car for a good signal and maybe neaten things up a bit. For that matter unless you wanted to run beefier speaker cable could you just unhook the cables from the factory amp and run them from the new aftermarket amp instead.

I know I know, there are reasons for using new speaker cable, I'm not trying to spark a debate over their use or non-use, I'm just curious.

 

It is possible to tap into the cables at the rear of the car. But in my case there was not enough room in the cable to get a splice near the amp and BTW do you know how many sires are in the connector that goes to the amp. There are 42 wires in the connector that goes to the amp most of these are twisted as a pair and then twisted with another pair to make a set then tww or three sets are twisted together.

20 of these wires are for speaker output, 8 are for hear unit input, 1 power, 1 ground, 1 remote turn on. With only 28 of the being for audio that leaves 14 that if accidentally broken would cause you a major headache. Especially when you may not know they are broken until the dealer tries to do some software changes on your car and they can not because the amp is not recognized.

SO yes it can be done at the back but the probability for problems goes up dramatically.

BTW also do you know what the wire size is for the speaker wires. It is .75mm or the equivalent of 20-21 gauge wire. So yes there is a need to upgrade the speaker wire. No you do not need 8 gauge wire but something more like 16-14 gauge would bee appropriate for the 40 watt output of the amp. And if you went with an aftermarket amp you would just be throwing your money away trying to run the amp on that small a wire, and could actually burn the wires up causing much more damage.

As for neatening things up a bit if it is all hidden and neat then the re is nothing to see so why not use the tap point in front to make the job hours easier. I.E. 30 seconds to get to teh sires in the form of the car at the X9331 connector and 20 minutes just to get to the connector for someone who knows how it all comes apart. more like an hour if they have never done it before. Time is money. And if it is being done by a shop then there is also the "We have no clue how to get this car apart" problem, or opps we broke something because we did not know what we were doing.

 

accidental double post

 

Well that answers my question.

 

I have done done similar changes as referenced in this thread. I aslo added Focal 165VR3's and 690CVX's myself running on the stock amp. There was an improvement for sure in the quality and bass. But once you turn it up it all falls apart real fast. I plan on having this car for a decade and couldn't deal with the poor quality of sound for that long.
I bought my speakers and amp from woofersetc. The Alpine PDX-5 goes for $420, cheapest I've found. The amp is rated at 4x75 and 1x300 but the spec sheet came in at 90wx4 and 1x380w. I had a pro do the amp install, they tied in to the stock amp in the boot and installed a bass contorl up front for a 10" sub in the boot. The improvement is and was well worth the costs.

 

All,

I may have blown the lower front H/K speakers in my '04. Will try to secure them better per other posts, but if they are blown, and need to replace, it seems like the overriding advice on NAM is to keep with OEM H/K speakers. So, for anyone with an '04 who has decided to replace the stock amp/speakers, I may be interested in buying your stock speakers. Please PM me with asking price.

Thanks,

 

You have wandered into the 2nd Gen. forum. Here, the overriding advice is to ditch the OEM speakers ASAP.

You might want to ask a moderator to move your message to the 1st Gen. forum.

 

geoffv,... where did you end up placing the PDX-5? Were you able to hide it away, or is it on the bottom of the boot?

 

Can't speak for geoff specifically as i have not seen his full install but if I remember correctly he placed it in the same place I did. You can see it here in this thread. Post #4 to be exact.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-upgrades.html

Mine is in the well under the passenger seat. If you have Sat Radio it probably will not fit as that is where the Sat Receiver sits.

Also note that you MUST disconnect the battery before removing the seats. If you do not you WILL be going back to the dealer to have the Air Bag light turned off.

 

Unfortunately (or fortunate depending how you look at it) I do have the SAT radio, so I'm pretty sure the cubby is filled under the seat. I haven't checked yet though. The cubby under the drivers seat is full (checked that one so far). I was hoping to put it in the side panel in the rear, but, I'm not sure if it will fit. Last choice is under the boot in the jack cubby, although I don't really want to do this.

Thoughts?