I guess things changed when DSC became standard, but in the 2007 Coupe the DSC unit was under the passenger seat.

 

I have a question. Do you know if there is any difference in signal to the lower vs. the upper door position? It sounds like the lower position is getting mostly bass, and the upper mid to highs. Is there a crossover tucked in there somewhere?

I assume to couldn't be done at the rear HIFI amp, or standard head unit if they are in parallel.

 

I don't have the SAT just the Blutooth/Ipod upgrade. I do have DSC. Anyone know if that is under the passenger seat of the 2009CooperS?
Or for that matter, has anyone installed an amp under driver or passenger seats in 2009CooperS? If so what EQ packages do you have?

 

Actually the little box under the seat does rotational, side to side motion, forward revers motion sensing for many units in the cars so you could call it part of the DSC as well.

 

On the HiFi the front door speakers are driven by the Amp Front Woofer Channel for the 6.5" and the Amp Front Mid Channel for the 4". I.E. each driver has its own wiring from the amp.

On the Standard System the Front door speakers are wired in parallel and are fed full spectrum audio. The nature and size of each driver limits its ability to produce certain frequencies.

SO that is why the bass sound come for the larger speaker in the door. The upper driver in the standard system does not get enough power to cause it any harm really but if you were to disconnect the 6.5" driver you would hear the 4" trying to produce the bass, but because of its size it can not do so efficiently thus not really adding the bass in the car.

 

There will be a small module in the front corner toward the center of the vehicle in the cavity under the passenger seat that does produce some data for the DSC. Ther should still be enough room under there for some amps. Just of note is that the space is only about 2-3/4" deep so the amp must be fairly thin. Apline PDX-4 or 5 work well under there.

 

Thanks.

So, on the HIFI, best not to use a crossover when putting a component woofer in the lower position and its tweeter in the upper position?

On the standard system would you use the speaker's crossover? What leads would you connect the crossover to?

 

I checked a few speakers out. Just wondering your thoughts on these:
Infinity Perfect 6.1

or my local installer has Boston Acoustics, these looked good: Boston Acoustics SR60

Any idea how either of those will fair with the factory unit (NON-hifi)? Or will I really need an amp?

 

I am using some pretty high end pioneer comps without an amp...the sound is listenable...and at times pretty darn good...but i will add an amp soon. So iow...its not a must to have an amp from the outset.

 

Infinity speakers are on the bright side, and too harsh for my tastes. The Bostons have a Kortec tweeter, which is some kind of injection plastic. So, they may be bright as well. If that's what you like...

miniSQ tells me I will like silk tweeters much better. The sales guy at woofersetc said pretty much the same when I mentioned I was getting the Image Dynamics to replace Kappas that were too bright. So, you might want to wait and see if the ID speakers live up to my hopes.

A sales guy from woofersetc.com called today and offered to upgrade my order for the CTX65CS at $180 to the CXS64 V.2 for $250. This is a typical mail-order sales pitch. However, I'd looked for the CXS64 V.2, but hadn't found it when I ordered. So for the extra $70 I went for it. It should ship tomorrow and be here Friday or Monday. I'll let you know how it works out.

 

Right on, I'll be interested to hear how it works out. I probably won't be buying for a few weeks or so, unless I get a real bad itch. Who knows the factory setup is making my ears bleed.

This is probably a dumb question, but I'm certainly not an audiophile by any means: What exactly do you mean by too bright?

 

Someone else may have a better definition, but I first became aware of the distinction when looking for home theater sepeakers. Bright speakers emphasize the highs and may seem to have more claity, but hurt your ears. With a bright speaker you may be able to hear the dialog better, but you may not want to listen to it. Sort of like a bright sunny day when you can see everything clearly, but it is painful to look.

A room with a hard wooden floor and bare walls will cause a speaker to sound brighter than a carpeted room with medieval tapestries hanging.

Sooth vs harsh might be a biased way of saying it. Different people will prefer different locations on the bright/warm spectrum.

 

bright speakers over emphasize the vocals and upper frequency's..it will cause listener fatigue within a few minutes of listening and you will reach for the volume controls to turn it down.
warm speakers under emphasize the vocals and upper frequency's...while this won't caust fatigue...it may cause you to also reach for the colume or treble control to give you more impact.

IMO i would stay away from both ......

I would look for speakers that are described as "detailed" or "balanced"..or even better..."musical"....

 

Yes but ont eh HiFi remember that you really need a three way speaker system. If you go with a two way then you need to disconnect the tweeter in the pillar and put the component tweeter in the door or leave the upper door without a driver. OF course if you put in a new amp and are NOT using the OEM amp then you would want to use the crossover.

Yes on the standard system you would want to use the crossover eitehr the set of wires to the 6.5 or the wires to the 4" they both have the same audio on them.

 

Robin,

Very good on the description.

I usually describe it this way:

"Bright" is considered a negative term and is used by someone to put down a certain speaker and/or speaker line.

Many speakers have a very detailed presentation with a great deal of high frequency information present. With a mismatch in electronics and these detailed speakers, this amount of detail can cause listener ear fatigue.

When matched with higher quality electronics, these detailed speakers can present a very lifelike musical presentation. Some of the newer digital amplifiers as well as tube amplifiers can work very well with this type of speaker.

Some people do not want to hear all the details and/or they prefer speakers that present less detail in the higher frequency ranges. Very possibly their electronics are not up to the task of working with very revealing speakers.

Everyone's ears are different and you need to select a speaker that matches up best with your ears and your electronics.

It is really a match between electronics and speakers to get the sound YOU want. Every one will hear it differently.

 

a) Replacing front speakers with components running off of factory unit (non-hifi). Assuming these should be 4ohm. And high efficiency.

and other senario.

b) Replacing front speakers with components running off of small amp (4CH or 2CH).

 

If the tweeter goes in the upper position in the door, would the mid to high signal going to that position be OK for a tweeter? It wouldn't be getting too much mid-range?

 

Hey, I just bought my mini in July 09. It has the base stereo. Not that good.
So far I've put in new A-pillar trim with the HiFi tweeter.
Got them from my dealer about $80 for both. I thought it was just the trim piece but, it has the tweeter too. I'm planning on doing an incremental upgrade. Currently hooking the tweeter wire to the mid connection in the door. Had to splice the tweeter wire and modified the connector to use stock mid plug. I can still revert to stock. Just having the tweeter and woofer sounds way better. I tend to cover the mid speaker with my knee when driving. Now I'm trying to run the wire in the stock loom, looks like a lot of work.

 

Yeah after reading all the threads here I was thinking about installing the a-pillars in my non-hifi mini. Then I was going to add tweeters there and replace the lower speaker with the matching component.

The other question is should I just disconnect the small speaker in the upper door?

I like the idea of having the tweeter at ear level instead of in the upper door position. Will this sound better in actuality?

 

I just spoke to some very knowledgeable people at a local AV shop (The Stereo Shop, Rochester NY). They have done several MCS & JCW installs and recommended a set of JL Audio C2-650 components for the front. The price is right @ $219 for the speakers, and $90 for the install. I've seen some of their custom work, and it looks stellar. If this works out, I'll be going to them for the rear set and some subs in the future. Apparently they built a nice custom setup for a 2007 MCS with dual 8" subs set in a flush false floor, much like the Urban Mini enclosure. Amps were perfectly hidden, as well. If the price is reasonable for that kind of setup, then I see it happening for my car. In the meantime, I'm very excited for new fronts.

 

The best location for a tweeter seems to be a matter of controversy. Some say the tweeter should be as close to the woofer as possible. Others say it should be at eye level. Perhaps if you put the woofer in the A-pillar...

I think, if you disconnect the upper door speaker, you may be losing some midrange. I don't know enough about this to say, but I wonder if you could put a low pass filter on the upper door speaker to prevent it from getting the high the tweeter will be covering?

 

Looks like Woofersetc has those C2-650 's for $159. Any idea if these would be better at $209: VR650Csi ? It says the power handling is 15W-100W, so maybe that would work with the stock amp (non-hifi)...?

 

I'm sure there are plenty of places I can get the C2-650 speakers for a better price than the local store, but I'm willing to pay the extra bucks and have this place do a better install than I'm capable of.

The VR650-CSi speakers are discontinued. I'm pretty sure the C2 series replaced them. The VR speakers have a lower sensitivity rating (89.5dB vs 91dB), and the C2 speakers have larger magnets.

The non-HiFi headunit would probably drive the VR650-CSi speakers, but not very well. Most things I've read on this forum recommend a sensitivity of 90dB or higher, so I'm going to stick with that advice. An amp will be installed when I get the rears and sub installed.

All in all, I really won't complain when the install is finished and I've got MUCH better sound coming through. I like the idea of doing it piece by piece instead of all at once, so that I appreciate each component that much more. I'll be able to hear the difference between the stock system, new front speakers, new rears, and subs.

I love this car a ton, but I really miss my 2001 Accord's stock system.

 

truer words were never spoken...you sound like a very wise man

 

When do you get your new fronts installed?