Awesome news to hear. I have an 04 with HK system and it's not bad but distorts at high volumes (and who doesn't want loud music)?

I ordered a 2010 MINI Cooper S Convertable with the HK system so it seems it was a good choice.

 

nothing can compare to a set of aftermarket speakers and a decent amp. I had the HK system in my r53 mini, and today I just got new front speakers installed (hertz hsk 165). I am still running them off the HK amp however. This alone was twice as nice as the HK speakers. Once I add a new amp, It will be twice that again.

 

while in general that is true, you'd have a hard time building a complete system for $750 that is much better than the new HK stereo. The new one is quite a bit better than the old HK system from the 1st gen MINIs.

 

i'm in the same position. what i'm wondering, at risk of changing this thread, is what about yanking the hi-fi and putting in the hk? parts are probably 500$? from a place like morristown mini. it would be really cool. i posted before i think mini should give us some deal for selling us that hi-fi crap!

 

The HK option itself is already $750 so I think it will be way more than $500 for parts (amp and speakers).

The HK retrofit kit for the 1st gen costs over $2000 (just parts), although it includes wiring harness upgrades which shouldn't be necessary for a 2nd gen HiFi to HK conversion.

 

yea should just be speakers and amp. should be plug and play at that point too?
i wanna get part numbers and see about cost.

 

I have the HK on my '05 and have been extremely happy with it. IT goes reasonably loud without any distortion at any volume setting, and has monster bass when you turn it up. I like it so much, I pushed the new H/K system for my girlfriend's 2010 S. Should be ordered soon, and I can't wait to hear it

 

For those of you entertaining the idea of retrofitting the HK system to your MINI - it is a bigger job than you imagine. It'll be much cheaper to go aftermarket (or even that MINI Alpine upgrade).

 

I thought Mini was supposed to offer a retrofit kit. Hmmm.

 

The past few posts were on the topic of upgrading HiFi to HK (not retrofitting HK to base system). I think an upgrade would be relatively easy but MINI will charge a lot for the parts (my guess is $1500-$2000).

 

Do you know what kind of custom system you could build for 1500-$2000?

 

I have the HK system on my 2010 MCS and I have to say its a nice stereo for a car. They mentioned in the MINI magazine( the one thats from MINI) that they specifially tuned this stereo for rock pop and electro which explains the very large emphasis on the bass side. I had to dial the bass back to -3 on the adjuster to get a more reasonable bass response. Mid range response is weak but acceptable... Only question I have is every one says it has ten speakers but for the life of me I can only locate 8. There are the two in the A pillars, two more in each door and then the two in the rear wall near the seats... Where are the other two?

 

There are also 2 tweeters packaged with the 6x9's in the back.

 

Ahhh that might explain things then...I even pored over the cutaway pics in the magazine and STILL couldnt locate them. Its very obvious where the other 8 are in the pictures though. Thanks for the info.

Anyone thats interested can find the article I am talkin about in the sept 2009 issue of the magazine that they send you one of when you buy a new MINI. It was mostly a fluff piece but it did have a few gems like the mentioned focus on certain types of music for the acoustic tuning of the car. They also claim an increased level of sound proofing for the vehicle as well over the standard stereo equipped cars.

 

I hear you. I traded in my 2001 Audi A4 with premium Bose sound for my Mini. If there is one thing that is unforgivable is the quality of the sound in the Mini. It is NOT EVEN CLOSE to the Bose. All I keep thinking about is what if I didn't have the "premium" HK? Wow! Could it possibly be worse? In a BMW product?

I am truly disappointed with BMW on this issue. And I am not one to replace the stock stereo with something else. Oh well. Love the car, wish it had a thicker steering wheel like the Audi had. My only other complaint.

 

I should preface this post by saying that I worked my way through college as a car audio installer so I've always had high end sound in my rides.

Anyway, I just got a 2010 with the HK system and while it's much much better then the base system it is most definitely "Lacking" to my ears


I have already begun formulating a plan to upgrade the stock system to something worthy of this fine ride

My Planned system upgrade will keep the factory head unit but replace everything from there back (I will leave factory amp in place so that software upgrades from dealer work fine)

MY equipment list includes:

Audison Bit One signal processor
Hertz MIlle MLK 165 front components
Hertz High Energy coax's for the rear (Still listening to models to decide)
JL Audio 10W3 sub woofer in a tuned ported enclosure (Custom made)
JL HD 900/5 amp to drive it all (I can get away with a class D amp due to the Bit one smoothing it all out )
Dyna mat in strategic locations
and MANY MANY hours tuning the bit one...

This will not be cheap by any stretch of the imagination...

Now I will freely admit that my system design borders on the absurd cost wise but sonically it's going to be intense..

I realize that is not realistic for most of us (Heck it's a stretch for me but i have different priorities) so in the interests of fairness I put together a design with a much less costly pricetag for comparison purposes


JL Cleansweep to interface to OEM radio = $250
Hertz energy Components = $300
Hertz Energy coax's = $150
Kicker 5 channel Amp = $300
Kicker solobaric 8 inch sub $200
Basic sub box = $200

So our parts list costs about $1400 and you can probably find the equipment for less online.

Figure 200 - 300 for installation unless you are handy in which case you can do it yourself, and you would then have a system that would pound the snot out of the stocker, maintain the factory look on the dash and IMHO will even sound better then the OEM HK.

Now I'm not saying that this is the way to go, but the point is that the HK isn't the only option and while twice what the HK from the factory costs, this will deliver far superior sound..

Just my 0.02

 

just joined the forums...and have a TON of reading to catch up

what is the Alpine upgrade?
(I just bought a 2010 MCS with (sadly) only factory audio...I had to scrimp somewhere unfortunately)

my last ride (Nissan Rogue) had Bose and it kicked a**

thanks,
pac

P.S. just read a great thread (5 pages) on ordering an alpine upgrade thru a euro site...so a reply to this post is prob not needed

 

At last we can now buy 2010 Harmon Kardon speakers to retro into 2007 to 2009 MINI Hifi systems!!!

Check out this thread https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...an-kardon.html

You can buy the speakers at through the dealer or from the UK at http://www.minigenuineparts.co.uk/mi..._Upgrades.html

I have not bought them yet but are seriously considering this upgrade. It will cost about $600 but you get Harmon Kardon speakers that evidently fit perfectly and use original connectors etc.

 

600 bucks for speakers that fit where standard size speaker fit? that is a rip off IMHO. tapping into the factory wiring is VERY easy and you can get far superior speakers that will fit for far less...

Just my 0.02

 

Mcgyver74, will you be selling the HK speakers? If you do, Im interested.

 

I probably will at some point, I am saving up the scratch now to do my system.

As I mentioned, my system borders on the absurd cost wise so once i have it I'll prob sell the speaks from the HK

 

True, you can get speakers for less but if you are not careful in selecting them you can find yourself with wonderful speakers that don't operate well with the limited power available from the stock Hifi amp. I am looking for an intermediate upgrade and don't want to have to replace the amp etc. $600 for 8 speakers (rear 6" x 9" have two tweaters = 10 total) isn't that bad.

I ordered the replacement 2010 speakers - hope they are worth the $$..... I'll report back after installation.

 

Why are there so many people enamored with BOSE? Bose consistently overstates the "research" they put into their speakers. Cheap materials and mediocre sound IMO. If you had a car with BOSE that sounded really good such as an Infinity or Audi it was most likely because of the cars acoustics rather than the speakers.

 

i know what you're saying about bose, but most cars do sound good with those systems. the mini system just isn't good. in other cars (mb,bmw,audi,etc) the "stock" systems are usually pretty good, given that they are "stock". the whole thing still get summed up with the old joke, no highs, no lose, they're bose.

 

I haven't heard that speaker adage before but i makes perfect sense. However I do agree with you that BOSE does have the good sense to put their product in well built vehicles.

But when it comes down to it, I cant trust a company that will not allow me to take the screens off their home theater speakers.