I'm a Craigslist skinflint DIYer with more ambition than skills. I have replaced the head unit and door speakers in a prior Mini, so I have some idea as to what is involved.

Because money is tight, and I have a number of components I can recycle, I want to install Polk upgraded speakers, a JL TW5 Sub with Kenwood XXV-03A amp in the boot and a (yet to buy) Alpine PDX 100.4 for under the passenger seat.

I assume I'll need to buy a sub remote. But not sure what kind of wiring harness to get or where. I'll probably upgrade the head unit eventually, but am hoping that the existing head unit won't noticeably degrade the sound of the rest of the system.

Is this plan practical? Appreciate any suggestions...

Thanks

 

Personally I think the stock one is fine. As long as your amps have line level inputs you should be good. To me it would be better to spend that money elsewhere on the car and just keep the stocker. as long as you don't need more functionality out of it (various ipod and bluetooth functions)

 

Thanks - that's what I was hoping to hear. I'm not sure what a line level input is, but I'll research that. The two Amps i plan on using are the Alpine PDX 100.4 and an old sub amp - Kenwood Exelon XXV-030.

 

Our units don't have pre-amps (I'm pretty sure)..the things that normally plug into an amp. So if you want to use an amp, the amp must have line level input....typically the sound will not be as good...just depends on your goals....it is good enough for many.

 

I kept my factory deck and used an Arc Audio SRI to add an amp and sub. Great piece, and it cleaned up the signal from the deck significantly:

http://www.arcaudio.com/productdescr...lizers/sri.asp

 

The ARC seems like a nice piece of high end equipment. However , I'm trying to do this on the cheap. I've seen slightly used Cleansweeps for sale on ebay & craigslist for $100 - 120. I'm just not sure how to control the sub amp. Do I buy an remote or can I use the cleansweep control?

 

Provided you are getting a complete JL Clean Sweep, it should come with everything you need to control sub response, as well as an AUX inputs for an iPod. You will need to find a place in the cabin to place the control ****, though this should not be problematic.

The JL is a fine piece, and is a good starting point for a system.

 

Thanks

This is a great source of expert info !