Aloha,

I have an 06 Mini and decided after struggling with HK set up, it was time for an upgrade. After reading all of the comments regarding doing it myself, I was able to find a good deal at a local dealer here on Maui. I went with an Alpine CDE-123, Alpine 60c 6.5 component speakers for the front and an Arc ADI804 amp. The entire cost was $900 out the door, with 2 year warranty on the equipment and lifetime on the install. Derek the owner of Certified Sounds, did a great job, along with his crew. The Arc amp went right in where the HK amp was in the left rear quarter panel and the speakers went in with some minor adjustments. I watched the entire install and they definitely earned their money. I will post some pics shortly.

If anyone is interested in the HK set up, pleas pm me.

 

is there anyway to replace just the stereo in a harmon kardon system?
i know the speakers are 2ohm (not that i know what that means)

but i just want a usb connection and my unit isn't always spitting out the disks anymore so it seems like a good time to replace it. i've other complaints about the functions but am okay with the overall sound

 

The OEM head unit will only work with the HK amp, although I hear there are some sort of adapters out there. The HK speakers, after taking them out aren't all that bad, but no comparison sound wise with my new Alpines. I watched the entire dismantiling of my car and it is a big job. I am glad I didn't try it myself.

 

What did you go with for rear speakers?

 

We left in the existing HK 6x9's, although they are paper coned and kind of cheap. I am using them as sub woofers and have just the low signals going to them. They do an okay job so far and I am going back into the installer to have him make a few adjustments with the amp.