Well I got the system finally finished/installed on Saturday. (I still have not heard it as I’m waiting on the new harness, should be here today) I took the car to BMW Saturday afternoon and had the computer cleared by my buddy, the computer goes a bit nuts when the battery is disconnected and I had a list of codes 2 pages long showing everything that happened since the barratry was disconnected. Plus I hit the start button with the seat out so that was a big time fault…I will have it re-flashed once again next week just to make sure its all ok.

Here are the final pictures with a few of the car at the end. I made the speaker grill for a cleaner look and also I can now mount another shelf on it which I’ve still to make. I want to be able to have one with the woofer exposed and still be able to put on the supplied one that came with the system.

I will post pix later once I make the new shelf se-up….
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital...7629768965607/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital...7629768965607/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/digital...7629768965607/

 

Kevin,

Any new development on the sub woofer for the Clubman - Any chance that you are not using the spare wheel space for the sub since it is needed for the spare when we switch to non-RFT.

Will a couple 10'' woofer fit into the back 6x9 area that will provide decent low end?

 

Pre-production final prototype is being produced now, expect to have it in hand and fitment confirmed in ~3 weeks, and the first production run ready to ship ~2 weeks after that.

It does NOT use any of the spare tire well.

 

Glad to hear that and can't wait to see and hear it... any marketing material ready. Plug n play add-on to the sound stage for R55.

Thanks Kevin.

 

Not yet, and yes, designed to work with the R55 Soundstage.

 

Mounting depth on the rear 6x9's on an R56? I have a set of older Alpine 6x9's i want to maybe put in the magnets are quite large and the depth is at least 3.5 inches.

 

A big thank you to Kevin at Integral Audio for helping me through the Sub system install. He was very helpful and patient with me even with multiple emails and phone calls. Even called me back on weekends. By the way the system is great too!

 

I noticed back in February you mentioned that you were constructing a Clubman (R55) version of your subwooder system (1101S). I was wondering how that was going and if you were going to eventually do some kind of combined sale of the Soundstage (R55) package. I wanted to purchase the package for my clubman, but didn't want to spend $1500 for speakers and another $1500 for a subwoofer if you were intending on doing the combined package like you did for the R56 (looks like $2300 for the combined rather than a future projection of $3000).

So... What are the odds of getting either a "futures" price on the soundstage product with the intent of the subwoofer later or... ??

Wanted to get some ideas before I purchased. Actually wanted to see how long to sit on this before I loose the urge to use my sommer break to work on my 2012 JCW clubman.

 

When I contacted Integral a few weeks back they were planning on a July 1 launch of the sub. I am waiting patiently.

 

And we certainly appreciate your patience!

Here's the current status as of July 3, 2012: The Clubman subwoofer final pre-production prototypes of both the enclosure and speaker are here and we are just waiting on scheduling the test vehicle to come back in for final fitment confirmation & performance testing. I hope to be able to get that done the week of 7/16. Assuming no issues (there shouldn't be), production will begin after that and the system will be available for ordering on the www.integralaudio.com site.

 

Any thoughts about doing a 6x9 IB subwoofer as a direct drop-in solution ?? Just wondering out loud.

 

Reading this thread has me dizzy....I have zero knowledge of stereo components/audio terms that are being thrown around

With my MINI roughly 6 weeks away (just ordered '13 Mini Cooper S Hardtop), I decided to not get the HK because it is not much better than standard, and if I am spending that much money on an upgrade, I should be fully in love with how it sounds.

I might not know all the terminology that is being used but I certainly love music and it is important to hear my music loud and clear. I want to hear it crisp, with solid bass and definitely no crackling!

Can somebody help me find the best way to improve how music sounds with a budget around $700? I heard Amps and Sub Woofers are the way to go but that doesn't help a whole lot. I would greatly appreciate a MINI specific website, and/or shops in the NY area that can do the best job for the price I am willing to spend

 

So I have an '09 and I find the bass lacking more... so V8spree, personally if I had money to throw at my Justa I'd go to a shop and talk with them about doing a sub installation of some sort. Even a fairly small sub would add a great deal of ooomph to my system. If you don't want to spend tons of money you could go as cheap as a bass tube type of system, or you could got a bit further and put a sub under one of the front seats, or even a bit further and work on a built in system in the rear of the car.

 

Thanks man, yeah being that I don't know much about these things, it is a bit of a challenge talking to these shops because I do not want to get ripped off, or get anything extra which I do not need or not get enough and be disappointed lol. I guess when my MINI comes I will visit a shop in person and explain in detail what I need and how I want the car to sound for the amount of money I have to spend. That should be okay I guess...lol

 

Read up, look for the BOSS 600 or similar... although w/ a clubman you get a perfect spot, w/ a normal mini might need to use up a bit of space...

 

My recommendation would be to call your dealership and amend your vehicle order to include the HK. For a budget of $700, you aren't going to do better than the HK without the knowledge to pick the proper components and the skill to install them yourself. Even then it isn't going to be a big improvement. At a local shop that amount is definitely not going to get you better than the HK, and without better knowledge you aren't going to know if you are being ripped off or are leaving your new car in the hands of incompetents.

$700 may seem like a lot, but it won't go far. The HK is a vast improvement over the old HiFi, and is significantly better than the standard 6 speaker system. Unless you can budget twice that amount I'd suggest you stick with that.

Before you consider budget-friendly options like the BOSS600, make sure you know what you are getting into. They are cheap for a reason.

 

No, for a whole host of reasons, most of which I've discussed previously on this forum. Bottom line is that you can't easily meet our performance standards with two 6x9's in the car, and to do so would be more expensive than our current solution. We spend literally hundreds of hours on system design, and look for the best combination of performance and value for a particular vehicle. If two 6x9's worked we'd have gone that route.

 

Kevin - Do you have any blem versions of the box for the R56, or will you simply sell one sans the amp and sub? I would need to know the volume of the enclosure, and approximate depth, but I already have a couple other woofers in mind.

I already have the other items needed for an audio install, but my time may not allow me to build an enclosure for a while.

 

No, we don't sell individual pieces of our systems, and, same as above, for a whole host of reasons most of which have been discussed on this forum previously. We've considered it and will probably continue to revisit the issue, but the bottom line is that it is just the wrong way to do it. Period.

The speaker and the enclosure form an integrated system - you can NOT separate one from the other. The whole point of fitting a particular woofer to a specific enclosure size is to control the Q response of the enclosure, all of which must be designed for the unique transfer function of the specific vehicle. Most people - including the vast majority of folks on the retail side of this industry - think it's appropriate to pick a random woofer they like and plug it into a box that fits. It just ain't so.

 

Kevin, this is a question that was raised a while ago in this thread: have you looked at the performance, etc. of the Alpine audio upgrade that Mini offers? Do you have any thoughts on it at all?

 

I have not measured with our equipment here, but I have heard it and am familiar with the components. It is roughly comparable to the HK (2010+) system. It is not even in the same universe as our Soundstage. Given the installed price, and assuming you are ordering new, I'd say get the HK on the low end, or our Soundstage on the high end. If you are retrofitting, given the installed price of the Alpine kit, I think it would be foolish to try to save a few hundred bucks by going the Alpine vs. our Soundstage. If you are looking for budget retrofit options, there are better ways to go. Bottom line, I just don't see a compelling argument to be made for the Apline in any situation.

 

I understand your position, but I dont think that providing an enclosure for those who wish to design their own setup is "the wrong way to do it. Period". I understand that I am not your target demographic, but then, I spend a lot more time, energy, and money than most of your customers choose to.

It is, after all, simply a sealed enclosure, and fiberglass isnt exactly rocket surgery.

A speaker and an enclosure are not an integrated system in the sense that they wont work without the other... One can design a box for many purposes or response curves, using the same woofer. I am well aware of the changes that a box has, as well as the differences in the frequency response based on the Q of the alignment and the design goals of the system itself. I also have preferences as to the response I like, and how it works with the transfer function of the vehicle I am installing it in. I also have the ability to measure and EQ as needed.

By the way, what is the alignment for the sub in the box you have specified?

I, like you, abhor the idea of sticking a random woofer in a box, even the "recommended" box size from the mfg. That is why I asked for the enclosure size - I would need to check that the box met my requirement, or change my desired woofer to match available volume with a reasonable final Q.

I decided some time ago when the SB Acoustics woofer was released that it was not the woofer for me. Back when it was sub $200, much less at its current price. It would be interesting to know if your company has had the woofer customized in any way, but I suspect it is the same woofer I can go purchase retail.

I simply do not want to pay for a woofer that does not meet my needs, and amplifier that is not going to be used.

 

Who makes the drivers used in your system?

And why the use of a phase plug in the mid-bass driver, when the crossover point is so low (per your specs on the sight)?

 

Heh. More or less what I expected, given that the Mini kit is going to be assembled to meet a price point. (Though I'll take mild exception to "a few hundred dollars", as there's a $1500+ difference in cost.) Still, I believe that the Integral Audio products are going to be much higher quality, and the engineering and audio knowledge are worth a lot too.

At the moment, I'm waiting for my (ordered with my JCW coupé) JCW suspension to become available, because there's going to be an installation charge that I still don't know with certainty. Once that's covered, I may treat myself to better tunes for Christmas.

 

The problem is that you've got three variables - the car, the woofer, and the enclosure. You need to be able to change at least one of those to shape the response approriately. We can change two - the woofer and the enclosure. You can change the woofer, but your options are far more limited to what is commercially available. If you were to build your own enclsoure obviously you've got control over that. If you use ours you'd lose that ability.

We have strong beliefs here about what is and isn't the right way to reproduce sound. I'm just not interested in selling the enclosure bare. Sorry about that, but there are other options, and it sounds like you are more than capable of building your own. Besides, it doesn't sound like you are very impressed with our products anyway, so no big loss, right?

A phase plug has other well-documented benefits besides PL compensation. If you think about it you'll realize why we're using it in a mid-bass driver. It has nothing to do with PL - it has to do with something a dustcap would do in this situation....