Thanks sbeezy. I think I'll just do it after since I probably wouldn't even know if they were broken in or not :P

BTW did the rest of you guys have enough speaker cable? After running the left and right mid/wfr and tweet wire down the left side I didn't have enough to run the right side tweeter. I'll have to head to the local shop to pick some up.

Also those door panels are a pain in the *** to pull off, kept thinking I was going to break it. Any tips or just pull and pray?

 

I was lucky, my kit was missing all the speaker cable. All I had were the harnesses and nothing else. I had wire at home so it didn't screw me up but was a bit of a surprise.

Mark

 

There is absolutely no reason to break a speaker in. Ever. It's a waste of time and energy.

 

I haven't read through the whole thread, but I took a quick look and can say with certainty that those measurements aren't accurate.

Take a look at our FR measurements in the "MINI Audio Basics" sticky in this forum, that will give you a better sense of the stock HU. Not to take anything away from the guy who did the measurements in that thread - he is obviously quite a skilled installer. But taking proper electro-acoustic measurements is a different thing entirely, and requires expensive test equipment PLUS a large amount of specific skill and experience.

The biggest limiting weakness of the stock MINI electronics is in the AUX/USB implementation. There are some serious quality control issues. If your CD's sound great and your iPod/etc sounds like crap (assuming decent iPod content), that's your first clue you've got an issue there. Talk to your dealer about replacing the AUX in. It's never going to be great, but it should be livable. About 10-20% or so of what we've encountered seem to have an issue.

 

As I mentioned on the phone, this turn-on thump isn't normal. After more thought it sounds to me like you have two issues - 1) Autosense is on, and 2) your battery is dying or at low charge. Having Autosense on WILL give you turn on thump, but only at the start and stop of the RAD_ON signal. The thump when pressing the "Start" button is a different issue, and that situation is generally related to the large startup current temporarily dropping the voltage to below low-voltage cutoff for one of the components upstream of the amp. In 2+ years of the 110X version of the sub system shipping, only one other person has had any turn-on thump issue, and it was related to the battery.

Give me a call when you are ready, and we'll get it figured out.


This is not ground issue. It is a signal-side issue.


See my previous post above.

 

We recommend you keep listening levels reasonably moderate for the first couple hours of listening, that's it.

Please don't do what the other poster suggested about hooking them up to a receiver. It isn't necessary at best, and is dangerous at worst. Speakers designed for small enclosures have loose suspensions, since the air in the enclosure provides most of the mechanical restoring force on the cone. The majority of the total restoring force is provided by the magnet/coil, but this force diminishes as you drive the coil out of the gap, and once that happens you quickly loose all restoring force and drive the suspension to it's mechanical limits. You won't get much volume from an unbaffled speaker in free-air and you can't bottom the voice coil bobbin in any of these drivers, so unless you knew what you what you were looking at you could easily damage the speaker.

 

Purie, if you have a Rear Amp Mount kit more speaker wire is included with the replacement X9331 harness that shipped out. If you have a USAM kit and didn't have enough, please email/call me.

The doors definitely take some force, definitely in the category of seems-like-it's-gonna-break-right-before-it-comes-off. I find it best to start at the bottom-rear and use a plastic panel tool to get the edge started, then work from there. Once you get used to them, I think you'll find the doors are actually among the easiest panels. They come off and go on straight, nothing is in the way, and the clips rarely (if ever) break. You can put them on and take them off over and over with no negative impact.

 

I'm still on the fence about keeping my MS8 and combining it with the factory deck or to do a gut and get a proper head unit. My MS8 is up for sale so if it sells, then that will answer that question

This setup from Kevin is still likely one of the best audio upgrades you can do yourself in the bang for the buck category in my mind. I've been messing around with car audio for almost 20 years and spent time as an IASCA certified judge. I'm not going to say I know everything or close to it but I've seen a lot in my time. To assemble something like this yourself will cost you money and TIME. Never mind a completely custom one off setup from a shop which is likely even more and not as good. This is good stuff.

 

Hmmmmm, that sounds a lot like my answer to you... lol

 

Thanks for the input, and yeah I didn't feel comfortable hooking it up to a stereo.

Fantastic, got my new harness and more speaker cable, it looks like more then enough. Yeah the first door was kinda sketchy but the second was no problem at all, those plastic trim tools are probably the $13 I have ever spent. Everything has been going smooth and should be finishing up in a couple hours

Well I'm off to finish the rest of the install.

Woot!!!

 

Enjoy the new system and let us know how you like it.

 

Wow! That's my wife's first words as we went for a drive yesterday to try out the Soundstage for the first time. I already had the subwoofer and knew what a difference that made with the HK system my car had, but the Soundstage just blew her (and me) away!

The best way to describe it is by comparison. My wife drives a BMW with a Logic 7 system that has a center speaker. It sounds better than that (which is Bmws best system made by HK) I would have sworn that my MINI now has a center fill speaker, the "soundstage " that this system produces is amazing.

My only word of warning is that after you do the install, don't just sit in the car and listen for too long-I drained my battery.

Anyone on the fence regarding this system needs to get off and order one. You will love your MINI even more!

 

My wife really enjoys the system also and it makes me want to drive more. I can't believe how much more fun it is to drive now with good sounding tunes. I agree that for the amount of money spent, it represents a good value. I could do a system for less but not by much and it would not sound nearly as good.

I agree that if anyone is on the fence, they can now get off and just buy!

Mark

 

After having the Soundstage and Sub installed for almost two weeks now and listening to a variety of music and sources I couldn't be happier with it. Every source sounds much better, even regular FM radio. But with a good cd or high bit rate digital source from my iPod , the quality is outstanding. What is amazing to me is that this system is so dialed in to this car that with the head unit settings all set at zero (flat), the sound just seems perfect, no need for any adjustment. The subwoofer adjustment **** is great when you have a poor recording that could use some tweaking in the bass department .

I find that even when listening at low volume levels I can still hear the base in perfect balance. And at high volume levels I can feel the base as well!

This is a very well done system!

 

I didn't have much luck, after troubleshooting, Kevin and I found that I may have a bad amp. I should have the new one by Tuesday. Having a good multimeter that can do Hz and volts is a good tool to have.

 

The Ordering/Customer Service

Easily one of the best things about the system is dealing Kevin at Integral. He's quick to respond and seems to have endless patience with questions. He was very helpful with my pre-purchase, install and tuning questions. Big thumbs up.

The Product/Install Kit

Saying it's comprehensive is an understatement. Literally EVERY thing you need (down to a roll of electrical tape) is in this thing. No runs to the store...no wondering what you might need that you don't already have. I had two MINI owners with previous car audio industry install experience (years) both comment multiple times on how thorough Integral with putting the kit together.

The speakers and sub all looked very nice and of high quality. Of course looks don't ensure great sound but you'll see later that's not a worry here.

The Install

The instructions are just as thorough as the kit but that doesn't mean I'd do it myself. I'm not the best DIY guy so I had some experience guys do it. But I watched step by step and the instructions will take you through all you need to have it look like it's factory and sound like it's supposed to. The only install issue worth mentioning (and I've already told Kevin it'd be wise to add this to the instructions) is that when we took off the door panel on the passenger side we bumped the door lock switch lever out of its place. We couldn't get it back in properly without removing the rest of the door which includes the glass. In the end we left it as it is (slightly sticking up) as it does not impact the door locking or unlocking with the remote, switch or door handle. We didn't bump it on the driver side so it's simply a matter of being mindful of that thing when you're working on it.

The Sound

I'm going to lump the review of the whole thing together as opposed to reviewing the Sub sound and the Soundstage sound.

As a whole this system is pretty damn sweet. It's taken a couple weeks now but I'm finally settling into the right volumes for the different styles of music I listen to AND the different forms of media (CD vs iPhone vs Sat Radio). I am now listening at an overall lower volume because the music is so much cleaner, clearer and more crisp. The sub adds so much life to the styles I listen to and if you want it to it'll shake your kidneys...hard.

I mainly listen to heavy metal, electronic, sports radio, movie scores and some hip hop. With this system I'd rank them as follows (from best sounding to not the best sounding): Electronic, Heavy Metal, Movie Scores, Hip Hop and Sports Radio. The last 4 are all fairly close but electronic music is by far the leader here. And it isn't just because the low end is now spectacular. The mids and highs are so clear and precise that the other styles just can't match how good it sounds.

Kevin has pointed this out in various threads but how the music was recorded and the media type make a big difference in how good the sound quality will be. If you listen to Trip Like I Do from The Crystal Method on my iPhone it sounds really good. If I put in the Remastered 10th Anniversary CD and listen to that track it's jaw dropping. Keep that in mind.

Overall

The bottom line question anyone should ask is, in hindsight is the system worth the high cost? The answer is yes for 2 reasons:

1. The system is a huge improvement over the "upgraded" HK system that I had. No more distortion at mid to upper volume levels. No more muddiness. No having to turn down the bass and miss out on some great piece of the music because I want to have the mids and highs louder. It's clear this system was designed for this car just from the sound alone. Two thumbs up.

2. Any non-MINI owner would NEVER know this system is in the car. The sub is invisible, the amp is invisible, the speakers all go in the factory places. The sub volume **** is the only item visible and it blends in so well I doubt anyone not looking would notice. This was big for me because I don't want to be a target for theft AND I don't necessarily want people to know I have a nice system. In addition I had to give up very little space to have this incredible sound.

If you can afford it I don't see how you could be disappointed with the end results.

Hit me up if you have any questions I can answer.

Matt

 

Mark,

I would love to meet up with you to listen to your upgrade to Integral Audio system. I have my car for three weeks now and cannot listen to the stock audio any longer. Just flat out sucks...

I'm in Princeton NJ... send me a PM when you have time.

 

I got my Soundstage upgrade to complement my existing subwoofer (which I had removed from my 2011 but not yet installed in my 2012) last week and finished up the install Saturday. I have to say that I had a lot of fun doing the actual install. Snipping the wires going to the HK amp were a bit nerve-wracking but you only live once .

Overall I am thrilled with the upgrade. The sound is much more authentic to what the artists wanted it to be. I'm very happy with the purchase.

 

Self installed the soundstage with subwoofer 1 week ago. Install was pretty straightforward. The sound after a week of listening will blow away most sound systems. Audiophiles may be picky but for the average listener this system is pretty amazing. I give it 5 out of 5 stars due to well thought out design, simplicity of the system setup, and amazing sounds. Anyone in Houston wanting to hear for themselves is more than welcomed to come listen.

 

That’s great MINIdecay, I would love to hear and compare yours to my set-up.... just to see how you adjusted the crossovers. Where about in Houston are you. Are you familiar with the Houston MINI Motoring Society.