Hi

I have a 03 MCS with base stereo system and wanted to know if I could add just the HK speakers. Will I experience an improvement?

Thanks

 

probably! i think the only thing you may "lack" is the amperage to make it excessively loud. speakers are just speakers after all. heck, my old celica had blown speakers, so since i was broke (and it was a 20+ yr old car) i put computer speakers in! they worked just fine! lol

i would consider getting a deal on some other brand possibly, you may find similar performance for a better price.

 

The HK system speakers are 2ohm. The base head unit amp does not play well with 2ohm speakers. If you do it it might have a host of problems. You'd be better off getting a decent set of 4-ohm component or coaxial speakers.

 

Harmon Kardon don't know what they're doing in car audio yet.
If you want a high end brand, go with Polk audio.
I upgraded to a set of Energy component speakers, it's the car audio line by Klipsch, and made in Canada. Huge difference.
Anything is better than the stock Mini speakers.

I'm picky with my sound and speakers. My living room has a 7.1 system, every speaker had to be Klipsch.

 

And the Mini is small and open, so put all your money into the front door speakers. and use the fader to shut off the back speakers. That'll put all your power to the crisp front ones.

Plus to change the back 6x9's you have to take out the rear seats, the trim in the back... not worth the time for what you get in return.

 

The short answer is NO! You can't just swap the HK drivers and expect to have a better sound.
BTW, the HK drivers are just slightly better junk than the Base stuff. I wouldn't waste my time and money on them.

 

It was a 5 minute job on mine...

 

If you want better sound in the R53, I'd suggest getting a small subwoofer and amp, and a new head unit. I know the stock speakers aren't great, but after doing this my car sounds SO much better. I'm not just talking about blasting bass-heavy gangster rap either. Having a sub to play the lows sharpens up the sound in the speakers because they're not muddied up trying to push out lows and highs at the same time.

An aftermarket head unit can be had pretty cheap, will give you a little more power, and handy features like bluetooth, USB, aux, etc are pretty standard even on cheaper head units now.

 

The main issue is ohms...
but inaddition the stock head is pretty low powered....so to get decent volume, the stock speakers are very efficient in sound per watt....so chooses carefully when you replace them, and remember they ate EURO sized, ie:mm sizing, not inch sizing for proper fitment.
Also of note...if you did fit the hk(if it even could be driven by the stock head), the hk are made to work with crossovers to limit the frequency response.....so more issues in getting proper full sound.