So I'm trying to make some upgrades to my system and now I'm in the research phase. I will definitely be upgrading the door speakers with a 6.5" component system (I'm thinking the Polk Audio DXi6500) with amp and switching out the HU. I am not too keen about putting a box in my trunk because my fiancee would kill me if I eliminate the space back there. I also need to keep the existing panels because of cost restrictions. I don't want to have to sell a kidney to build this system (under 750 would be nice). The lower the better.

The most important thing about this setup is that I want to gain the lows that aren't even heard now. I don't need the knock of 12s or even 10s. But I listen to everything from Jazz to Rap so I need range. So my question is about my options for the location where the 6x9s are currently. I'm not sure how deep that location is so I don't know exactly what I can put into it. I do plan on matting the car while I have all the panels stripped. I'm also assuming I can throw some batting in that area if it'll help. I've looked at 6.5 subs like the Kicker 10CVT654 and the JL Audio 6W3v3-4. I'm looking at this amp for whatever speakers I choose because the dimensions seem small, Rockford Fosgate Prime R250-1D. I'm trying to find our if anyone has done something similar and what their results were.

On another note has anyone ever seen or put an 8" in that space? I kept coming back to these Kickers 10C84 mainly because they could serve as a cheap experiment. I'm wondering if I could build my own mdf adapter and fit a shallow-mount (or even full) 8" in that space. How much of the existing hole would/could be modified a bit to fit an 8". But I don't want this experiment to turn into a situation where I have to go beyond my work to a shop that can do large amounts of custom work. My fear with either the 6.5" and more the 8" is that they will sound like crap because they lack the aid of an enclosure. Any help, opinions, links, photos, etc... would be greatly appreciated.

 

I went with the same Polks in the front, their DB6x9's in the rear and a Polk MX 10" in the back all powered by a JL audio X700. I would imagine subs behind the panels would vibrate the interior panels too much. The 10 inche is kind of big, but maybe one 8" would do? Might not take up much of your boot space.

 

I looked for speakers that had a good low end and found a set that go down to an honest 30 hz.

I put Pioneer A 1702C 6.75" speakers in the doors and TS A6964R in the back. With the stock head unit it sounds very nice The total cone area is greater than a 12" sub. Personally I have never heard a good auto sub.

After I put the speakers in I followed that with a Pioneer 4 channel 300 watt Class D amp. Class D draws less power than other types and sounds really good.

The Bass is now house shaking. If it is cranked you feel it on your chest.

I still have the stock head unit but hope to change that soon.

Good you have the R53 since you really can't do this with the newer MINIs.

Cheers.

 

Just put some plates over the original holes and install your 8's. I have them in my son's R53 You MIGHT have to open the holes up a bit but it will depend on the basket design of the subs. It's not hard to do

 

What about something like this?

http://www.woofersetc.com/p-10394-cl...ubwoofers.aspx

 

I don't want anyone to take any personal offence to this, but as someone who's been in the audio world for years, most of what I see on this forum pains me. Not to say people most likely aren't happy with what they've done, but there are right and wrong ways of doing things, and the right way can actually be cheaper in the long run

If you are serious about getting full range of frequency response reliably and efficiently, I would stay away from a lot of things like 6x9 "subs" or oval speakers all together.

Low end extension is going to be tougher the smaller you go, but there are some good performing 8's out there. One thing though, I'm not entirely sure what the space is that you are trying to use(I'm not familiar with the factory audio setup on the MINI's quite yet), but a proper enclosure is an absolute must. Without the right airspace matched to the sub, and a good air-tight enclosure of quality material, no sub is going to perform at it's best.

Something to keep in mind with upgrading your audio setup is the KISS method is going to be a heck of a friend (KeepItSimpleStupid).

Also, make sure quality is kept in the back of your head as purchasing time comes. Buyng sub-par equipment that might not have the sound or build quality to keep you happy in the long run is going to cost more than buying the best you can afford at the beginning. I'll say this; if sound quality is important to you stay away from muddy crappy Kicker junk. RF quality has fallen off in recent years, and JL is a company I've always liked but can get pricey for what they are. Mid-level with high-end talk and prices


My suggestion is to start with a quality head unit. It's where your music starts. It's the source of it all. That needs to be an important focus. I don't remember you mentioning anything about a head unit you currently have.
I would start at www.crutchfield.com and look through Kenwood Excelon(and only their Excelon stuff) or Alpine and see what head units have the features you really want/need. Those are 2 brands you can't really go wrong with.

The next step would be a quality set of front components. Without knowing your budget, I don't know if I can accurately give suggestions here. Those polks being about a $50 set of speakers really makes me skeptical of their sound OR build quality. If your budget allows it, definitely try to up the budget on the components. They are playing 90% of your frequency range, you want a quality set. Anything from 80ish hz up to 20K hz. All in the components. The sub is only there to efficiently pick up the low end from 20-80ish hz. It is important to have a good sub, but if I were to skimp on the budget it would definitely NOT be at the components.

Also keep in mind that the components should also be amped, not just the sub. A good head unit can maybe provide 20 watts of continuous clean power if you're lucky. A good component set with a high quality amp providing the power they NEED is where they will shine. Without proper power available, you and your volume **** will end up asking far too much out of them when you get spunky and want to turn things up. You are going to send a clipped or dirty signal and damage your speakers and distort the sound.


I would love to help out here as this is really my area of expertise. But first, since you gave a vague idea of your musical goals, what are the budget requirements for the whole system? With a good idea of budget, that's when ideas and suggestions can be tossed around.

 

I don't mean this reply in a mean way, but misinformation and less-educated information is what leads to more and more people doing things wrong or spending money in the wrong places. Again, I'm not saying YOU aren't happy pushing 6.5" midrange speakers to play sub-bass frequencies they aren't meant for, just saying it's not exactly right..

 

Thanks for all of the replies folks. Sorry it took me so long to reply, but I postponed the project and also forgot to subscribe to my own thread (dumb, i know). I'll try to add in some additional information and address some of the things you all pointed out. All wrapped up I don't want this to cost me more than $1K. As far as equipment goes I've narrowed some things down to the following:

- Kenwood KDC-BT952HD or JVC KD-50BT, both fulfill hands free calls and variable display color. I like that the Kenwood has a 7 band eq since I don't plan on running an eq or processor
- Polk Audio db6501, reviewed well on crutch and some forums, these will be amped at a target something rated at 75W RMS+
- Amp for front stage: still on the hunt, has to be enough to drive Polks and be small for under seat install
- Alpine SWR-823D , 8's for rear 6x9 replacements. I figure I'll wire these at 2ohm and amp them with something like that
- Rockford Fosgate R500-1D, hits the points with size, wattage, and remote. yup, it's on the lower end.
- MFSW adapter from newministuff.com because they seem to the point, no splicing.

I'll try to wrap all this up with a distro block( maybe the konFused 2 way or something similar) for power delivery. As stated before I'll will be using CLD on the majority of the surfaces. I won't be going with any CCF or MLV for a few reasons. The main reasons are that mods to the carpet would be needed to make it fit, there could be possible clearance issues, and well, I won't have the time for that extensive of an install. For the rear section installs I'm sorta flying blind but I'm going to have some cutting boards(UHMW plastic) and butyl seal or something similar at the ready to create plates like OldGameFreak mentioned. Hopefully this will help to partly seal the spaces. I also wanted to find some 3M acoustic material, but that stuff is expensive. Today I found an interesting post about using plastic sealed fiberglass batting as an absorption so I'm interested to see if I could use that against the CLD in the read speaker space.

As always if anyone has any commentary on my choices let me know. Definitely chime in if you have any suggestions that work with the newly mentioned budget. I wanted to check some shops for components to listen to but, there aren't a ton of shops in the area and that's only so accurate anyway.

 

The KDC-BT952HD is the best radio I've ever had. I run a small car audio business selling Rockford and Kenwood products, and the 4 volt RCAs make for great sound quality. Unfortunately it just got put out of production.