OK, agreed.

But to track back to the earlier premise that a bus problem was causing Wendys amp to not turn on ... Your theory is:
a) something on the bus is messing up the messages so the amp won't turn on. I don't think that is likely - messages are checked by sender & receiver and bad ones are ignored and repeated
b) something on the bus is causing the HK amp to turn off - since we know that silence on the bus or random garbage would not cause this, we have to have a device on the bus sending a message which is to the HK amp and contains data which tells it to turn off and contains a valid checksum! Not the likely result of bus interference ...

 

I dont know because I always forget to try it when the radio isn't playing. Usually I am driving down the road when it happens and I think of it after the radio comes back on. I am going to try to remember to try it next time and see what happens. The service manager called me today and told me they had gotten the OK from Mini to keep my car for a week and give me a rental car and see if they can find the problem and fix it. I take on July 26. I will post what ever they find. Thank you for you input. I printed it all out and I am going to take it to the dealer with me.

 

I have a buddy that is selling his MCS and has offered to let me parts out all the extras on his car since the dealer won't give him any greater value for "add-ons"...

my questions: is it too much hassle to swap the HK with the standard unit? and is it worth it? should it be done by a dealer or stereo enthusiast?

he also has the gps if that complicates the mechanics of the swap installation...

 

Dont' do it!


The HK has a totally different wiring harness running all through the car - to both doors, the head unit, and to the back of the car. Extra connectors going from the car body to the door, and different harnesses in the door too.
Removal and reinstall would be a MAJOR task!

 

that makes for an easy call

what about swapping the speakers out?

 

That depends on where the crossovers are. If you are using the standard head unit, it probably feeds a single wire pair to each 2-way speaker with crossovers in the speaker. The sound manipulation of the HK amp probably requires separate channels to the three-way speakers, so the HK speakers probably won't work hooked up to the simpler output from the straight head unit - they probably require a crossover ahead of the speaker.

 

Joe,
You are right - of course the HK system is even more quirky than you can imagine!
There are no true crossovers - all the frequency separation is done electronically inside the HK amp. However, there is a cap to separate the tweeter from the midrange in each door (they share a single feed).

If you fitted the HK door speakers, you would need a filter to protect the mid/tweeter from bass frequencies.

Also you won't have the power in the stock HU to drive the rear dual-voice-coil speakers, so no benefit there.

If the stock system is not good enough, you are best to go aftermarket.
In my first MINI I replaced the rear speakers and it improved the stock head unit sound a lot.
I have also read of people who replaced only the head unit and kept the original speakers and say it improved the sound.
Then of course, there are those who put in new head unit, amps, speakers, subs, etc, etc.

 

I have the HK system in my mini and love it. When i sat in a mini at the dealer i wasnt impressed with it because they had the setting on some weid sound efects and it just made me go YUCK. THen i played with it some and set it to "ELECTRONIC" and wow major difrence. IT really sounds good to my ears and i will never look for an aftermarket system. (i say that now) HEHEHEHE

 

Just completed my first MP3 mix CD fr when I pick up my Mini. With the new head unit allowing 12 Albums on a single CD-R, even with 160K encoding, that CD changer or expensive PhatBox seems less attractive. Even an iPod setup seems a little klunky. Ah, time will tell. It does seem that the critics who say that the HK system is not worth the money could hardly justify a CD changer, iPod or Phatbox with the standard system. If you are going aftermarket, I am sure that the factory CD changer or even the iPod connector from BMW is superfluous.

 

I feel like the HK has more bass. It also has eight, versus the six, speakers. I don't know about the stock system, but the H-K also has different settings that can change the overall audio of the sound altogether..the H/K Mini is supposedly for the Mini car, the Electronic pushes up the extremes of the frequencies (increasing the bass and treble, decreasing the mid-range) Ambient makes it sound like you're in a hall with echo. And so forth. I think the sound is very different from the stock system so it's really a matter of taste. And what you listen to. I listen to a lot of Radiohead and I end up having to turn the bass down and the treble up because their particular EQ for their bass! I would listen to both before making your decision..I like the HK though, its enough for me. Because of the cost of installation and so forth, I thought the 550 was reasonable.

 

How hard is it to take the stock boost Head unit, and add an amp and replace the speakers with aftermarket units? That would be a fairly cheap road to go, and give you better quality and sound..

 

I am generally satisfied with the hk system in my s convertible but the rear speakers are 6.5s and cant hold the base. I have torn into it but there are two sets of 2 wires going to the speakers. does anyone know which two I should use to connect to new kickers.
on the top of the speaker is a yellow with gray tracer, and a yellow with purple tracer.
on the bottom there are blue with yellow tracer and blue with red tracer