I have the stock H/K system in my MC 06. Is there a way to keep the stock system, but upgrade the amp? Pardon my neophile question, but the output isn't quite enough. With the 80 degree weather this past weekend, I noticed that the sound isn't quite loud enough when the sunroof and windows are open.

Any suggestions would be helpful.

Thanks

 

The HK speakers are not the standard 4 Ohms, so they are not compatible with aftermarket amps. So if you plan to change the amp, you'll need to change the speakers as well.

Here's a link that shows what is involved:
http://gbmini.net/downloads/PGEN/

 

What you have to remember with the H/K system is that it is just that, "a system". It's not to difficult to upgrade to it, but the minute you start replacing parts with other parts you are going to run into a lot of problems. The H/K amp is not just an amp but also a DSP (digital signal processor) which processes the data sent form the HU. If you want to replace the HU you are going to have to get a H/K Enabler (I think they are still being made) because there is a special signal sent back and forth between the H/K amp and the HU.

Then the speakers aren't your standard 4ohms (they're 2 I believe), so you'd have to find an amp that outputs 2ohms. But then you'd need 2 amps if you wanted to add extra power to the stock speakers because the H/K amp transmits the high and low frequencies over two sets of wires. But to add those amps you'd have to splice the living daylights out of the stock wiring.

See what I'm saying about a "system"?

The only thing I found in my 05MCS with a sun-roof is that the bass gets a little thin amidst high winds with windows down. I added an amp and a sub with some line converters hooked up to the low-level line to the rear speakers. I'm finding that it is working out wonderfully so far. If you want to see my little addition you can check it on my site: http://claire.shankrabbit.com/ under the Audio Mods section.

But if you're wanting to upgrade it all... thats going to take lots of tearing apart work. (See link in post above)

 

Thanks for the information. It was very helpful.