So I have this set of speakers from my last car, they're kind of rare.
They're made by a company called Canton, a competitor for Dynaudio, mostly in the home market. I bought one of their component sets, and it consists of a 8" free air woofer, 6" midrange, and 1" tweeter.

I want to install this set in my new MCS, maybe even in the stock locations.

To further complicate the install, the 6" speakers come with their own enclosure from the company, made of plastic and going maybe 4" behind the speaker baffle. I don't necessarily have to use these, but I had them before and the sound was good.

So basically I need to figure out:

1) Can 8" speakers go in the rear without too much work?

2) Will the speakers fit in the doors, what spacers would be needed, or should I just try to fit kick panels?

3) How much space is in the tweeter well? Is it possible to aim a speaker here?

4) Anyone know a good place to mount the crossover?

5) Anyone use a good line-level converter (it seems the stock h/u is a bit weak)?

I'm in no rush, I still gotta pick up an amp (I sold my old tube amp), and I'm not exactly sure whether I want to fit in my nakamichi deck or get a line level converter.

All help is appreciated!

 

put the new HU in, the stocker is insufficent for any aftermarket work.

 

I think the stock HU with line converter and external amp is a viable option. It's what I'm planning to do because I want to keep an OEM look, and avoid issues about retaining the steering wheel controls.

 

well, I have a Nakamichi 45z, one of the most stock looking decks out there (my last car was broken into with a pioneer, so i switched). The nak comes in two backlight colors, amber and green. Amber would've been nice, but they were all out of stock when i got it. Green might not match up so nice on the mini.

The real reason I'm hesitant to switch is losing the steering wheel function. I debate whether it's better to get one of those adapter things (never seen one for the nak, only the IR adapter might work) or just spend the money on a good line level converter (with built in pre-amp). I also have a pair of Audiocontrol EQX's from back in the day, those things are sweet. I'm pretty sure I sold my Phoenix Gold 15 band eq though, and that had an 8 volt preamp.

 

ehh... the stock HU is rather underpowered for ANY aftermarket speakers

As far as steering wheel controls go, i think they are useless.

Ive used both old style and 05-06 style, and i dislike both. I went to an aftermarket steeing wheel anyways, so i dont even have a horn button anymore


Also,i hear the amber on the Nakamichi is damn close to the amber in the MINI....

 

We aren't talking about using the stock HU to directly drive aftermarket speakers, but through a line converter and external amp.

I use the steering wheel controls all the time. Actually I use it almost exclusively except for the buttons not available (Mode/AM/FM). The stereo HU in the MINI is much lower than in other cars I've owned, and I find it awkward to see and operate the HU directly while driving.

I don't know what the Nakamichi 45z looks like, but the CD400 and CD500 match very well the OEM faceplate and illumination.

 

So, your planning on amping all the speakers in the car then?

Ive amped the rears and left the front hooked to my Alpine HU.

The sound is FAR superior to the sound the HK made, and not even comparable to the stock syetem.

 

I actually didn't use rear speakers in my last car, as it was a SQ competition car. I did have 8's in the doors, and 6" mid + tweet in kicks, so I guess that's as many speakers as the stock MCS stereo anyways.

I want to amp my set, and a two channel amp would be fine. If I use the Nak I got, I guess I'd be on my way. Man, why did i have to get the green one. Maybe I should change the Led's on the speedo and tach to green...

 

Just looked at the Nakamichi website. Whoa! Is 45z a MiniDisc (instead of CD) player? Not many of those around.I plan to do it in stages. First, add a 4 channel amp (fed by stock HU through line converter). Some people have reported that the stock speakers sound pretty good once they get more power. I can stop there if I'm satisfied, or move on to new speakers. But I want to start with sound deadening before I do anything else.

 

The Nak CD-45z is the cd h/u, the MD-45z is a close relative.

If you're considering adding an amp for the stock speakers, and a line level converter, the money involved to do so might warrant a new h/u if you don't mind changing. A small amp would have the same power as a new h/u, you would get more features, and be more ready to upgrade your system later. You wouldn't be able to get too large an amp if you're gonna run it on the stocks, and 4-channel amps can get expensive. I have always had a philosophy in car audio that you can never really have too much power, headroom is a wonderful thing. But that's always running on high quality speakers. Stock speakers wouldn't be able to handle more than 50 watts I would think, and probably wouldn't sound too good at higher power levels.

 

If you're concerned about clean sound and for about the same price as a Nakamichi deck (though I do like Nakamichi) you can get the Clean Sweep from JL Audio which will convert your line level inputs for cleaner sound.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?page_id=79

It retains all factory functionality and gives you an auxiliary output for an mp3 player. You'd still need an amp. I wouldn't bother with an aftermarket deck unless it provides other functions you'd want. Even a small, quality amp will have cleaner sound than a high watt aftermarket head unit.