Anyone have a cooper or cooper s with the HK upgrade? IS it worth shelling out the extra cash....

 

Nobody has it yet... it has been delayed until Sept. 2. So you'll start seeing cars with it late september to early october.

 

I have heard the Harmon Kardon in the S model at the Chicago Auto Show. This system rocks!!!
It sold me on the car. I was told from the dealer that you can install an after-market on the current MINI's but living in the city I would prefer that the receiver be factory installed ...in case anyone would get any ideas.

 

Mr. Castro
Since I have not yet seen nor heard the HK system, could you tell me a little about it? I assume that they have branded the speaker bezels and the head unit with the HK moniker. What else had they done? Was there an outboard amp? If so, where on earth did they find room to hide it? How did they handle or attempt to handle the sub-bass? Was there a subwoofer? If so, how was it installed?

Thanks.

Jim Carter

 

Hi, Yes I would like to know if its worth the money. I am from scotland and cant wait to get my mini cooper. Ive looked all over the net for a review of the sound system and a price (in £ - also, do you have to have the radio boost, cd player and the upgrade??). Could someone here who has the sound system care to give a review?

Thanks

 

Jim & Beetle,
To be honest I did not recall if the receiver or the speakers had the moniker on them. Harmon Kardon has a way with amplifiers. I have a friend who has the HK speakers set up that was designed fro th iMAC. After close inspection I noticed the amplifier was the size of a thimble. You would never know it by the sound of the system that pumps out a very loud 40 watts. I am assuming that the amp is intergrated in the receiver. There is definitley a sub somewhere because of the range of the low end was ever present. So my advice to you is if you want a great sounding system it's worth the money. If you want to rattle windows in the 'hood then I would suggest that you place somthing in the MINI that you feel confident with. I personally could not wait to get my car (old car had 190,000 mi) and I have the standard CD player/Receiver which sounds great but not like the HK.

I hope this helps.

Socko

 

Not sure about the HK stereo upgrade specs either, but I do know that the amp is NOT contained in the reciever. To get a cleaner sound, they have used separate components.

 

I wrote MINI for details and they said that they didn't have any specifics as far as wattage and whether it had a sub or not.

 

The Harmon Kardon hi-fi system is to be offered as an option. It will have eight upgraded speakers, upgraded amplification, vehicle speed sensitive equalization, digital sound processing (DSP) and driver-accoustic setting.

 

this is the info i got from the mini HR people -
Hi Jeff, thanks for writing in. So, I take it you're one of those people who likes to listen to the radio while you motor? I'll give you all the info I can. The system is tailored to provide the highest quality audio environment in every seating position. The base speakers are replaced by a branded harman/kardon system, consisting of eight speakers and supplemented by a digital amplifier. The speakers occupy the same positions as before but the tweeters are replaced by mid-tweeter co-axial speakers, while the rear speakers become dual coil and focus purely on the low bass and sub-bass frequencies. I'm not a stereo person--so I don't know if this is the info you're looking for or more like a sales pitch. You may want to check with your MINI dealer for more information. heeeeee...

 

Good news all, I have been told by my MINI dealer that there will be a retro fit for the Harmon Kardon system. He did not give me a date and it looks legit. He explained that service received instuctions from MINI on installing the Harmon Kardon. I am keeping my fingers crossed.

~smc

 

I have the HK system in my '99 Rover and it sounds great. From what I know, the HK upgrade consists of HK speaker and amp. There are more speakers than the standard stereo. The head unit in my Rover does not carry any special HK badging so it leads me to believe that the head unit is the same for standard stereo option. This could be different for the Mini.

 

There are 8 speakers, as opposed to 6... Thats about it, plus the amp.

 

Okay thanks...the only blurb I've found is on the mini.com usa site. I'm buying my cooper in France and nothing is mentioned on their web site but the BMW dealer I'm buying it from has told me that the HK upgrade is available in France and I've been able to order it. Should pick up my Cooper at the end of August so will let you guys know how the thing sounds...

 

awsome, can't wait

 

I was down to my MINI dealer near Toronto today, I was told that the HK has been delayed again, and that it is now going to be December availability, so my car has been pushed to early next year... :???:

 

>>I was down to my MINI dealer near Toronto today, I was told that the HK has been delayed again, and that it is now going to be December availability, so my car has been pushed to early next year... :???:


WAIT A MINUTE! I'll wait until the end of the year for the 240-watt Harmon Kardon stereo...but next year? If it truly won't be ready in the States until December, that means my car won't be produced until late winter! That's too late - my current car will break 100k miles by then. If that's the case, I'll cancel the stereo order (I hear the current one STILL sounds pretty good) and get my production date moved up!

 

>>I was down to my MINI dealer near Toronto today, I was told that the HK has been delayed again, and that it is now going to be December availability, so my car has been pushed to early next year... :???:


Can anyone confirm this? Is the HK stereo delayed even further?

 

I'm an audio freak, and right now I have a Mustang with a 650 watt RMS setup that I've paid about $2500 for. I'm assuming that the Harmon Kardon system can't compare to this, right? I mean, the Mini is a smaller car, and perhaps the locations of the speakers are better (Mustang ergonomics suck in general). But the HK is only 240w RMS?
Too bad. I was hoping I could sell my stereo when switching to a Mini S.
Will there be enough room for 2 huge amps and two 10" subs in an enclosed box in the Mini? If there isn't room for my subs I suppose I could get a new box or have someone do a custom install.

 

how are your amps huge if your only running 650 watts? also, at 2500 bux i hope u got the best quality speakers you could get, cause that price seems a lil high for the im too poor to get good quality but want loud approach


ooh, and where did you hear 240 watts?
and... how do you get 8 speakers from 2 tweeteres, 2 midrange, and 2 woofers/subwoofers in the back row, did i misunderstand what u meant?

 

I've read it in several articles on the car. Of all of the features on the MINI that I hear a lot about, this 240 watt thing is probably the thing I'm most sure of.

 

But on a more urgent note, is there ANY word that the HK stereo will be further delayed in the US? I don't want to push my order into next year. I will call both MINI and my dealer today...

 

P1rana, I heard the HK is 240 watts from people on forums and from dealerships. And my car has 8 speakers - 2 tweeters, 2 midrange up front, 2 midrange in back, and 2 subs. I'm pretty sure Minis are the same way.
Maybe my amps aren't "huge" in your book, but they're big enough to fully cover the back of the back seats in my stang, which seems huge to me. They are Rockford Fosgates, an 800a4 and a 500a2. The speakers are all Boston Acoustics and the subs are Polks.

 

Been delayed in Europe as well....contacted my dealer in France today and he stated that I wouldn't have the HK upgrade now for my Cooper that's in production and being delivered end of July. I'ved asked him to check what the hold up is, and whether it can be retro-fitted.

 

Well I called MINI today, emailed MINI and called my dealer. Everyone said that they had no indication that the HK stereo would not be available for September production. My dealer "promises" to call if this should change. I told him I didn't want to wait for it if it would push my production/delivery dates back further.