The speakers may be alpine - not looked but the amplifier is Harman

 

obviously if those speakers are rated at that wattage there must be some upgrade to the amplifier to match. time will tell!

 

can we breathe some new life into this thread and get some R56 owners' opinions on the HiFi?

 

Electronic music and dance music sounds like crap. It sounded better on the H/K.

 

I agree. I'm pretty disappointed with the HiFi. It sounds like the upper door speakers are the ones distorting very bad when I turn the volume up or have the bass level set over 2. I wonder if just replacing those speakers with some higher quality speakers or putting dynamat behind them will make the system sound better. Has anyone had any luck at improving the sound quality with the HiFi?

 

Dynamat could be worth trying. It may just be that there is a resonance in the door than needs to be damped.

 

I have my entire back seat removed and side panels. Removed the 6 x 9's today and the tweeters. One of the 6 x 9 had a hole in the foam surround. I have ordered Polk 6 x 9's & tweeters. Will be mounting the rear tweeters in a location higher up on the side panels. Should have them on Tuesday. The sound of the hi-fi is ok, definitely not worth the $550.00. I think the amp will be ok with just a spkr upgrade, we will see.

 

Well almost 2 weeks later and I am beyond disappointed with the Hifi. I could make better music with 2 garbage can lids and I will be writing Mini Usa a nice little letter letting them know this. I've heard stock systems in Kia's that sound better. Don't get me wrong it sounds decent at lower levels and doesn't have the cutoff like the HK does but when you go over a certain limit you have to start putting the bass in the negative and if you really want to jam out then your just plain out of luck. Mini should be ashamed of taking everyone's $550 and putting dixie paper plates in the doors b/c that's about what it sounds like once you go over a certain volume. It may be adiquit for some who don't prefer to Jam out but if you not then why pay $550 for the HiFi in the first place. Ok i'm finished griping now.

 

What's even more frustrating is because of the lack of a standard DIN slot we're stuck with crappy radio. The H/K sounded much better in my opinion.

 

I totally agree!! I wonder if we complain enough if Mini will come up with a fix for it and let everyone with the hifi get the fix for free at their mini dealers. If anyone has done anything such as dynamat or something like that please post. Were all ears.

 

I'm in the process of changing out my rear 6 x 9's & Tweeters. When I pulled one of them out it had a hole in the surrounding foam of the speaker. Still have the car gutted. Picked up some polks to put in, they sounded terrible. Have to use a 2 ohm speaker. 4 ohm's just dosent cut it. I will be doing some dynomating in the next week and installing Infinity's. Pics will follow.

 

I didn't have a CD with me when I listened to the Hi-Fi system, but my opinion of the system based on the radio is that it's below the quality of the OEM HK system in the previous R53 MINI's. I'm a huge audiophile, and have on many occasions considered spending 2-3k+ on a stereo for my MINI, only to crank up the HK system and realize that it'd just be a waste. I was really impressed with the HK system as an OEM upgrade. Hi-Fi just doesn't cut it for me though.

 

Crikey! You guys have made me nervous! I just plonked down the extra dough for the damn hi-fi after a very short demo using some house/trance tunes from my ipod. Atleast they were way better than the standard crappy 4 speaker setup which is a total letdown for anyone who is even remotely interested in music, let alone a music fan.

 

It's not bad.. it's just not great like the rest of the car.

 

I agree Krut. I had the previous HK upgrade and the present HiFi. In my opinion, the potential of the HIFI is greater than the HK. It just needs speakers that can handle the power of the amp. The speakers sound good; they just can't handle the power. Bottom line, I would def get the HIFI upgrade again.

 

I have read that there is a marked improvement between the first week with the HiFi and a month later, after the speakers have loosened up and been broken in. Are people on here finding that's the case?

I also wonder if it's possible to update certain key speakers to improve the overall sound quality (ie: the larger bass drivers) to save some money over the whole 10 speakers being swapped out. It seems like bass response is the big area people express frustration with.

Coming from a Honda where the front speakers were down by my feet, I'm guessing having them up around ear-level alone will provide a big improvement. I upgraded the Honda speakers (and head unit) and found the car could provide great sound... but this Toyota rental I have this week has speakers mounted above the dash, and I'm hearing parts of songs I'd never noticed before. I don't think the speakers are even all that great, they're just more ideally located, and that's making a big difference. But at some point, if bass is the main issue, I'd love to swap out the bass drivers for something more high-end.

 

I am looking to purchase an 07 S and sell my 05 S, with HK.
This is very disconcerting.

over

 

I have the Hi-Fi, and I spend alllll day listening to it as I drove around Florida. I gotta say, I am NOT disappointed, and I had a nicely upgraded system in my Honda. Even using the iPod through the aux (until my dealership gets in the software to upgrade my SatNav to utilize the iPod), it sounds great. Good bass and imaging on everything from Prince to Def Leppard to Depeche Mode remixes to country!

I'm a fan. This system was well worth the upgrade price, in my opinion.

 

I also have a Ford Focus SVT which had an "Audiophile" package. I think that had better sound than the HiFi. The SVT had a 6" sub in the hatch area which helped A LOT. I am looking to add a sub to the mini as long as it does not mess up my lease.

 

I am perfectly happy with the Hi-Fi. I was concerned before I got my Mini with quite a few individuals freaking out about the quality and the cost. Obviously it's a subjective thing, and perhaps the music one listens too and how loud you want it figures largely into it. However as I was motoring along yesterday, listening to some tunes, it reminded me of this thread and I just couldn't understand what all the fuss was about.
That's just me...YMMV...Flame suit on!

 

I think the stock speakers do break in after awhile. As some have stated, they do sound decent at lower volume levels. They start to lose it at higher volume levels. I will eventually do a speaker upgrade, but I can live with it for a while as I get other mods out of the way.

Happy Motoring

 

This HIFI certainly is finicky. I have played 5 CDs on it. 3 sounded great and 2 sounded worse than on my Bose clock radio (admittedly a great-sounding clock radio, but still).

 

My hi-fi sounds great, even at fairly high volume levels. It seems the big complaints come from some of the bass driven techno-music. For the music I listen to, classic rock etc. it sounds great with very accurate reproduction and little noice, even at high volume, not ear splitting volume. I listen some to classical and tried Beethoven's Ninth and Tchaikovsky's 6th and thought the reproduction was awesome.

 

Not my complaints. I am a classic rock listener myself. I have found the bass to be tight. It's the midrange that I find inconsistent. I keep bass & treble flat on the set-up and I listen at fairly loud, but not outrageous, volume.

 

So, what sounded good and what didn't?
By classic rock, do you mean Doors, Jefferson Airplane, Cream... Or, earlier?