I'm planning on replacing the factory speakers in my non-H/K 06 MC with aftermarket speakers (either Boston Acoustics 'S' series or Infinity Reference). I'm looking at as no-frills an installation as possible, and I'm not adding an amp at this time.

I'm wondering what huge advantages that a component set (for instance, Infinity Reference 6010cs) would have over a self-contained 2-way set (f.i., Infinity Reference 6012si) in the doors. I know that having the tweeter mounted high as in the stock system is better for imaging and that the component system likely has slightly better materials, but based on the stats between the 6010cs and the 6012si (the key differences are negligible), I can't see an overriding advantage. Plus, I really don't want to mess with the hassle of installing crossovers, much less paying twice as much for the component set.

Thoughts? Thanks in advance, fellow NAMmers.

 

This post raises a question I've always had:

If you install coaxials like the 6012si, what happens to the factory tweeter?

 

That's what I'm wondering as well. Does the stock woofer/mid and tweeter run off an independent crossover? Or do they have self-contained high and low-pass filters? If I decide to install coaxials, can I just leave the stock tweeters if I so choose, or should I disconnect them? I'd really like to use the stock speaker wiring for now ...

C'mon, NAMmers. Hugh and I need answers (and I've done searches and found nothing definitive) ... ?

 

If you decide to go the coaxial route you can leave the stock tweeters hooked up and they will work since the stock speakers have their own built in high and low pass filters but overall it will mess up the imaging and sound quality worse than just disconnecting the tweeter and using only the coaxials.

As for your first question it reminds me of an old saying in my business. Specs and tell you a really bad speaker but they cannot help you find a good one. Even if the coaxial and seperate were made of the exact same materials and components just being able to angle and image the tweeter in the car dramatically changes how they sound and lets you hear every thing much better. Think on it where are your ears? At you ankles or at the sides of your head? Being able to get as much of the sound as high as possible and even with your ears is of great importance in proper sound and imaging, but unforetunately not really possible with the larger speakers so it's usually left for just the tweeters.

Where you will really hear the difference between coaxials and speretare is in the crossover design. Coaxials generally have just a basic high and low pass filter on them and actually overlap each other quite a bit around the crossover point causing peaks and valleys in the sound. Seperates uses higher quality parts for thier crossover and have a much steper slope so that you have much let overlap at the crossover point and thus less interference with each other. They also let you get more out of the speaker as you can cross them over at higher and lower points since you won't be running as far in to the frequency range that the speakers can't handle.

The only way to really discover the difference is to go to a store and listen to a set of coaxials and seperates from the same company so that you can hear for your own ear what the difference is. Sound is very subjective and what one person may love another will hate. Do yourself the favor and go with the seperates, you won't be disappointed.

 

Thanks Greg!

Gregs reasoning would tell me to just buy the Infinity or Boston components. Being non-technical but somewhat logical, it never occured to me to replace the Mini speakers with a coax (until I read about some who did). I mean, if Mini wanted coaxials, they never would have designed the car with components in the first place.

BTW, Cajun, the gauge of the oem speaker wires allows some pretty powerful modifications. I've read posts here where owners run 150w speakers with 400w amps and oem wiring. Besides, it's also a real bear to rewire a Mini.

 

Thanks for the info, Greg; indeed!

I'll probably go with components, even though the Infinity Reference series components that I'll install use tweeters that don't quite fit in the stock openings based on what I've read here (Guess I'll have to modify it a bit ... now I gotta go buy a Dremel). I'm looking for as stealth a setup as possible (in other words, I won't ever be swapping out the head unit) within a budget.

Good to know about the oem speaker wire too, hugh.

 

Coaxial speakers tend to have the best imaging, with the bulk of the sound coming from a single source. The big problem with using coaxials is the low mounting. With an empty spassenger's seat it's not as noticeable, but with someone blocking the speaker with their legs, all the highs get muddied and masked. Using separates as replacements is the best solution, but trying to find space for the oftentimes oversized crossover box can be a pain Using the factory tweeter along with a coaxial replacement can lead to some crazy diffraction issues in the high frequencies.

 

I have quickly read over the posts and have to chime in on a few things.

1. Do not buy a nice set of component speakers and expect to run them off a factory stereo. I tried (for fun) to run some older Boston Rally 6.5" components off an aftermarket "high power" head unit and it would not drive them. (see below)

2. I highly recommend not only listening to different brands of speakers but comparing the highly important "Sensitivity" rating of the speaker. this is going to be very important since you are using the stock head unit. It may claim a high enough power rating but the amount of current that it can push will be very limiting.

Sensitivity
A sensitivity rating tells you how effectively a speaker converts power (watts) into volume (decibels). The higher the rating, the louder your speakers will play with a given amount of amplifier power. Sensitivity is often measured by driving a speaker with one watt and measuring the loudness in decibels at one meter.
A speaker with a sensitivity rating that's 3 dB higher than another speaker's

only needs half as much power to deliver the same amount of sound.

 

The low power of the factory head unit is matched by the high sensitivity of the factory speakers. There was a post (or blog entry) where someone measured the factory speakers and found them to have higher sensitivity than any aftermarket speaker he could find. If you keep the stock headunit and change just the speakers, you'll be limited to very high sensitivity speakers because of the low power. You could add an external power amp (keeping the headunit) which would give you more flexibility for choosing speakers.

 

Yep; I know that, rkw. The stock speakers are both 91 or 92 dB sensitivity; the Infinitys that I'll be installing are both 92dB. Shouldn't be a problem without an amp (for now).