Hey guys,
Been a long time since I've been on here.... lots of new stuff and models out now. My R56 "MINIBIRD" has 51k on it, is in perfect shape but I'm thinking about selling it and getting a new All wheel drive Countryman model.

So my biggest headache with the R56 was adding a simple small powered subwoofer to it, to get some real bass from the "decent" upgraded HK sound system it comes with. I had to custom make a T connector and 6' wire harness to run from the kick panel (T'ed off the harness that ran to an amp in the back of car) on the drivers side floor, to the boot where I mounted a small $200 boss powered 8" sub. The sound is 1000 time better with it. I'm not bouncing down the neighborhood like some cars I hear pass, but I get nice clean bass without having to blast the volume.

So the question is, if I get a new AWD Countryman with the upgraded sound system, am I going to have the same problem?? OR, is there now an RCA or SUB out somewhere in the car for easy access?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

You are going to run into the same issue. I had to put an in-line converter to get signals to my sub. It sounds great now, but it was more work than I was expecting.

 

Ahhhhh sh____t!! Seriously??? MINI didn't LEARN last time and all the bashing that went on with the R56 over this?

Can't they just give us a friggin SUB Out for gods sake? It's an RCA jack, costs all of 12 cents. This may very well be a show stopper for me. My next commuting vehicle which I'm now starting the search for, will have easy access to Audio / video add-ons.

 

Good luck. Not many cars like that these days. Best bet would be a car that still has a basic non integrated hu to rip out. The only one we found last year was a basic Subaru. I am sure there are a few more, but not many.

 

Well, I should correct my comment a bit, and it should be directed to ALL the car manufacturer's, not just Mini. However, Mini is among one of the worst offenders on the subject.

BUT, some cars today DO have farily easy access to a Sub out, and/or RCA's out. I don't want to change the head unit out, I just want to add a amp and subwoofer which is basically REQUIRED for any new car. I never understood why the manufacturer's just don't offer a REAL stereo system in the cars? They know exactly what we want, and a large portion of people are forced to do it via aftermarket or worse they just never do it because they don't want to go thru the trouble or don't have the money. So they never get to enjou decent sound while driving. It would not cost anything to add a single ch. 300 or 400 watt amp, and 8" woofer in the bulkhead somewhere. And I don't mean $2 crap that some companies do add, like Audi. I mean a real JL amp, JL woofer.... If they did it to all the cars, they could get them for next to nothing.

Anywhoozle~!

 

The HK stereo does have underseat subs and they do provide a decent amount of low end. Are they audiophile? No, of course not, but you probably aren't either.

I find they actually overpower the rest of the system the way they're tuned and I turn my bass setting down a bit to integrate better. I think it sounds pretty reasonable for a factory system.

If I had a budget and no warranty, I might consider some upgrades but I wouldn't waste my time with JL's subwoofers. There's much better stuff out there for less money. Honestly I doubt you could build a quick-and-dirty mass-market sub system that sounds much better than the facotry Harmon Kardon stuff without an audio engineer on hand.

To answer your question as to WHY they don't do it... Money. They wont shell out tens of thousands of dollars to satisfy a vocal minority because in the end, if you want a MINI, you'll probably still buy it even without that sub output.

 

By saying this I did not mean to scare you away by any means. I love my bass, while the HK system has subs under the seats they werent quite what I was looking for. I but in a JL amp and JL 10in

 

I concur. Of course, I think your genre preference may impact your opinion of the system. I mainly listen to "vintage" rock, jazz and classical music.

YMMV

 

I just installed a infinity basslink in the wifes countryman. It's pretty easy to tap the speaker level inputs from the HK amp on the left side of the boot. You can tap the ground and remote on signal from there as well. The basslink provides some very nice bass and mid bass and in general sounds very clean. Installs in less than an hour.

 

Can you provide pics of it the boot and where you tapped the speaker inputs?