Where can I purchase a X9331 passthrough adapter to allow for the installation of an aftermarket amp and speakers with my stock '13 CMS audio system?

I've seen pcitures of what Integral Audio offers, and mention that it would be available for sale, but I can't get anyone from Integral to respond to my emails.

 

I am looking into getting a batch made. Sorting all the logistics right now before I post lots of details. If we get about 20 people to buy in it should work out. Right now the price is looking to be about $60 (shipping inside USA included in price).

A quick question - would you want extra pins included so that you could easily jack your own wires into either side of the harness? Just one side? Both sides? Or would you rather save maybe $5 and run your wiring completely independent of the harness?

 

Personally, I liked the Integral approach, with RCAs for FR,FL,RR,RL (to send to amp) and then just pigtail stubs (for speakers) to tie back into from amp returns.

Basically, 4 or 6 out RCA, then 4 or 6 tie-ins back in from amp.

http://www.integralaudio.com/index.p...oofer-r56.html

 

If you are sending speaker out to the amp does it make sense to have RCA connections?

That's why I was leaning towards just providing the pins in the kit. Stock Stereo owners have speaker out running through the X9331 and the HiFi and HK owners have line level running through it.

Although I guess I could create a couple iterations without too much work.

People replacing head unit and amp - Passthrough Harness Only (maybe with Pins for speaker side of connector so you don't rerun those wires, you just bring all your speaker wire back to the X9331...)
People using stock head unit, but new amp and speakers - Harness + Pins
Peoople using HiFI/HK head unit, but new amp and speakers - Harness + RCA connections

Does that make sense? Harness only would be a wee bit cheaper and harness + connections would be a wee bit more expensive since i'd need to add 4 cables.

 

Good point on the RCAs..I guess it just looks cleaner...

Plus, I was thinking maybe have everything coming from the adapter sent to the amp in the rear would hit a termination block first in the sidewall of the lower boot area. This would include terminations for the return signal back to your speakers. Then, you can play around easily with LOC, processors, amps whatever, plug-and-play.

The trick is, or seems to be, to get a good tie-in at the X9331. I don't want to do it myself, and can't find any locals that aren't downright terrified at the notion of working on a CM stereo system.

 

Can anyone confirm that the X9331 is in fact present in the Countryman?

 

I have a '10 R56 with HK and I'm trying to find a local solution to this that doesn't require me spending a ton to get one from newministuff.com and then have to pull the dash apart.

If this hardness will work on my car (I don't see why it wouldn't) I would gladly join the group to get this off the ground. ECS no longer sells one of the harness plugs, so I can't even make my own jumper with RCAs now.

All I would need is the jumper harness with RCA leads for an external amplifier. I just don't want to splice into the factory harness. I just emailed Integral Audio as well asking about them selling theirs separately.

Maybe if enough people bug them they will fine sell the harnesses separately.

 

I am ordering parts to build a couple prototypes so stay tuned....

 

Indeed I will. I've got no problem doing electrical work and I've done plenty of audio installations (more complicated that the "Geek Squad" and other big box installers) so it's not foreign territory. I just want something simple that I don't have to worry about headaches haha

 

Exactly! I'll post here when I have some updates to get feedback.

 

Sounds great! Looking forward to it.

 

Heard back from IA. They said to check back in 6-8 weeks because they currently do not have any extra harnesses available.

 

I'm scheduled for an install with BB tomorrow. I spoke with the tech, and have faith he can pull off the job. We'll see.

Phase I going in:

4 X Focal 4" coaxials
Helix P-DSP LOC / processor
JL Audio 45W RMS x6 @ 4Ω

I'm asking he tap in somewhere and bring speaker lvl FL / FR (full band), power, AUX RCA in (for iPhone) to the trunk > termination block > Helix (sum, mix, crossover) > Amp > Focals (new wire runs to speakers) and stock under seat subs.

Phase II (depending on P1 performance, and budget)

Focal components
Replace stock subs with 6.5" options

If P1 works out, the Helix will allow for a lot of flexibility on whatever I decide to do with any of the speakers later on---and making the most of what's going in right now.

 

BB did not have enough time today to do anything other than replace the speakers and run power for the new amp. I'm scheduled to return for a full day next Friday, to complete the installation of the Helix and amp.

The audio tech (great guy, he was really into doing this right) was pretty floored by the rat's nest of cabling associated with the X9331. But he was confident he could tap in somewhere.

We both agreed something like the IA harness would be ideal. Maybe Kevin at Integral can come through soon.

As for the sound from the new speakers (4 X Focal IC 100, nothing special), it's....better. But if it had been all I planned to do, I'd be a bit disappointed---for the $$$ invested. If it were 5/10 before, it's more like 6.5-7/10 now.

I'll add more confirmation of the meager, toyish construction of the stock speakers. They are extremely light, with a tiny magnet. Roughly equivalent to what you'd find built into a larger flat screen HDTV.

 

Did you get your install competed?

 

Yes, the amp and Helix are in. Up to a modest 7.8/10 lol, definitely not 8.

I've got power and FL,FR,RL,RR feeds from the stock HU coming back into the trunk. This feeds my P-DSP, and then into the JL Audio amp. There were only 4CH of audio from the HU.

The bad news was that nothing was done with the subs. Worse still, when sending just the 4CH output from the amp back up front (in the drivers side kick panel / harness area) the front door speakers are either run in parallel or are crossed over with the subs. And....they suck. I'll be disconnecting them soon, just a matter of how / where. Even if I unplug the subs under the seats (unplug the connectors there, will have to remove seats :( ), I'm still concerned there is some lame crossover point upstream sapping voltage from the front.

Back OT, Kevin at IA has informed me that their T-harness for the Coopers would not work with the Countryman--- that the pin out was different. He went on the say it might be 2014 before they were ready with a Countryman kit.

As for the state of my system, I'm in that awkward state between a modest upgrade (just the speakers), and a complete replacement (LOC/processor, amp, sub and quality components up front). It screams 'work in progress' and 'not done yet'.

The audio from the HU is so borked, and needs a lot of help. The fronts are boosted on the high and low end, where the rears are HP filtered about 100hz. When you sum FL+RL with the Helix, you get a still-flawed-but-listenable HD radio tone. AUX in thru the HU is better still. You can EQ this with the Helix, but this applies to the outputs---not on the inputs. This has been the biggest disappointment with the DSP.

...because the best thing about the Helix is being able to sum the HU with other sources, like line-in from my iPhone. This bypasses the HU, and sounds much much better, begging for quality amplification and speakers. Sadly, that's not what I have with the Focal IC 100's, the JL 6450, and the crappy crossed-over front CH / subwoofer wiring.

So, next:

Phase 3
HD900/5
Disconnect stock subs
JL Audio 10" CS110LG-TW3


Phase 4
...then components up front, with home run wiring back to amp, ditching stock wiring and crossover mystery.

 

Bummer things are where you wanted them yet.

I'm looking at doing a pretty similar set up to what you have.

Here's what I have lined up so far:


I'm plan to disconnect the under seat speakers and only run the Focals and the 10" sub.

I'm hope that the clean sweep takes care if the factory EQ'd signal on the front two channels you mentioned. They say the whole point of the clean sweep is to give you clean flat output from the HU, so I have my fingers crossed that it does the job. This will be the first install I've done without swapping the HU, but I fear those days are gone with newer cars.

As far as I can tell by digging around on these forums the rear channels on the x9331 connector are cut off around 100Hz so if I want a clean rear feed I would need to get a signal summing device and combine the signal from the subs under the seats with the rear channels on the x9331. I decided to just skip the whole mess and build a system off of 2 channels. I will sacrifice fader control from the head unit but I really only use that feature once and I can accomplish the same thing by using the gain settings on the amp.

I see you are thinking about the HD 900/5 that was the same amp I was looking at, but given the speakers I'm going to be using several people talked me into the XD 700/5 instead. It's cheaper and they said with the power of the 900/5 I would need to gain the amp down so much as to not damage the speakers that the 700/5 would be the better choice.

The TW3 subs optimal power range is 250-350w with the warrantee voided at 500w. I'm wasn't really that concerned with the warrantee aspect but it made me think that the 300w from the 700/5 would get the job done and the 900/5 might be overkill.

I'm always open to more opinions so I'm curious to hear what has lead you to the 900/5 vs the 700/5.

My biggest issue right now is that I have all this gear ready to go in my garage but I'm still waiting to take delivery of my '14 Countryman. It's on order so I've had plenty of time to plan the audio system and pick up the various components over the last month or so, now I just need the car.

I hope that there are no changes in the '14's that will throw a monkey wrench in the install process.

I plan to do the work myself so look for a detailed thread on what I discover during installation in the coming weeks (or gasp!) months.

 

Nice speakers. I'm sure that will sound great, and similar to where I'll go eventually.

I'd definitely either disconnect the subs or better still, home-run all of your new speakers back to the amp. With gear that nice, you don't want to be running through some crap wiring and / or hidden crossover or resistors.

I'm a bit torn on the amp for the very reasons you mention. The HD900 may vaporize the IC 100s, and maybe even too much for the CS110. But the XD700's lack of the regulated power supply (therefore fluctuations in output at various engine RPM), and the rated 1% THD (vs 0.01 % on the HD) on an already questionable Class D architecture have me leaning back HD. I'm concerned that I wouldn't be happy with the SQ of the XD. I wish I could A/B test them both!

On cleaning up th HU signal, I played around quite a bit with the Helix summing front and rear inputs or running front only, and found that the summed output was best. Maybe the CleanSweep will do a good job, but I was hesitant to let a component do all of this automagically with no control over it myself. Based on what I've experienced, I'd definitely try to get all 4 outputs fom the HU running through it. Personally, I've written the HU off entirely, and focusing on the AUX in capability on the Helix. No plans the using the CD, USB, or AUX jack running through the HU. It's just too compromised SQ-wise.

I'm interested to discuss the XD more though. It's far more affordable!

 

Parts have started arriving....yay!

 

...and I ordered more today

I went ahead and got the HD900/5 (with the remote ****) and the CS110 sub. I will need to be very cautious with the install and gains on that amp.

Installing the new sub should be easy (with all my gear and wiring already in the trunk), but disconnecting the stock subs not so much. I'd rather not spend half the day pulling out my front seats just to disable them!

Has anyone found a good thread / post covering the best way to disconnect them? To my knowledge, it can't be done at the X9331. To be honest, I don't know where the sub feeds split off of the FL/FR speaker wires.

 

I'm very interested to hear back from you after the amp install. Pulling the seats shouldn't be that big of a deal. In my '04 MCS I've had them out several times. There are just four torx bolts holding them in and a few clips underneath for the heated seats and other sensors. Things may have changed in the last ten yeas but they were very simple to pull for me. One tip is to make sure you don't turn the car on then you have the sensor clips unplugged or you will get an airbag warning light that the dealer will need to reset for you. If you really want to make sure you don't trip the airbag sensor just disconnect the battery while you have the seats out.

 

Sub and amp are out for delivery today, so I plan on roughing it in tonight in the garage.

I hope the HD900 isn't too much amp. It's worth noting that there are at least two other good reasons to seriously consider the XD700:

One, the remote control port on the XD700 allows for master volume control OR sub CH control. the HD900 only allows sub control. Bummer.

Two, for the $$$ saved with going with the XD700, I could buy a very nice set of components for the front (instead of the Focal IC 100's). I plan on doing this eventually, but I have officially, wife-certified, nuked my install budget. This will have to do for at least a month or two!

 

Amp and sub are in! Pics in my gallery:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.com/gallery/showgallery.php?cat=500&ppuser=137384

Early impressions:

With very little tuning done (crossed over at 100Hz on the door speakers, sending rest to sub)...

The strength of the amp is the star. Lots of effortless power. HD radio from the stock HU is eyebrow raising now. I might actually listen to it. I've got the gains at about 55-60%. I'll put the volt meter on it this weekend, once I'm sure about the impedance on each channel minus the stock subs. It DOES get warmer than I expected. Not as hot as the 6450, but still warm. Concerned about closing it all up beneath the load floor. Might need a small fan.

The sub is outstanding. Very HQ construction and sound. Reminds me of my B&W HT sub in the house. Not boomy or muddy, but tight and controlled. The fit is perfect, as it slides just beneath the load floor. Maybe 1/4" clearance between the grill and the load floor.

The Focal IC 100s are doing great, considering the cost and not having been EQ'd properly from the Helix. I'll dial in a more flat response this weekend, I hope. The under seat subs have got to go though, if not for any other reason than they are limiting the Focals in the front doors. There may not be an actual factory crossover, but rather the sub and door speaker are simply wired in paralllel (just a hunch). I hope so, because a simple disconnect of the subs will help tremendously. I will note, however, that with the lows filtered at 100Hz, 18dB slope, I dont hear the stock subs flapping or clipping. Mainly, I just hear the door speakers only getting half the current they should be.

Tomorrow, the front seats come out and the subs get unplugged. Then I'll really try to dial in the Helix. I'll share the results here.

 

I just replaced my stock front speakers with Focals at BB. I'm not real tech-oriented, but I do know my sound (as a musician and former recording engineer). I'd be interested in anything that would enable me to more easily upgrade the rest of the system.

I'll keep monitoring this forum. If there is a group buy needed, let me know.

 

I disconnected the neg wire from the battery, and pulled the front seats tonight to disconnect the stock subs. As said above, it really wasn't too difficult. There is a breakaway harness clip beneath each seat, and 4 torx bolts to remove. First seat took me about 45 minutes with some help from my son, the second took me about 15 by myself.

The subs beneath the grills (4 screws) were disconnected easily, again with a breakaway connector. I taped down the loose leads to prevent rattling, and put everything back together.

With the Helix, amp and sub at the same settings, the front speakers doubled in volume, and sounded much brighter. So dropping the subs (4 ohm) unquestionably reduced the load / strain on the FL/FR outputs of the HD900. I adjusted the Front / rear balance in the Helix, and began to revisit my crossover settings on the main 4CH output vs. the sub. I'm not filtering at all on the amp. All filtering / processing / summing is bring handled by the Helix.

To be honest, I now find myself missing the mid bass the stock subs were dutifully if not messily adding to the mix prior to their disconnection. After all, without them, that just leaves 4 X 4" coaxials and a 10" sub in a sealed enclosure to cover the full freq band. There's literally a sort of 'hole in the middle' in the sound that needs to be EQ'd out if possible this weekend. Maybe I can shift more low end work to the sub, and slope fade it into the mains, but I worry about pushing too many watts to the CS110, with its 400 watt peak limit. The higher the crossover point, the riskier that will be---plus more localized sound coming from the boot.

As I think about components at some point up front, it seems that the ultimate config would be a set of 3-ways, placing the 6.5" mid bass driver in place of the stock subs. I've seen photos here and elsewhere of it being done. Not easy, but possible.

Until then, I've got to tune. I will mic and RT analyze with pink noise tomorrow, and dial-in the Helx from there as much as possible.