Hello All,
I am looking to upgrade the rear speakers of my 06 Cooper s Convertible R52 with Harmon Kardon system. what are my option of speakers. Have you done yourself or took it to a shop to have it done? Is the sound any better with the upgrade? or is it better to upgrade the door speakers/tweeters as well? Amp maybe? what are the options? do I have a lot of options or am I stuck with one or none? Let m know your thoughts please...Thank you

 

The only advice I ever give about audio equipment is ... buy it with your ears. "IF you can't hear the difference why pay the difference?" $40.00 speakers vs $400.00 speakers.

I tend to favor good quality speakers but in my R52 convertible I tend to listen to the "Pops and Gurgling" more than music. But when I do it is most likely my iPod via the AUX jack ... so that is CDs converted and stored ... it so quality is affected by the quality (sample rate) the music was recorded at then what quality is the Synth chip in my iPod reproducing the recorded music going into the AUX port and them amplified and sent to the speakers, in a car that has a cloth top, so now you are introducing all sorts of noises to distort the hearing of the speaker output and no matter the quality at this point the most effect that can change this is volume, so that would mean having to get speakers and an amp that allows you to increase music volume without introducing any additional noise. (Speaker distortion caused by to much power).

I have replaced most of my speakers in my cars just due to failure with age, I simply replaced them with OEM speakers. I have met several owners that hail the vertures of the Harman Kardon system, I agree they sound pretty good. but refer back to my rule.

Full Disclosure: I am virtually deaf in two frequency ranges so I always miss things others hear. (Lucky for me the two frequencies are the one most common for women's voices fall into).

Best of luck.

Motor On!

 

Thank you...I actually decided to keep the speakers I currently have after speaking with 2 audio shops and technicians. Found out it will cost me way way than what I was budgeting to upgrade them. Can't only upgrade the speakers, the Amp must be upgraded too I was told, when having a HK system. I guess the sound isn't that bad after all...lol.

 

You can replace the HK speaker with new if they are poping or sound bad. Most of the time the cone/coil might be bad. Does it sound bad or have popping noises? The H/K sounds pretty good and if you mess with the H/K type of sound set up... switch to electronic on the built-in EQ it changes the dynamics. I have mine on that and then change the bass and treble around.

Thanks

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https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...placement.html

 

Honestly there is nothing wrong with them...I had the car all stripped while replacing the whole seats (front and rear), that's when the ideal of upgrading speakers came up. I then took the rear trim panels and decided to upgrade them, they sounded decent prior to that.

 

Oh ok thought they were bad.

 

It is all very well replacing speakers but on the Gen1 and 2 the problem is the head unit. The chip/module is rubbish inside it. My android head unit made a huge difference with the same speakers, more definition, tighter bass. As said, all depends on the listener. Stock was average and OK for a short journey.

 

I replaced the stock head unit with a JVC DVD (w/surround sound) unit. Replaced the front speakers with MB Quart components but left the rear speakers stock. And since it is a convertible I am driving the system with a digital Alpine 5 channel amp (100w/channel) and a MTX amp to drive a bazooka tube. The amps and power distribution blocks are mounted on MDF in the boot with a second sheet of 1/2" MDF cut in the shape of the space with legs attached protecting the amps (matched auto carpet on top to make it all neat. I am now thinking of mounting two 8" Kicker free air subs in the parcel shelf instead of the tube sub so I get the space back in the boot. I also put a Clarion center channel speaker under the center toggles and use the 5th channel of the Alpine amp to drive it. I only wish that the 07 S convertible cam standard with a double DIN stereo because things would have been so much easier to put in a head unit that with navigation. Tried putting in a single DIN with a pop up screen but it blocked the air vents and had problems with being too recessed in the dash. The sound quality is far superior to stock or HK and the JVC slid righr in using a easily found wiring harness adaptor so when I want to go back to stock it is not any problem. And with the amps when I have to take the car to get serviced i just disconnect the main power feeds from the blocks and lift the MDF mounting out as one piece giving access to the battery.