The standard audio system is really really dissapointing. They sound like dual cone speakers with absolutely no highs. I was driving it back from my purchase in Ft. Lauderdale (to Jacksonville) and cranked the stereo and was severely dissapointed. I have not heard a worse stereo system in a high end car ever. I am struggling with this but I guess that's what I get for not ordering the Harmon Kardon stereo with 10 spkrs. I didn't think that the stereo would be this bad though, and the unit they had in stock was exactly what we wanted. I didnt want to wait 6-8 weeks for one just on stereo.

I am so stoked on everything else about this car....how did they miss the mark on this?????

 

Eleven speakers + external amp in the upgrade.

 

Yah, it does suck. But, from what Ive heard, the Hi-Fi isnt that spectacular either. So instead, Im putting a sub in the boot and upgrading the stock speakers too.

 

You've adjusted the base, treble, fade, and balance controls I presume. It's fine from my perspective but I save my high end listening for home.

You know, this has been discussed quite a lot on this forum. A lot of folks aren't too enamored with the upgrade stereo either.

Actually, it seems to me that if you want really good audio on this car it's best just to have it custom done.

 

I've been underwhelmed, too...the standard unit in my '03 was better. However, the fact that the rest of the car is so great coupled with the fact that I'm half-deaf in one ear makes it somewhat less irritating. Sir Alec didn't want radios in Minis anyway.

 

Good point! But does anyone have links to an interface to work with the stock stack? Meaning without using cheezy line-out adapters to the stock speak leads what options do we have? I thought to mount a single DIN head unit in the dash compartment, but what a hassle to run a piggy back harness etc.

Any clues guys?

 

No.....I didn't even half of what you just said.

 

gokartride: What? Sorry if I didn't make any sense, but what I was trying to say was how can we make improvements while still retaining the factory controls (MFSW, center stack etc.) Using a speaker to RCA converter to thus go to an aftermarket amplifier results in poor sound quality in most cases. I am looking for an aftermarket device to interface with the OEM to then use aftermarket amps and speakers. Hope that helps! Anyone?

 

For the record, I AM NOT what you would call a audiphile, but I do like all kinds of music, and a better than "decent" sound system in my cars, trucks, boat and home.

That said, i have NEVER seen a "decent" or even close to decent sound system come in ANY car I have ever bought, and that includes an $80,000 Audi A8. And every car/truck I have ever bought, has always been ordered or bought with the "upgraded" sound system.

At the VERY least, you MUST add a subwooer to all of them, even if they come with what they call a "subwoofer". And I'm not talking about 2 12" woofers in he trunk (oooops, I mean BOOT!) with 5000 megagigawatts of amps..... I'm talking about a simple, $200 self powered compact subwoofer like a Clarion, Kenwood, bazooka.... available anywhere.

That will generally get you a "decent" sound. After that, it's personal preference at how far you want to go, replace speakers, add amp, add larger subs, change head unit....

The part that pisses me off is, why thye don't ALL at the very least, give us some PRE AMP OUTPUTS to simply make our upgrades ALOT easier!!!!!!!!

 

Found this while looking at mini2, may be what you are looking for.

http://www.newministuff.com/new/shop...roducts&cat=25

 

1chaos52,

THANK YOU!!!! That is EXACTLY what I would be looking for. BUT, I still think the manufactureres (in this case Mini) should have a connector like that already installed. ;-)

How hard is it to get to the back of the head unit to install the adapter , anyway?

 

Hear, hear

 

1chaos, great find!

 

There is actually some pretty cool stuff elsewhere on the site. They have auto-up window modules for the 02-06, but I would bet that they would work in the 07 as well since I do not think they changed much as far as the window switches go.

Now all I need is my car so I can get some of this stuff.

 

I can't comment on the worthiness of the Hi-Fi upgrade until I actually get my MINI, but I did order it just to keep things simple. For me personally, I value good sound in my car, and I'm a little disappointed that changing head units in cars has become such an issue. Then again, Hi-Fi or not, if you want good sound in your car, some aftermarket improvements will always be necessary.

From research on this website and on the net, I came across a product that might alleviate the issues of a sub-par head unit. I've never used one, so I can't attest to its value, but I will likely be considering one whenever I get around to upgrading the sound in my (soon to be) MINI.

Hope it helps. If anyone has used one, I would love to hear some feedback.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/products_c...php?page_id=94

 

Another option would be the "Rockford Fosgate 3sixty" as well

 

for sure if you use the cheapy kind! The shop that installed my amp used a device that cost about $100 and has several adjustable settings on it. it sounds quite good.

It's not easy. a good portion of the dash has to come apart.



One question about the harness - great idea and I would have liked having one but is it a speaker level to line level adapter or is it just converting the wires to RCA jacks?. On both the normal and HiFi system the signal coming out of the radio is speaker level. The channel inputs to the HiFi amp are speaker level - not line level.

Mikey, you around to input on this? I think you designed the adapter.(?)

 

The upgrade sounds very good, but at moderate levels. It runs out of headroom quickly. That said, the speakers are mediocre at best, and an upgrade surely won't hurt.

The upside of getting the base audio is the $550 you save pays for the speaker upgrade you would probably do for the Hi-Fi anyway. Also, the rear 6x9's don't have separate leads for the woofer and tweeter, like they do on the Hi-Fi. That makes replacement selection more difficult for the Hi-Fi rears, if you want to keep the stock amp.

 

The CL-441 looks interesting. There are a couple of places on the internet where it can be purchased new for about $250. Basically, as I understand it, it does an analog to digital conversion of the head unit output, acts as an automatic graphic equalizer to flatten out volume levels throughout the audio range (flattens the OEM unit peaks and valleys), and then converts the signal back to analog. My question though would be, just how unflat is our head unit output? And do we even need this? Would it really make a difference. Hope someone tries it and reports back.

 

The clean sweep looks like to be the correct answer. That solves the issues related to high out to RCA type connections. And as long as you don't need summing, the base unit should do the job. Need to check to see if that will in fact work with the OEM volume control. But if so that should solve the entire issue. I like the OEM controls, but like everyone else it seems hate the sound quality. I will try to talk to a JL dealer in the next several days. Being a DIY kind of guy, it will be interesting to see if I can do this myself as well. Whatever I find out I will report back! Thanks!

 

Hi,

From what I've found, there is a seperate remote that controls volume on the CleanSweep - so the OEM volume control becomes useless. I don't know much about it, but I think I recall that being one of the biggest knocks against the CleanSweep.

Also have a look at the Rockford Fosgate 3sixty - have read some articles on that one too. It seems to be more well reviewed than the CleanSweep by some.

Either way, good luck!

 

I keep seeing these complaints about the HiFi upgrade, and I'm at a loss to understand. I have never driven mine to rock concert levels, but at a volume that makes conversation impossible, it sounds great: accurate, unadulterated sound reproduction from very low bass to very high treble. If you could get Bose to cancel the road noise, that would help the sound.

 

I wonder if the hifi upgrade plus an adjustable level bass tube of some sort (with a crossover or bass blocker) on replacement two way speakers would work. I have done this before on other units (for a quick fix without gutting the whole system) and it has gotten me pretty good results. i mix music all the time in my home studio and after years of doing this, it makes it nearly intolerable to listen to excessive bass or music that is colored too much. It seriously freaks me out to the point that i dont even want to listen to any music.

driving back from ft lauderdalte to jacksonville with the stock base system was terrible. after about a half hour of listening to it, i was sooooooo dissapointed i just turned it off. i cant stand it. i have heard ford escorts sound better. my accord sounds awesome, but it has tweeters up near the front quarter panel area of the dash. Obviously this mini doesnt have any tweeters. i mean it sounds worse than some dual cone ******** in a shitty ford escort. BMW had some ***** doing this.

 

I agree the audio is lame, but one nit to pick. This is not a "high end car." It is a great car for $25K, but the stereo is about what you'd expect for stock in a car of that price. Now let's talk about the in ability to put in a decent head unit!

 

I'm not at all surprised with how horrible the stock audio was. After all, it IS a BMW. BMW and Honda have my awards for "most horrible OEM audio" ever, and they try really hard to keep those awards every year.

That said, I replaced the factory drivers with high quality unit; Hi-Vi 1 1/8" tweeter in upper door position, Morel 6" midbass in lower door position. I designed a 1st order Butterworth crossover for those door speakers, and those pieces are mounted inside the door. For the rear, I installed Tang-Bang "6x9" woofers, which are more like 7x9". I had to fabricate new fastener holes and enlarge the mounting hole for them to fit, but they hide behind the stock panels. I'm powering them by a line-level input MTX TC3001, which is flush mounted in the carpet under the drivers seat. The net effect isn't earth shattering by hi-fi home audio standards, but it's worlds better than the stock "cardboard with a screwdriver stuck in them" stock speakers!

Cheers,
Ryan