Retro Fit Harmon Kardon Sound Setup

[Johal87]

Hi

has any body done this? do you know what parts would be needed?

and how much betta is the HK to standerd setup?

thanks ppl

[teknokracy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Johal87 (original)

Hi

has any body done this? do you know what parts would be needed?

and how much betta is the HK to standerd setup?

thanks ppl

I just finished a full stereo installation in my '05 MCS.

I have to say that it was a real pain - without adapters which I believe mikeythemini sells, it is hard to mount aftermarket speakers in the doors. The rears are fine - they are just standard 6x9 speakers. I would say, if you can get a hold of a pair of HK front speakers, install those - they will clip right in with no wiring cuts I'd imagine.... you will have a hard time pulling aftermarket wiring through the door and in to the interior, not to mention having to cut out the stock speaker grilles. For rear speakers, forget the HK and go with aftermarket, I have Alpine Type S, but Type R might be a little bit closer to HK. Finally, the damned best thing you can do is install an aftermarket stereo. the HK system does require its own amp which lives in the body paneling next to the trunk, I would imagine miles of wiring would also be required.

All that said, I can't imagine HK being able to hold a candle to my setup...

[DaFlake]

Retro fitting the HK can be done but it is VERY expensive and not worth the effort. To do this, you would need all the speakers, amp and wiring harnesses. You would be looking at at about 3K USD to get it done and would have to rip apart most of the car.

Best bet is to go aftermarket to upgrade the stereo and you can get a better sounding one at a fraction of the cost.

The HK is much better than stock but it is one of those items that has to be done during the build.

[minicabrio]

DaFlake is right, the HK is better than the stock stereo system, but it's not worth attempting to retrofit it - as there are aftermarket solutions out there which are much better, and easier to fit

I took my MINI to newministuff (run by mikeythemini) - he fitted an excellent 500W Kenwood amp - beautifully concealed under the front seat, and amazing speakers all round which gave me a great sound Contact him, or take a look at his website for a few ideas NewMINIStuff.com

[DaFlake]

Quote: Originally Posted by minicabrio (original)

DaFlake is right, the HK is better than the stock stereo system, but it's not worth attempting to retrofit it - as there are aftermarket solutions out there which are much better, and easier to fit

I took my MINI to newministuff (run by mikeythemini) - he fitted an excellent 500W Kenwood amp - beautifully concealed under the front seat, and amazing speakers all round which gave me a great sound Contact him, or take a look at his website for a few ideas NewMINIStuff.com

^^^still has Bryan Adams cranked to top volume...

[minicabrio]

Quote: Originally Posted by DaFlake (original)

^^^still has Bryan Adams cranked to top volume...

I'm sure her new owner certainly does

[rkw]

Johal87, if you wanted to stay OEM, an upgrade to MINI's Digital Power Sound Modul (DPSM) would be a better option than HK. Better sound than HK, and should be cheaper as well because an HK retrofit is so complicated. That said, aftermarket is the most cost effective approach.

[Johal87]

thanks for this people, well i have a good amp i think, its a vibe black box III, 600watts rms 4 channel, would this do the job?? ive got a really good wiring kit aswell not the £20 boxed jobs from halfords, id just need speakers i guess?

[minicabrio]

Sounds like you're half way there at least.... Have a browse on Mikeys site though, he sells the adapters and bits 'n pieces that make installation of aftermarket speakers much easier

NewMINIStuff.com

[theminiv]

In my 2001 mini one, I must have spent thousands on after market equipment.

In the front and back, we had infinity high end speakers. A JBL 1600w 10" sub powered with an Alpine monoblock amp, and the front and backs, with a 500w 4 chanel alpine amp.

The head unit was one of the sony ones, with the tray. It was all very nice. . . . But.!

Sub output was crap, so I moved to a 12" square kicker. This was ok, but lacked any sort of quality, plenty of thump tho. So we eventually changed to a 12inch DVC Rockford fosgate. This was the best, allowing plenty of thump and sound quality.

Only problem was, without putting loads and loads of sound deadening material on the car, your poor car will vibrate to pieces. And remember, putting all the dynamat etc will annoy your dealer if you eventually part ex the car for another one etc.

Plus, you really lose the boot with subs.

Anyway, what I am getting at . . . .

If you can fit the HK equipment, I would damn well look into it. It is as good as my aftermarket kit when it was at its best, plus it wont ruin your car. Only problem you will have is getting your head unit to give you the HK settings. What I would advise tho, is this. Get a nice 4 channel amp, like an alpine or rockford. Remember, You can get better sound out of a good amp with poor speakers than a crap amp with good ones. Try to get an amp with crossovers built in. Then attach that to the rear of one of the back seats. Mikeythemini will have some sort of cable to get an aux out of the original head unit (if you have a post 04 model boost, I think you will have mp3 capability)

Then get hold of the HK speakers, all round. Sometimes you can find these on ebay, but rare. Remember, when HK speakers were designed, the area volumes behind the speakers would have been taken into consideration, therefore they will be almost perfectly matched for your car.

Fit the speakers to the after market amp, and use the crossovers to limit the sub sound going to the rears. If you do this well, I think you will get a nice sound all over. Plus its not too hard to wire up. Easiest way to do this is to get a car audio company to fit some of it, but not all. I would not trust anyone with my car. Get them to fit some nice quality speaker cables to the ones already there behind the stereo, tell them to wire them to the boot, I say nice quality but dont go mad. There is no need for all this super thick oxygen free stuff. Then get them to fit an amp kit. Dont worry about power caps etc, your battery on its own will be fine. Then you can fit the speakers and get it raring in time for tea!!

Good Luck!