Amp or replace headunit? biggest quality improvement

[Mini_me]

Hi all, I'm looking for biggest quality improvement per pound(dollar/euro/etc).

Being a novice at ICE upgrades I wanted to gauge opinion on where the best gain in sound quality (not quantity) can be made for the least money. Current system is Boost single CD.

I'm thinking of speakers (around 100 quid) and reasonable headunit (for about 160 quid/200 euros) rather than speakers and amp. Am I barking up the wrong tree or does this sound like a reasonable approach? There seems to be divided opinion from what I have found in the forums so far.

I'd be grateful for any advise or opinions

[schatzy62]

Read through these threads over on NAM they explain a lot.

MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - Measured frequency response, front and rear, non-hi-fi This goes for the HiFi or Boost as well

MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - R56 front/rear channel swap -- just do it!

MINI COOPER :: North American Motoring - R56 Speaker Replacement how-to

[PMB]

Notwithstanding the links provided by Schatzy, the average CD head unit produce quite a good sound when connected to "home" type speakers, even the cheapest CD head units. The reason car stereos usually don't sound as good is two fold. Firstly, the speakers are usually not particularly high quality and secondly the sound's environment is not as good as it could be.

In a "home" type speaker time is spent optimizing the speaker cabinet to match the charactoristics of the drivers, to get the best possible sound. That does not happen in a car where panels vibrate and the speakers point at your legs not your head.

Replacing the head unit with a head unit that has greater tone controlling abilities can help but is only covering up the problem. Replacing the speakers and improving upon their environment will help to solve the problem and give a better grounding from which to make further improvements.

In my own Mini (an 06), I replaced the front speakers with a set of Phoenix Gold components which was a vast immediate improvment over stock. I also put Dynamat inside the doors to help improve the speaker's working environment. Basically, I now just listen to the fronts. I had every intention of replacing the rears and improving the bass in particular, one day I probably will, but I don't listen to music seriously loud any more and the Phoenix Golds sound great on their own with just the Boost CD.

I hope this helps.