New head unit - cant believe the difference

[redditchmini]

I"ve just had a new head unit fitted to my First gen MCS (Kenwood btc61u) and cant believe the difference its made .

Thanks are due to the chaps at car audio centre in cotteridge birmingham. They were extremely helpful and having discussed my requirements talked me through the options . Suggested upgrade path was head unit, sub woofer and finally speakers . Having just had only the kenwood head unit fitted I can't believe the difference in sound quality-I'm surprised how good the standard speakers are and how much improvement can be gained from a relatively smalll outlay .


If you are looking to improve sound and get all the benefits of iphone compatability then the Kenwood unit is well worth a look.

If you are in the Midlands area I'd suggest giving Car Audio Centre a call , they give good advice and a very efficient service, its a bonus that they know their MINIs one of the chaps has a nice dark silver MCS with some interesting wheels and exhaust

Dave

[Tiger_47]

Hi,
I am interested in doing a similar upgrade. What year is your MCS? Has it got the Harmon Kardon system with the power amp underneath the drivers seat?
If so the Kenwood could be the answer for me. Appreciate your feedback.

[redditchmini]

Hello,
Its an 07 convertable with the standard BMW cd player . Theres no sub etc . But as I say its a big improvement with just the head unit.

[Hartge220]

Had similar a few months back, had a Kenwood DAB 4551 head unit fitted to my 1st gen mcs & made a great difference to sound quality through the oem speakers. The digital quality helps a lot though

[CACBrum]

Redditchmini-thanks for the good press, really is appreciated and I'm glad you are happy with our service and with the Kenwood radio, let me know when you want to go to the next stage!

Tiger_47 The Kenwood or any other single din radio will fit, but you'll need a HK enabler from newministuff (sorry I've not enough posts to add URL) which I can't supply, but can fit if you're local to us (we have 7 stores so if you're not in the Midlands let me know where and I'll direct you to another store)

^there are two different versions; the more expensive one allows you to switch between the various pre-set EQs or the cheaper one will just leave the HK amp on the standard EQ setting. For the extra £4 I'd go for the dearer one.

If you require any advice please PM me or reply to this thread

[miniman68]

CACBrum...just purchased a 2007 Mini S convertible with H/K. In the US here...are the systems the same? Can I use the HK enabler from newministuff.com for an aftermarket stereo? Thanks