Harman / Kardon System

[ICEman]

Paul M - you may have heard the H/K system in Italy but this was not optimised or tuned:)

The option will only be available with the 3 BOOST radios, Do not expect your dealer to add the option. It is a change to the main wiring - to the whole car. :(

Rumour has it - there will be new grilles for H/K but this is not finalised yet.

Any other questions on H/K??

[Jazzy Jase]

I was planning on going for the H/K system, with a single CD player.

Rumour has it that it will have 8 speakers.

Now, with the 6 x 9\'s in the back I dont think it will need a sub, but I REALLY hope they put a more powerful amplifier in it. There\'s no way the Boost amp would drive 8 speakers very well (or loud).

Does anyone know if they are going to put a bigger amp in it, and how many Watts it will be?

[ICEman]

Oh yes.

10x40W. - Its in the boot, behind the trim panel. The radio sends the audio, which is then amplified / tweaked.

There are mids and tweeters in the top of the door and the rear speaker have 2 channel imputs. The bottom front door location are the same. The AMP is DSP, so it has various - selectable settings.

Its sounds fantastic, I must say. It is still not quite finished, but close.

Expect new speaker grilles as well. They should be nice.

Good Luck

[Jazzy Jase]

Lets hope it sounds as good as the specification... Awesome.

How many other cars have 10 x 40 Watts? Not many... Especially not one the size of the MINI.

I can\'t wait to hear it.. and I don\'t mind paying £600 if it sounds good enough.

[ICEman]

I think you will be most impressed. When you do get a chance to hear it, I recommend you take a couple of bits of your fave music to see how you really like it.

Normal Boost Radios have 4x17 - 4x20W. So you can expect a great deal more, but its the clarity not the number of Ws you can pile in a car.

If you want to be deafened you maybe a little dissappointed, if you wanna listen to really really loud music with no distortion, you will be very happy.

600 quid - is that all. You may wanna try to order it without BOOST radio, this way they have to upgrade the radio as part of the package - just a thought

[jontempleton]

Right, I may sound a bit dim but here we go....


Couple of questions about the H/K system... see I\'ve ordered it on mine but my dealer can\'t answer the following....

1) How much?

2) Does the package include the CD player and \"boost\" ( whatever that is ) , or do I have pay for those to get that separately ...?

3) Most important I suppose.... is it any good?

Cheers

PS As you might have guessed, ICE isn\'t a specialist subject of mine!

[Jazzy Jase]

ICEman,

I don\'t want to be deafened, but I like my music pretty loud, but it must be good quality...

...Like having a £600 separates system at home with 50 Watts rather than a £600 mini-system with more lights than Blackpool, 300 Watts but no quality.

You mentioned there will be an amp, but will the speakers be the standard units (just tied to a more powerful amp) or better quality H/K ones that can handle more power without distortion?

[ICEman]

GOOD NEWS

I like good quality music rather than aftermarket \"over the top\" units with all singing and all flashing multi coloured lights, however, this is not everyones taste.

The quality is excellent. All the speakers are replaced with Harman / Kardon units - its the only way you can get upgraded speaker. The basic ones are not bad at all though - don\'t get me wrong.

I know this system will be suited to you. It is specifically aimed at designing good quality for the car it goes in. Other after market units will not be designed to 1 car, so sound quality will not be as good.

[ICEman]

Oh & Mr Templeteon

How Much - I have heard 600 quid - I don\'t know and I can not confirm this. It will be available from March 2001 though.

BOOST - this refers to the higher spec of Radio (Wave = base cassette version) Boost has 3 variants which you pick - Cassette is just normal BOOST option, CD and MD must be ordered on top of Boost option, if that is the media you want. I hope that is cleat. BOOST is 135 quid, CD is 70 quid on top or you can choose MD 100 quid on top. A bit confusing I know, But BMW do it this way for all cars. I do not know if you can order Harman / Kardon option without BOOST. I suggest trying it, you may get a radio upgrade for free. It will only work with the 3 boost radios, so don\'t woory that you get a ****** radio.

Does it sound good. Well, I heard it last 2 weeks ago and it was sounding fabulous. Harman Kardon have been working this week to finalise the design with the new grilles, apparantly its loads better now. Paul Mullett heard a version in Italy - it is an older version that should not have been there, he says it is quite good (maybe he liked it more), so it should be even better.

Hope it helps

[jontempleton]

Cheers....

[KarmanS]

hi audiophiles,
other than the H/K system, does anyone have aftermarket speakers setup (MB quartz, infinity, etc)? I would like to see what other's preferences are so to gain some knowledge and ideas on what I can upgrade to when I get my cooper.

Thanks!

[Paul]

Look for posts by Gazzaman28, he's the main audio buff around here!

Good luck.

[mikeo]

Can anyone tell me whether the Harman Kardon can be retro-fitted? My dealer indicated that it would only be available as an option when ordering a car.

Also, does anyone have anymore detials on the Sound Module that is in the accesories catalogue?

Mikeo

[mini-mini]

it may just be me but all this hype about a h/k system? to be honest it does not sound like value for money more just a brand name, you could quite easliy upgrade the cars stereo for less than 600 quid and get just as good sound if not better (products depending).

and to be honest a stereo is only over the top if u do not value it as highly as the next person.

Tom

[Basil]

Quote:

Originally posted by mini-mini
it may just be me but all this hype about a h/k system? to be honest it does not sound like value for money more just a brand name, you could quite easliy upgrade the cars stereo for less than 600 quid and get just as good sound if not better (products depending).

and to be honest a stereo is only over the top if u do not value it as highly as the next person.

Tom

The standard 6 speaker Blaupunkt system thats in the base ozzie Astra & Barina (Corsa) is fantastic. It's a shame BMW could'nt have done something similar in the MINI.

I would want to hear it before shelling out.