shorterthanrich
Junior Member
TL;DR: What 6.5" components & 6x9 rears are best these days for a minor upgrade to a stock 2004 Mini with stock head unit that give better SQ and more bass/midbass, and what is the best way, if any, to amplify them without replacing the head unit? Flexible budget, $300-$1k.
Hey folks, thanks in advance for any advice. 10-15 ago I was pretty into car audio, but I see that a lot's changed since I've been gone, and a lot of my memory has faded, so I'm back to the forum for advice!
My friend and I both have '04 (R53) Mini Cooper S JCWs with the base (not Harmon Kardon) sound system, and we both have blown door speakers that have finally pushed us to want to upgrade. We'd like to avoid changing the head unit, mostly because we really love the aesthetic of the interior of our cars, and I have the Monte Carlo 40th Anniversary, which was a very limited run, so I try to keep the look stock. Budget isn't much of an issue as much as time is since I have 2 young kids and run a startup so don't have a ton of free time to get super complex. But I could see us spending anywhere from $300 - $1k if it were worthwhile.
We prefer SQ over SPL, but I admit we definitely like punchy bass. We both had built custom 2x12 ported boxes for our Elemental Designs woofers powered by Cadence 1,500 Watt RMS amps back in the day, but the Mini just lacks the space for subs.
Here are my questions I'm hoping you can help with:
Hey folks, thanks in advance for any advice. 10-15 ago I was pretty into car audio, but I see that a lot's changed since I've been gone, and a lot of my memory has faded, so I'm back to the forum for advice!
My friend and I both have '04 (R53) Mini Cooper S JCWs with the base (not Harmon Kardon) sound system, and we both have blown door speakers that have finally pushed us to want to upgrade. We'd like to avoid changing the head unit, mostly because we really love the aesthetic of the interior of our cars, and I have the Monte Carlo 40th Anniversary, which was a very limited run, so I try to keep the look stock. Budget isn't much of an issue as much as time is since I have 2 young kids and run a startup so don't have a ton of free time to get super complex. But I could see us spending anywhere from $300 - $1k if it were worthwhile.
We prefer SQ over SPL, but I admit we definitely like punchy bass. We both had built custom 2x12 ported boxes for our Elemental Designs woofers powered by Cadence 1,500 Watt RMS amps back in the day, but the Mini just lacks the space for subs.
Here are my questions I'm hoping you can help with:
- Is it even worth upgrading front components (6.5 woofer & 3/4" tweeter) & the rear 6x9s without upgrading the head unit or adding an amp? If so, what's good these days for a midrange budget?
- Is it feasible/worthwhile to add an amplifier off of the stock head unit? Is this possible with stock wiring to avoid running new cable to the doors & rear?
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