ICE for a Classic Mini.

[lightbody]

I'm going to badly miss my Harman Kardon soooo.....

Using only the 2 standard rear shelf cutouts in a 1990s Mini (16.5cm I think they are?) what is the best possible stereo setup? (i.e. nothing anywhere except on the parcel shelf, and no cutting required).

Last time I did this (1995) I simply got the best full-range speakers I could find and dunked them in and connected to a new head unit (and it sounded fab), but now I'm thinking it would be better to get seperate woofers and tweeters.

I think I'd need crossovers (for the tweeters). Someone correct me if i'm wrong but these take the signal from the amp and split it high/low for the tweeter/woofer?

Is an amp necessary? If so, can you get a wee one for just 2 speakers that won't clutter up the boot too much? I'm also not sure there's enough depth to get a woofer above the fuel tank... i think there's only 2 inches?

Has anyone done this and can explain how it all goes together?

I was looking at Sony XS-HT170SN
http://www.sony.co.uk/view/ShowProduct.action?product=XS-HT170SN&site=odw_en_GB&pageType=manual&category=ICA+Speakers

Thanks!

[Burple]

<Cracks Knuckles>.. Ok... here goes.. :D

Did you ever see my Red Cooper close up?
That was pretty packed with stuff! I had a 10" sub unber the rear window shelf, but not the best idea as it took a lot of fiddling, including trimming the two little round ventilation holes in the middle, and packing it out on the other side with cricles of MDF.
You might be best going for either a set of 3 or 2 way speakers in there, powerful as you want, and get a wee two channel amp of roundabout the same output as the max power of the speakers. That WILL sound good, providing you get decent speakers. Normally you'd need *something* in the front to balance it out, but since the Mini is so small inside, I don't think you'll need to (or find much space without cutting or drilling something. (there are companies out there which do ickle pods for under the parcel shelf at the front).

There's definitely NOT space for anything like a sub above the petrol tank tho. If you want some nice deep bass to go along with the tunes, seriously consider a Vibe active boxed sub (a 10" one). Broken Brian has / had one in his classic, and it was well loud enough :D. I've got one of their bigger bandpass boxes in my boot now, and I wouldn't give it up!

Bear in mind also when looking at amps that most modern head units kick out about 45-50 watts power, so make sure your amp is greater than that (like I said, round about the max power of the speakers) or you won't hear any difference.

If the amp is small enough, mount it under the back seat (whip the seat base out for access) - that's where I had my 6 disc changer :cool:.
Otherwise it's not too much bother to put it in the boot - only 4 tiny wee holes to drill in the back of the seat to mount it. There *IS* space for a couple of medium sized amps there ;):D

Another choice would be to get a set of 2 way speakers for the rear shelf (powered by an amp), and some component tweeters to mount on top of the dash - powered by the HU, together with an active sub (as above) in the boot. That will sound awesome.

If you're really worried about space in the boot, probably the best thing to do is find a really good quality pair of 3 way speakers that fit the holes already there, and match a wee amp to them - and mount this in the boot, or under the rear seats

:cool::cool::D:D

[lightbody]

Thanks -

will tweeters on the back shelf sound terrible (compared with the dash)?

My main reason for using separate tweeters would be to allow the woofer to do proper bass... I don't want anything in the front of the car - there's little enough room already! I also want my boot empty for shopping!

Can 2-way speakers be powered by the head unit or will that mean they dont fulfill their potential.

[Burple]

quote:Originally posted by lightbody

Thanks -

will tweeters on the back shelf sound terrible (compared with the dash)?
My main reason for using separate tweeters would be to allow the woofer to do proper bass... I don't want anything in the front of the car - there's little enough room already! I also want my boot empty for shopping!
Can 2-way speakers be powered by the head unit or will that mean they dont fulfill their potential.




>- No, tweeters on the back won't necessarily sound rubbish, but if you plonk them on top of the dash rails in the corners, they'll be much closer to you, so they'll be clearer, and won't need nearly so much power to be heard. There's a chance in the back they'll be drowned out a bit by the rest of the frequency of sounds, and it'll make the stereo sound more 'full', and not so rear-biased if it's coming at you from all sides :D You can get very small ones these days, you'll hardly notice them in their little pods on top of the dash :cool:

A set similar to this would be ideal:
http://www.rockwoodhifi.com/images/tweeters/xr_61.gif
(sorry, dubious pic found on Google)
You might have to wire them up to wee crossover to get the best out of them, but that shouldn't be too expensive.
If you did this, then you'd really only need to source a set of good quality 2-way speakers for the rear, and juice them up!!
:D
They'd sound ok just powered from the HU, but when you whack it up loud it'll probably distort a bit, and you won't get the full bass potential out of them. The difference even with a 100W per channel amp would make over the Head Unit (at 50W per channel) with a pair of say 120W speakers, should be pretty convincing..
Infinty reference range would be ideal (but maybe a bit pricey)
If you're not too worried about brand name, maybe nip along to Halfrauds and see if they have any on special offer

:cool::D

[lightbody]

Thanks Euan, thats very useful. I understand much more than I did earlier! I'm going to have to get someone to do this for me...

* 2 ways for the back shelf (if I can find some that are shallow enough...)
* Amp for the back speakers.
* and then maybe tweeters for the front (with crossovers) - i'll see how it sounds first though.

And because i'm a fussy bu99er its going to have to be Sony all the way (if possible). The head unit will need to be Sony because I need one of their steering column joysticks (nobody else seems to do them!).

[Heather]

quote:Originally posted by lightbody

I'm going to have to get someone to do this for me...

I know a man who is good at pimping rides and is a whiz with a multimeter......;)

[broken_brian]

Peronaly i would say stay away from sony and go far a nice alpine unit as they give a far better sound that sony but thats just my opinion. plus you get a proper remote control with some of them which is very handy when you have bucket seats and race harnesses in a classic :D

[Burple]

quote:Originally posted by broken_brian

Peronaly i would say stay away from sony and go far a nice alpine unit as they give a far better sound that sony but thats just my opinion. plus you get a proper remote control with some of them which is very handy when you have bucket seats and race harnesses in a classic :D



...and I have to agree with the slowly balding one on that too! :cool::p:p:D:D

[lightbody]

But I *need* a proper remote control (as in stuck onto the steering column and wired in, not a silly credit-card type one). I need one I can use without looking. THe stereo is going to be completely out of reach. If any other manufacturers do such a thing I'll gladly look.

My pal has a classic with this Sony remote and its absolutely excellent.