Hello,
I thought somebody may be interested to hear about upgrading the sound system in my 2009 Cooper S convertible.
I bought the 350w front and rear Clarion kit from New mini stuff. Fitting took my friend and I a good 2 days. The fitting of the kit has been documented before so all I will tell you about is a couple of things to be aware about. Make sure you check all of your heater connection before you put everything back together! The blower worked for me but the heat control was not connected properly so I was without heat for ages!
They do mention that bass response is not great due to the 6.5" rear speakers. They are not kidding! I actually got a sub for the boot and ran it off the Kenwood amp from the kit on channel b. I have it bridged. My plan was to then run the rears from the head. This is where it got complex.
Mike kindly supplied a new adaptor and talked me through splicing it in. All connected and nothing. The head unit fired up but no sound! Mike was fantastic. I sent him loads of photos but all life looked well. Eventually, I thought I would attatch parts bit by bit. I installed the front channel and left the rears not connected. That worked. As soon as I plugged it in the rears, it killed the sound. I tried the old stock speakers, and this worked fine. I can only assume that the 350w woofers were too much for the head unit! I wonder if the rear channel runs at 8ohms? The front channel was able to power them with thout the amp but not the rear. Weird!
So it now sounds epic! I would most defo advise you get a sub if you have a cabriolet. Thank you Mike for all of your help and for putting together such a good kit.
I thought somebody may be interested to hear about upgrading the sound system in my 2009 Cooper S convertible.
I bought the 350w front and rear Clarion kit from New mini stuff. Fitting took my friend and I a good 2 days. The fitting of the kit has been documented before so all I will tell you about is a couple of things to be aware about. Make sure you check all of your heater connection before you put everything back together! The blower worked for me but the heat control was not connected properly so I was without heat for ages!
They do mention that bass response is not great due to the 6.5" rear speakers. They are not kidding! I actually got a sub for the boot and ran it off the Kenwood amp from the kit on channel b. I have it bridged. My plan was to then run the rears from the head. This is where it got complex.
Mike kindly supplied a new adaptor and talked me through splicing it in. All connected and nothing. The head unit fired up but no sound! Mike was fantastic. I sent him loads of photos but all life looked well. Eventually, I thought I would attatch parts bit by bit. I installed the front channel and left the rears not connected. That worked. As soon as I plugged it in the rears, it killed the sound. I tried the old stock speakers, and this worked fine. I can only assume that the 350w woofers were too much for the head unit! I wonder if the rear channel runs at 8ohms? The front channel was able to power them with thout the amp but not the rear. Weird!
So it now sounds epic! I would most defo advise you get a sub if you have a cabriolet. Thank you Mike for all of your help and for putting together such a good kit.