BMW Mini Countryman Audio Upgrade.
The new Mini Countryman is a cool ride, with no less than 10 models in the line up from the 64mpg Mini One to the awesome 4WD John Cooper S, there is no wonder it's becoming a very popular choice.
Given its popularity we have designed some well proven audio upgrades for those of you who demand a little more from their listening experience.
Standard audio configuration consists of that old BMW favourite, a pair of 4” drive units in the door and a pair of now 6” woofers tucked away under the seats. You will notice the sound is very flat, there is no top end so it lacks any detail, there is also no bottom end as the head unit is not capable of driving the under seat woofers, which runs full range in fact. Music reproduction is uninvolving and unsatisfying.
The choice of front speaker was simple, the Focal ES100K; we believe that they are best all round 4” component speaker on the market. The installation is as important as the speaker choice; mounting them in the factory locations and sticking in a tweeter simply won’t do.
The 4” mid-range drivers are mounted to the back of the door card, so this needs to become as acoustically dead as possible, otherwise the entire panel will resonate producing sounds that we don’t want to hear. The crossover is then mounted to the back section of the door panel and the tweeter stripped down and very carefully mounted in the door triangle; once this is complete the triangle is re-textured and painted so the tweeter becomes one with the triangle, perfect integration.
Good quality cables are used thoughout and the cables are loomed using Tessa cloth tape. This stops any vibration of the cables and matches the rest of the Mini`s factory wiring which is very important.
The first photo shows the Countryman’s door panel with the Dynamat applied to the door card, the crossover is fitted at the rear section and all the cables are loomed in Tessa cloth tape in keeping with the original Mini wiring. The second photo shows the Focal ES100K mounted on the door card, Dynamat is applied around the speaker then Dynaliner is applied over the Dynamat to create an acoustically dead sandwich.
The first photo shows the Countryman`s door panel complete with the Focal ES100Ks fitted subtly behind the original grill, just a hint of the yellow cone showing if you look carefully! The second photo shows the Focal tweeter set into the re-finished door triangle making it look like part of the moulding, we try to use the Focal tweeter grill where possible as it allows for better dispersion.
Once the doors are complete we rewire the system to run actively between the doors and the subwoofers; we then install a JL Audio XD 400/4 in the storage compartment under the boot floor, well out of harms way. Two channels are used to drive the subwoofers and the other two channels are used to drive the front speakers; crossovers and levels can now be set exactly. We also install a JL Audio sub level control allowing the subs to be “tweaked” depending on what you are listening to.
This is a “System 2”, the standard woofers are capable of producing a healthy bass and the system is well balanced and very detailed. However if you prefer a more “gutsy” sound then opt for a System 3. In a System 3 we replace the under seat subs with a much better quality Audison APBMW bass drivers. These are a very clever little subwoofer designed for this application, they produce a far more accurate and extended bass as well as considerable more output if the mood takes you.
The photo shows the JL Audio XD 500/3v2 situated in the under floor storage compartment, note all the cables loomed in Tessa cloth tape to match the factory wiring. The XD 500/3v2 is a class D amp making it very compact and efficient, the subwoofers can be adjusted using the JL remote sub level control fitted as standard with every System 2 or 3.
This meticulous attention to detail is exercised in every installation; not just the systems featured on our web site, to back this up at the end of the installation you will be presented with a USB stick containing a series of photos of your actual vehicle showing the job from start to finish. We are very proud of our workmanship and we want to share it with you!
The upgrades can normally be completed in a day and courtesy cars are available.Using the software supplied with the BIT 10 you will be able to connect your laptop to the car and tune your system to your individual taste!
Prices as follows:
Audiofile-Incar Mini Countryman System 1 (front door speakers only) £599
Audiofile-Incar Mini Countryman System 2 (as above plus amp) £1099
Audiofile-Incar Mini Countryman System 3 (as above plus Audison APBMW subs) £1699
Audiofile-Incar Mini Countryman System 3 Plus ( As above plus Hertz H8 DSP) £2199
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