13 replies to this topic

[Crazy]

right guys

i want a nice neat set up, you've got the back seat area to play with the boot and where ever else you can bang the gear,

I dont ideally want speakers in door pods,

Now i dont want no sony in my mini, ideally something that is good enough to be in sound offs, something that looks trick, a screen, love me bassy music house, hiphop that sorta stuff.

ill give you a total of around £5k to play with thats the ultimate top end

[mini_basser]

You have £5k to spend on a system for a Mini :wow: Thatsalottanuts!

When you say sound offs, do you mean SQ or SPL?

Do you have any preference on where to mount the fronts?

[TimS]

First off go around the car with brown bread/ dynamat, the doors the lot! Head unit wise, I would use double DIN one for flip up screen, and the other for sound! Using the head units AUX input from the screen. Unless you want multiple screens?

[Crazy]

well not to arsed with sound offs i just want it to sound the mutts nuttz

not really wanting multi screens just the one will do,

[philster]

Firstly you are gonna need something decent up front, kick builds are the best way to go if you are spending 5K!, equipment only makes up a fraction of a decent system don't expect to throw money at it and think it will sound good.

Are you going for SPL or SQ?

[mini_basser]

Seeing as you havn't given much of an idea of what you want, I'll just get creative anyway

2 x XXX10s (havn't got a link at the moment as the new line will be out soon...www.bladeice.com for the old version specs) = £1000ish

Powerbass XA3000D amp (3000w RMS @ 1ohm, 2000w RMS @ 2ohm) - £1100

Couple of extra batteries (maybe Optimas) in the boot and a new alt = £500ish

Rainbow CS265 Profi Vanadium Kick (built into fibreglass pods in the footwells) = £470
http://www.caraudiod...2544406acd45bf3

Crystal Cam 110.4 amp (bridge 2 x 220w RMS for the fronts) = £270
http://www.caraudiod...2544406acd45bf3

Cabling, lots of sound deadening, fibreglass and stuff = £500 (I did say LOTS )

Not sure what you want with screens...could go with a DVD source and a couple of external screens, or an all in one flip-out monitor etc

[Crazy]

how do you mean what sort of thing i want ima complete noob with ice and i havent got the fogiest, i sat 5 as a top end obviously a nice system within that price range,

ive got a design i quite fancy for a fibreglass install but i wouldnt have a clu about getting it done well 2 ideas to fill the rear ill try draw them out.

i quite like the PIONEER AVIC X1R

[philster]

If you aint done one before i don't think you need to spend anything near 5K unless you are going into competition.

I'd stick a pair of 12" subs in a sealed enclosure on the back seat, use the boot for the amps and mount a pair of decent 6.5" comps in kick builds up front.

You can pay a hell of a lot for car audio, some is made for volume some for quality, ther are some good alrounders too but no one sub or speaker will be suitable for everyone.

If it was my money and a had a reasonable budget i'd go JL Audio throughout with a pioneer dvd headunit.

Subs
JL 12W6v2-D4 retails around £400 (contact cad for exact price) x 2 £800

Amp for subs
JL Audio 1000/1 £899.99 (contact cad for best price)

Components
JL XR650-CSi £379.99

Amp for components
JL Audio 300/2 £499 (contact cad for best price)

Headunit
Pioneer AVIC-X1R £1049

Then you need decent quality cabling, a decent alternator and a decent battery or split charging system and 2 batteries.
Also there's no point going to these lengths without spending a good amount on sound deadening products (dynamat ect).

For a bit of inspiration take a look at JL's demo mini

http://mobile.jlaudi...hp?page_id=132#

[binge]

If you are going for SQ then keep it simple. Its all about the Install rather than the kit your using.

Subs:

You cant get good quality bass without an enclosed sub. Im running a free air sub at the moment. Dont get me wrong they are good. But not as good as enclosed sub woofers.



If your not familiar with ICE, Then Ill get you going.
5k is a LOT to be spending on ICE, so you want to get it right. Everybody on here has biased opinions about makes.

I recomend you listen to the advice Philster gives you, He knows how to create a Good install!

Upfront Speakers:

Ill be honnest with you, I really dont like Door pod speakers, Ive got them in my Polo and they are horrible, They just make your legs Tingle when its loud. :tongue:

Im running a pair of 6" Pioneer Coax's mounted flush on a wooden Dashboard.
They are directly infront of the driver/passenger seats (Not in air vents). And they have directional Tweeters too.
Now these are VERY good for SQ because they dont need to be cranked up so loud as they are right in your face so to speak...





Mid Range:

Most people dont bother with Mid range speakers, They go for the Component / Sub setup.
6x9s are great for Midrange, but they are let down by their Sound quality and popular demand from parcel Shelf Bois! :tongue:

Im running 6x9 subs (so they DONT have tweeters), They are mounted under the rear seats on a seatboard.

I like these because I listen to alot of trance / Techno and they really push out those Synths! :grin:



Sub Woofers:

As im not a Bass junkie, I dont need anything bigger than a 10" sub. Im running a Free air 10" Pionner on the rear shelf. Its running on a remote LPF so I can adjust the Frequency from up front.
Now the reason ive put my sub on the rear shelf is because the sound basically bounces off the rear window and is fired forwards into the front of the cabin.

Philster has mounted his on the rear firewall, So its firing directly into the car anyway. They are both about as good as eachother.



BUT, If you are after really Low bass you really do need a sealed box. You can buy twin subs in boxes. Try to keep away from these fancy sub boxes with windows in them and stuff, They dont sound as good as they look.

You either want somthing Simple like Sealed enclosures.
OR
You can spend the extra money for a DECENT Ported Sub box. if you buy a cheap sub which is in a ported box, They it wont be very good.
Setting a sub up is a serious skill. Theres alot of Math and Science involved! :tongue:

Subs sound good anywhere in the car. The boot isnt the BEST place to put them as from the outside, there is NO WAY you can stop the boot from resonating. I dont care what anybody says. A sealed boot with subs inside at full volume will vibrate like hell no matter how well it is padded out.

Again, If you are after Sound-off ICE. Back seats are best. Nice and close to the actual speakers means they dont need running at their limits to be loud.


Screen:

As for the screen, I used to have a flip out TFT screen in my Mini 1300. I was running a PS2 through it, and it got SOOO many Looks!
It was running as an AUX through my head unit.
The ONLY screen headunit that Has a good sound output for speakers, Subs etc is the Alpine one. And that screen is about £1500 on its own.
I paid £250 for mine from the US. It had Inputs for PS2, Sat Nav etc. Was great!




Powering all this S**T!

Now I dont want to sound like the party spoiler! But If you are going to be installing 2 X subs, Amps, Comps, HU, Screen etc you are really going to have to upgrade both your Battery and alternator. And Id highly recomend you spend atleast £150 on an alarm!

As for the Alternator, I think Minispares do a 90Amp one for about £70.
The best battery you could get would either be the most powerfull battery you can find to fit in the battery box, Or a Yellow-top gel battery. But one of those is going to set you back about £200.



All the best mate, I hope my advice has helped. Im no ICE expert but ive intalled about 3 setups in my minis over the past 2 years. Ive learnt from my mistakes, and Ive done it how I personally like it, not how its "Supposed" to be technically.


<|Ben|>


Edit:

I forgot to mention...

AMPS:

If you Add up all my amps and HU Max power output, Im only running at about 800watts MAX.
Now that is probably about 400watts RMS in totall. It really isnt that much. BUT, It sounds good, Looks good, My Complete install cost about £800. So with an extra £4200, Im sure you can find money for top Quality amps, Speakers, Subs, HU and a GOOD alarm.

[philster]

Philster has mounted his on the rear firewall, So its firing directly into the car anyway. They are both about as good as eachother.

BUT, If you are after really Low bass you really do need a sealed box.

Not necessarily, you can get a free-air sub to drop lower than a boxed (sealed or ported) especially in a mini.
I've spoke to a few people over the years who have said free-air is a waste of time, you'll never get a good sound, the sub will just flap about bla bla bla, not true, this has been proved to them and everytime they have been both shocked and impressed, as always the detail is in the installation and not just the equipment.

Oh and my boot doesn't vibrate or rattle either :cheese: you just need some more deadening on there, plus take the reg plate off, stick some deadening to the back of it and space it out from the bootlid slightly (so that the plate only touches the boot on the plastic bolts/self tappers)

[binge]

Oh and my boot doesn't vibrate or rattle either

No, my boot dosent vibrate.

I mean that a sealed sub INSIDE the boot will make it vibrate.

Free air sub cut into the firewall / Shelf wont cause vibrations in the bootlid because theres no where near as much air pressure change with a free air sub half in / half out the boot so to speak. A lot less air movement (Well, not less, but its more spaced out)...

My sealed box used to shake my boot somthing silly!

[Crazy]

cheers for that binge, well when i come round to the install ill keep you posted on th progress.

going to have a look around and see whats what.

[mini_basser]

No offence, but with a £5k budget I don't think a lot of a Binges install is relevant. It's fine for what it is, but £5k is a HELL of a lot of money for an install...you could go all out on every aspect, and maybe come up with some new ideas for how to approach stuff

[philster]

yeah 5K is a hell of a lot of cash even for competition.

One thing you need to consider is how practical you want the car to be, the stuff you could put in there is endless but you've got to think of all the weight you are adding.

As i said in an earlier post even for competition i wouldn't spend that kind of cash.

You can build a pretty good multimedia system for about 2K.

Mine has cost about £900 over the years and thats including the ps2, screen and all the cabling, materials etc.

With more cash i'd just fit better quality stuff, you could also fit an incar PC for added wow factor and the realtively easy posibilty of a 5.1 surround setup.