GBMINI#4 (GPMINI)

I visited GPMINI today at Superior Systems, a custom audio shop in Peabody, to see how the creation of a speaker box was going, and to decide how it should be finished; what we have so far is a box which extends across the width of the car, positioned just in front of and below the GPs luggage bar – it’s front edge lines up with the front edge of the rear half of the car (where the rear seats would finish in a normal MINI).

The box will hold three 6″ JL Audio subwoofers, firing towards the back of the car; the DPSM 6×9 speakers, which normally fit in the MINIs rear speaker positions, will also be mounted, just behind the front seats and firing forward:

The DPSM speakers are of course driven by the DPSM amplifier; the subwoofers will be driven by an amplifier mounted in one half of the GPs rear storage area …

I originally thought about having the box painted to finish it, perhaps with some sort of design on it – but seeing the box in GPMINI made it clear that painting it wouldn’t work well, unless I did lots of additional custom paintwork both inside and perhaps also outside the car.
So the new plan will be to cover the box, perhaps in a “vinyl” material (similar to MINIs leatherette seating finish) either black or, if we can find an appropriate color material, in a finish which matches the red panels in the back of the GP.

More in a couple of weeks …

The GPMINI stereo saga continues 🙂
Initially I tried just the Alpine HU; it improved the sound but I still wanted more (don’t we all!)
Next, I tried Dynamat and new door speakers but the Kicker speakers were awful and have been trashed.

Meanwhile, other GP owners have recommended MINIs DPSM (Digital Power Sound Module) system – if you search you can get it discounted up to 20% and at $1400 it’s not a bad price compared with equivalent aftermarket options, giving you new front component speakers, rear co-axial speakers, an 80W RMS x 4 channel digital amplifier, all the wiring for a “plug-and-play” install, and a fully stealth result – on a stock MINI at least!
So, I bought a system from MINI of Peabody and spent the last day or so installing it …

Installation is quite simple if you know how to pull the interior panels out of your MINI, you’ve had some basic stereo install experience, and you can follow directions.

I installed the new door speakers first, and they made a noticeable difference with the Alpine HU even before installing the amplifier … Next I ran the new wiring harness – behind the stereo you disconnect the original plug and put it into a socket on the DPSM harness; a new plug from the harness then goes into the stereo and the other end of the (long & heavy) wiring goes to the rear right of the trunk. No problem with my Alpine HU – the plug just goes into its adaptor instead of into the stock stereo. You do end up with some hefty plugs / wiring to hide away, but there’s easy space behind the glove box which you should remove during installation.

The DPSM amplifier installs in the space behind the access panel in the rear right of the trunk (same location as the H/K amp – but since DPSM & H/K are incompatible, that’s not a problem). The kit appears to use the H/K bracket, so you have to drill four holes in it for the DPSM, but then installation is simple.
The included fuse holder is impressively big; the one non-plug-and-play step is that you have to cut to length and connect the B+ cable from amplifier to fuse holder – this is because the same kit can do the MC (with battery in the front) or MCS (with battery in the trunk). Tightening the fuse holder was the one REALLY challenging task for me – it’s a very tight fit (which you want, to ensure no arcing).

 

Finally, the rear speakers … in a normal MINI it would be easy, replacing the original rear 6×9 speakers with the DPSM ones – plug & play again. But in GPMINI there’s no position for the speakers although luckily the stock wiring is present (needed since the DPSM runs speaker signals from amplifier up to the original stereo wiring connector, then uses the original wiring to get the signals to the speaker positions).
So … I made a couple of temporary speaker enclosures; and yes, believe it or not, I used cardboard boxes and duct tape!

Thankfully everything worked perfectly the first time when I switch on; all four speakers are working and there’s a LUDICROUS amount of volume available! My Alpine is rated 18W RMS and has a volume range of 0-35; I typically listened at between 11 and 15 depending on content.
With the DPSM I’m listening at around 6 – turning it up to the old range is already too loud; I can’t imagine the volume if I take it up into the 20s or higher …
Of course I’ve gone from 18W x 2 to 80W x 4 so there’s bound to be more volume – but there’s no loss of clarity. I’m sure you’d get similar results with the stock stereo which probably is rated around 15W RMS.

What next?
Although my cardboard speaker enclosures are working, they’re probably not the best 😉 and they don’t look all that great (I suppose I could paint them!) … but I plan now to have a proper enclosure built, replacing the GPs storage-instead-of-rear-seats area.
I’m still going to have a couple of 6″ JL Audio subs put in there too. I don’t feel like there’s the same level of bass as there is in GBMINI (which has those same subs installed) – of course the rear speakers might do better in a real enclosure, but I also like having the ability to control the subs separately (the Alpine has a sub level output adjustment).
So … watch this space! And if you’re in the area, listen for me coming 😉