Let me start off by saying that I am no expert. I’m only a guy who likes his music loud but clean. I do not want the wind drowning out the tunes. Motoring in my new 2005 pepper white Mini with the sunroof open and windows down is ideal. In my younger days I was a musician and have always dabbled in the sound areas as a hobby. I’m certainly that jack-of-all-trades master-of-none person. I enjoy all kinds of music and even appreciate NPR radio. I am posting this page only to help others accomplish the same end as I myself while avoiding my pitfalls. When reviewing the following install, use what information helps you, but keep in mind that I am not an auto installer/electronic genius/sound engineer. Double source your information (I did).
I need to thank the countless posts to the many forums I visited prior to this attempt. Especially Ian Cull (a.k.a gbmini), without who’s advice I could not have determined the direction nor completion of this install. I debated whether or not to utilize the expensive Harmon Kardon (HK) system I had
bought or totally remove and start with new components. I really like the balanced sound that the HK system delivered but the volume was just not enough. I also did not want to gut the Mini. I did not want to alter the original interior (or as little as possible). I decided to keep the HK system intact but amplify the speaker
outputs with line converters to two (2) four channel amps running in flat equalization (i.e. Whatever frequencies came into the amp left the amp the same way only louder). Why I needed an eight (8) channel amp is explained later. The line converters were needed because during the planning stage I had no amps with speaker level
inputs. If you do have amps with speaker level inputs then disregard any reference to the line converters. You can wire the speaker outputs directly into the amps as input signals.
