Fitting stereo from scratch - Saxperience

Jaytee · 25th April 2011, 20:27

Hi. I know this isnt about a saxo but wondered if some of you can help/provide advice. Looking at buying a classic mini. Only issue however is there is no stereo or speakers in what so ever. What would i need to do to get a stereo put in. Is it a big job? If i got it professionally done how much would i be looking at? Sorry for all the questions but i know rock all about ICE really. Thanks guys

mechsman · 25th April 2011, 21:05

Depends what sort of system you want really. For a basic setup you need a head unit (2 or 4 channel up to you). A pair or 2 of speakers, a ground wire, a fused permanent live, a fused ignition live, and enough speaker cable to put the speakers where you want to.

A set of iso blocks would probably be the easiest way to wire this in.

For a more advanced setup you will need all of the above (head unit with rca outs), an amp, and some more cables.

lilbenchy9192 · 27th April 2011, 23:17

u dont really even need an ignition live if u dont want to it just means that the radio wont turn off with the engine. just think of it as a house hold stereo bud.

headunit, 2 speakers, and power. same wiring aswell

danny-vts · 28th April 2011, 00:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by lilbenchy9192

u dont really even need an ignition live if u dont want to it just means that the radio wont turn off with the engine. just think of it as a house hold stereo bud.

headunit, 2 speakers, and power. same wiring aswell

so come morning he has a flat battery

house hold stereo's run off electricity not batteries

lilbenchy9192 · 28th April 2011, 12:06

no but the wiring is the same ie speaker cables a live and a ground/neutral.

as for waking up with the battery dead only if u dont turn the stereo off. the stereo always draws some juice which enables it to store ur presets so its always on really.

checkmybadself · 3rd May 2011, 01:29

In mine i got a tray that fitted under the passenger shelf for a few quid from a scrappers (or try the miniclassic forum) for the headunit. Ran RCAs into a 4 channel amp - running a 10" sub boxed up in the boot and a pair of 6x9s in the rear shelf.

Had to cut holes to sink the speakers in but mounted the speakers in an mdf sheet cut to fit, so the holes only needed to be the size of the magnets. Covered this in black leather - looked well swanky lol

Sub sounded rubbish in such a small boot, so ended up cutting another (big) hole centrally to port the boot into the cabin - made a world of difference. You can put speakers in the front doors on pods (again, check miniclassic out) or even modify the rear storage bins to fit speakers into, although if its an old one this space is probably already being used for spares / tools / easystart etc lol......

To be honest, the sound i got from just the 6x9s was more than enough in such a small cabin (probably without the sub unless you're into DnB!) so don't worry about loads of speakers, just get two good ones!

Running cables was a POP in the mini, and you even have the battery in the boot for the power cable for the amp. I can't remember how i put power to the headunit now, but i'm sure i split it out from somewhere under the bonnet rather than running it back up front from the rear.......

Minicalssic has the answers to your questions, those guys just love a good step by step guide to everything!

checkmybadself · 3rd May 2011, 01:34

Didn't cover this, but it's a pretty easy job to do yourself. As long as you're good at measuring up (make a newspaper template first if you're not) and have the right tools then it's easier than you might think.

If you're not confident about the wiring for power then get a professional to do that - the wring in classic minis can be fragile - but fitting the speakers/amp/head unit and running cables is simple stuff.

Whatever you do, don't get halfrauds to butcher it in, as my cat would probably do a better job