Mini Cooper S

Angleški prevod testa hi-end DLS inštalacije v Mini Cooper S
Dmitri Matveeva – Rusija
iz nemške revije autohifi

Russia is a country of extremes.  More than 144 million people of different backgrounds and denominations live in approximately 1.7 million square kilometres. Dmitri Matveev, President of EMMA Russia and head judge of EMMA Europe, works in the heart of this huge realm, in the capital, Moscow. His employer, the company AM Style, is a prime example of the car hifi industry in Russia.

The mobile audio dreams of prosperous Russians are realised on no less than six basement levels in what are really premises belonging to BMW and Peugeot. In conjunction with the most stringent safety precautions, it is AM Style’s policy to have half a dozen vehicle assemblers working on several cars at the same time. Due to the fact that few people in impecunious Russia have much money, there are quite a few who want their slice of the cake – which has always been the way. “All rooms are always locked on exit”, states Dmitri, “and security personnel are provided with electric shock equipment”. What sounds outrageous to us is commonplace for him and his colleagues.

He is an old hand who is not easily fazed by anything. Anyone who has been following sound quality competitions in the past few years will know how successful he has been in these events: four times Russian champion, European runner-up in 2000 and European champion in 2001. A record not to be sniffed at! His Peugeot 406 coupé with the lion theme still ought to be the easiest to remember for car hifi fans. In case it is not, a comprehensive report on this impressive car can be found in the autohifi Test Catalogue 2002.

After Dmitri, together with Alexander Klett of EMMA Germany, had secured St Petersburg as the venue for the final of the European championship 2003, it became clear that he himself would also take part in the competition. His Peugeot 406 had already been out of action for over a year, so Dmitri had a look around for a new car at AM Style. He opted for the cult car of recent times – the new Mini – mainly because of its small window areas, its steep windscreen and symmetrical bodywork as well as its excellent acoustic qualities. Furthermore, he chose the Cooper S version because ultimately he wanted to have a bit of fun driving it as well.

Since AM Style also imports tuning equipment, the yellow Mini first enjoyed a makeover. The first steps taken in an attempt to make the Mini stand out from the crowd consisted of a spoiler by MS Design, a chassis by FK Automotive and hefty aluminium wheels, as well as chip tuning from 163 to 205 PS.

It was also imperative to have a theme running through the entire system if he was to have a chance of holding off the competition. Then Dmitri remembered that he once served on a Russian submarine in the Black Sea – at the same time he imagined the music as an “Ocean of Sound” and wanted to achieve with his system the same standard as with the “Roots of Sound”. What could be better than a (drivable) submarine?  As predominantly DLS components were used and the car was well worthy of representing Team DLS, the Mini was now called “DLS Submarine 001”.

Three months of hard work were needed to set this exciting concept in motion. And the daily grind was worth it, as the installation became simply gigantic. The fantastic nautical first impression of the cabin, the deep sea-blue illumination in the boot – however, we’re jumping ahead of ourselves here!     

Once the Mini had already ensured that it had created a sensation at a show in Sweden and had also appeared on a popular television programme there, and once it had survived a flight across the pond to the CES in Las Vegas and had been introduced at Car+Sound 2004 in Sinsheim, it finally found its way into the autohifi offices.

Surrounded by editorial staff, Dmitri begins to introduce the car. The rattle produced on opening the boot hatch astonished the entire editorial team. What on earth was that …?  “You hear that noise on a Russian submarine when you open the weapon hatch” explains Dmitri to us mischievously. “I find it suits the Mini rather well”.

It is difficult to concentrate on any one detail when looking into the cabin – the overstimulation is simply overwhelming. Anyone sitting in the Mini gets a creeping feeling that they really are sitting in a boat – the nautical appearance of the instruments with their water blue illumination is simply very convincing.

It is particularly striking how the three-way front system, the DLS Iridium 6.3, is accommodated.  The 16 cm woofer and 7.5 cm midrange speaker, set high up on the dashboard in turned and highly polished aluminium coils, sparkle at the observer. The unusual tweeter supports flanged to the A-column came into being after a series of experiments: they lean inwards and are intended to create the extraordinary impression of a platform.

The neat leather dashboard is also eye-catching and hides a few secrets which you only see on second glance. “We have increased the depth by 10 centimetres so as to find room for the system and to find the angle to produce better sound quality”, explains Dmitri while the editors enthusiastically stroke the neat yellow stitching.

Searching for the subwoofer, the eyes roam diagonally across the interior of the yellow and black Mini submarine only to come to rest on a bull’s eye under the passenger side airbag. Behind this sits the 25 cm subwoofer, DLS W310 B. Shrouded in blue light and angled in the direction of the foot space, the installation position is the only thing allowing a guess to be hazarded as to the precise bass location.

The amplifiers are all housed behind the front seats where the rear seats and boot used to be found. Here there are now four DLS amps in a breathtaking, neon blue-illuminated aluminium construction. Dmitri did not want to make any cutbacks in road safety. “In the Peugeot 406 we had points knocked off because the amplifier mounting wasn’t completely stable – we’ve improved that issue here. Moreover, the aluminium construction for the amps is actually lighter than the original rear seats”, declares Dmitri proudly.

Because the front system is operated actively, four end stages in total were necessary.  Two dual-channel DLS A2 systems provide the midranges for both the left and right sides. The dual-channel DLS A3 supplies both woofers on the left and right with sufficient power for stereo operation, whilst the DLS A6 mono amp drives the subwoofer.

“Safety first” – this slogan is greatly valued on board the DLS Submarine 001 with the result that the end stages are protected by transparent hatches secured by original locks from the shipbuilding industry. Two Optima Yellow Top batteries between both rows of amps have also each been given a separate housing with a transparent cover. The glass is reinforced and the cover, which is carbon-insulated to prevent short-circuiting, can simply be removed. The specially manufactured battery connecting blocks are also supplied in yellow and black, keeping to the overall colour scheme found throughout the Mini.

The amplifier fuses are concealed under two covers to the left and right of the batteries.  In the rear side walls of the boot space are mounted two original bull’s eyes, which incidentally are also in keeping with the style, in which the toolkit is housed on the left and some fuses on the right. Blue light spills onto the amp construction from two small windows further forward, creating a bubble-like blue underwater appearance.

A further DLS amp appears to lurk under a cover between the amplifiers on the left and right.  If you look carefully, you will find a Pioneer DSP Carrozzeria RS-P70X onto which Dmitri has put a DLS cooling fan – for visual integration purposes. Just like the Pioneer Carrozzeria RS-D7 X head unit, which has been modified to accommodate blue illumination, the DSP originates from the later series of the superlative ODR series, which is only available in Japan.

The DSP is responsible for the frequency distribution for several loudspeakers in the system as well as for adjusting operating time; Dmitri has done without an equalizer.  This goes without saying, because anyone making special modifications to the dashboard and having to spend such a lot of time experimenting with different positions for the loudspeakers, should not then straighten out the sound using an EQ.

The RS-D7X CD tuner rests beautifully in a separately manufactured aluminium facia adaptor. The integral flip switch with red protective cover is striking. It controls the subwoofer amps so that the woofer can simply be switched on and off right here.

Further down under the dashboard is another row of additional flip switches also matching the underwater look. They also switch off the individual loudspeaker channels;  Dmitri can see the status of the corresponding fuses at all times thanks to the integral blue LEDs.

A second display, the same as the one used in the radio, sits in splendour on the sporty steering wheel, which incidentally comes from a BMW M3. “I have put it in the driver’s visual field as an alternative to the radio display, so the driver does not become distracted”, explains Dmitri. The radio can be operated from buttons on the steering-wheel; to ensure total control the captain of the submarine has integrated the original remote control into the lower spoke of the steering-wheel.  In this way  complicated tuning tasks can also be carried out quite comfortably.

The installation is therefore sheer madness and the quality is second to none. The jurors at the Europa final in St Petersburg thought so too with the result that they awarded Dmitri three cups: Grand Prix, Best of Sound, and Champion in the Expert Unlimited class.

The sound check was subsequently undertaken with great anticipation. As Dmitri still had his demo CD from Sinsheim in the car, the editorial team put it straight on and let rip.  The first track was Jennifer Warnes’ blues song “Somewhere, somebody” from her album “The Hunter”. We were struck immediately by the central voice reproduction and the abnormally good positioning – Jennifer’s sensitive, delicate female voice was perfectly accompanied by the instruments and the male voices in the background. Top notch!  In addition, the music platform was positioned in a most unusual way: it seemed to be playing in front of the car on the bonnet rather than on the dashboard – it even seemed to have become totally detached from the loudspeakers.

We then carried on with Tracy Chapman and her song “Across the Lines”. With respect to style it was similar to Jennifer’s “Somewhere, somebody”, but with respect to sound it was more voluminous, and playback was pleasing with its cool enthusiasm and three-dimensionality.

Stronger female voices as in the girl band Destiny’s Child were also good fun; the powerful track “Amazing Grace” made the hairs stand up on the back of the neck.

We then went a step further in terms of technical style with Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall”. If you closed your eyes, you would seriously wonder how on earth the whole school choir could have found room to stand on the bonnet of the Mini. The three-dimensional reproductive quality of the DLS components was once again breathtaking.

So, on to the next title, Michael Jackson’s “Who is it?”. This truly pulsing song laden with high-pitched frolics tried to force some shrillness out of the tweeters – but, in vain!  Once again the installation in the Mini remained absolutely supreme at all times.

So it was now time to bring the big guns up as ultimately it was worth really putting the system to the test and (potentially) discovering its weaknesses. Perhaps the three bearded Texans in ZZ Top would manage it. During the cracking title “Sharp dressed man” (from their album “Eliminator”) the volume control crept inexorably upwards towards maximum. Drums, bass and guitars got louder and louder but, despite this, sounded absolutely crisp and unstressed. Not a hint of distortion or anything like it.  Any weaknesses? No way!                                                                                  

Dmitri could no longer prevent a huge grin spreading across his face after such generous praise for his wonderful system and perfect installation, and he also had ample praise in store for the editorial staff: “It was a pleasure to have received this invitation from one of the most professional car audio hifi magazines in Europe” he said.

Then the man from Moscow roared away again in his mobile submarine; a truly impressive visit was at an end. Wildly enthusiastic autohifi editorial staff were left behind wondering what Dmitri would cook up next to top this absolutely world-class installation.