I know certain BMW's are somewhat of a "bass trap"- meaning bass doesn't make it into the cab too well without porting into the cab or folding the seat down. I am curious if one 12" sub (around 850'ish watts) would be enough w/o folding the seat down or doing any kind of porting- or if I should go with two subs. I have never heard a stereo in a Benz before- so I don't know what to expect. I don't want to overdue it but at the same time I don't want to underdo it.

The car in question in an 'o6 C230. The subwoofer(s) will be Rainbow Profi-Vanadiums (SQ not SPL)

 

While the rainbow products are somewhat lacking for my taste, if you like the sound, you should have them. They are over priced because of their German origin and the value of the Euro to the Dollar.

You will find the Mercedes audio quite nice, but really under powered. The premium audio available from the factory is a step up, but will not thrill anyone.

I have used an Infinity Basslink II in C class with the available additional amp. It allows use of the stock headunit, and steering controls. Adding an AUX in jack for an MP3 player allows headbanging to your choice of sounds.

The Basslink II is tunable, and rather small, taking little space from the trunk. Some music choices might need some special damping material under the rear package shelf to prevent rattling. You don't need to run with the seat down, unless you like to feel the air blowing on the back of your neck.

http://www.infinitysystems.com/car/p...=US&Region=USA

Crutchfield is selling the package (sub + 4 ch amp for 400.)

As with any audio purchase, you should listen, and only buy products that sound good to you. Price and visual appearance have little to do with good sound.

 

with 850 watts, you will get bass inside the vehicle; there is always enough air leakage between the trunk and vehicle interior that some bass will get through. the real issue is that without having any sort of opening for the bass, a large portion of the energy from the sub will go into resonating trunk parts. this means that you will have a bad case of the "ghetto trunk rattle".

the easiest way to fix this is to simply open up a passage through the rear deck and have the woofer point up through this hole. some MB vehicles have spots ready to go in the deck where only some sound-deadening material needs to be removed.

 

I was noticing that in the trunk of my car- remove a little foam and there's already two areas that will be ported into the cabin- with little to no evidence of modification.

 

Are you kidding me? What could rainbow possibly be lacking? Even their lowest end model sound pretty good. Assuming they are installed in a well deadened door, mounted on a good mdf ring, and powered with 100+ watts- they sound amazing (The Germanium series on up in their line). I am by no means saying they are the best- but they are certainly up there. Brax, Seas Reference, a/d/s (before the DEI buyout), and possibly the Polk SR's would be the only other brands I would think of buying. I have heard several sets of the Germanium series (having owned one set) and one set of the Profi-Kick series. You can get the Germanium series for around $465 through an authorized dealer. I certainly don't think that's high. There are many sets that cost more and sound far worse (harsh tweets or having midbass or midrange- not both). I do feel their subwoofers are slightly overpriced. However- I love the sound and want to keep everything matching. Not to sound like some sort of 18 year old "e-thug"- just curious what you thought they were lacking for the sake of conversation. Aside from their entry level offerings- you are the first person I have ever heard of that thought they were lacking anything....Besides the fact the $13k price tag on their Reference line was a little hard to swallow

I have heard a couple of those basslinks. I was not impressed. They didn't sound very clean. However- I must say both of these were in a trunk. Had they been in a hatchback, suv, or wagon- it may have been a different story. I have had a few sets of their Perfect servies subs and comps. Both sounded good aside from the fact the tweets were a little harsh for my tastes.

I guess I could take the sub (Diamond Amp and a cheapie MA Audio 12) out of my daily driver (Focus), swap out the speaker wire for a longer one and sit it in the trunk of the Benz just to get an idea of what the sound might be and compare it to what I hear from the same speaker/amp in the Focus.