Stiggs

I know this has been posted in the W209 forum, but I would like to hear other opinions on this matter.

The radio in the W209 CLK is pure, unadulterated crap! Its like I have no subs....no rear speakers at all!! Remember that old 80's TV commercial....Where's the beef??? Well....where's the bass??? I know someone in the W209 forum installed an amp and sub. How do I do this?? Is this my only option. I really need to spice this radio up. Even the CD player is still lacking the kind of bass I need. Now I'm not looking to shatter glass buildings where ever I go, but I need a better system than this.
How do you justify spending $70K on a CLK55 and getting a crappy radio?? It deosn't make sense.
What can I do??
Thanks

Harris

No matter what you add to it, stock radio will NEVER EVER give you high quality sound. Period.

If you have a pair of sensitive ears and want serious upgrade, its time to start looking at aftermarket stereo. But if your car has COMAND, then......"too bad" is all I can say!

zam2000

That's not true. Lexus and Jarguar systems can put any home system to shame.

Mercedes is known for putting crappy stereo in their cars.

Harris

Well, all I can say is Lexus and "Jaguar" (not Jarguar) systems are better than many stock systems out there. But they are still NOWHERE near a serious sound system. In fact, there is no point to discuss which cars' stock system is better because different people have different expectations.

One thing that I agree completely with you: yes....."Mercedes is known for putting crappy stereo in their cars".

Stiggs

OK...so now I know I need a new headunit, but do I need new speakers as well?? I'd say no....Bose are pretty good, right?? The headunit alone should give the speakers enough boost so that I can really hear the bass, correct??

I am also contemplating a sub in the trunk....opinions??

Kal Rubinson

Complete nonsense. No stock system (and, imho, no car system) can compete with a really well designed home system. I guess you've never heard one.

x15jq

I originally replaced the headunit in my c230 coupe non bose with an indash panasonic dvd unit. The sound was pretty decent with the stock speakers. I then put alpine type R speakers in the front and back, and 2 12's with 800 watts in the trunk. Recently, i sold the dvd player, and with the stock HU it still sounds awesome.

calboy

I think it is not bad, not as nice as my home theater setup but okay. I'm sure you've tried setting the fade to 70-80% to the back right? This helps a lot as the front speakers have horrible bass and distort like crazy but push it back and it is a bit better.

E55AMG99

I think they call it their "AntiTheft" radio system. It is so bad, no one wants to steal it.

Harris

Everything starts from the headunit. And I am assuming that you will add an amplifier as well??!! But if you change the HU, add an amplifier and dont change the speakers, chances are your speakers will not be able to handle the extra power from the HU and the amplifier. Bose speakers are far from "good". Sorry. The last step you want to do is to add a sub, if bass is all that important to you.

Dr Chill

First suggestion, trade up for a W211 E55.

Second suggestion if first one is not feasible, add a Kleemann supercharger. That will make the lack of bass a moot issue.


IMO, the head unit is the least important part of the equation. You need a good amp and sub and some way to crossover the system so the other speakers are cut off below 150 Hz so they can play loud and clean. Unfortunately, I am not aware how to accomplish this but I think it would be possible.

Stiggs

Dude, you know how to really beat a dead horse!! Just kidding!!
Is the radio in the W211 any better?? I test drove an E500 (W211) a while back and can't remember how the radio was??

Is there any way to hook up a super charger to my radio??:p

So what I'm hearing is that I need the following:

- one new headunit
- all new speakers
- 1 or 2 subs in the trunk
- 1 or 2 amps for all these speakers
- check for $3K-$5K


does this sound about right??

Harris

This is very incorrect. 100 out of 100 audio experts will tell you that the HU is the most important part of a system. Change the HU and keep the stock speakers will give better results than keep the HU and change all the speakers.

Harris

Yes, that sounds pretty much it. PROVIDED you are looking for a good quality upgrade. I DO NOT sell any audio system, but if you want some guidence, feel free to shoot me an e-mail and hopefully, I can point you to the right direction.

Dr Chill

You're a little off when you say 100% of audio experts. I owned and operated a high-end audio business with retail store in Charlottesville, VA for several years. I additionally did custom home installations and an occasional car installs. I consider myself an audio expert and this expert believe that a high qualty high current (not high wattage) amplifier is the heart of any good audio system. Unless the head unit is a complete piece of junk, most of the sound quality depends on the amp and speakers. Now if you are including the power source to be part of the head unit, I'd agree ith you. In the W211 the amp is in the trunk I believe as part of the audio gateway, but I can be mistaken.

There is little difference between CD players but huge differences between different speakers and different amplifiers.

Stiggs

Watch out Dr. Chill....you might be getting sucked into a P!ssing contest!! :p


So Dr. Chill....your credentials seem good...tell me honestly...what should I do??
Have you heard the sound system in the W209?
What are you going to do with the system in your E55??

Do you have any pics?? (If not of sound systems, then random hot chicks would be acceptable)

Thanks dude!

mswoo

i don't buy anything you said, dr.chill. who is comparing cd players here?

i have a clk55 as well, and i also find the stock audio system a piece of crap. i am going to change the entire system. "dr.chill" seems to have pretty good credentials, but i've serious doubt on his car audio experience (i'm sorry, dr.chill). my brother used to own a high end car audio shop too and i think i can consider myself a half-expert since i hang out at his shop all the time. i find it hard to believe to hear from a self-proclaimed audio expert that says the head unit is the least important part of the equation. This doesnt make sense dr.chill. seriously, every serious expert will say hu is the most important part in the system. thats why i have serious doubt on your car audio knowledge. also, for you to say if you are including the power source to be part of the head unit is also non-sense. if you're really an audio expert, you wouldn't say that because any hu without a good power source cannot be considered as a good hu. so, what are you talking about? how far can we go using our "piece of crap extremely poor power source" hu to push some serious speakers and amplifiers?

you cannot use your stock e55 system and compare that to the clk55 system. the size of the car is different, the image inside the cabin is different, the setup is different. have you heard the stock system on the clk55? can you tell us what's wrong with it? and if you said you've done car installs, i would love to see some pics/specs of your work.

stiggs: we need to change the hu definitely. what you had on your list sounds okay. more or less the same as what i am going to do to my car. maybe i'll add a thing or two.

E55AMG99

I've performed numerous stereo installs and upgrades over the years and have learned one important lesson; "EVERY SINGLE ONE IS UNIQUE".

If the head unit has sufficient output voltage and tonal qualities, why toss it? Especially since it is so highly integrated into the rest of the car. The amp is the heart of the system. If it does not have enough head room (dynamic range), it will not be able to reproduce the extended high and low frequencies that are absent in the car today. That is, of course, only if the speakers are capable of handling them. If they are inferior or poorly placed, they too will need to be changed.

If you don't care about cost, by all means toss everything. If you desire to keep your car stock appearing and maintain the stock integrated funtionality, keep the HU. Point is, until someone experiments with different amp, speaker and HU combinations, no one can say for sure what is right for the 209.

Dr Chill

Stiggs, you and I are still buds, right? I recommend doing whatever you can afford doing. I can't speak for the W209 system since I know nothing about it. I can only speak about audio in general.

E55AMG, you are 100% totally unequivocally correct.

Ms. Woo- What I said regarding the head unit and power source was that if the HU contained the system's amplifier, then I would consider it the most important part of the system. A non powered head unit really is just a switching station with an input source (ie CD player or tuner). My W211 has a non-powered HU. I don't think that upgrading it alone would result in any significant improvement. Is the HU in the W209 used to power the speakers or just act as a preamp with input source? If it is used to power the speakers, by all means toss it.

IMO a non powered HU along with a quality multichannel amp beats a hu with built in amp. Do you disagree?

My experience with audio installs ended about 15 years ago. Maybe some things have changed but the principles haven't.

Oh and by the way, I frequently hang out with a friend whose brother-in-law was the cousin to the neighbor of the owner of this audio shop in L.A. that used to do the installs on all the celebs and rappers cars, so I would consider myself a semi-rapper celeb audio expert. Anyone else dare to question my credentials aside from Ms Woo?

For the record, I once had a contest with 9 other guys about who could take a dose of diuretic (belonging to my dad about 20 years ago) and hold out urinating the longest. I came in second with 1.5 liters only to a guy who peed 2 liters. Moral- don't get into a pissing contest with me.

E55AMG99

You're killing me!

Harris

I think the stock W209 non-Bose radio and the stock W203 radio are basically the same. And I am assuming Stiggs has a non-Bose radio. The non-Bose radio on my 32 is a piece crap, therefore, I ripped everything off. The HU doesnt even have enough power to support the speakers, thats why Stiggs is complaining. It is a non-powered HU. I guess you have to agree that we have to toss it, right Dr. Chill?

Its obvious that you have to get some decent speakers and amplifiers to match with the upgraded HU in order to achieve optimum results. I guess no one has suggested that we have to change the HU only.

Keeping the HU and changing everything else is the least expensive way of upgrading. But if you want "quality" sound upgrade, then you should get an aftermarket HU as well. I strongly believe that the stock HU is so poor that if we ask Stiggs to add an amp and change the speakers only, he will have to change the HU sooner or later. Thats my take.

If I were to judge from a third person point of view, there is nothing wrong for mswoo saying that he/she a half expert (provided what he said was true). Dr. Chill, you are just trying to start a flame by saying your brother-in-law cousin thing....if you call yourself Dr. Chill, then "CHILL OUT!!".

I totally agree with Dr. Chill that the principles might be the same. However, 15 years ago, "Soundstream Power Class" was one of the top notch amplifier, guess how many people are using it now?? The sad part is those HU on our MBs are no different than the ones on the W126 15 yrs ago!! Dr. Chill, If your experience with car installs ended 15+ years ago, you should know a lot of things have changed since then!!

Everyone is just trying to help out Stiggs in here. Dont get into a cat fight please.

E55AMG99

If it DOES NOT include the amp, it might not need to be tossed. If it DOES include the amp, scrap it first.

Right but I think starting with the amp and speakers first will achieve the desired results without getting to the HU since it is passive (other than tone adjustment). However, I prefer to handle tone adjustments pre amp but post HU with an outboard processor. This adds more cost but it gives very precise control over the sound dynamics of the car. Using tone controls on the HU should only be to compensate for a poor recording and not poor car acoustics.

Could be a possibility that the HU will need to go after changing amp and speakers but with modern amps having greater input range, even HUs with low output voltage (non-amplified) can still sound good. This wasn't so true 10-15 years ago.

Dr Chill

Harris, you need to lighten up a little because you come across as being one uncool dude. Maybe a splif every now and then would help. Irie.

Harris

Ask around on the entire forum and find out yourself whether I am an "uncool dude" or not. I am sorry, but I cannot see how "uncool" I am. When people cant give substantiation, they always change the topic. Thats pretty normal on the board.

Dr Chill

You're right Harris, I don't know any of your former schoolmates who would substantiate you actually carried a pocket protector. I'm sure however that anyone reading this thread would agree that you have no sense of humor.

Hey Stiggsy, where are you when I need you?

(Harris, what I mean here is where is Stiggs' usual comic relief, not for substantiation that I have a clue about something).