S205 Stereo Upgrade
#1
Junior Member
Thread Starter
S205 Stereo Upgrade - Focal Helix V12 Zen-M
Hi all,
Thought I'd give a little back to the community and document my install, given I stalked these pages for lots of info along the way.
So the car is a 2020 S205 C63 S UK car, has factory Burmester which was actually pretty good but compared to my 911 with a fully active Dynaudio setup, lacking that polish.
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210523_172357502-jpg.302584/)
and so the saga begins...
This is the factory response with all the EQ flat, measured centrally in the car with pink noise
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/merc-s205-flat-png.297360/)
If you're interested in what the factory EQ can achieve:
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/merc-s205-treb-swing-png.297366/)
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/merc-s205-mid-swing-png.297365/)
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/merc-s205-bass-swing-png.297367/)
My personal fav settings were B-2 M-7 T-0
Thought I'd give a little back to the community and document my install, given I stalked these pages for lots of info along the way.
So the car is a 2020 S205 C63 S UK car, has factory Burmester which was actually pretty good but compared to my 911 with a fully active Dynaudio setup, lacking that polish.
and so the saga begins...
This is the factory response with all the EQ flat, measured centrally in the car with pink noise
If you're interested in what the factory EQ can achieve:
My personal fav settings were B-2 M-7 T-0
Last edited by Muu; 06-15-2021 at 07:40 AM. Reason: Title update
#2
Junior Member
Thread Starter
First purchase was the focal MBZ 100 component kit:
![](https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/catalog/produit/visuel/is_mbz_100_facing.jpg)
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210409_202519600-jpg.297820/)
This is what it gave me:
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/merc-s205-focal-png.297882/)
Black = baseline system with no EQ
Green = Focal 'inside' MBZ components and centre
Blue = As above but tweaked the EQ to -6 -6 -6 which had the net result of pulling that 200-400 up
The end result was a big step backwards in my opinion, the 10dB (yes 10) hump 15khz made it sound shrill and crunchy, if you're a rock or metal fan like me cymbals would be like glass breaking, brittle crunchy things that have you reaching for the down knob. The focal timbre and the burmester EQ do not sit well - my 2c.
So..... go backwards to stock? Sideways to Dynaudio? Onwards to a proper amp with DSP......
![](https://www.focal.com/sites/www.focal.fr/files/shared/catalog/produit/visuel/is_mbz_100_facing.jpg)
This is what it gave me:
Black = baseline system with no EQ
Green = Focal 'inside' MBZ components and centre
Blue = As above but tweaked the EQ to -6 -6 -6 which had the net result of pulling that 200-400 up
The end result was a big step backwards in my opinion, the 10dB (yes 10) hump 15khz made it sound shrill and crunchy, if you're a rock or metal fan like me cymbals would be like glass breaking, brittle crunchy things that have you reaching for the down knob. The focal timbre and the burmester EQ do not sit well - my 2c.
So..... go backwards to stock? Sideways to Dynaudio? Onwards to a proper amp with DSP......
#3
Junior Member
Thread Starter
So after looking around here, learnt a little and plan formed, with these landing on the doorstep:
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210426_100337319-jpg.299440/)
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210501_140719058-2-jpg.299801/)
I don't like having random connectors everywhere so also bought the connectors to remake the looms fresh
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/16214247482915634048690350404196-jpg.301349/)
I don't like having random connectors everywhere so also bought the connectors to remake the looms fresh
#4
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Given this seemed to also come in the box....
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/1622120516118-png.301981/)
and this....
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210529_093305209-jpg.302226/)
Really we were going to need more juice
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210530_160037641-jpg.302396/)
Can see the rear distro box by the trim tool in the back
![](https://www.diymobileaudio.com/cdn-cgi/image/format=auto,onerror=redirect,width=1920,height=1920,fit=scale-down/https://www.diymobileaudio.com/attachments/pxl_20210529_131948195-jpg.302225/)
and this....
Really we were going to need more juice
Can see the rear distro box by the trim tool in the back
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#8
Junior Member
Thread Starter
Moved into the Audio forum, thanks for that!
Sealed the box last night with a wood primer, will sand it down and look to get the black on later this week.
If the focal tweeters continue to sound hard, I have a plan B:
Sealed the box last night with a wood primer, will sand it down and look to get the black on later this week.
If the focal tweeters continue to sound hard, I have a plan B:
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James_H (08-28-2021)