speedfrk

Finished the new headunit install, and it sounds 10x better than stock, and looks really good. It is just playing through the stock speakers with no amps/subs, etc. Amazing difference in sound quality and output. No steering wheel controls of course, but it does have a remote which works well. CD's and MP3's both sound excellent. Radio station reception is not as good as with the stock unit, though. The shop which sold me the antenna adapter said some euro cars need an adapter which has a booster built in with a wire that needs to be connected to 12v. This might help in this car, but I will just have to try it. Here is a pic of the install.

sdcaclint

very nice!
metra install kit?

Vince

speedfrk,

you shouldn't drive with all or your keys dangling from the dash like that. On turns you can develope alot of momentum which can be obseved in the keys as well. This force can sometimes cause your keys to fling around while in the ignition. Since the ignition is very smooth, enough force may be observed on the keys to cause them to fling the ignition to the off position thus turning off your engine.

OH, ****!

WHAT HAPPENED!!!

THE ENGINE JUST SHUT OFF!!!

...as their car locked up as they drove through the canyon.


just to be safe...

please take your keys apart so its only the actual plastic key in your ignition.

Vince

Buellwinkle

It's what I've said all along, the factory speakers are actually quite good, it's the crappy Alpine cassette HU that's really bad. I've tried middle quality Polk Audio speakers and they didn't sound as good as the factory speakers.

schwarz c230

looks very nice, it is hard to believe how bad the factory hu is untill it is replaced.I have not missed the steering wheel controls at all

speedfrk

Clint, It is a metra dash kit. One nice thing is that you can take the storage tray out under the radio, and get to all the wiring without removing the whole center panel. It just snaps into place. Was 29.99 plus shipping. Has anyone else with a aftermarket HU noticed weaker reception on the radio, or is it just this particular radio? It is a rather cheap unit, but has lots of features like the remote, MP3 playback, etc. I live in a "black hole" for radio reception-even my cell phone will barely pick up at my house, so I will test the reception as I drive to Atlanta and see how good it is closer in.

schwarz c230

I have not noticed any differance with the fm radio reception I do not listen to am so I do not know if itis any worse.I have the alpine hu

Zerostatic

That's the case with most cars. Just swap out the headunit, and you'll have a much better system.

peet

I had run into the antenna problem with my BMW in the past... Yes your stereo reseller was correct. Most euro cars have an antenna amp. Typically, it is located fairly closely to the antenna itself - in the case of the M3 it was in the driver side C pillar.

Don't know where it is on the coupe, but the good news is that it doesn't matter. What you need to do, though, is find which wire in the harness turned on the antenna power. Then wire it in parallel to the amp turn on wire (in aftermarket installs this is usually dark blue - but doubt that will help).

As far as the steering wheel controls, there is a company (name escapes me) that makes an interface to factory steering wheel controls. It then sends out IR which your head unit already can receive. If anyone actually finds this, please post link.

P

Pweb

Does each speaker in c230 (without bose upgrade) has its own amplifier or not? That's the questions I was asked when I wanted to buy a new HU. If they do then with the new HU replace I'll need to buy new speakers.

Pweb

Yeah, I was told by Audio King install people that I won't loose my steering wheel controls if I buy an adapter for about $120.

TXTiger

You continually say the stock speakers in the C are good, however it seems all the sound is coming through the tweeters, very little sound is being pushed through the drivers. Would it be possible to add a crossover to the existing setup to better take advantage of each speakers strengths?

You also say changing to the Audio 10 greatly improves the sound, but does it correct the above described situation?

Not insinuating what you said is untrue, just looking for the underlying truth (it's the engineer in me).

Thanks.

peet

http://www.crutchfield.com/S-0uB6YAG...?i=127SWIX&s=0



Crutchfield page doesn't list Mercedes, but the product page states that it works with 98% of cars out there. (of course, with my luck we're in the 2% )

Anyone know if this is the beastie?

WyattEarp

I believe you are going to be out of luck with this since all commands from the steering wheel controls are sent via the DB2 FiberOptic Loop. But I may be wrong.

Buellwinkle

I spoke to several companies that make these interfaces and when it comes to MB you are in the 2% that won't work.

TXTiger, I can tell you that on the Audio 10, the bass is incredible, almost sounds like you have subwoofers. I rarely have a factory radio where the bass is not cranked up to max, with the Audio 10 I have to set it at about 8 or it gives me a headache. You have to hear one to understand. The sound comes out really well balanced with no major vises. To me the cassette radio doesn't have any decent bass and it doesn't sound balanced, like you need an equalizer to fix it.

Come on over to BBQ at Ski Beach in San Diego on Sunday, there will be about 400+ cars. It's only about a 15 hours drive for you.

Lynn

I think the steering wheel buttons work via the CAN-BUS. But I may be wrong, too.

schwarz c230

the speakers in the non bose system are 4 ohm it is stamped 4 ohm right on the speaker next to the made in hungry stamp, I put in some Diamond componet's in the front and coax in the rear after an hu upgrade, I think the factory speakers are very bad, the problem is you need good power to drive a good speakers, so untill you make some kind of upgrade, good speaker will probably sound worse.

preyx

So the Audio 10 system will fix the seemingly complete lack of bass supplied by the default HU?

I have the Bose system installed on the factory HU, and I need to turn treble +- 0 and bass +10 to get a decent sound out of the system.

Plus, I'm considering getting a sound-system upgrade from Reus Systems (http://www.reusaudio.com/). I heard their jobs on other cars at the LA Auto Show in January, they sounded very nice. Their upgrades emphasize quality over quantity (so no dual-12" systems ), and I'd rather go for that than glass-breaking sound. Does anybody have experience with these people?

TimmyC230boy

i would love to have an audio 10, but would my dash mounted changer still work?

Buellwinkle

Timmy, yes the Audio 10 works perfectly with the CD changer I have both. You can switch between CD and Changer by pressing the CD button. I didn't get the Audio 10 for the indash CD since I already have the changer, I got it for the sound.

Preyx, the bass is incredible compared to the cassette unit. I would say that 10 on the cassette is the same as 5 on the Audio 10. It probably sounds even better with the Bose option. Why don't you join the caravan this weekend from NoCal to Ski Beach? You'll likely see multiple solutions including my Audio 10. Look for the black Coupe, oyster interior with factory rims that are chromed.

speedfrk

With my new HU, you can easily get the door panels pounding quite hard even with the volume at a normal listening level. With the stock HU, you could turn up the bass as high as it would go, and not feel it in the door panels. So the speakers might not be top shelf but they are pretty decent if you put a good HU in. I imagine that with a new HU and some really good speakers, it would sound very, very good.

TXTiger

That still begs the question why the change in sound through the drivers simply by changing the headunit? Can anyone confirm whether there are crossovers for the front components? It seems to me 90% of the sound comes through the tweeters. Would adding a crossover to the existing setup, or new, more senstive speakers (92db or greater) with a crossover improve the sound quality?

Are the speakers connected via regular speaker wire or something special? I had one stereo shop say they couldn't replace my speakers due to the fiber optic ring. Sounded fishy to me.

Buellwinkle

I can tell you there is a solid copper connection between the speakers and the HU, nothing in between. How do I know this. Circuit ****ty installed speakers in my car and shorted the radio. Luckily MB replaced the radio under warranttee even though I told them Circuit ****ty did it. If there was an amp or fiber in between it would not have shorted the radio.

speedfrk

TXTiger, the speakers only play what the HU tells them to play. If the HU is poor quality, even with great speakers, you will not get good sound. The weakest link in this case is not the speakers, but the HU. After you replace the HU, then the weakest link is probably the speakers. Try the HU first, and then decide if you need to replace the speakers. The fronts must have a crossover since there are only 4 sets of speaker wires going into the HU. Your car might have different components than mine because it is a sedan and mine is a coupe.

Ice 9

Nice, clean install. Get rid of those stock speakers