Upgrading and adding speakers in a C230k coupe
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02' C230k Sport Coupe
Upgrading and adding speakers in a C230k coupe
I posted this question over the Audio forums but no one replied, I guess they don't know... anyway, So I have a C230k '02 coupe with a kickass HU (the AVIC Z1) with all the bells and whistles but it lacks terribly in the output department as I still have the crappy, non-bose speakers.
With that being said I would like to change the front speakers (5.25") and the "back" speakers (6.5") to better ones and Add a set of real rear speakers. Who decided that it was a good idea to put the rear speakers on the door? anyway ... So my questions are:
- Do we have something speaker related prewired in the trunk?
- What will be the easiest solution to get an additional pair of speakers other than "tapping" into the existing ones?
- If I tap into the original speaker will I experience loss of output power?, if so, what will be the best "inexpensive" solution to do something like this?
Thanks!
With that being said I would like to change the front speakers (5.25") and the "back" speakers (6.5") to better ones and Add a set of real rear speakers. Who decided that it was a good idea to put the rear speakers on the door? anyway ... So my questions are:
- Do we have something speaker related prewired in the trunk?
- What will be the easiest solution to get an additional pair of speakers other than "tapping" into the existing ones?
- If I tap into the original speaker will I experience loss of output power?, if so, what will be the best "inexpensive" solution to do something like this?
Thanks!
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
This does not quite answer your question - speakers in doors is a great idea - it keeps them out of the sun.
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-possible.html
Replace the existing speakers - that's easiest & cheapest
Next step - add a sub - keep out of sun.
Final - step - add a stand alone multichannel amp & use the Avic as a head unit only.
I have no idea what prewiring exists in a 02 Coupe. - so much depends on where it was built & what harness it has. Considering it's age it probably only has the stock speaker wiring.
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...-possible.html
Replace the existing speakers - that's easiest & cheapest
Next step - add a sub - keep out of sun.
Final - step - add a stand alone multichannel amp & use the Avic as a head unit only.
I have no idea what prewiring exists in a 02 Coupe. - so much depends on where it was built & what harness it has. Considering it's age it probably only has the stock speaker wiring.
Last edited by Glyn M Ruck; May 1, 2009 at 11:28 AM.
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Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,212
Likes: 8
From: Pasadena, CA
2002 C230K, 2013 BMW 328, 2015 BMW X5
I posted this question over the Audio forums but no one replied, I guess they don't know... anyway, So I have a C230k '02 coupe with a kickass HU (the AVIC Z1) with all the bells and whistles but it lacks terribly in the output department as I still have the crappy, non-bose speakers.
With that being said I would like to change the front speakers (5.25") and the "back" speakers (6.5") to better ones and Add a set of real rear speakers. Who decided that it was a good idea to put the rear speakers on the door? anyway ... So my questions are:
- Do we have something speaker related prewired in the trunk?
- What will be the easiest solution to get an additional pair of speakers other than "tapping" into the existing ones?
- If I tap into the original speaker will I experience loss of output power?, if so, what will be the best "inexpensive" solution to do something like this?
Thanks!
With that being said I would like to change the front speakers (5.25") and the "back" speakers (6.5") to better ones and Add a set of real rear speakers. Who decided that it was a good idea to put the rear speakers on the door? anyway ... So my questions are:
- Do we have something speaker related prewired in the trunk?
- What will be the easiest solution to get an additional pair of speakers other than "tapping" into the existing ones?
- If I tap into the original speaker will I experience loss of output power?, if so, what will be the best "inexpensive" solution to do something like this?
Thanks!
Here or there, I'll get to your questions.
So part one to your answer first.
The front and rear mounts are a crappy plastic mount. Ditch them, and REALLY free up your options for what type of speaker you can mount.
Here is what I did in my car. I ditched the stock plastic mounts. I made trim rings out of MDF and mounted them to the stock mounting holes. The stock mounts had odd holes in them that allowed the rear wave to immediately "leak" and cause cancellation. Result was a lot of speaker movement and a reduced output.
Here is the huge openings we have without the silly plastic mounts.
With this custom MDF mount I have a 6.5 in the front and a 6.5 in the rear. The front has a TON of space! You can really mount something big in there. I sprayed the MDF mounts with a coat of varnish to seal them should moisture get in the door.
I have since turned off the rear 6.5 and found it unnecessary.
Accomodating the new MDF speaker mounts meant that I now had to trim the door's panel.
I found that pretty easy to do, but it involved a lot of trial and error filing.
Stock front door panel opening
Trimmed front door panel to fit MDF ring
I realize the trim job isn't pretty, but nobody will see it. You may have noticed that I have some clay on the MDF rings. I did this in order to add mass to the speaker's mounting rings. I didn't hear a differance, but its what the guys are doing right now.
Last edited by SeaCoupe; May 2, 2009 at 12:13 PM.
MBWorld Fanatic!
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From: Pasadena, CA
2002 C230K, 2013 BMW 328, 2015 BMW X5
So, your application...
If I hear you correctly, you simply want to add some nice speakers up front and hook them up to a Kenwood stereo.
Are you going to get an amp? I'll assume not.
So, for someone who is wanting better sound, I would do this.
Take the door panel off. Somewhere on here is a good DIY already done up. Someone feel free to add the link.
After removing the door panel and tweeter panel, take off the plastic speaker mount. Take it and the sail panel into a audio shop. Find out what fits that openings. I used to have an MB Quart 6.5 in the front. Fittiment was so so. I think it was just a bit small for the mount. Once you know what will fit, listen and figure out which speaker sounds the best to you.
All the wires are there to get sound from a deck to the door. You just need to cut them from the stock harness.
When I get a chance, I'm going to show where I am in my door. It has been deadened, has a sound diffuser behind the speaker...further I went with an Alpine Imprint to get time alignment and eq'ing done. But I'll get to that.
Ed
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1990 500SL-2002 C230 Coupe-2012 c250 Sedan SOLD-2012 C63 Coupe
...
Time to move from the imprint to an audison bitone....mmm
They have a new board among other updates to take care of the early bugs. If only I could afford some hertz milles as well.
They have a new board among other updates to take care of the early bugs. If only I could afford some hertz milles as well.
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MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 3,212
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From: Pasadena, CA
2002 C230K, 2013 BMW 328, 2015 BMW X5
Okay, so now we are at step two.
In my car, I upgraded the speakers, headunit etc. I hated the bass response and utter lack of clarity in the sound. So, I had to do some research.
What I found first was that I had phasing issues. I confirmed this by playing test discs that would have vocal tracks with an in phase and out of phase portion. Curing this was a sit down with all of speaker leads for the mids and highs. I had to play with the polarity of my speakers, but eventually I got it all right.
I am far from an expert, and may possibly be giving bad advice. But I think the large transmission tunnel in the car really plays a bit in creating a sound wave that emminates from the speaker, then bounces back and cancels itself.
After I felt good about the phasing I didn't like the mid range clarity. So, I got a sound diffuser to "suck" up the rear sound waves behind the speaker.
I recall distinctly this was something that really made me go WOW! after installing this, I really felt like I was listening to music, not listening to a speaker. By diffusing the rearward sound waves, I'm able to let the speaker play with less reflections in the door.
Next up dampening.
In my car, I upgraded the speakers, headunit etc. I hated the bass response and utter lack of clarity in the sound. So, I had to do some research.
What I found first was that I had phasing issues. I confirmed this by playing test discs that would have vocal tracks with an in phase and out of phase portion. Curing this was a sit down with all of speaker leads for the mids and highs. I had to play with the polarity of my speakers, but eventually I got it all right.
I am far from an expert, and may possibly be giving bad advice. But I think the large transmission tunnel in the car really plays a bit in creating a sound wave that emminates from the speaker, then bounces back and cancels itself.
After I felt good about the phasing I didn't like the mid range clarity. So, I got a sound diffuser to "suck" up the rear sound waves behind the speaker.
I recall distinctly this was something that really made me go WOW! after installing this, I really felt like I was listening to music, not listening to a speaker. By diffusing the rearward sound waves, I'm able to let the speaker play with less reflections in the door.
Next up dampening.
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From: Llandudno, Cape Town, South Africa
late 2009 CLK 350 Coupe Elegance, '65 Jaguar S Type wires
We have a High End audio freak in the making here. You obviously have ears - You are saying all the right things - I'm fascinated & look forward to the next installment.
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02' C230k Sport Coupe
Those are great DIY instructions... I wonder why I didn't find them in the sticky. Are the stock speakers 6.5 (front) and 5.25 (back)?EDIT: Found the linky for the door panel removal. Clicky Here
Last edited by fanito; May 4, 2009 at 12:54 PM.
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2002 c230k hb
Hey Fanito,
Here or there, I'll get to your questions.
So part one to your answer first.
The front and rear mounts are a crappy plastic mount. Ditch them, and REALLY free up your options for what type of speaker you can mount.
Here is what I did in my car. I ditched the stock plastic mounts. I made trim rings out of MDF and mounted them to the stock mounting holes. The stock mounts had odd holes in them that allowed the rear wave to immediately "leak" and cause cancellation. Result was a lot of speaker movement and a reduced output.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0304.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0307.jpg[/IMG
Here is the huge openings we have without the silly plastic mounts.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0308.jpg[/IMG
With this custom MDF mount I have a 6.5 in the front and a 6.5 in the rear. The front has a TON of space! You can really mount something big in there. I sprayed the MDF mounts with a coat of varnish to seal them should moisture get in the door.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0302.jpg[/IMG
I have since turned off the rear 6.5 and found it unnecessary.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0316.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0315.jpg[/IMG
Accomodating the new MDF speaker mounts meant that I now had to trim the door's panel.
I found that pretty easy to do, but it involved a lot of trial and error filing.
Stock front door panel opening
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0318.jpg[/IMG
Trimmed front door panel to fit MDF ring
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0320.jpg[/IMG
I realize the trim job isn't pretty, but nobody will see it. You may have noticed that I have some clay on the MDF rings. I did this in order to add mass to the speaker's mounting rings. I didn't hear a differance, but its what the guys are doing right now.
Here or there, I'll get to your questions.
So part one to your answer first.
The front and rear mounts are a crappy plastic mount. Ditch them, and REALLY free up your options for what type of speaker you can mount.
Here is what I did in my car. I ditched the stock plastic mounts. I made trim rings out of MDF and mounted them to the stock mounting holes. The stock mounts had odd holes in them that allowed the rear wave to immediately "leak" and cause cancellation. Result was a lot of speaker movement and a reduced output.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0304.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0307.jpg[/IMG
Here is the huge openings we have without the silly plastic mounts.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0308.jpg[/IMG
With this custom MDF mount I have a 6.5 in the front and a 6.5 in the rear. The front has a TON of space! You can really mount something big in there. I sprayed the MDF mounts with a coat of varnish to seal them should moisture get in the door.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0302.jpg[/IMG
I have since turned off the rear 6.5 and found it unnecessary.
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0316.jpg[/IMG
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0315.jpg[/IMG
Accomodating the new MDF speaker mounts meant that I now had to trim the door's panel.
I found that pretty easy to do, but it involved a lot of trial and error filing.
Stock front door panel opening
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0318.jpg[/IMG
Trimmed front door panel to fit MDF ring
[IMG]http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i262/emrliquidlife/audio/IMGA0320.jpg[/IMG
I realize the trim job isn't pretty, but nobody will see it. You may have noticed that I have some clay on the MDF rings. I did this in order to add mass to the speaker's mounting rings. I didn't hear a differance, but its what the guys are doing right now.
Thread Starter
Member
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 233
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02' C230k Sport Coupe
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Joined: Aug 2010
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02 c230 coupe
Okay, so now we are at step two.
In my car, I upgraded the speakers, headunit etc. I hated the bass response and utter lack of clarity in the sound. So, I had to do some research.
What I found first was that I had phasing issues. I confirmed this by playing test discs that would have vocal tracks with an in phase and out of phase portion. Curing this was a sit down with all of speaker leads for the mids and highs. I had to play with the polarity of my speakers, but eventually I got it all right.
I am far from an expert, and may possibly be giving bad advice. But I think the large transmission tunnel in the car really plays a bit in creating a sound wave that emminates from the speaker, then bounces back and cancels itself.
After I felt good about the phasing I didn't like the mid range clarity. So, I got a sound diffuser to "suck" up the rear sound waves behind the speaker.
I recall distinctly this was something that really made me go WOW! after installing this, I really felt like I was listening to music, not listening to a speaker. By diffusing the rearward sound waves, I'm able to let the speaker play with less reflections in the door.
Next up dampening.
In my car, I upgraded the speakers, headunit etc. I hated the bass response and utter lack of clarity in the sound. So, I had to do some research.
What I found first was that I had phasing issues. I confirmed this by playing test discs that would have vocal tracks with an in phase and out of phase portion. Curing this was a sit down with all of speaker leads for the mids and highs. I had to play with the polarity of my speakers, but eventually I got it all right.
I am far from an expert, and may possibly be giving bad advice. But I think the large transmission tunnel in the car really plays a bit in creating a sound wave that emminates from the speaker, then bounces back and cancels itself.
After I felt good about the phasing I didn't like the mid range clarity. So, I got a sound diffuser to "suck" up the rear sound waves behind the speaker.
I recall distinctly this was something that really made me go WOW! after installing this, I really felt like I was listening to music, not listening to a speaker. By diffusing the rearward sound waves, I'm able to let the speaker play with less reflections in the door.
Next up dampening.
So where did you get those sound diffusers?
