I recently had my driver and passenger door speakers replaced because the old speakers were blown out. The new speakers are really loud and kind of drown out the bass. I have played around with the bass/trebol - front/rear controls and they are still way too loud. Even with the speakers set almost all the way in the rear they are still really loud. I have the bose sound system, could the dealer have put non-bose in there or are the 2003 replacement speakers different from the 2002? Any one ever had this problem? Any Suggestions?

 

I'd suspect that they put in the wrong speakers. Whether wrong year or non-Bose or whatever, the balance should not be so far off.

OTOH, are you sure the other speakers are OK?

 

I would suspect that they replaced your speakers with the standard, non-bose, speakers. Or possibly a cheap aftermarket OEM-style pair that are very similar to the factory standard speakers.

The reason I say this is because when you compare two pairs of speakers, the higher-end pair (i.e. BOSE) generally sound better, but are less efficient (not as loud with a given amount of power) while the cheaper, lower-end pair (standard MB speakers)dont have the sound quality, but will be blaring loud in comparison. They are louder with the same amount of power because of their simple, light-weight design.

This is not to say that the BOSE system is not as loud, because it probably has more amplifier power to more than make up for the less efficient speakers. But at a given power level (volume) your new speakers would be much louder, and probably lacking good bass, compared to the old ones.

Perhaps the BOSE speakers were not in stock at the time, but the standard speakers were?

Cris

 

I just went to compare my speakers to my moms speakers (2001 C240 non-bose) and had the fader all the way to the front speakers only. The bass/trebol were exactly the same, and my moms car had much more bass. Mine sounded like some high pitched cheap something. If I took my car to the dealer to have them check this out, do you guys think they would? Any suggestions?

 

Cris, if the dealer replace the Bose speakers in bzzbenz's car with non-Bose there is an impedance mismatch. Could that be the cause of the poor sound quality?

 

Found my invoice. What do you guys think?

 

I don't have a parts catalog, so I can't say what you got from the part numbers.

 

Hmmm I dont have a resource to look up those part numbers, but I bet someone on here could!

As far as the impedance, they more than likely wouldnt match. BOSE usually have a lower impedance than the typical 4 ohms, although I have seem some higher ones. Unlikely the impedance difference would affect the sound quality, because the only way that would happen is if the speakers are so low impedance that they overdrive the amplifier causing distortion. But usually BOSE speakers are the lower impedance ones. So if the speakers are the standard type, they would actually run the amp easier if anything, which isnt a big deal. But they would sound bad, just being the standard speakers =) Which is what I have in my C320 hehe... switching it all out soon - cant stand 'em!

Cris

 

I just called my dealers parts department and asked for the part number for the front passenger bose speaker and they were a match to what was installed in my car ( according to the invoice). Now he said this was according to my VIN number. Could they have updated the vehicle information and that's why the numbers match? He also said all the speakers say loudspeaker, it's just a German translation. What do you guys think?

 

...not to mention a fraudulent bait and switch. I would examine the speakers, take a picture or two and send to BOSE customer service and ask if they look BOSE to them. If they are not, then take the car back to the dealer and give them 4 hours to find the pimple-headed service tech that's driving around with your speakers. They could have ordered and received BOSE speakers, creating the correct matching numbers in your VIN file, but installed something else, making the BOSE units available for said service tech.

Rule #1. NEVER trust a car dealer, MB or otherwise.

 

Is Bose a German company? I have removed many Bose speakers from American and Japanese vehicles, and I have never noticed any German text. If Bose IS a German manufacturer, I could see them stamping "Autolautsprecher" on the backs of the speakers going into German-manufactured vehicles. But if they arent German, I would think the writing would also be in English, as it is in the Domestic and Japanese vehicles I have worked on. I am not 100% on this, but I thought it may mean something.

I guess the bottom line is, if they had relaced your bad speakers with identical models, the audio system would sound EXACTLY the way it used to! So something, whatever it may be, is awry!

Cris

 

Have them pull out the speaker and see if it says made in Hungry on the back, that is what my stock speakers I replaced, say on the back.