Voodoo83

Can somebody please help me with a question? I have a 2005 C230, with a HK unit, and I just bought a pioneer appradio2 to replace it. Is this possible to do, since I have the HK unit. Any input would be appreciated, Thanks

Janiak

you will need a wire harness that fits your model of car. You can get this online or at a local audio store. Best bet is to go to the audio store ask them for a part number(s) then order it online. Also you will probably need a mounting bracket to surround the new HU. Other than those two things instal should be simple. Check out the threads regarding the disassembly, all your questions will be answered within there just have to do some research.

Voodoo83

Thanks for the reply, I do have the harness, wired it up, and put it all together, and the new unit didn't even power up. Im just curious if its because of the fiber optic connections.

Janiak

Check out my build thread. I have a full detailed install on changing out a stock HU to a pioneer HU. there are some wires that you will have to change probably. I have a c230 coupe but they are similar to the sedans and most of the wire colors are the same(should be)

Voodoo83

Thank you very much

phister

You'll have the switch two wires around. On the harness you need to put the constant 12v to the ign wire and the Ign to the constant. The harness used for our cars is made for a vw so the wires are switched. Most run the ign to the cig lighter power wire.

jkowtko

Phister, I have a 2005 and I did not switch the constant 12v ... is that trick only for the pre-facelift with the two separate smaller harnesses?

Fyi, I did have to tap into the cig lighter for 12v switched though.

And to the 12v illumination wire for illumination.

phister

on my pioneer hu I had to do that method just like the sticky recommended. I have the post. dunno if you have a pioneer or not or which harness you used but I used the scosche unit that is designed for the vw radio harness.

jkowtko

I have the z130bt ... used the Scosche/VW wiring harness adapter, the big square one. I also connected the ASWC to the constant 12v in addition to the radio, and with the VOM confirmed that it was constant before I used it.

We must have different components because I saw the thread on the wire swap and many people have used it successfully. But I also think I saw mention that you don't do the swap on the newer radios.

Moviela

You can't hear anything because the HK premium audio amplifier is in the trunk, and there is no signal from the Pioneer that can connect to it no matter what harness adapter you make or buy. The amp has the Logic 7 decoder and the communication between the head unit is via MOST fiber optic protocol. The audio is digital leaving the head unit and travels to the trunk on fiber optic cables. These are glass threads illuminated by LED's. In the rear the amp receives the light beam, processes the signal into 7 channels, converts it to an analog signal, amplifies it, and sends it to the speaker system on copper wires.

The HK has a DSP that also has equalization that mitigates the speker placement and the interior furnishings to yield a flat sound field.

You give up the power amp, equalization, and Logic 7 processing to change the head unit. If your new head unit has an amplifier built in, it is not as powerful as the HK box, and in most cases does not have multichannel decoding, nor more than four channels. Most have no way to equalize the output signal to produce a flat sound field.

The mobile enviornment is not a place audiophiles expect crisp, accurate reproduction of any type of music, most modifications to the premium audio system are a step in the wrong direction. The exception being loudspeakers. This is where your ears trumph specifications. If you like it and can mount it, do it!

Sneakysnake

Is there a trick to getting sound using an optical decoder, cause mine has no sound? Wake up wire maybe?

jkowtko

Please describe your current setup and what you are trying to install.

Thanks. John

Sneakysnake

. I am installing one from seicane.com in my 2007 clk350 w/hk. I got the optic decoder so I could plug n play. Everything works and got lots of red light coming from the decoder but NO sound. I read somewhere the wake up wire wont kick the system on until it drops below 3vdc, which doesn't make since to me. I thought it would work like a regular amp. My oem head unit only has 7 wires...Big brown, brown pink, yellow black, small brown, blue black, Big red blue, black. Then the orange optics and a purple antenna, a yellow antenna. It also has a 6 disk in the dash.