headcircus

I did a lot of research looking to install a subwoofer and amp in my 2001 c320. I am not picky about what brands I get.. I just care about a tight loud bass which the bose doesn't have.

But the guys at circuit city/best buy are just telling me how complicated it is to install it.. everyone has a different comment to make on this car. "Oh, it will shut down the bose system completely and you'll need a new in-dash stereo.. " or "thats going to be some weird custom work.. and the installation will be expensive"

All I care about is getting a decent sub/amp for more fun. Am I getting the straight story? or is it really complicated? Does anyone have success with this? I searched the forum but didn't see much.

Anyway, I've seen what I can get for $1,000 and its quite impressive. Should I pay the high install price? ($250)

Thanks..

BlackC230Coupe

i have a system in my coupe and i had it installed for $200.00 but i dont have the bose but it works great with my standard system. i know someone with the bose on a c coupe with a system and it did not do any harm at all it also works great. places like best buy and circuit city might say thing and they are really not true its because they do not have that much experience with these cars. alot of people at those kinds of places said no one would be able to hear it outside the car but obviously they were wrong people hear me comming blocks away. and they said alot of other things that were not true. good luck and dont worry it will work fine as long as the person who installs it knows what they are doing. and by the way it is kind of hard to do your self i would not do it my self. it takes a cupple hours to and u need to hide the wires and hook them up to the battery but it is definitly possible to do your self. well good luck again.

spindrome

from a previous post of mine:

I'm contemplating doing this install in my C240: Remove the 8" factory sub from the rear deck, and replace it with an IB(infinite baffle) type of Subwoofer. JL Audio, Kicker, Pioneer, and other
manufacturer's sell IB subs specifically made for these types of installions.

These subs have T/S parameters designed for "open-air" installs and have high
Q ratings. Essentially, you are using the entire trunk of the car as sealed enclosure, rather than installing the subs in a sealed, ported, horn-loaded, or bandpass box in the trunk.

Using an IB subwoofer would require a 3/4" MDF board to mount the sub onto the rear deck to be more stable. The output of the woofer will produce
soundwaves directly into the cabin of the car since you will be removing the stock subwoofer. I haven't checked the rear pkg tray yet, but ideally it would be sweet to mount the sub in an inverted manner (like the stock) to save a little trunk height space, but more than likely, there's no room to do it this way since aftermarket subs usually have much larger magnets, deeper baskets, and voice coil diameters then those cheap stock subs.

I'm not a big fan of big subwoofer enclosures anymore since they take up so much trunk space and I need the trunk space for 3 bags of clubs (4 can't fit).

When installing a sub enclosure in the trunk of a sedan, the trunk itself acts as somewhat of bandpass design. In other words, the entire enclosure for the sub is a "box-in-box" The trunk will actually muffle the basswaves from the enclosure, sometimes in a good or bad way, depending on your musical tastes.
It also depends upon the resonant frequency of the trunk and the cabin of the car. Purely, it's trial and error.

BrabusCClass

Listen to sprindrome. He knows what he is talking about. If you dont want a freeair type you can do what I did. I redid my system last weekend where I basically took out the center ski bag in the armrest. I put a bandpass box with the port facing the hole, where the ski bag used to be. It sounds pretty decent. Looks neat. Ill post pics later.

I got the the rca inputs from a converter which i tapped from the 9" sub on the deck. Used a remote from the fuse box on the left. Got a power line from the battery. Connected to my amp and im done. Well, mine is a bit more complex then that cuz I run other stuff but that can get you the bass you want for less than $1000 I think. E-mail me for more details if you like.

headcircus

Thanks for the feedback! It does help. What I am clear about now is that I truly no Nothing about the specific details of sound systems and installation of them.. I would like to have a box in the trunk, and dont mind that its enormous! I dont haul anything except an extra full michelin spare which was a tired they failed me on for an inspection.. thats another store. complete bs.

so..

I guess the big question is.. where do i go if not a best buy type place? mom n pop shop?

thank you for the posts! much appreciated!

BlackC230Coupe

do u have a sound advice near you? i had mine done there and it is much better than best but they work on better cars when i had mine done there they were working on a rolls royce, hummer, s500,clk55 convetible and a s500 and i am not joking once i saw that i knew they would be ok with my car.

headcircus

I live in Boston.. I will check to see if there is a sound advice nearby, but I've never heard of it.

Thanks!

headcircus

You are the MAN!! I am showing a picture of the subwoof I had installed.. it ended up being a 500 watt Rockford Fostage Punch, with the same brand speaker (HM model)

Its so ridiculously loud and intense (even with one speaker) that its unbearable at max.. its too much. (which is good) Im afraid of blowing the speaker, but thats what warrantees are for i suppose.

He helped me very thoroughly so this is a big thanks! And thanks to everyone else who added comments to this thread!

Headcircus

BlackC230Coupe

glad your happy with the system. I have 1 12" sub in a sealed box its a 1000 watt. and it sounds great i know what u mean how u cant put it at max because u can really come out def. which i agree is good.

good luck

oh by the way i used to have 2 10's in a bandpass box and i am much happier with the 1 12" it much louder and deeper it really hits. do u have a hole in the rear arm rest so it aims to the front or did u not do it that way?

BrabusCClass

OOOO.... NICE PICS!! Hehe. Im glad everything worked out. Im going to redo my subs and hopefully soon it will be done. Its going to take a few months. Anyways, your pics look cool.

bulldoze

Can anyone send or put up pictures of installation ?


I want to change original sub to new one too and i want to know how to do it ? I have amp and sub and i'll make box. But how to make wire connections ?

Thank you.

rlee02135

line level converter or JL cleansweep