W204 Aftermarket Rear Speaker Retrofit - HowTo
 

This is a how to note on retrofitting a stock Audio 20 speaker system if you were not fortunate enought to get the logic 7 MM system. The stock head unit and amplifier are quite good, but as many have stated it is the speakers that are the weak link.
This does take some time and effort but the resulting system I am very happy with. For less than $400 you can get a dramatic improvement in your audio system.
In 2 parts..

I'm doing the front speakers tomorrow. Hopefully the rear in the next few weeks. Thanks for the guides!

Those are not the HK speakers corect?

Excellent write up. May even try it this way myself now. Well done.

No these are not the HK speakers. These are aftermarket, although high end aftermarket speakers by Infinity. I believe Infinity and Harmon Kardon are now affiliated with each other. The HK speakers I am sure of equal quality but they are about 2x the price for the front. The challenge is the rear door speakers cannot be easily replaced with the the HK units. The rear door inner panel has to be dissassembled in addition to all the internal window glass supports. Rather than take on a major disassembly and reassemble effort I attempted to retain the original speaker housing and use high quality speakers.

Infinity Kappa speakers
 

Hey Akadan, what model Kappas did you get. I notice online that there are several different models. :confused: Did you also change out the front mirror tweeters.:nix:

Infiniti Reference are also very good, installed them in my previous car and sound quality was awesome, very clear with good bass response.

The speakers are Kappa 62.9i. The picture of the box is in the how to.
The speaker diameter is the key here. The assembly rings are a near perfect snap fit into the stock MB speaker housings.
I did change out the front mirror tweeters with the h/k units. Since the Kappas have tweeters I may have waited to see if they are needed. Some other Infinities has separate tweeters that may be a fit for the stock mirror tweeter housing as well. I would have gone this way if I had to do it over again.

Retrofit speakers
 

I did notice that there was a 62.9is which was a shallow mount for limited spaces. Do you think that this would be a better choice for the space we have back there or were you comfortable with the depth of the 62.9i.

What size are the stock speakers? I have never seen the engineering mode option, is that for all c class w/out MM. should we messed with it with stock speakers, or are they best set from the factory with stock speakers. The

In doing this install did you install any foam or silicone to aid in forming a proper seal between the speaker and the door? I think that this may have more to do with your improved bass response than the angle of the speakers.

Also, you mentioned that this was an upgrade to the audio 20 system. Is access to the engineering mode the same on the Comand systems the same as that on the audio 20?

The original door mount remain in place with not additional foam or sealers. The speaker mounting ring I did use foam double back tape to improve the seal behind the speaker rim and the original MB speaker mounts that were modified. This certainly helps with the bass response as well as elminates any rattling during heavy bass amplitudes.
The engineering mode I believe is the same.
The changes to the lower frequencies result in driving the bass much harder and the kappas handle this increased power very very smoothly. The original speakers were not designed to handle such power and rattle and muddy at this these levels.
You can tailor these frequencies to your taste and music preferences. Just write down the original settings so you can go back to factory if you find yourself with setting you do not prefer.

I thought I'd take a look at the engineering mode equalizer to see if I could improve the sound with some tweaking there but couldn't find a "$" on the push buttons. When you say "command unit", you are talking about the controller on the dash where you can program your stations, etc.? or is it somewhere else?

Akadan, thanks so much for this detailed write-up. I am about to bite the bullet and do it. But I am a bit confused by the end of the 2nd pdf. You say you reinstalled the front speakers using the method shown in the tutorial. Does this mean that you originally did it following Vic-Viper's method, and then went back and did it via your method?

He means he reinstalled the front using the OE speaker housing / frame with the speaker removed like with the rear.

The first time he removed the entire OE unit and mounted the Kappa directly to the door.

Be sure to get into the eng menu afterward and at a min increase the volume to max.....

FYI on the rear door trim panel removal. Unlike the front door, you do not need to remove the upper black window frame surround trim piece to reveal a push clip. There is nothing to reveal. Read the front speaker DIY write-up and you'll understand what I mean. You simply remove the two torx bolts under the arm rest, stick in a wedge between the panel and door shell and pop the panel out.

As the Infinitys are 95 dB/1 watt and also 2 ohms, they will get twice the wattage and produce double the SPL as the stock MB speakers, which you will discover, cost under a dollar OEM (for all 8 of them!). Some say this upgrade sounds better than the HK system, but without the bass of course. Run the crossover switch at 0 dB for the tweeters (not - 6 dB), it can be trimmed from the Audio 20/media knob treble control if too bright.

Sound Infinity VS Harman Kardon
 

Nice DIY!!

I interested to know how is the sound with these loudspeakers?

I have bought the H/K, but the job is waiting. Looks much easier to install the Infinity`s.

What do you think?

Frankly, the stock speakers are installed in such a strange way, it will be an interesting project, especially in the front. How do they sound? HK manufactures the Infinity speakers, but the design philosophy is completely different, the Infinity being a highly efficient distortion-free audiophile quality sound reproducer. My C300 wasnt driven since new for 7 months until I got the Infinity 60.9s installed in the front and the 6032si in the back. Now I like to just sit and listen in the W204, over the $30k system in the living room.

Intalling the front speakers was easy, took me about 45 min. each side.
I am very happy with the sound from the H/K front speakers.
But the rear speakers is a hell of a job. That why I thinking of using Infinity instead.

Hi

Just to make sure.

- You did install the speakers in a w204 with the Audio-20 factory installed stereo?

- Did you use the same Kappa speakers in the front?

- Did you really need the cutting tool for changing the front speakers or did you just follow Vics tutorial from top to bottom?

Thank you

Regards

Patrik

the front speakers have to be cut out, I did the infinity the first time i upgraded. If you want some real sound your not gonna get much out of them, I ended up changing all the speakers in the car and adding 2 amps. JL audio C2-650 and C5-650 are a direct swap if you cut out like the how to up front, and the 62.9 infinitys fit perfect out back. you basically need to cut out the front speakers cause you need the factory plastic mounting ring to mount your new speakers into. You could drill out the rivets, remove speaker from back, and remount the speaker housing, but its not worth the work really. works fine the way the how to is done

But installing four Kappa speakers must be at least better than the original speakers right?

I've been offered to buy two pairs of the kappa speakers for 120 usd which seems like a fair price...

Is the original amp good enugh to support four Kappas?

So how's your set up today? Which speakers front and back?

Regards Patrik

its better than stock but not by too much. Ive had systems in all my cars, and when I got the 08 C350 it had HK system, its was sooo nice, just add an amp and sub box and it was sweet. The 2011 I got was loaded w every option except HK. I figured Id throw a system in it so what. well I tried the 62.9 in the front and back w my 1000w boston amp and 2 10s from last car. It sucked to me. The DSP in the HK system fixed all noise and crap on recordings, I heard everything without. I bit the bullet while my ECU was out for a week being programmed, and pulled the interior. I did this
JL audio cleansweep in center of trunk
JL audio 600.4 to the left, runs all the highs
Boston 1000w sub mono to the right, runs subs
Boston G2 10s in Gtuned box for bass
JL C5-650 component in front doors, fit perfect no modding of tweeter
Infinity 62.9 in back doors (left those from first install) just like how to

The cleansweep made all the difference. The DSP in it fixes all the noise and evens the sound nice and clear. Very happy w the results, way better than the 08 I had w HK. If your OK w an upgrade from stock the infinity is def better. I had to do this twice cause I took a chance w all the info on here people saying the infinity is almost as good as HK is. I ended up doing it right and did a system. Music is very important to me tho

My experience since the installation has been very good and the improvement over the stock speaker was dramatic. The 62.9 model of the Kappas is important since the low ohm rating makes for an efficient speaker that the stock amp can easily drive. My setup today is the H/K tweeters and 4 Kappa 62.9 speakers. It is important to make the amp and equalizer changes noted at the end of the how to to suit the type of music you listen to. It is also important to note that CDs and MP3 music sources seem to be superior to the radio which is still quite good.
Good luck and hope that you enjoy your upgrade if you decide to continue.