BayAreaAMG

This is my review and gathered information for the installation of the Audiotec Fischer Match upgrade speakers and 7 channel amplifier on my C450 with the base audio system, aka Audio 20. Hopefully this will be helpful to you if you are looking to do the upgrade as well. Since there are already many video tutorials out there for removing plastics, center console, door panels etc.. Unless it's asked for I will not provide photos on that particular stuff since it is redundant. This is all plug and play, and consists of the following parts. All but the y-splitter was sourced from eBay sellers allwoodsaudio and brax_helix_match_uk:

For all of my interior projects, this basic tool kit from Amazon proves to be valuable. Pretty much everything you need for most projects.

You'll want to pickup some electrical fishing wire too, I reused one from a TV in-wall cabling kit.

Door speaker and footwell subwoofer install video - Eton brand speakers.
Personally, I took the advice in the video and used Butyl tape to seal around each door speaker, and foam rubber with adhesive backing around tweeters, loose cabling and even to pad the amplifier. You can also find these on Amazon.

Another door panel removal video. Helpful for watching the cable removal from the door handle:

My notes:
PART 2 of first video - installation of the Eton amplifier. This is helpful as it shows how to remove the center console (10:30) by first removing the silver trim and the two screws under it. The center console trim on the sedans are one piece but it will simply pop up and out after removing the screws.

CENTER SPEAKER
The grill covering the speaker is removed by prying the grill up and out, use plastic trim removal tools and be careful not to make tool impressions in the soft dash.The Match center speaker has 2 connectors - one for the stock connector and one for a connector coming directly from the the amplifier. Routing the cable to the center speaker required removing the LCD screen and the foam padding behind it. Check out installation videos for upgrading to the android tablet screen on how to remove the LCD. I routed the wire from inside the center console, to the right near the AC vent, then to where the foam was behind the LCD and finally to the back to the speaker.







DRIVERS SIDE SUBWOOFER AND REMOTE CABLE ROUTING
In this pic the top connector on the amplifier is output to the 2 subwoofers, and center speaker. It is connected to the bundled up yellow wires, those yellow wires go out to the speakers. I routed the remote control knob cabling the same way towards the drivers footwell.





AMPLIFIER HARNESS CONNECTION TO RADIO
The manual for the UP 7DSP amplifier specifically states not to use the power cables that are integrated into the harness, do not use them! Instead tape them up and tuck them away behind radio.




You will need to remove the brown speaker connector from the radio harness. It is not as crazy as it sounds, it's held into the "quad lock" connector with two clips.







AMPLIFIER POWER WIRE AND GROUND WIRE
You have the option to either route from the battery in the engine bay, or tap into the power distribution for fuse panels. I went to the battery since that is what I am used to doing on amplifier installs.
I am using 11 gauge wire that the ebay shop was kind enough to provide - the positive wire is 3.5 feet long, the negative wire is about half as long. Fuse is a 30 AMP. You'll probably use at most, around 25 amps of power draw so the 30 amp fuse to the 11 awg wire is a great match for safety. If I hadn't received this wire free, I would've gone with a 10 awg wire kit instead.



I used Butyl tape to create a seal around it.


The other end of where the power wire went through is here, I poked a hole through one of those 2 indented circles on the rubber using a screwdriver. It was hard to capture a good pic of it this since it was a tight space.


Negative wire can be mounted anywhere to the body where no paint is, I put mine here.


You can use this to tap for power as well, you can get a spare 10mm nut to use an empty space or supposedly you can also just tap into a used one too. I would recommend just going with an unused spot.







For reference: *I'll get a more clear pic of this later and update






PLACEMENT OF THE AMPLIFIER
You can see in previous pics where I chose to mount it. If you have an AMG there is a computer right there which makes for very little room to squeeze the amplifier in there. What I did was place a large nut that's able to slide over on the top right stud that the plastic cover installs on, this spaces it out when reinstalling it and gave enough room to let the amp sit in there. I also used some of the foam rubber to pad the amplifier since it was wedged in there on the computer behind it. If you DO NOT have an AMG, you'll have plenty of space for the amp already.











FINAL INSTALLATION


COVER PLACED BACK



USB cable can be fed through the fuse panel cover, makes it accessible to make changes to the DSP amplifier without tearing it apart again.


From Audiotec Fischer: "English translated review about our Mercedes sound system which is published in the current Car&Hifi magazine"

BayAreaAMG

Reserved space for later on my review of the DSP software

* I am still making changes to this thread, got tired after this first post so more to come soon.

botaggs1

Thank you so much for taking the time to do this. Looking forward to the rest as well as your final thoughts on how the audio sounds. I will most likely just be replacing the door speakers (components in front, coaxials in back). I have a spare JL 10inch sub and mono amp that I'm planning on putting in the trunk. I just don't think I can spare the extra 500-800 for the DSP. Do you still think I should get a good improvement based on this setup?

BayAreaAMG

You're welcome. Yes the door speakers alone made a big difference in the quality of the sound. But keep in mind they will still distort at a higher volume especially when bass is set to above +8. They'll be playing some frequencies the stock speakers do not. So you'll be limited from the higher volume without either a crossover or amp to tune it.

In the video I posted for door speaker installation you'll see the guy Oliver is using crossovers for the 4" speaker for this reason. Once he goes to install an amplifier in the next video he removes that crossover leaving just the one for the tweeter. You can actually find that same Eton plug and play crossover on eBay, it may be worth the money for you i think they are around 50-60 USD for one pair.

botaggs1

I appreciate the suggestion. Assume I'd need these for both the front MATCH Components (in addition to the tweeter crossover) as well as the Coaxials in the back.

BayAreaAMG

Yes the Match component speakers include a crossover for the tweeters of the front door speakers. So you'd only need to buy two pairs for a total of 4, connecting one to each 4" speaker. Here's a pic of the ad I found on ebay

botaggs1

Hey - Hope the install went well. Would love to hear how the rest of it went. Quick question, was wondering if you thought these Bass Blockers from Crutchfield would serve a similar purpose as those Eton Crossovers? Only reason I ask is they are significantly less expensive. Interested to hear your opinion when you get a chance.

Thanks

botaggs1

Forgot to post what product I was referring to: https://www.crutchfield.com/S-SqkYyu...xoC_CYQAvD_BwE

BayAreaAMG

Yes those would serve the same exact purpose - the one with a 150 Hz cut off frequency. Those are the same kind you may see packaged with a lot of off the shelf aftermarket speakers.

However since the Match speakers use the OEM connectors the bass blockers would need modifying at both ends to work. They are using spade connectors which are ok if you are using some non plug-n-play type of speakers but not the Match speakers. On the male/female side of the OEM connectors you can see the unique shape of it, and how tiny they are. If you happen to come across the OEM style connectors alone for sale somewhere you can use them to modify the bass blockers to work (I've only been able to find the y-splitter cables). If you attempt to use tiny female spade connectors to connect it to the Match speaker it may not fit or work well, and will likely rattle loose at some point.

The effort it will take to make the bass blockers work will cost more money, possibly making the total cost close to the purchase price of the Eton crossovers if you don't already have the connectors and a wire stripper tool. The difference in cost of the Eton crossovers may be worth it if only for the convenience.

I have a couple of extra y-splitter cables btw if you want them you can just pay me for shipping. I bought a 4 pack and only needed two. I am still planning to update the thread for my DSP software review but have not had the time lately to dive back into it all to make a review. I got busy with a lot of house work recently.


Edit: I think in my opinion, you may even skip using the crossovers if you're going with a trunk subwoofer and match speakers. I imagine you'll have some control over the bass volume of the trunk sub independent of the bass setting in the cars menu. You could set the bass to 7 maximum in the car menu, and still get good volume from the door speakers without distortion. If you get distortion, lower it to 5 or 6. While at the same time, being able to turn the trunk sub volume up to compensate if needed. The stock footwell sub volume will however go down with the door speaker but that shouldn't matter much if you got a trunk sub.

botaggs1

I can't begin to thank you enough for such a thoughtful reply. This has helped me more than you know! Agree with your edit as well, I'll go ahead with the install and see how they perform along with the subwoofer. If I'm finding issues then I'll just bite the bullet and get the crossovers.

Also, really appreciate the offer but I actually purchased that same splitter pack you mentioned already.

Thanks again!

benzdude

The match 4 inch mid speakers already HAVE a crossover at the connector

BayAreaAMG

The speaker still allows lower frequencies to come through and play and distorts the sound at any decent higher volume. With the DSP software I personally set it to cut off at 100 Hz and if I didn't, it STILL PLAYS all of the lower bass frequencies - so the integrated crossover isn't optimal.

Even with no external amplifier it is still noticeable so I always kept the bass level down. The ideal situation would be to allow the weak OEM footwell subwoofer to play as loud as it can, while limiting the door speaker bass so that you can still play your music louder and let the sub do its job. If you have a DSP or added a separate crossover you could make it happen. If not, you just gotta compromise by turning the overall bass level down a bit. The other person is adding a trunk sub so it really wont make any difference if the bass level was dialed down a bit to allow the 4" door speakers to play louder.

Anyhow, this is my experience with the speakers.

botaggs1

Thanks a lot, you just saved me some money! However, I looked for this same crossover on the back of the coaxials that I plan to put in the rear doors and did not see it anywhere on the speaker. I assume in this case that the eton high pass filter would come in handy then since I do not have an amp?

botaggs1

I'm going to give it a try without them at first, but I'm leaning on just biting the bullet and getting them, mostly because I do not want to accidentally damage the speakers in the long run.

benzdude

Nice job BTW.

Weird, I have the complete Match UP setup in my W205 (including the surrounds) with a JL Audio Fix 82 + Audison AP8.9 Bit DSP, but I've never heard any specific low end distortion coming from the mids (even at high volume), I will need to solo them and recheck. (I also have a JL Audio dual 8" trunk sub.)

I have a DSP preset that sets all channels (front, rear, woofers) to Full Range with no issues.

But you are correct, the recommended setting for the Fronts and Rears is a High Pass @ 150HZ (I use Butterworth).

There is an annoying vibration and buzzing @ around 220HZ from the mids.

Info and test song can be found here:
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...ml#post7673491

On another preset the front woofers are set to Low Pass @ 250hz, but Full Range almost sounds better to me. I also fixed the empty box sound of the front woofers by lowering -10db @ 100hz and some other EQ tweaks.

Do you have your rear speakers with the phase inverted? (opposite to the fronts), That also sounds better to me.

Right now I am playing with the Nav-TV Zen-M (MOST150 interface), trying to decide if I want to fully deleted the Burmester AMP and use a Helix V Twelve DSP for all speakers.

Anyway thanks for the info.

botaggs1

For the audison amp, did you wire that in the traditional way by splicing into the wires? Or do they make a plug and play harnass similar to the Audiotech amps? I looked on their website but couldn't find anything.

benzdude

I used a CT10MC03 adapter harness from Ebay and tapped into that. (Plug and play.) ​​​​That way i can revert back to the stock amp easily.

botaggs1

Thanks, that's helpful. However, is that harness only compatible with the Burmeister system as the amp is in the trunk? I have the Audio 20 system, and I believe I am limited to splicing into the harness behind the headunit in the center console. To your knowledge, does that sound correct?

benzdude

That harness is only for the Burmester amp.(if you have one in the trunk)

There are lots of T adapter harnesses available for behind the head unit, so you don't have to cut the original wires.

Like CT10MC02

BayAreaAMG

Yes you are correct, but I really believe you will find the speakers without a crossover to be ok unless you really want to maximize the stock footwell subwoofer.


Yea the low end frequencies are very much present if I do not use a high pass filter, it sounds ok but only at low volume then it distorts very quickly especially on bass heavy music. I will share some pics of my setup later tonight, I cutoff the frequency at 100 Hz but slope it around -18 dB or -12 dB, so a very low volume of low frequencies still come through starting around 40 Hz this allows the speaker to sound more smooth in transitioning to the higher frequencies. No potential harsh jumps in sound.

I have experimented with many different setups and I like the full range sound, but it is unnecessary when there are subwoofers present. A small 4" speaker does best around 80-100 Hz cut off frequency or higher with a mild slope. If we had 6x9 or 6.5" speakers we could set the cutoff to much lower frequencies and the bass in our audio systems would sound really nice and more balanced. I leave the car menu settings at 0 - 0 - 5 for the treble/mid/bass. Sometimes I adjust the bass but always keep it no more than a 6.

For my footwell subwoofers I was getting a harsh sound like you described, like a cardboard box or something similar. I also had lowered the EQ but at 125 Hz by around -5 dB I think. In your pic it looks like you are beginning to cut off frequencies between the range of 80-400 Hz or so? Probably having a trunk sub to fill it in sounds ok?

I have all my speakers with a normal phase - no inverted polarity.

And BTW I do also get the annoying buzz sound that you are talking about, but oddly enough it is only coming in on the front left speaker. I thought about correcting just that one speaker with reducing between 180-250 Hz to get rid of most if not all of it. But then the sound will be out of balance so I left it alone - plus I can only hear the buzz briefly with a few certain songs that I have noticed. I actually have forgotten about it until you mentioned it.

BayAreaAMG

Here's my setup, and FX options available on the Match DSP software. The FX really make a big difference in helping get the optimal setup for me.

Front speakers


Rear speakers


Center speaker


Subwoofers


Sound FX menu options that are enabled

Sub FX


Center FX


Front FX

benzdude

Amazing, Just ordered the V Twelve DSP. Waiting.

BayAreaAMG

Nice, I am looking forward to how that goes for you. Please keep us updated once you get around to installing it.

BayAreaAMG

BTW just FYI for anyone reading the thread, I forgot to mention that after a long time messing around with the EQ my final tune setup was 90% based on a file created for BMW sedans using the UP 7BMW amplifier. My original tune was in a lot of ways similar to this one except that this one was more refined. I was often still using the radio settings to adjust treble and mids, but with this tune I can keep those at 0 and the overall sound quality is even better than what I originally created. If anyone has the same amp and wants to check out the tune please PM me for the tune file I am using. I tried uploading it to this reply but it's apparently an unsupported file type.

irondad

Excellent write up and pictures that provide useful information. I'm very happy with my Burmester but I'm sure this will be very useful for anyone thinking about an upgrade.