dwightlooi

OK... the Stereo REALLY SUCKS. The Bass is weak left in neutral, if you turn it up it gets boomy rather than punchy. The Mid-range is... uh... subdued and muddled. The treble sounds like the typical Titanium Dome tweeter -- occasionally hissy, and always clinical and cold.

Jeez... even the in-law's 2004 Camry has a better audio system with is base 6-speaker single CD arrangement.

Any opinions on how to revamp this?

632627

I just put in a new head unit and 4 channel amp, and it sounds alot better... basically the system is much louder, and is pretty clean at higher volumes. i left the speakers and woofer as is.... i dont have the most discriminating ear, but its definately better than the p.o.s. stock system.

btw i got a pioneer f700bt unit, which i dont really reccomend, not a horrible system, but in retrospect i should have got the kenwood unit

dwightlooi

I'll like to keep the stock "COMMAND" head unit though. It doesn't really make sense to lose Nav and all the other stuff. Besides, aftermarket units make the dash look... well... aftermarket.

Does the amp help? Or do you think it's the speakers that are the culprit?

632627

I would say the amp was definately the culprit.....

The first audio shop I went to when looking to upgrade told me that I should upgrade the speakers, and leave everything else as is. Next place I went said the opposite; the speakers aren't great, but they are decent, the amp is the problem and just not powerful enough. So I went to a 3rd place and the guy confirmed that the amp is the real bottleneck. I went with a 4 channel amp along with the new head-unit(head unit powers the door speakers, amp everything else) and its definately night and day from stock.

Keep in mind, I wasnt looking for a system to blow anybodys socks off.... I just wanted to get more volume and the new setup is more than adequate. Depending on your budget and what you want, then you can add an extra amp, upgrade speakers, new sub, etc.

632627

actually scosche(sp?) does offer a double din dash kit for the C class and it looks fine. I had no problem tearing out my Comand system because the navi is useless. The Pioneer unit is rather buggy, but it has integrated bluetooth and ipod and a better nav interface, so its still an improvement.

mb_c55amg_guy

Remember though, if you replace your head unit...you will need to replace your speakers. They are fiber optic, as is your door locks and such. I wanted to upgrade the alarm and i cant because no one makes an alarm with the fiber optic capability, let alone finding a shop to do it. I also wanted to add a better head unit, but christmas came, so all i did was get a rockford fosgate 1000 watt amp, 2 alpine type r subs, and ran that via line converter to the factory head unit. it sounds great if you like alot of bass...then i added new door speakers via the rockford fosgate line processor..(talk to the install guys at best buy) and it works great...i didnt need to replace the factory head unit, but i will eventually...then you need to run all new wiring.

dwightlooi

Well, I really feel that keeping a 100% stock look is very important. Is it possible to swap the amp in-situ and have it drive the existing speakers?

mb_c55amg_guy

YES. Go down to the local BestBuy..talk to them, they can help. I found that stereo shops see you pull up in a star and the price automatically goes up. That is why i went with BestBuy...
(plus they have a warranty that is stood behind...32+billion $ yearly)

632627

i didnt have my speakers replaced, they are still stock.... i believe however all the wiring was replaced

SilverBulletAMG

Has anyone tried to run an equlizer with the stock head unit? If possible, I think that would be a great solution to help bring out the mids and fine tune the sound. Only being able to adjust the bass and treble alone is a big part of the problem IMO.

c32used

The wires from the factory HU are fiber optic but after the factory amp its speaker wires. Now to the OP look at the thread in my sig about the Kenwood HU I installed in my C32...it may help. Sound is 150% better.

c32used

I don't think it will work since everything except the speakers communicate thru fiber optic connectionns...unless there is one made to specifically work on our fiber optic system.

dwightlooi

The "fiber optic" link from the factory head unit to the amplifier is not Toslink/SPDIF is it? If it is, then that's no problem. In fact, you can even throw in an external AD converter if you are really an audiophile. Or, I can build one myself using my favorite Burr-Brown PCM/DSD 1794 Advanced Segment DAC part or if you don't care about all the surround channels even a PCM 1704 dual mono Sign Magnitude DAC implementation.

c32used

[QUOTE=dwightlooi;3235930]I can build one myself using my favorite Burr-Brown PCM/DSD 1794 Advanced Segment DAC part or if you don't care about all the surround channels even a PCM 1704 dual mono Sign Magnitude DAC implementation.[/QUOTE]

You lost me at hello...but elaborate please it can come in handy on my next AMG car...

dwightlooi

[quote=c32used;3235944]Burr-Brown (now a division of Texas Instruments) builds analog and analog-digital components. They are particularly famous for Digital-Analog converter chips. You find a DAC chip in every CD-player along with a digital filter (aka PMD 200), these are the basic building blocks of taking that pulse code modulation signal and converting it to an analog wave for amplification.

There are several different types of DA converters. The common ones being a Sigma-Delta DAC (aka 1-bit or bitstream DAC), Sign Magnitude DACs (most multibit DACs like the 20-bit ones) and Segment DACs which uses different techniques for different frequency ranges. Sigma-Deltas transform the input into a sort of morse code with varying bit durations then use and averaging filter to convert these dashes into an analog wave form. Sign magnitude DACs precisely meter out positive or negative voltage based on the input data. Advanced segment DACs multiple techniques for multiple frequency "segments". Without going into the hard core math and engineering mumbo-jumbo about various things which affect sound quality, lets just say that Sigma-Delta DACs are sensitive to clock instabilities whereas Sign magnitude DACs are sensitive to power supply instabilities. Sigma-Delta DACs are also more likely to suck at high frequencies where clock jitters are closer to the frequency of the output, whereas Sign-Magnitude DACs are more likely to suck at low frequencies where input power fluctuations are closer in frequency to the output analog wave form. High end Sigma-Delta DACs tend to use super accurate, multi synced clock designs, whereas premium Sign Magnitudes (like the NAIM ones) tend to use super stable (and very expensive) power supplies. Advanced segment DACs use sigma-delta at low frequencies and sign magnitude at high frequencies so as to perform well even when the clock and the input power are both kinda dirty.

The PCM1794 is an Advanced Segment DAC. The PCM 1704 is a sign magnitude DAC. Both are popular with various high end hifi CD players or stand alone DAC boxes. These can cost thousands of dollars. But, if you are a double E guy with some analog and digital circuit experience, you can also build your own DAC box using these chips using a reference board or kit.

dwightlooi

[quote=c32used;3235944]Burr-Brown (now a division of Texas Instruments) builds analog and analog-digital components. They are particularly famous for Digital-Analog converter chips. You find a DAC chip in every CD-player along with a digital filter (aka PMD 200), these are the basic building blocks of taking that pulse code modulation signal and converting it to an analog wave for amplification.

There are several different types of DA converters. The common ones being a Sigma-Delta DAC (aka 1-bit or bitstream DAC), Sign Magnitude DACs (most multibit DACs like the 20-bit ones) and Segment DACs which uses different techniques for different frequency ranges. Sigma-Deltas transform the input into a sort of morse code with varying bit durations then use and averaging filter to convert these dashes into an analog wave form. Sign magnitude DACs precisely meter out positive or negative voltage based on the input data. Advanced segment DACs multiple techniques for multiple frequency "segments". Without going into the hard core math and engineering mumbo-jumbo about various things which affect sound quality, lets just say that Sigma-Delta DACs are sensitive to clock instabilities whereas Sign magnitude DACs are sensitive to power supply instabilities. Sigma-Delta DACs are also more likely to suck at high frequencies where clock jitters are closer to the frequency of the output, whereas Sign-Magnitude DACs are more likely to suck at low frequencies where input power fluctuations are closer in frequency to the output analog wave form. High end Sigma-Delta DACs tend to use super accurate, multi synced clock designs, whereas premium Sign Magnitudes (like the NAIM ones) tend to use super stable (and very expensive) power supplies. Advanced segment DACs use sigma-delta at low frequencies and sign magnitude at high frequencies so as to perform well even when the clock and the input power are both kinda dirty.

The PCM1794 is an Advanced Segment DAC. The PCM 1704 is a sign magnitude DAC. Both are popular with various high end hifi CD players or stand alone DAC boxes. These can cost thousands of dollars. But, if you are a double E guy with some analog and digital circuit experience, you can also build your own DAC box using these chips using a reference board or kit.