DTMCLK

Hi all,

Any one have upgrade or know the size for each speaker in w209 clks?

Is there any center speaker in front dash?

on each door i can see 3 speakers (what are the size in inchs for each speaker)?

is there a sub in the rear ? if yes what size in inchs?

whats the total number of speakers in w209?


I'm very impressed with the speaker demo from AVI, the shop owner told me they are the BEST speaker on the market, anyone have experience with AVI speakers? any other speaker manufacture is in the high end/competition/reference series quality ?


any advice would be greatly appreciated.



cheers

TheRok

After the past three months of dealing with my system (pain in the a*s) I am now considering myself a w209 system expert.

Is there any center speaker in front dash? – if you are going to add an after market system disconnect the center speaker in the front dash. Just lift the grill and you can unplug the speaker.

on each door i can see 3 speakers (what are the size in inchs for each speaker)? – The speakers in the front of the door are 6.5 component with a 1 inch tweeter in the pillar. The rear speakers in the door are 6.5 as well. I have no idea why on earth MB put speakers there. It is the worse location you can mount a speaker. It aims directly at the seat.

is there a sub in the rear ? - You get a sub that is mounted under the bose grill in the rear deck. This is on the driver side and can be accessed through the trunk or rear deck.

That’s brings the speaker count to 7.

I do not like to give speaker advice because everyone hears music different. What I can tell you my ears like Diamond Audio (HEX) and MB Quart (QSD). For me these are the best speakers my ears have heard.

I just noticed you are from Australia, so what I just told you may not apply.

Hope it helps anyways.

DTMCLK

Thanks TheRok..

I tried search on the speaker upgrade on the forum. but not many returns, your help is greatly appreciated, because i thought the front door speaker are 4 inchs and rear door are 6inchs, i guess im wrong its 6.5 inchs for both of them.

The guy who demo the speakers showed me the comparison between MB Quart and other top speaker with AVI, and AVI came on top. AVI is made in canada.

My standard system is NOT from BOSE, so do I still have front center speaker under center dash? and also have sub in the rear(i think i do have a sub in the rear)?what size is the sub? did u replace the sub as well?


Cheers

Yang1815

if it's non-bose it doesn't have the center speaker. it's just a vent.

TheRok: so the sub is only on the driver side? what's underneath the grill on the passenger side then?

DTMCLK

Thanks Yang1815 and TheRok

Is the standard system (non BOSE) came with extra AMPLIFIER?

I do Have Command navigation on the car. or the power is just coming from the command system? or extra amplifier somewhere?

Thanks

greeting from Australia

Cheers
Jorden

Yang1815

nope it doesn't have an amp.

kaiju

Dude,

There are 7 speakers in all standard CLKs, the sub is just like your bro's C200, behind the left rear seat's shelf and there are no amp, it's powering from the Comand which is why it sounds slightly different to the Audio 10.

Cheerrs,
Ho

Yang1815

the C-class standard audio doesn't have the center speaker, no amp, and no sub. The Bose however, has center speaker, amp, and the sub is mounted on the PASSENGER side trunk...

DTMCLK

Thanks Kaiju,

The reason why I ask the total number of speak and rear sub is because the owner of the SHOP trying to find out where exact the rear sub is, as he couldnt hear the sound coming from the sub loud enough, maybe its the way they design the system and soft subwoofer output.

TheRok: Did you add/upgrade the amplifier with the speaker? which amp did you use?

Yang1815: Did you upgrade your system? what did u upgrade or use?

Yang1815

my CLK320 has Bose.

I was going to upgrade the C230 with Bose, and the parts needed were of course optical wiring, brackets, AMP, sub, center speaker... (other speakers are replaced of course, but the extra parts were those)

TheRok

Just for the record I can only speak on American W209’s with bose (standard equipment).

The rear grill on the rear deck on the passenger side is naked. Nothing is housed there.

The W209 (American) does has an amplifier. The amplifier is a Bose.

The amp is located in the trunk under the decking (near spare tire on passenger side)

The command system is fiber optic. Fiber optic makes it difficult to tap into the system.

You need to take a line out from the Bose amp to feed external amplifiers.

I have never worked on a C-class so I don’t know or can compare between the CLK system and the C .

DTMCLK –

The first thing I would do is take out the rear grill in the rear deck to find what you are looking for. Also I would not take my car to an audio shop that has not worked on a CLK or at least worked on a current Mercedes. Its not a bad thing for them but you need to be careful what they are doing to your car. My motto is don’t be the first and don’t be the last.

To answer you questions my system is as follows.

Head Unit – MB Command head unit with fiber optic cable out to factory bose ampilfer,

I took a line out with heavy gauge from the Bose amp to an AUDIO CONTROL EQS.
(this allows for line in inputs and RCA’s out)

I took RCA from the EQS to the 2 JL AMPS. ( I Love JL AUDIO). Front and rear channels are going to a JL 450/4 (150x2) & (75x2). The second amp goes to a JL 500/1 500x1. This powers a JL 10W6V2.

For the sub I removed the factory sub (cr*p) and installed a box on the rear deck with the sub going out the rear bose grill into the cabin. This allows the bass to blow directly into the cabin and not get stuck in the trunk.

I like a full sound so I added additional speakers as well. In the front I did Diamond Audio HEX S600s. 6.5 mid-range and 1 inch tweeter.

I wanted more bass in the doors and installed the Kicker RMB6 6.5 mid-bass in the doors. I also did a custom job and installed Diamond S400s in the rear deck with the tweets to bounce off the rear glass window and hit the two front seats. This brings me to 10 speakers plus the sub.
I can tell you this did not happen over night. Plus you need two address 2 key issues. The bose comes with speed sensitive control. This will go insane if you add any after market sub. You need to make a change in the COMMAND (done by the dealer) then you need to disable the mic from the Bose amp.

Sorry to ramble on but I hope this helps someone. I wish I knew all if this before my system upgrade.

DTMCLK

TheRok..

Thanks for all your input.. unfortunately the driver side for Australia is on the right hand side..

As Yang1815 mentioned that for non BOSE system
(STANDARD) there is no AMP, My question is if the COMMAND have enough power to drive the NEW UPGRADED SPEAKERS(If I carefully choose the matching speaker with standard one) or Do I still better of with a AMP? and Crossover.

Do you know the SPEC of the original speaker in OHMS ,DB points and frequency range( so i can find the correct matching speaker).

Here is AVI page and spec http://www.avisound.com
what do you think of the 1' tweeter and 6.5 midrange spec from them?

TheRok

When you purchase a high end speaker it requires more watts then less for it to sound as the manufactory would want. I believe you will need at least 50 watt RMS to makes those speakers sound good. I could not find any published specifications from MB about the watts they use but if I had make a educated guess I would say they are 40 watts max with 22 watts rms. As I stated before 22 watts will not be enough to power to make the best sound from those speakers. Low wattage will never hurt a speaker but if you are going to spend x number of dollars for “high end” speakers you want them to sound good. My suggestion is if you want new speakers get an amplifier with them. The same logic goes for just buying an amplifier. If you want good sound you need an amp and speakers.

I went to the AVI site and could not find any tech info. You questions about the tech details on the OEM speakers are the full sound spectrum. I have never heard of AVI but that doesn’t mean much. Since you heard them you should tell me how you liked them. I like Diamond, MB Quart and Focal.

I would they are reproduce 80 – 20,000 on the sound spectrum, but that does not mean much. That is where tuning comes into play. Again sound is so personal, tuning is to the ear of the customer. What I can tell you is certain speakers are meant to play certain sounds. Cross overs are key to life when it comes to sounds. I have to assume the cross overs for AVI already come set. Check out Diamond Audio as they have awesome speakers and cross overs.

Some helpful hints are as follows. Again this varys and is nothing more then a rule of thumb.

A sub with a diameter of more then 8 inch should be tuned to play sound of 100 with a low pass. (low pass allows only sound frequency below a certain level to become audible) This is where the cross over comes in. Any decent amp will have a cross over of you can use a manual passive cross over.

The most common speaker or driver is a mid-range. If I have no mid bass I set my drivers to 90 high pass with 12,000 on the cross-overs and the tweeters from 12,000 and up. After 20,000 most people can not even hear.

If I have a mid bass speaker in the car I set them for 75 – 400 and the mid range from 250 – 12,000 and the tweeter takes over from 12,000. Some mid range speakers have hard times replicate low sound frequencies.

Most speakers are 4 ohms, tweeters are 8. (This can very from make and model)

DTMCLK

Thanks again TheRok..

I guess the quality of the sound is all personal preference, and unless you hear it in person, the spec cannot really tell much,only for reference. The AVI page specification click is located on the top right hand side of the screen when you go to each speaker series product link ( under tweeter/mid device/mid bass).

As I'm not professional listener in speaker, all I can tell with AVI speak is that the sound is much more separate (high and mid) and crispy,clear, live and pure compare to other speakers and not as loud. As soon as the demostrator select another speak the sound level becomes little louder and not as clear or pure ( but still sounds good). Just that little bit extra clearness makes all the difference.

I totally agree with you that the installer must have experience with new Merc and CLK range, otherwise I will be taking risks with the fitting quality/vibration.

I have to do more research on the right amp to match these AVI speakers.

Thanks for all your inputs.

Regards
DTMCLK

Yang1815

Definitely get an amp!

so the grill on the passenger side is naked? Hmm...

DTMCLK

Hi Yang and therok,

Does the whole door needs to be removed inorder to install just the tweeter or just remove the cover for the tweeter?

another word is the tweeter cover and the door separate piece? anyone?

I'm thinking to change the tweeter first and see if the sound quality will change.

any suggestion?

Yang1815

I know the door piece and the tweeter cover are separate pieces. I'm not sure that if you need to take the door off to take off the tweeter cover, but I would think so.

TheRok

The tweeter cover is separate and is just a clip that holds it in place. The cover comes off by wiggling it back and forth and it unclips out in 3 seconds. The door has nothing to do with the tweeter unless you want to change the wiring. (which I don’t recommend)

Changing the tweeter will not do much. With no cross over and mixing the different tweeter and speakers it may not make a difference of even sound worse.

What kind of music do you listen to?

What don’t you like about the system now?

Whats the most important to you in order?

Better Surround sound
More bass / sound pressure
Sound quality / as the artist wanted
Volume not loud enough
Cleaner clarity vocals / more instrumental

W0n6_3d4n

Take the door cover and make some custom speaker mount, preferably from thick MDF. Get an amp and good HU.

DTMCLK

What kind of music do you listen to?
RnB,Trance,Dance,Asian music(lot of high and mid range sound)
What don’t you like about the system now?
sound quality and clarity (compare to C200k stock system, which is much better not sure why?)

Whats the most important to you in order?

1.Sound quality / as the artist wanted
2.Cleaner clarity vocals / more instrumental
3.Better Surround sound
4.More bass / sound pressure
5.Volume not loud enough

Also I want good sound proof/insulation so I can get real surround feeling, and maybe a little more bass with 1 or 2 8inch sub should do the job.

For Now I just want to replace the original tweeter and keep everything else original. From the show room even without any amp or crossover, signal just coming out from a HEAD UNIT, I can tell the sound quality difference with different brand Tweeter and mid speaker.

So If I replace just the tweeter would be a VERY quick job right? Do you think i should try out?

JALE

i know im reviving a old thread, but does anyone know the maximum depth for the speaker locations? im planning upgrading my stereo (stock bose) and just want to make sure the speakers im buying will fit.

sdunham

You guys are obviously much more knowledgeable about the CLK sound system than I am but when I looked into upgrading, I remmember the biggest issue being that the speakers were 2 ohm and most aftermarket are 4 or 8...

fredbaum

Some updates - The Asian and European CLKs have the same sound system in the 209 as you in the US - they are Bose or standalone configuration.
The Bose amp is as located in the post, with one sub woofer located on the left side of the car (in the US driver's side- ASIA-UK-JAPAN-Australia/SA passengers side).
I am pretty sure the cross over settings are built into the Bose amp - so they have no passive X-O network built in to the wiring. Some cars like Jeep, put in X-Overs into the wiring for tweeters and feed the full range out of the door speakers.

If you replace the Bose Amp - which is almost definitely a requirement if you replace the head unit (I am about to put a Kenwood 8220 into mine) then the Fiber link is an issue.

Supafly

I am in the process of rewiring my system, Completely bypassing the OEM system is the way to go. If you want decent power and decent quality you must ditch the wiring and amp. 0 gauge from terminal!!!!

2MCHCAR

Hey Supafly! I'm going through the same thing, going all aftermarket. It's the Fiber Optic (FO) stuff that worries me. Does the FO disable anything else besides the radio components? Do I have to have the dealer disable anything with the STAR diagnostic computer?