Saijin_Naib

Hello, its me The one who posts crazy stupid questions. Ive got another doozy for everyone. My 1991 300ce has an old becker Grand Prix CD (single) radio thats on the fritz. The laser reader gets off track whenever i brake or make left handed turns (at any speed above like 10). I can take a corner at 100mph right and slam on the brakes but as long as my nose is pointed right it doesnt so much as skip. Brake softly to make a sweeping left, and the cd player stops and i can hear the laser scoot down (or up?) the track way fast. Anyway, I know that the new becker grand prix 7990 will fit because its the replacement to my current becker. Will this impact the value of the car negatively seeing as this head unit isnt branded MB as my current one (though both are becker anyway ). That aside, can anyone help me out as to where I can purchase one? Im getting spanked by GBP to USD conversion and I want to try and find it at a more reasonable price?

Heres (hopefully) my new baby:


Heres some specs:
* Hands-free communication via Bluetooth® wireless technology
* Memory for up to 27 telephone numbers (9 dialled numbers, last 9 incoming/9 outgoing calls)
* MP3/WMA/CD player
* Play audio CDs and CD-ROMs
* CD-RW compatible
* CD mixed mode
* CD multisession
* Display subdirectories
* Display ID3 tags (track, artist)
* Fix and variable bitrates (8 - 320 kbit/s)
* Play list
* 2-RDS tuner diversity technology
* Radio text
* Dot matrix display
* D.A.S. Dynamic autostore
* ETC – Easy-To-Control softkey menu control
* 4 High-Level Line-Out
* 1 Sub/Centre Line-Out
* Adjustable phone and low frequency input
* Optional Becker CD changer
* Detachable Panel
* iPod® support with Becker Remote Kit (optional). Music playback function (playlist, artist, album, music genre)
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There are more models in this range (same feautures) but instead of amber one is green, blue, and red. I prefer amber because thats what im rockin right now
Also, this headunit has 18 watt RMS output, and the speakers i want to replace my stock ones with say 40 watt RMS reccomended input. What that does affect and what will that mean for sound quality and what not?
1)Rockford Fosgate Power T142C (dash speakers)

2)Rockford Fosgate Punch P152C (rear deck speakers)

Ive heard good stuff about rockford and they are resonably priced...

ptoro01

Hey
I dont think the becker you have in there is stock either so replacing it will not affect value. Not to mention, at this point, no one uses tape drive that your car came with from the factory.

The speakers youre planning on running will only need to get turned up higher in ord to get proper sound out of them. You are running them at half power which makes them hard to blow but they wont provide proper sound. An amp is nice to have for speakers but most people dont have them.

ZedStyle

i don't think youl have to worry about negatively affecting the value of a 15 year old car by replacing the head unit...

Saijin_Naib

yeah hopefully not. Yes, my radio was stock or an option for the european models. Its a becker grand prix labeled for mercedes benz, it even says mercedes when it boots . But yeah, for the speakers... what do you mean by "proper" sound? Like, is it going to be fuzzy and crappy sounding, or just not deafeningly loud? And if im not mistaken, the 300ce does have an amp in the truck bolted under the decklid right behind the seats. Its probably not powerful enough but whatever. Ok, so assuming I need an amp now... why and how much? I dont plan on running subs, just replacing the old bose speakers with some new rockfords in conjunction with my newer, more powerful becker head unit.

ptoro01

Your speakers will come across fine except the low and high wont be amplified. It will sound fine and better than whats in there since they are new but until you hook up an amp to it you wont know what they are truely capable.

Saijin_Naib

Oh, okay Thanks.. I was afraid that they would be muddy and unclear because the lack of power. Okay, for amps... I dont want to drop too much money, you know? I dont spend enough time in my car to justfy a crazy amp. Just a simple one will do, something that will improve sound quality but not at crasy price. I was thinking of some amps from boss? They are relatively inexpensive, and arent feature laden, and seem to be of good construction. The lowest end boss (chaos ch350) is 60$ and has 40w per channel, AKA exactly what I need to drive the speakers at the minimum level. The next closest is the Boss Riot GT 780, 100w per channel and about 140$. Any suggestions? Remember, I dont want subs, just a nice, clean amp for my 4 new speaks and new head unit

SUNILP

The becker is an excellent choice as they are high quality units from germany. These units also match the illumination of the factory dash. very few manufacturers offer this. I am installing a Becker/Mercedes Audio 30 APS in my car. Similar to yours but original mercedes and no builtin bluetooth. I should have looked at some of the nicer becker units before buying the APS 30. Fortunately, the plugs on the APS 30 and Becker radios are standard ISO connecetors used throughout german cars.

Saijin_Naib

Nice, good to know! Im going to be taking this current becker apart tomorrow to see if i can fix whatevers wrong with it. As for the model i showed you, it actually doestn come out yet (august 1). my bad rofl. and i wish, wish, wish it was MB branded.... it would just be so comfy in my car then hehe. How did you purchase your becker and do you have any tips for me for installation and the like? (and yes, I love my becker... it has really clean sound and a clean look that even 1000$ clarions are lacking... they all look so damn tacky IMO).

neanderthal

nuff said right there.

my stereo was stolen this week (4th time), and im just gonna replace it with a becker grand prix 954 (OE mercedres fit in W124s) that i bought on ebay for literally ten bucks.
theres a place that will trade it for a completely refurbished one for $280. i can connect my ipod to it, and thats all i really need. so for $300 i get the OE look with superior anti steal- this- radio- capability. not really a big market for OE radios.

street parking sucks

SUNILP

I got the audio 30 APS on ebay and it's Mercedes Branded.

Saijin_Naib

lets say i get this boss amplifier, how will i connect it? I looked at my amp the other day and it appears to use a cable remiscent of a VGA cable for a computer. Or am I retarded and was looking at the wrong thing?

SUNILP

My factory amps are located on the right side of the trunk. There are 2 of them each powering 5 speakers. The cables don't look like vga cables in my car.

Saijin_Naib

nope, i have one black rectangle box clipped underneath the back deck in the trunk with one VGA-looking cable and one round coaxial looking cable running into it, as well as a molex (think PC power cable) looking deal. What kind of connection is this? Will any amplifier accept this stock? I might just do the rockford speakers for the time being until I figure out the amp thing. Anyone have any ideas? I will take pictures of it so you can see what im talking about

Saijin_Naib

Okay, here are some pictures. My car, the amp location, the amp, and an attempt to get a detail of it. I need to take some better ones Anyone have any ideas though?