Golden Ears

I have hit the 500Espot.com boards I am "ERASE" there. Golden Ears is what I use when I am on audio forums.

One other guy pifcat2 has a zbox but the drivers might be too small for true low bass.

So it is back to the Jehnerts.

As for Jehnerts... (I was misquoted a price see below....drat!)

Hi John,

I would be more than happy to help you here. The price for these panels would be
$575 to your door. Major credit cards, paypal or cashiers checks are all accepted.

I am sure we can also assist with Rainbow drivers, but first, which do you have in your dash ?

Don Amann
2010, 2011 Top 100 Installers list
Unexpected Creations
2010, 2011 Top 50 Retailers list
eXquisite Marketing
Phone: 732-572-1969
Fax: 732-572-5508
Mobile: 732-921-9046
eXquisite Marketing


-----Original Message-----
From: Jehnert Sound Design <sounddesign@jehnert.de>
To: John Gilmour <xxxxxxxxxx@mac.com>
Cc: Don <mypearltpi@aol.com>
Sent: Thu, Jul 14, 2011 5:43 am
Subject: Re: order doorpanels for DB W 124

Hello John,
thank you for your order. Unfortunately the price given in 2007 is not the actual price ( and furthermore - a collegue, who is no more working here, advised a totally wrong price there).
Now, in 2011, we do have a distributor in the U.S.
For any orders please address to:

eXquisite Marketing
25 Wisteria Street
Edison, New Jersey NJ 08817
Ph: 001-732-572-1969
C: 001-732-921-9046
Fax: 001-732-572-5508
E-Mail:mypearltpi@aol.com
http://www.exquisitemarketinggroup.com/

Your contact: Don Amann

We forwarded your E-mail to Don Amann and he will contact you as soon as possible. If you do not receive any message, please contact us again.
We are looking to hearing from you and
best regards
Andrea
-------

I got a price form Don of $1700 with drivers.....uggggh.. Don is very knowledgeable and a very nice fellow over the phone.. I am sure he does good installs.

Sound In Motion (SIM) in Allston looked at my car and wanted to do JL audio free air subs...and said that it would have come out great. If my car was on the East Coast they would BY FAR be my first choice since I have heard what they can do--- Tannens Ford Probe was amazing... I did hear a great car recently... with the best 5.1 demo yet... Gary S's C-class with custom dash board (local in Santa Monica) .. but that was an expensive install. 25K.

He used some gear I personally do not care for... in how it is voiced... I am not partial to Alpine Head units (he had a very cool F1 unit by Alpine), I also don't like Morel Home speakers much, and I avoid Class D amps like the plauge except for some subwoofer applications...I prefer either Class "A" amps (they run super hot) or Class AB..I think a well designed class AB does well. Despite these three things...any one of which would kill it for me.. Gary made it sound amazing.

Apparently Nelson Pass of Pass Labs and Threshold fame (Both venerated High end audio amps) helped design a few Sound Stream amps... I happen to live the sound of NP's home audio amps...so his car amps should sound great. I also heard BK Butlers Thermionic Tube Amps for the home

www.butleraudio.com

...and he makes high powered tube amps for the car which are tough and do not burn out (tubes last forever) and are not microphonic in regards to shock..

Don Amann suggested TRU amplifiers which Gary S. (who has fantastic audio credientials BTW) is interested in.

I, however, already have McIntosh amps...which I will use..despite being tempted by both the Butler (Buter tube stage is in the amp- but it is a Hybrid) and TRU tube (...It's a tube preamp stage only grrrr.....) amp designs.

Realistically, I'll probably beg Gary to help me tune my car... and I'll really have to beg as I am sure his time is valuable. I'll do Jehnerts first..and if that doesn't do the trick... I'll use a modified home speaker- so long as the off axis roll offs work.. BTW Gary's car has a center channel installed in the dash! He got the highest sound score something in the high nineties!

Our cars are not CANBUS so we can modify our Dash more than Gary could with his car.

I do want to fit some Dakota digital gauges in my car but have the original wood... does anyone have a shot of the wood in the center console for w124's with the aux parking heater? And does anyone know a VIN # for a car equipped with that so I could order that piece?

I'm also considering trying to port our midranges.. if I could seal the enclosure and port them...well then I could get much better blend with our midbasses in the doors as I could get them to go lower... safely..and run a more gentle slope (the roll off would be steeper than in a sealed enclosure)...however that would force me to go passive for my midbasses to mids in order to run a 6db per octave slope. (trying to get blend...but might not have to) . I ahve up to 12 channels of amplification to do this as I have a MC4000M (1000 watts) and a MC440M (400 Watts) (Both 6 channel McIntosh amps)

From the factory my McIntosh MEN 456 5 way electronic crossover is only either 12db per octave or 24 db per octave. I have a McIntosh MEQ 452 the 4 channel 6 band parametric eq (unfortunately not separate for each channel). I also have the installer tool crossover and EQ tool which lets me program up to 4 presets.

What might be cool is to run 24db slope as a high pass for my tweeter- put a slight gap in fequency and run a 12db per octave slope from my mid. Mostly because 24db per octave is a bit harsh for mids. Then I would run 6db per octave to the midbass. But I would cut the midbass at 12 db per octave to prevent beaming.

The trick is to have the left and right speakers off axis by the same amount for both ears (same off axis roll off might be perceived) . Also to try to get the time arrival times to be close.

I am considering making an acoustic lens to control vertical dispersion of the tweeters- and possibly of the midranges (but then I would have to use dome Mids).

The other wild car would be .

Using either Heil AMT tweeters in kick panels flanked by a vertical d'appolitto array of two 4 inch mids (to eliminate lobeing)

I'm also considering cutting up a par of Red Rose Model 1's just for their drivers.

http://forum.blu-ray.com/speakers/89...d-avoided.html

6spdcoupe

John,

In the original email unloaded panels was initially a mistake, I believe I mentioned this and would honor, or as close as possible to without losing my shirt. I do make mistakes, but do not go back on them !

The $1700 price, are you sure that was me ? Was anything else included ? It is absolutely too high my friend ! If/when considering again, let me know, but I assure you that price is certainly Not what you should expect to pay !

Thank you for the kind words. If you would like any recommendations on dealers I will do my best to help on that as well. Derek and his crew at Sound In Motion definitely do some top notch work and would not hesitate to recommend, of course difficult with your car not local though !

RHW

Whups!
The original email appears to be quoting dealer pricing. Cannot sell things at dealer cost. (ERASE/GOLDEN EARS, where do you live?)

This thread is about stereo on a budget, both ERASE/Goldenears and 6Speed are onto rather expensive thoughts.

I really like the Jehnert panels, when they are in the $500-$800 price range (coupe has 2x the drivers, closer to $800). Once you are paying distributor markup, better choices exist for less price.

Don, not questioning Jehnert value in a newer car, this board centers on 15+ year old cars. If I owned a later model car and wanted better audio, I would consider Jehnert but your pricing is apt to be 1/3 to 1/4 the value of most of these older cars.

Golden Ears

Thanks Don,

Don I will be buying them through you... you have an incredible amount of product knowledge..... more so than any other installer I have come across. And I have met a lot of installers. I have had a car of mine DESTROYED by Glenn and his team of installers at Tweeter Etc. on Commmonwealth Ave. in Boston in the Mid 90's. A quoted 4 day install turned into my car being in pieces for 6 months. In the end- they destroyed the car's computer- made a questionable battery tray- , mixed the resin for the sub box wrong so it never hardened, and built door panels that literally ripped my door panels off from the weight. In the end- my car started- ran rough and died on the same block as the shop.

They could not handle a big install.

Why did I pick Tweeter Etc. Now defunct? Because I figured they were a big store that likely had an expert somewhere in their many stores, and they had the brands I wanted at the time McIntosh, a/d/s, Nakamichi.

In Contrast another local store SIM Sound in Motion - run by Derek Kenney and Jim Cavanaugh carried Eclipse, JL audio, and Phoenix Gold. Their install skills are the best I have seen- but I was nervous that Derek and Jim had not been exposed to true HI-END audio, and though their cars sounded pretty good considering what they were putting in... I was not certain they knew what I was shooting for.

Rich's Car Tunes in Watertown, did all the local sports stars cars. Rich Inferrera was capable of making some impressive sounding cars. He's a funny guy that looks like a squat terrier. Rich has things all over his store showing that the Plate speakers the 3 series a/d/s/ speakers (I think 320i) were his idea , and a few other car audio firsts. I heard his Honda Civic (little yellow) which had a center channel (something he claimed as a first too) - and it was a very good sounding car with great S/N ratio (I think it had noise gates too). But Rich had a habit of letting his RITOP kids (A installer training school) do installs and charging full price for their labor. He also screwed a friend of mine by charging him for top of the line a/d/s/ mid bass drivers and putting lower end a/d/s/ ones in instead. So I was wary of Rich. This was 1994.


His labor rates were among the highest. Fish (Dave Rivera)man did get hired by him (A famous flashy installer who put fishtanks in cars) . So when Tweeter totaled my car- I thought... uggh I might have to use Rich. I went to Rich and he said.. he could do it... and asking Tweeter installers to do a top notch install was like "asking a frog to fly, you can kick it all you want but it will never fly even if it wants to." I asked Rich how much would it cost...and he quoted me something absurd like 25k if I supplied all the gear. (this is just for a custom sub box, door panels, and extra battery in a wagon and nothing else special). I asked... "Why so expensive" (And I had just seen Glen from Tweeter in the installer bay- and heard through the grapevine that Glen was working there- I thought perhaps Glen would be able to tell Rich what he screwed up so they could fix it, and had not told Rich I knew Glen was working there). Rich said with his back turned to me looking in a file cabinet... "It is that expensive because I have no way of knowing what Tweeter Did." I said... "Oh Rich , that's really funny because I just saw Glen walk out of your install bay and I heard he is working here and tweeter asked you for help when they screwed up my car". Rich froze.... for like 2 minutes- fingers stopped thumbing through the files.. after 2 minutes of silence... I just walked out after that long freeze- Rich never turned around.

But- remember Rich can make good sounding cars. It just might not be your car.

I should have gone with SIM because they are completely honest and do amazing work- they are masters of MDF, and fiberglass, and even complex motorization. Derek did a Toyota Supra that was amazing! July 1998 the Boston Globe did an article on it. http://www.sound-in-motion.com/publications.html

They win tons of trophies and considering the electronics they use... I think they get some of the most performance out of them.

I have not seen Don's installs, but his knowledge is so solid I would doubt he is not on a similar level as SIM. If I were in the Tri-state area or within a 4 hour drive...I'd go see him!

To Don's credit as an honest installer.... and I was amazed by this. Don said he would honor the price misquoted by an employee of his which was the cost before IMPORT DUTY so he would have lost money on the gear! I have no interest in taking advantage of anyone- so I declined Don's offer but will be buying from him and trust him knowing he loves his work. I can not think of any other people in car audio that would stand by their word to the point of losing money on a product out the door (that they would have to import first) with no chance to immediately recoup it through install labor like Don.. He is a man of his word. His kids would be proud of his integrity.

I probably forgot Don's price (sorry Don) ... so I am happy it is under $1700. Again Don, being honest and straightforward- AGAIN. I mean- he's cool. Don also said that he felt the Jehnerts deliver great SQ for the price- and did not try to upsell me into something else. If I lived in the tri-state NYC area DON ABSOLUTELY WOULD BE MY FIRST CHOICE. I am just sorry I did not meet him 20 years ago.

Anyhow- maybe the moderators should split this into a Jehnert specific thread.. Sorry I never meant to threadjack.

Golden Ears

I did get my car appraised... 106k E500 silver $23,500 so it is worth it (barely) ... Actually I'd love to find a low mileage 400E or E420 and put a stereo in that car as it is quieter than the E500's


I live in Los Angeles Santa Monica/ Venice.. Do you know where I could hear a w124 with Jehnerts?

AMGDave

Hey, I have almost the same thing... 109k E500 in silver, with Jehnerts.

The 500E is just as quiet as the 400E/E420 in stock form. If it's any louder, it's probably due to the tires, or exhaust mods... or, something is wrong (worn window/door gaskets causing wind noise, etc). On my car, it's a huge difference between quiet all-season tires and fat performance tires. Another thing that helps is a serious dose of sound damping material, like Dynamat Xtreme, or whatever your favorte brand is.

funkgab

well i know for sure what my next w124 project will look like..

mine is an example of a setup that is low budget - moderate budget (i got extremely ripped off for labor)

theres a pic of my crossover, my rear setup (notice the ghetto dynamatting surrounding the speaker)
i have an alpine 9887 in there (great head unit, ipod control isn't that great, but sq-wise not bad)
(the front tweeter and the rear tweeter came like that, i think they are mb quarts, the rear clearly says so, the front ones were blank, and like superglued or something)
pic of how the infinity-kappa 42.9 fits into the front dash, it was a direct drop
and theres a picture of my 5 channel amp which powered a kicker l7 w12..

i know i posted many times, but what the hell

so basically i picked up 4 of those old crossovers for 5$ each, the tweets came with the car, i bought the speakers, (the rears were a bit bigger, and sounded better) [my installer... biggest ripoff i've seen.. i didn't know anything about car audio back then.. but basically the guy thought he can do everything, but he lacked the skill to make basic boards for the speaker, if it wasn't available from metra or something im guessing he couldn't do anything so he wrapped it with dynamat] the more annoying thing is, its dynamat i paid for, yet he charges me for it? and labor installing it are you kidding me?

btw he did charge me because i wanted dynamat done right on my trunk, but it doesn't seem as smooth as yours, he basically stuck it on, cut it with a papercutter, and hammered it down

the shop also never even heard of rainbow, they said to me "its called rainbow speakers.. someone would think your homosexual no we don't have those"

basically i spent 150 for the amp,
250 for the sub (got ripped off for some ported sub box for 100$ with some cheapo wires) [they did not even wire the car properly, had power and speaker cables all running through one side, had to use some weird filter because i can hear sounds like my alternator spinning]
give or take about 100 - 120$ per pair of speakers
20$ for xovers
250 for the head unit..

so thats about 900$ in parts.. the ******* tried to charge me a whopping 1400$ for installation.. somehow i got it down to 900...

WHAT A WASTE!!!

ever since i have been trying to plan out the perfect audio for my next w124
my sedan is totaled, and sitting in the garage, i didn't take out my stuff
i plan on picking up a coupe..

but i got free rearseats from someone on this board, i think it was so e320socal or something i forget, but he recommended i dremel or cut off the first aid cabinet, and if i dremel off the metal beneath it, it won't cut through the gas tank, and i should be able to mount a sub? is this true??
(last project i heard is he had kickpanels done to his 260e)
(also he seemed to have some kind of door speakers? little mb quart ones or something i think he retrofitted from a 500e or something)



honestly, for my next sub setup i wanted to keep my trunk space so i was going to go with something like a basslink for sq as well, but now that i've read every post on this thread, im considering a JL setup similar to
yours rhw. but what im saying is if i could cut a hole in the first aid cabinet it should be cool so sound punches through, kind of like a skibag mod i guess that i see in new bmw 3 series?

i went asking about several shops, they all recommended ampwise, i go rockford fosgate (they said coming up from a crunch it would sound alot better)

(these infintys are clean, alot less distortion than the stock speakers, or whatever speakers the car came with, also had some old kenwood stereo)

i was thinking for my next setup,
jehnert door panels, keep my old hu,maybe add a power pack from alpine to the hu for rainbows, or if i keep my infinitys (is it worth changing?)
(are my xovers even worth reusing?)
run a rockford amp with some decent rockford wiring or for the door panels and just add a small sub like a basslink, and keep the tweeter locations, or perhaps move them lower
and obviously dynamatting the hell out of the car (rattles used to kill me, took a long long time to find them)

it would come out to about the same as my cheapo setup im guessing, and i've decided i might do alot of things myself, since i did learn a bunch

so what im asking is what what components can i keep for my future coupe, if its worth going to rainbow instead of the infinity's i have already?
and have any of you used a 9887's imprint technology? (similar to the rockford 360.2 some microphoning technology that sets all your speaker delays and stuff)
any of you guys run infinity basslink?
any of you guys know if the little rockford fosgate ilinks are worth it? (they go under the seat, and its like a subwoofer per seat, but i thought it might cause stupid rattles)

i have watched youtube vids of things like focal, and jesus christ they sound nice, but i can't afford focal obviously..


But i have made many stupid decisions and such, and i'm just trying to plan the perfect soundstage now..

i know my grammer is terrible.. its like 4:50 am... and i was just getting everything off my mind about the w124 audio

and sorry about the cellphone pics, and golden ears, if you do have an sq setup, do you mind if i listen to it someday? i go to school in santa monica.. (heard too many SPL, not sq setups)

oh and last edit.. how the hell do you guys get rid of your old audio stuff? i've been trying to get rid of my sub/amp forever..

M103

Show and tell! new guy here. i'll post picks soon but its night time so i'll do it in the mornin.

I got those rainbow IQ lines couldnt be happier! 60 watt rms 100watt max but they are sadly being under driven at 20 watts haven't picked up a 4chan. they sound beautiful and loud while being underdriven. Excellent purchase for only ~300. no slice and diced electronics. In the back I got Sound Ordance 12inch band pass, these big boys hit at 500rms 1000watt max. definitely turns heads but sadly these 80lb big boys eat ALOT of space.

My head unit btw is the JVC arsenal HD. cool unit, pretty colors and good sound

Golden Ears

Not sure if this will help...but here goes. All local sales..


buy this $175 good sounding amp for short money

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Xtant-404m-4...#ht_500wt_1413

Buy this offer $175 Amazing head unit –great volume knob is the key to good sound.

Or this

http://honolulu.craigslist.org/oah/ele/2554438631.html

about the same SQ.

http://sacramento.craigslist.org/ele/2547838209.html

If you want to look pretty… go with this A McIntosh Head unit for $275!!! With a 6 CD changer (hard to fit as you have single din …L)

http://boston.craigslist.org/nos/ele/2527981425.html



buy this $35 you will go active with extra amp channels to fix your front stage.

http://orangecounty.craigslist.org/ele/2542538817.html


Hope that helps.... going active should give you more tuning flexibility to get good sound.

funkgab

hmm wow i have to write some of these names down.. wow thats a cool looking passover.. well im redesigning my whole system.. and i plan on keeping the alpine

Golden Ears

http://tulsa.craigslist.org/ele/2509024926.html

a 12 will fit.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...io-mw190s.html

so will 2 more if you lose the headrests

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/...io-mw190s.html

Golden Ears

If you like Alpine get a vintage 7909 and eventually modify it- It has a great D/A section.

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/head-...cd-player.html

the original alpine 7909 sold a few weeks ago for $250

BTW If you intend to have a passover in your car make sure a Rabbi blesses it to keep the install Kosher- personally I would never eat in my car, spilling gelfite fish would be a disaster..... but you could blast the Beastie Boys lol

funkgab

don't even know what most of the stuff does, i mean i get everything cept how the rca wires go.. my head unit has 6 outputs.. (i pulled out the whole audio system.. well i left one crossover in there cause its hard to get)

i'll talk to you when i pick up another w124

chuang

Sorry to hijack this thread a little bit with a quick question.

I just did my audio upgrade and the professional cut off the wires behind the fader control and wired it back to the new HU. The installation went OK, however now when I use the new HU's fader and balance, it seems that the Rear L and Rear R were wired opposite. I called that professional and he said that for the two rear speakers they share a common ground and that's why he wired it that way. Does this make sense and is this something easily correctable? Thanks!

AMGDave

If the front speaker balance left to right is opposite the rear speaker left to right, the installer screwed up. Or if both are opposite (i.e., turn balance full left on the HU and the sound goes to right speakers only), again the installer screwed up. The balance and fader should both work normally from the head unit if they did the job right.

Golden Ears

if I knew then what I know now.

Heres how I would do a w/124 sedan.

I've tried swapping out the jehnert tweeters...not worth it..I used top of the line Scan Speak 3/4 domes... forget it.

I would buy 1 used mcintosh amp any 4 x 100 watter is fine no meter but with the EQ module space. I'd buy the 4 channel 6 band parametric.

I'd buy the Jernerts- and sell the midrange

I'd install the Scan Speak 4.5" 12M revelator (its a fricking drop in!)

use the stock Jehnert crossover

Bridge the amp to 2 channel... or for more oooomph buy 2 MC443 or (2) MC301 amps and an external parametric. and run it.. I wish i knew this 20 years ago.

Audio on the cheap....
If you can't afford the Jehnerts... Buy the Z-box that I bought from Pifcat- install the Peerless 6.5" drivers (about $80 each and they pound!). Use Sb acoustics 4.5" midrange (or the scan relevator 12M 4.5" if you have the money) and call it a day.. it will sound amazing. Use any neodynium tweeter that can fit under your stock dash grill. don't worry the Midrange will do most of the SQ.

for those who want punch..I did buy pifcats custom mnolded Z-box in fiberglass sub box but decided to make custom separates so I am selling it for $320 - in Newport Beach. its built solid..

My rear sub speaker is now a 3 way and will now come out and function as monitors.I don't need the Z-box anymore

R1der

I went to my local best buy store today to buy a stereo for my 500E. The car stereo shop people there told me that you can install an aftermarket radio in the car, "because Mercedes used fiber optics"

Is that true? If not, can someone point to a place where I can shop for a radio?

All I want is a simple radio, and replace factory speakers.

6spdcoupe

Best Buy generally equals Best TRY. Depending on your year and trim it is Not hard to change the radio. Hell, even with fiber it is not difficult, but more costly and time consuming.

AMGDave

MB didn't use fiber optics in the W124... talk about your lazy BB employees, sheesh! The bad news is that the 1991-1993 W124's (including your 500E) used funky 2-piece stereos, with a remote tuner & amplifier in the trunk. Yes you can get a new head unit but it will need to have new wires from from each speaker to the head unit, and the door midbass drivers won't work with it. Bottom line is you'll end up with probably worse sound than the factory system (which was quite good) unless you go with a full-blown high-end install including Jehnert doorboards and external power amps (which I have in two of my W124's). I tried using an aftermarket power amp & speakers with the factory door midbasses in my wife's 92 500E and they just do not work well together. The factory amps are impedance-matched and have built-in crossovers, which is why the factory stuff sounds as good as it does.

If you just want a little better sound and the ability to listen to MP3's, send the factory head unit to Becker for reconditioning and adding an auxiliary input jack for your iPod. Then put Rainbow speakers in the dash. DO NOT waste money upgrading the rear speakers, they are already excellent for rear fill, with dual angled tweeters.

Finally - if you haven't yet been there, check out the biggest 500E-specific forum on the web:
http://www.500eboard.com/forums/



Best regards,

Golden Ears

I think you are being too generous with Best Buy Don, I worked for Magnolia for a pinch and left when I saw h company was going to tank in a huge way... So Best Buy...don't be spending any extra on extended warranties with them, they might not be around to honor them.

Don is THE MAN, he really knows what he is talking about. I bought the Jehnerts from him at a price that makes me happy to say I have a new friend. He is chock full of seasoned and informed, and skilled advice.

Not that I believed it at first... Like I EQ'd my Jehnerts and got good sound. I told Don I might swap out the drivers... He said

" Well the drivers they come with are pretty good, I think if you swap out the midrange that is about all you need to do and I think the tweeters are good and the midbass/woofers are good too.

So I swap out the midrange, re EQ and holy crap it sounds so life like- like a "you are there experience."

So going against Don's sage advice (hey if the mids get swapped, why not the tweeters?..) I swap the tweeters for an a pillar install with scan speak illuminators d2004's ( a serious high end driver... And the mid I swapped in was a scan speak 12m which was a drop in..perfect fit)

The Jehnert tweeter was far superior...just as Don had predicted. Drat!

Now I was pissed because I had just sold the Jehnert tweeters and Mids as a set.

I had to order a new set of tweeters from Jehnert for $170.

DID I LEARN....?????

NO, because I got some Scan speak 18w midbass drivers that I am going to swap into my doors,,,, and probably because the QTS is too low, they won't sound as good either. But I'll try and likely Don will be right again.

Amgdave is right...

Either do a drop in or stay stock .

If you do anything , like replace the system ...you have to do it all...or you will take a huge leap backwards ....seriously, do the Jehnerts.

BESIDES, YOUR W/124 will eventually have the factory door pockets upholstery peel away from the door pocket... It is not a Matt of "if" it is a matter of "when". So you can take off your door pockets, store them indoors where they will not peel, and use the Jehnerts which will never peel ( better upholstery technique) and then put the car back to stock with intact door pockets ( new ones are expensive,,,,and used ones will just peel soon anyway).

Besides, if you do sell your car, there are tons of w/124 owners who will buy Jehnerts from you used - I got plenty of offers. AND I WS NOT EVEN SELLING THEM! Nothing else you buy for speakers will have resale value in the same price range...nothing. Nothing fits as nicely, sounds as good or looks as good.

It is totally worth it sonically to do this with your car, the results are simply astounding , to the point of practically hoping for a traffic jam on the way home.

If you want some extra bass...which you Might feel it is good enough with the Jehnerts,...but if you want some serious hard hitting bass I still have that custom molded sub box for the rear parcel shelf.

The only lower cost high sound quality install I would suggest is this...

1. Buy the Jehnert tweeter..I can give you a part number $170
2. Buy the scan speak 12M 4.5" revelator neodynium magnet midrange. (Used is fine)
3. Buy the Jehnert passive crossover
4. Put peerless SLS 6.5" midwoofer drivers into that custom molded sub box I have. Or for better SQ scan speak 18w 8545 drivers ( which will sound great in this sealed box) it is not perfectly ideal because the crossover point is still a little high, but it will sound better than anything else you could do in this price range until you double it and buy the Jehnerts. You would probably never think of upgrading.



Run it all with a 2 x 100 watt McIntosh amp (used). The second generation iPod touch had very good SQ as a source and they are supr cheap. If you have an ipad use that .

For $129 you can buy a Kudo solar charger for ipad 1,2,3 it and will run for way longer than you can drive and recharges even in indoor light. Mine just covers my climate control adjustments. Use the McIntosh API. Fee app to control your music.

funkgab

listen to this man!
he seriously know what hes talking about.. even though i still havn't heard his system, and i am not active anymore in w124 :|

AMGDave

Ditto on everything Golden Ears stated above.

One minor point of clarification on my previous post: What I wrote was mostly aimed at the 1991-1993 W124's with the funky Becker 1432 two-piece stereo system. If you have a 1986-90, or 1994-95, W124... the easiest solution is to get a Becker or Harman-Kardon Traffic Pro unit (there are a couple dozen different variants, any of them will work) and drop that in. It's 100% plug & play, although a wiring adapter harness (available from Becker, shown here) is needed for the 1986-1990 models.

The newer head units sound much nicer, and they have an auxiliary input available (photo here) for your iPod/etc. You lose the ability to control the factory CD changer but with the iPod input and single-disc in-dash CD, that doesn't bother me. This setup works best on 1994-95 (facelift) W124's as those have the 100-watt (total) RMS power amps with crossovers/etc. The 1986-1990 cars don't have power amps or door midbass speakers, it's all deck powered.

In my 95 E420, I have a Traffic Pro II with iPod input, Rainbow dash speakers, and everything else is stock. It sounds GREAT for <$400 total investment. By comparison, the full Jehnert setup will run you easily $2k for the doorboards, drivers, power amp(s), head unit, and that doesn't include installation. It does sound awesome, but not everyone is willing to invest that kind of dough. For those who aren't, the TrafficPro option is worth considering.

Again - there is still no easy upgrade for the 1991-1993 systems. Sorry.

funkgab

actually i've had a total of 2 w124's and 1 w202

my first w124 was an 87, the install wasn't too hard, but you will have to splice wires as they don't make harnesses and the fader worked fine..

my 202, was a pita but the whole electrical system was having problems so bleh.

my 2nd w124 is a 93.. what a nightmare it is, and amgdave, weirdly enough the cd changer was fiber in it even with the dual amp setup :/
but other than that, i integrated the door midbass (i had a coupe) with an aftermarket and it worked fine..

AMGDave

That is bizarre. Are you in Europe? None of the USA W124 models had fiber optics for the CD changer, or anything else, AFAIK. Some different stereo systems were used in Europe and I'm not sure what those are like.

funkgab

nope, usa came with MB-alpine changer
had a converter for a fiber to 10 pin, and ran straight into the HU