I have been reading with interest the string of discussions regarding the Bose system and this weekend I tried doing what Whitey, Benz and Paomien have suggested with my Bose system. Overall, the sound is acceptable but can obviously be improved and I tried . I have a 1998 W210 Estate (Wagon) and here are some observations:

- I do not have two speakers in the rear deck (since wagons have no rear decks) so I am assuming those speakers are in both rear doors to make up for lack of the rear deck.

- My front door speakers are completely functional and seem to be large size. At least that is the impression I get since the sound from them is pretty strong.

- the two grills beside the windshield pillars do not have any sound and when I opened them up to install tweeters, I was surprised to find - TWEETERS! They are pretty small with about 1.75 inches in diameter and they are completely wired on both left and right sides. HOWEVER THEY ARE NOT FUNCTIONING. I mean there are no sounds coming from them at all and to the best of my recollection, I have never heard any sound from them ever since I bought the car. Perhaps these speakers are for the cellphone option which I don't have. But Paomien has the integrated cellphone option and he doesn't have speakers there. However, Paomien's door speakers did not originally work either.

I don't know if it is the wagon sound system that makes my car different from the rest of you guys but I certainly would like those tweeters on both sides of the dash to work. Any ideas would be acceptable to me.

I brought the car to a Queen's boulevard new sound store and the guy quoted me $145 for labor and two new tweeters. He said it would take him about 45 minutes to an hour for the whole job. He did not mention what kind of tweeters he would install but he said they are 4 ohms and about $75 for both.

Any opinion in this regard would be helpfull. Paomien, who installed your door tweeters? I know you live in LI so I would appreciate a recommendation.

Thanks for any advice.

paxfo



-.

 

Hmm you actually have two speakers by the a pillars, huh? Mine were empty I did have two tweeters in the top of the door, though, which made no noise. I actually had North Shore Audio in Glen Head install them for me. They deal with high end audio equipment, and figured they'd do the best job. It actually look them over an hour to do, probably between 1 - 1.5 hours. They're located on Glen head Road in Glen Head, off exit 39 on the LIE. (I hate the LIE hahaha). 4 ohm tweeters will make plenty of sound, believe it or not. I have my equalizer on flat for both bass and treble, and it's plenty clear and loud, i don't even have the turn the volume up that high anymore. don't know if you complain that there isn't enough bass coming from the system, but after installing an infinity basslink in the car, it's much better. Good luck...any other questions we can try to answer for you?

 

btw, the front doors should have two speakers in them; one by your feet, and one above the power seat controls (that's the non-existent tweeter) I'm not sure if wagons have that tweeter there, but they should all be the same? (not sure)....

 

Paomien,

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try to get in touch with that shop. I didn't notice the tweeter section on the top portion of the door (that is supposed to be non-functional) but perhaps that is non-functional because I don't here anything from there.

Still curious as to why I have tweeters beside the door pillars and why they are not working. I could always ask the stealership (Silverstar in Northern Blvd) but sometimes I get the strong impression that these guys have to do a lot of reading on MB cars because they seriously don't know a lot. I could tell you stories... but maybe some other time.

Do you think your audio center would know what those tweeters are for? A phone number would be helpful... only if you have it.

paxfo.

 

Hey Paxfo, welcome to the club! I have yet to open up my grill beside the pillars but I seem to remember someone saying those (if you have them) are indeed for the integrated phone (which was gone when I bought my car). Yes, those tweeters by the side mirrors didn't work (very well) on my car either which is why I had to swap them. I believe the simpliest thing to do is to find 4ohm tweeters that would fit in that original position by the side mirrors and just do a swap. 75 bucks seems a bit much and you could probably do it for much less by yourself in less than 1/2 hr! I saw tweeters for less than $20 on the links to Ebay that Jimmy had posted earlier in this thread and you could just replace the tweeters yourself by following the earlier references I made (also in this thread). I think it took Paomein's man longer because he had to connect and conceal wires going from the channel speaker to the grill next to the pillars (none OEM setup). Jimmy as you might have noted believes there's really not much difference putting them on the front deck, so why bother (unless you wish to spend more on installation)?

As for bass, a wagon is definitely quite tricky. Unfortunately the sedans also have speakers in the rear doors so its no consolation that you have them I'm afraid. I've seen people hang speakers on the rear corners of wagons, stick them in the side panels of the trunk, put a deck just behind the rear seats to accomodate the rear speakers found in sedans - its really up to you. If it is extra bass you also want (regardless of the brand of speakers you have), I'm sure a subwoofer in the luggage compartment would do the job quite well (at the expense of some space!). An amplifier might be needed tho'.

Anyway, do seek advice from Paomein's shop and let us know how you go. Good luck!

 

The difference in sound when speaking in ref. to tweeters depends on where they are mounted. If they are either in the doors or dash, the sound is still in front of you near ear level, so the sound will be great. You only have to worry when you have strong tweeters right behind your head (like in the rear doors) that are stronger than the midranges. The sound from those tweeters will end up giving you a headache from that high pitch/crisp sound hitting you in the back of the head.

Now as for bass, the wagon is the perfect vehicle (over the sedan) for long travelling bass. An isobaric box with a couple of 10's or 12's (depending how hard you want it to hit) in the rear section will sound awesome as the bass develops in the rear of the car and then travels forward with no obstruction. Of course you will need to add an amp or two for this modification. For just some minor bass you can add a 10" tube and that should do it.

BTW, if the speakers that are mounted in your dash are from the phone, they will need to be replaced and then rewired to the head unit. Like mentioned before, you can tap them into the door speakers. I have not done this yet myself, but plan to do so shortly as it is a really easy installation...Good luck.

 

Now this is coming from someone who really knows what he's talking about. I might also add, as an alternative to the isobaric boxes, that my friends A-class has these egg shaped speakers (can be rotated into the correct angle) and might just fit neatly onto a rear pillar of a wagon - will post the brand later if interested. IMO, they sound quite solid without needing to be mounted on a deck.

 

I try my best, thanks Whitey...

 

Thanks to all of you,

Whitey, I am interested in your friends "egg shape" speaker and would like to see some pictures if possible. The sub-tubes are not possible on my wagon because the wife likes to shop a lot and she can fill that rear with items before you can say "W210". Therefore that rear trunk has to be empty.

Besides, that tube would be too attractive here in New York city and I don't to deal with a car break-in...

I'll see if I can find some 4 ohm tweeters on ebay and install them myself this weekend and keep you guys updated.

paxfo-

 

LOL! Your wife likes to shop (typical!) and you like to fiddle with your car - only inequality is she gets to share the car!

The egg shaped speakers would also be quite "attractive" as they are white in color (may come in other colors tho') and their shape is quite unique (dark tinting may make them less obvious tho'...). Will post name and pics when I have a chance to get into his car later (Luckily he's parked in the same parking lot as me )

Good luck with the tweeters - Paomein and I certainly didn't regret doing it. Besides, it really is a cheap experiment!

 

i definitely agree with whitey
paxfo if you want to hear what the difference is, perhaps we can meet up one of these days, and you can listen to how it sounds, then you can take it from there? just give me a holler....

 

paomien,

let's coordinate so that Steve works on both our cars on the same day and the same site. Since I don't have a decent area in the City for Steve to work on, maybe we can all meet somewhere in LI.

paxfo-

 

sounds great paxfo - supposedly he'll be working out of somewhere in jersey? not quite sure, just heard that somewhere... you're in the city? or in queens?

 

let's coordinate

I'll email you later. mine is:
paul.casino@verizon.net

 

Welcome to MBWorld Paxfobiscum. BTW, you should delete your post and send your phone number via PM for privacy IMO. Just lookin' out...

 

good idea, jimmy...
paxfo - or you can email me at paomien@optonline.net