ajm0824

Well I finally had enough of the infamous farting 260mm woofer!!
(Those of you who have Harmon Kardon Stereo will know what I mean)

Gonna build, this weekend, sealed sub box w/ 2 10" subs powered by 300X1 Rockford Fozgate amp and, in the process, put the offending subwoofer out to pasture.

I've read that just bout all posts here regarding upgrades... Seen some completed jobs that look good (Kycee), but no real photos of amp install..


I Know:

1. I can pick up the 12V turn on and high level signal by the audio gateway/amp (Left trunk)
2. Battery is right back there for power & houldn't have trouble finding a good ground
3. Sub box should be heavy enough not to move (But I'll see if I have to brace it)
4. Since I'm using the line out of the amp for the sub it probably won't affect the overall logic 7 since the crossover points should be close (Sub for Sub)
5. Should be an easy upgrade as simple copper is going from the universal amp to the unpowered speakers and not some fiber...whew

Things I'm not so sure of:

1. Do I need to disble the mic on the HK7.. temporarly or permanite? Saw this somewhere but not sure why... maybe due to the auto level control of the system volume tied to noise???
2. Never really seen the amp setup.. or event the wiring/connectors Anybody have pictures of an actual install, connectors, or exposed amp? Rear deck?
3. Not sure how clean the amp install will untimatly look.. gotta remember to be neat Scorchie... have any of those nifty little wiring harness' made out of mb parts available?
4. Not sure if I'll need to remove the old subwoofer from the rear deck to let the base breathe.. I know bass is not directionall and should radiate... but not sure how well the passenger compartment is sealed off (No fold down seat option ;( ) And if I do remove... not sure how hard that would be.

Any last minute ideas/advise from u quasi audiophile/technical mechanics?

I'll be sure to post my experience/photos here once complete so some of you thinking bout it can learn from my mistakes (hopefully not too may of them)

Thanks

CE750

Scortchie has something on this in the Audio forum.. do a search for subwoofer and Harmon Kardon.. he claims that you're hard pressed to get better sound due to the mounting of this particular woofer.

W211 Ryda

Last time I spoke to Scorchie, he said he has the wiring harness available. Here is his thread describing about it.

https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w211/100575-wiring-harness-adding-amplifier-subwoofer.html

ajm0824

Yeah I know about this harness for some time. Sent him message recently to see if still were avail but no reply yet.

Thanks!

Vader55

yes to 1 and 4

ajm0824

U mean better than the stock sub woofer. I find that a bit hard to beleive hard to beleive.My search in the audio forums brought up a discussion about a "basslink" . I'l be building a box with 2 sealed 10" or 12" powered by 300+ RMS power. That I should say would be more than beter.


Thanks!

ajm0824

1. I have to disable the mic? really? how do I do that? where's it located?
2. You would recommend removing the existing sub? is it difficult?

thx

Vader55

Well if you do not... You will be riding down the road let say with the volume low..and all the sudden...BAM !! The volume spikes to roof and blows your head off ( has happened to me) lol ! As far as the disable of it.. You have to hook up to the car computer.. Just go in there and get rid of the the sub.. you have to use your judgement there.

ajm0824

"up to the car computer".. u mean star diagnose (at the shop) or am I able to do this myself?

Am I disabling the Sub or the Mic?

No hardware removal involved? just the software change?


Thanks again.

Vader55

yes the MIC, no hardware, but try to find someone other than the dealer to do it.. Too pricey...Call some audio/stereo shops on the high end scale...You should be able to find someone who has done this before..

ajm0824

Well...Nearly done building the box... Waiting for some misc supplies.

• - Dual Kicker 10" Comp Sealed Chamber Box (1.5 ft3 per chamber; box wired to single 4 ohm load)
• - Rockford Fozgate 4002 amp (400x1 RMS into 4ohm)

Went w/ Duel 10" sealed cause I wanted nice clean acurate bass that not too boomy.. Sealed is less efficient than ported but amp should be plenty capable. Should sound nice ... gave them a bit of xtra room.


Gonna mount the amp on the box... and build adaptor to easily remove whole contraption in one shot (1 for pwr/gnd/12vto & one for patch cables/signal)

Amp has a pretty cool wired bass boost/reduction remote. Hoping to find a way to wireup to center console... has 10ft cable included..any sugestions to wire this cable to the center console from the trunk (would luv to have access from there)?

Still wondering on...

• how I'm gonna get the mic disabled on my HK7 or if I truely need to
• Should I remove the stock sub or will it be ok to leave(unwired)\
• How to wire bass boost/remote from trunk to center console...might have to leave it in the trunk for now

BTW: I disconnected the stock sub for the past week... and the stereo actually sounds better then when attached and cracking...lol


I'll post pics of box install/build shortly..anybody interested in wiring for the amp, I'll try and take as many pics as possible.

Thanks.

ajm0824

Build/Install complete
Went pretty will. After some prep, built the box (mostly) one sat afternoon and finished & installed another sat.

Disconnected the stock sub and installed

1 box - 2 Kicker Comp 10in subs
Rockford Fosgate 4002 (400rms) amplifier


Pretty straightforward install. All that is necessary is back in the trunk.
Could have made the box a bit smaller but plenty of cargo room left.
Gave the added space for the box to help the sound.

I might have hammered in a tack with an anvil but done with the subwoofer installed.. lets just say when the box/amp is running at 15-35% capacity/limit it will suit the tast of most when i comes to nice full low end to accompany most any music well... and when running over 75% of capacity you'd better bring a hankerchif to wipe the tears uncontrollably generated from your eyes...
:v

I guess in my zelous quest motivated by frustration from the stock sub I went a bit overboard... still happy. I run it bout 25-30% to sound nice and full all around without being ghetto.

No damage to any xisting wires/harnesses... within 15min I can bring the car back to stock, if need be.

Best part is that since I built/installed the whole thing myself it cost under $500

Any questions on the install.. feel free to ask.
Thanks

CE750

While I'm very impressed with your handy work and the final product looks very professional, I still don't see what the problem was with the original sub? I listen to mostly rock and classical mind you and not Rap (or what ever it's called these days).. but I found it carried a good bit of bass.

BudC

It's my very humble opinion that people modifying their audio systems in cars have never heard real bass. All they've heard is the Ghetto Blaster type of distorted boom boxes.

I suggest that if you want to hear real bass, go to a very high end audio store and listen to the 30" pedal of a pipe organ on world class speakers. That will be real bass.

Of course my opinion of what's real music probably differs from a lot of posters too

ATS

Yeah true, to hear a real bass tone of 20hz requires a room 40 feet wide and 40ft tall and that is for one oscillation (sp??). And you don't really hear it, just feel it..

A lot of these guys want a sound that you can hear out of the car.. Heavy heavy bass (mid to high bass) for dance/rap music..

The best was a post here about a guy complaining because when he put his car beside a BMW the BMW sounded better.. Although not in the car, outside the car.. So funny..

CE750

In my car, I listen to various works on Organ, including just recently the famous Tecata & fugue in D minor by JS Bach, and it sounded just fine for me!

fubar

Has anyone done a sub install that was just right?

fubar

ajm0824

I don't think that would ever really compare audio properties in such an environment as an automobile to a proper sized, dimensioned, built static room, insulated from the outside world.

What began me on this path was sheer frustration. Just so happened that the weakest link (IMO) with this setup was the infinite baffle subwoofer mounted awkwardly in the rear deck such that when at 60%+ of volume capacity, which comparatively speaking is rather low (again IMO), I get to hear substantial distortion coming from the sub.

And after repeated attempt to appeal to the service department to isolate and fix... they told me I was imagining things. So baring the need for psychotherapy I decided to take matters into my own hands.


I've yet been able to audition every genre of music (and BTW I listen to just about everything, so long as its good):

• Obviously (heavy bass genres) like dance now provide for much more boom to the passenger room.
• Most noticeable improvement, surprisingly enough, was when listening to Rock. Low end is very accurate and sounds like I'm hearing parts of the song as it was intended (what I was hoping for by going with smaller diameter, sealed drivers)

When gained & cut properly it's not overbearing.


If I had to do it over again, I could have gone with 1 sealed 10" and been happy...(I actually got the 2nd sub for free so figured what the hell)... But, acoustically speaking, no way would I have been better off (regardless of what music I listed to) by reverting to the stock setup.


It would be great if Merc applied even an quasi baffled approach, or even sealed sub... mounted well.. not to mention... and I'm no expert in this field... the paper-thin quality of the stock sub seemed horrid... I’m surprised it effectively pushed any air at all.


That said if my experience only served as reinforcement for you not to upgrade... at least it served...

PHXATC

Don't forget to add your tune mods to you signature line now.

I like it...coulda been smaller, but like you said, 2nd woofie was free!

ajm0824

yippie.. thanks for the reminder...got a few to add. wheels, tint, subwoofer, grill/flat emblem...


I actualy ordered some zaino this week. gonna dress the car up and take some photos..

BTW: Heard wonderful things with zaino (I'll leave that to the detailing forum)