luxury1

Does the Harmon Kardon system have an Amp with it? If so, does anyone know how many watts it is? I am thinking about replacing it with another amp to get more power...

DWP

If you mean a physically separate power amp, the answer is "yes", and I believe that it's located in the left rear fender ... correct me if I'm wrong. The total output of the HK amp has been quoted here as 420 watts, although amp power ratings, like horsepower ratings, should be approached with caution.

ATS

Watts is really a silly thing when it comes to stereos.

Some items are rated 1 Billion watts and sound like junk.. Some are rated conservative and sound great..

Listen to whatever you are going to replace it with first..

gmdebruyn

does the amp power all the speakers or just the subwoofer?

where is the HK subwoofer located anyway? does anyone know, or better, have a picture?

scorchie

It powers all the speakers. The subwoofer is located in the center of the parcel shelf. If you lift up that grill on the parcel shelf, you can see the speaker. If you lay in your trunk face up looking at the parcel shelf, you can see the speaker.

There's a post in this forum with the various speaker sizes and how much amplifier wattage each channel is.

-s-

scorchie

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...ighlight=260mm

gmdebruyn

thanks scorchie! i get my e55 in 29 days and counting.

if i wanted to replace the sub with one of these aurasound subs, could i do it w/o adding a box? i want to conserve space, but i've heard that the bass provided by the HK sub isn't so much.

http://www.aurasound.com/mobileaudio/body.html

260mm = 10 inches and small small change. would it work?
i realize i'd have to add an amp, but that shouldn't be too hard to do and the output to the regular amp for the sub could be rerouted to the new sub amp.

where are you in the bay area scorchie? i'm local as well. i just ordered some parts from Steve.

Gareth

gmdebruyn

any chance you know the enclosure size and type (ported/non-ported) for the 2005 E55?

if i can just swap out the sub and possibly add another amp to take care of business i will be very excited. i can leave my trunk with the little space it would have left!

Gareth

W211 Ryda

Might be a different layout for the 2005s, but hope it helps.

scorchie

I would doubt that any of those speakers would fit in the existing HK location. First, you need a speaker that is infinite baffle (free air). Secondly, the dual voice coils of the HK system are in the neighborhood of 2-3 ohms, so a replacement speaker would need to be similar impedence or else suffer a power loss.

I have a picture of the enclosure removed from the car; I took the picture specifically to give people an idea of what they would be getting into before they start having dreams about just replacing the speaker. I'll see if I can dig it up.

A better solution might be to remove the speaker, and mount something else below the deck with some dynamat to seal it to the deck, and mount your own amplifier so as to eliminate the electrical requirements of the HK system.

We're on the peninsula; it's possible that your parts are here or on their way here (are you in Danville? If so then I've heard of your plight). You're welcome to come see the parts I've sourced to be the solution for my E 55. I've patterned it similar to the way kyee has done, you can search on his username for more info for his setup.

-s-

gmdebruyn

The 10" Aurasound MR I think will do the job. It's rated just around 3 ohms. However, I agree with you. I'd probably take the HK amp out of the mix for simplicity sake and to be able to give the sub more and dedicated power.

The Aurasound is a dual voice coil as well. I would prefer to avoid the infinite baffle to get a little tighter response from the driver. Ported would be tough, but if I can somehow rig a enclosed box below it, and make it airtight, again i'd be in business. Your dynamat solution is something I'd consider, but again I need to make it clean.

If you have that picture, I'd love to see it before I having any more delusions of grandeur about how this could work.

Yea, I'm in Danville. I'm tied up for the next 3 weeks on a project, but I'd love to see your setup at some point.

I took a look at kyee's setup, but I'd actually like to avoid that route as it eats up some trunk space. If I can get this other way to work I'd be much happier.

Do you have any pictures of the Audio gateway/HK amp? I need to talk to some people and see if I can get the right connectors so that moving the sub output over to a new amp is an easy task.

This board is so great! I don't even have my car yet, but I've got a few projects neatly mapped out. So much trial and error is avoided.

Cheers,
Gareth

rbordel

Assuming the HK sound system on an E55 is the same as the HK system all the other E class models, the subwoofer is open to the trunk, approximating an infinite baffle arrangement. It's performance is not impressive. If you really want solid bass, you're going to have to sacrifice some trunk space to accomodate an enclosure and better driver. The amplifier itself may be okay, if it really puts out 140 clean watts into the subwoofer channel. Assuming a good subwoofer / enclosure system will have a sensitivity (measured at a distance of 1 meter) of about 90dB / watt, a 140 watt amplifier would be good for a SPL of about 111 dB, which should be loud enough for most people with normal hearing.

gmdebruyn

i guess my question boils down to is there a way to attach an enclosure to the car, and to the trunk side of the deck (top of trunk), and make it airtight with the sub driver. a guy can dream i guess, but i'll have to see if this is doable.

nizzle

oooold thread!! sub'd for diagram