ngerstman

I just got my e550 with p2 two weeks ago and only have 500 miles on the car. Does the sound get better as the stereo breaks in with some age. I find the base to be somewhat lacking. Not much low end and not much base slam. The treble and midrange sound pretty good, good definition, good balance and nice open sound. I know from my experience as an audiophile that electronics and especially speaker drivers can sound much better as they break in. Any thoughts from owners with more time on their stereos? The subs, which I think are in the rear deck, seem to be pretty small. It could be that they just didn't care to spend the time or money to do a better job in that area. Thanks. Ned.

DHI

Don't expect "Slamming Bass " in this car.

WGB

I have had H-K in both my ML's and the bass is way ahead of the E class HK Bass.

I have compensated by cranking up the bass to a couple of clicks near the max.

As a counterpoint the top end sound and separation is better but the sub-woofer is a bit sub par to me.

TV sound is much better though to my ears.

Bill

sosh

You will notice no change with time. It will remain the same which for me is just fine.

ipp

It would have been interesting to hear the sedan's sound system as well, I've only heard the wagon's and I think there is a lot of bass. From what I've understood the subwoofer is different placed in the rear deck of the sedan. And under the trunk floor in the wagon.

ngerstman

That is really disappointing to hear that the sound doesn't get meaningfully better over time. You would think that H-K, being the company that owns lots of high end audio brands such as Mark Levinson could figure out how to get better base out of the system. And now that all of the electronics are integrated, it makes it very hard to do after market mods. I had ripped the sound system out of my 2001 e55 and put in a killer system with focal utopia speakers, a pair of 11 inch JL audio subs and Zapco reference amps. I miss those days. While car stereos have gotten better, there is nothing like a true high end system in the close confines of the car environment. When done right can sound better than a super expensive home stereo. The car as a mobile living room!! Thanks. Ned.

pkancel

Ngerstman, I completely agree with you and by comparison, we have a 2006 BMW 550i with HK which sounds amazing and puts our 2010 E350 to shame. I have the Logic 7 on with Bass all of the way up but the only way you hear enough base is to turn the volume up considerably. With the BMW, I had to turn down the bass because at low volume it was overkill.

Possibly MB just didnt take the additional step or two with their HK since its part of the P1 Package and thats the most common. Our 03 E500 has the basic sounds system and has better bass at lower volumes.

ngerstman

I have noticed that the low base does seem to sound better as you crank up the volume. But one shouldn't have to listen at such high levels to get acceptable base. I have heard some BMW stereos and have generally been fairly impressed. Mercedes should be ashamed of themselves to come in second to BMW in this area. Thanks. Ned.

vselva

Music is personal. Bose and others may be good at miniaturizing speakers & subs, but my personal experience and believe is that in addition to tuning the electronics, a good quality SUSTAINABLE BASS can only be obtained from a larger (than 10") size sub whether in automobile, home or movie theater.

ngerstman

That is generally true. But there is room in the rear deck for a decent sub if they wanted to do it. You could also be creative with some equalization with smaller speaker drivers in a small sealed box as well. I'm not asking for earth shattering 20hz bass. Good bass down to 35-40hz would be great. And trust me, we don't have close to that. Thanks. Ned.

RNBRAD

Agree. It's kind of like the engine builders quote " there's no replacement for displacement". Same thing applies for bass output, size (cone area) is everything. You can only do so much with so little.

I think when the weather warms up in my area, a 12'' sub and a McIntosh MCC301 amplifier are going in. The market has changed so much it's hard to find the sound quality producing subs they had just 10 yrs ago. Quality was sacrificed for output. That's why I've kept all my older equipment, U.S. made stuff, now most everything is produced in China and quality has diminished greatly.

ngerstman

Do you have a real plan in mind to do this? I'm assuming line level from the current sub speaker wires into the amp. Where would you put the 12 inch sub? Sealed box mounted under rear deck or just hanging out in the trunk? I have yet to find a good free air sub. Thanks. Ned.

golfster

I noticed under the speaker shelf within the trunk of the E, that the speakers don't seem to be as well insulated as I have seen in other cars. I have zero expertise with stereo configuration and installation, but could it be some of our sound is getting lost into the trunk?

ngerstman

Not likely. Subs can either be designed to be in a sealed or ported box or be "free air" mounted. In the case of the box configuration, the speaker would be outputting its sound into the driving compartment as would be the case for a free air speaker mounted directly onto the rear deck. I think the sub is in the rear deck. It just doesn't move enough air and/or not well designed to make the best of a compromized situation. That said, other than the bass, I think the stereo sounds alright. But if you want to rock and roll, you need bass. Thanks. Ned.

RNBRAD

Yea tap into a speaker and the battery is right there, I've done this kind of stuff for years. I've been thinking center spare tire, MDF top and bottom, glass the sides, walla sealed box in center of the spare but I'll have to move the tools to the side. Mount amp flush with speaker surface then use a plexi cover with hole cut for sub and back painted black revealing the amp surface (like pics below in my single cab truck for example that I just finished). I'll probably take the floor cover that lifts up, cut a hole in it and replace with metal mesh for sound to go through but I will maintain the carpet surface. When done you would never know anything was done and when you lift up the carpet, it will look like a complete glass panel, only revealing sub surface and top view of amp (way stealth). I just want something worthy of a Benz, like something they would do if they put a sub and amp in the trunk. I just don't want to throw a speaker, amp, and box back there and call it done. This car to me deserves some attention to detail. In the end really nothing damaged or modified beyond repair and would be an easy reversal if I happen to ever sell the car. That's doubtful though as I still have my 04 E and plan on keeping it forever.

ngerstman

I still have my 2001 e55 that ripped the stock stereo out of. As I said above, I used Focal utopias, Pioneer premier p7 and p9(unbelievable digital crossovers and eq), JL audio subs and Zapco reference amps. I love a great stereo in my car. Nothing like the mobile living room!! I once tried a sealed box sub in the trunk of my e55 and did not like the results. The audio installer fabricated a fiber glass enclosure to fit in the trunk wheel well. Never warmed up to the sound. I always wondered if I didn't give it enough time to break in. Ended up using a pair of 11 inch JL audio free air woofers mounted in the rear deck. Sounded alright but not great. Never wanted to use up too much of my trunk with sub boxes. I still believe that the sound of my e550 stereo will get better with break-in but maybe not quite good enough. Regards. Ned.

RNBRAD

Bigger subs you will notice break in after about 10 to 15 hrs of play. These in the MB I doubt you would ever notice the diff. Love the Pion premier stuff, focal utops and the Zap reference amps (really high end stuff!! luv it!!) I currently use mcintosh amps (mc443 & mcc301m), alpine deck, MB quarts Q's, had fosgate symmetry, just pulled it out and put in the audio control DEQ, and use the esp-2 and epicenter. Miss my symmetry though. I have 2 kicker xpl 12's in a sealed enclosure (best sq speakers kicker ever made, they just marketed them wrong). Sealed enclosures in a car just really offer a better tonal balance in that area with smoother midbass transtition and lower bass freq extension. That's just sealed enclosure advantages I like. Some people prefer the efficiency of a ported or bandpass box with the 3db boost at tuned frequency. That's it's benefit. The problem though is a ported box may sound better as your pushing port sound and cone sound through all the trunk materials. It's really not a good area for subs. I'll just make up for it with more power. I put an L5 kicker in a sealed enclosure in my 08 civic and mounted a 300 watt class D kicker amp under the rear deck, replaced all the speakers but kept the stock headunit, I was surprised at how well it sounded. It made a world of difference. These cars though you just can't pull the head units like we use to.

ngerstman

You sound like a man after my own heart. I used to look forward to designing a great after market high end system in my cars. My all time favorite was in my 1995 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It had a late 1990's Alpine head unit(no amps), alpine mosfet amps that did not cost a fortune but sounded unbelievable(their other amps were merely ok), focal utopias and a sealed box 10 inch Alumapro sub that was the best sub I ever heard. I gave that car to my nephew and it now has 240,000 miles on it. He's a a huge classic rock fan, Dead Head and Phish phenatic and loves the stereo. If you ever do the stereo upgrade to the Mercedes, let us all know how it works out. I'll ponder the issue after I live with my e550 for a few months. Regards. Ned.

ngerstman

FYI. My e550 now has about 600 miles on it and the stereo does sound much better than it did 200 miles ago. Electronics need time to burn in and speaker drivers even longer. I hope it gets to the point that I'm mostly content and don't feel compelled to do after market surgery. Regards. Ned.

BenzE350

It's your imagination.

Like the "audiophiles" that can hear differences in speaker cables but can never pass a double blind test.

Arrie

I could also swear that bass in my car sound better now after 2000 miles than what it was brand new.

ngerstman

Not even close. The stereo sounds better in all parameters. More open, less harsh, better bass. And I do have $5,000 speaker cables(times three because I'm tri-amped!!!!). Speaker drivers can take hundreds of hours of play to sound their best, although I don't expect that to be the case with the Mercedes system. Regards. Ned.

sosh

Changed for the better?? Believe you have a vivid imagination. There is really no break in period for electronics or for that matter speakers. Really do not understand what the complaints are about. Did you purchase an automobile or a concert hall??

RNBRAD

Not sure how much experience you have with speakers beyond just listening (I think very minimal), but when you buy a new speaker, it's suspension system is rather stiff (butyl rubber and spider), cone is hard to move in and out and it just has significantly more resistance to movement. Now after you play this speaker for several hours to days and then move the cone with your hand, you will notice a significant difference in the ease of cone movement. Now do you think this could at all be attributed to a different sound? Actually I've experienced this with just about every subwoofer I've ever bought over the last 25 yrs, and has always been a significant difference. Speaker manufacturers even tell you to wait till after break in period for optimum performance (like a car motor). After break in the speakers suspension actually becomes significantly less resistant to movement allowing your system to be more efficient thus producing more output under the same amount of power input. This is almost like a speakers performance in the winter time too with cold temps, speaker suspension stiffens up when it gets cold and subs sound like crap. Wish they would make the suspension out of material that didn't stiffen up when cold.

ngerstman

Are you for real? Yes electronics do have break-in periods. And as the above post says, the rubber surrounds on speaker drivers do also break-in. Even the smallest of speaker drivers, tweeters, have suspensions that require break-ins. I have been an audio hobbyist for 30+ years and have experienced speakers and electronics that sound dramatically better over time. I have installed after market high end stereos in many of my past cars that sounded astounding, as good or better than $50,000 home high end stereos. Music has been a big part of my life since I was a kid and I still love classic rock, classic jazz and contemporary banks such as Radio Head, Muse or Arcade Fire to name a few. If music or the quality of your car audio sound system aren't important to you fine. My point of starting this thread was to get some discussion going about this topic and how much better the system might get as I put more miles on the car, not if the sound got better. I knew that it would. And while the sound of e550 stereo appears to be pretty good IMO, the bass most certainly could be better. And no matter how good the rest of frequency response is, you can't rock and roll without great bass. Like I said, I like to think of my car as the mobile living room and my living room has always had a great sound system. Regards. Ned.