stroll.blares0s

The bass seems off/very distorted on my 2014 E350 wagon. At first, I thought it was the subwoofer but after playing around with the fader and balance, it seems like the front driver side speaker is going bad/has gone bad? Here's a video I recorded: https://youtube.com/shorts/Un6eoqGuFlA?feature=share.

How common is this on the W212? Right now, it's a bit annoying but can live with it for the time being.

pierrejoliat

I believe if you scroll through the threads on blown speakers, you'll find I think that the 2014 had a particular issue with blowing speakers, I also think I remember in those threads something about they had issues with the amps as well, but I'm not sure

2014 E350 Crackling Noise/Smoke From Front Speaker

CaliBenzDriver

Replace the speakers by pair with better ones!
Rigid diaphragms not built out of cardboard-fiber like OEM.

Usually the main W212 trunk amplifier goes bad before the speakers are given a chance to smoke. The digital sound system uses one amplifier per speaker channel to prevent any power lose in bandpass filters. This offers a super clean output response.

So at the end of the day, you want to refurb both AMP + SPK for lasting joy.
Don't blow your audio budget on any single item.
👍

stroll.blares0s

Thanks. Seems like this probably already happened since the front driver side speaker was already like this when I bought it. Any speaker and amp recommendations? Seems like I would need to replace the amp before putting in new speakers? I'd probably just replace the two front door speakers at this point.

CaliBenzDriver

Ok, it seems you're going in the right direction. Here I am going to advocate not replacing 100% to new, only as needed. This is the easy way to cap total costs.

Before putting names and prices on sound supplies... Let's try to define what is to be done.

(Budget between 1,000 to 3,000)

If i had to work out this problem I would concider fixing with minimal tab, that would be front speakers only and perhaps in addition of an amp + Fiber adapter.

You can expect your front doors have 3 channels you are welcome to rewire as you see fit... such as L+ R (2 channels with band-pass filters instead of 6 independent channels. Use a 4+1 channel amplifier to drive that in addition of what remains until it gets switched to that new 4+1 amp.

There are many ways to get this done. Go the way that best meet your goals.

stroll.blares0s

Just curious, what causes the OEM HK amp to go/start to go back in the first place? Should I replace the existing amp with another HK amp (like from eBay)? It might be a few more months until I really look into this but it kind of annoyed me over the weekend, especially considering the Mark Levinson system in my 2006 Lexus LS 430 is still intact and sounds better at the moment.