I read somewhere on the internet (can't remember where) that by opening/ removing the access door for the sub woofer/rear fuse panel the base would be sound much better.
The poster stated that MB should have placed a speaker grill into that compartment so the base would not be completely enclosed.
The poster also stated that they design speakers for sound systems and that the Germans are lousy at sound systems.
To get to the point, the posting stated that 2009 GLs were coming from the factory with this sub woofer speaker grill installed and that it looked easy to retrofit an 07 or 08 GL.
Can someone with a 2009 verify that there is a speaker grill installed for the sub woofer? Could someone post pics? The MB web site doesn't show any pics of this are. My dealer is 60 miles away otherwise I would just run over there and check.
Thanks

 

The 2009 GLs still have a door and not the grill. I have been trying to think of a way to just make a grill that fits right where the door currently exists. I know that the MLs have a grill on the left side of the cargo area so I don't know why they didn't do this for the GLs. I'm gonna have to try leaving the door off to see if there is really a big difference. I also have an Alpine V12 amp and JLW6 in factory enclosure that I had in my Honda Pilot that I have been thinking of installing to replace the OEM setup.

Don't have pics of the door but will see if I can take some when I get home from work.

 

I went by the dealer yesterday and looked at the 09 MLs.
The speaker grill looks great! I asked why the same fix wasn't applied to the GLs? He said he would raise the question with MB.
It makes a huge difference in base sound quality removing the access door, but I will have to figure out how to install a speaker grill but still look nice.

 

Good luck with that.

 

I did see a post where someone installed a round grill on their ML. Thy also posted pictures. See if a search in the ML side will give you some clues.
Also the factory now uses a rectangular grill with their round speaker!! Go figure.

 

Hmm, sounds like its time for some modifications...

Question... is the grill in the access panel or in front of the speaker itself? If it is in the access panel, I wonder if one could purchase the 09 access panel and put it in an 07.

 

The rectangular grill is placed directly in front of the bass subwoofer horn (for lack of a better word). On the ML the sub horn points inward to the back compartment (sub is mounted on its side).
On my GL the sub horn points up. Opening up the compartment access door improves sound quality so I am betting that a speaker grill should work well even if the horn is not pointed directly at it. I will search the ML forum and see what I can find.

 

The acess door with grill used on the ML will not fit the GL. It is narrower.

 

stupid newbie question...where is the subwoofer? I gues there is so little bass from this sytem that i can't tell where it is coming from.

also, since most people complain about bass in this car, and since it has sooo many speakers for treble and midrange, what about replacing the driver door speakers with small woofers/subwoofers?

 

right-rear of vehicle.

see:

http://mercedes.harmankardon.com/brochures/gl-class.pdf

and

http://mercedes.harmankardon.com/en/...technical.aspx

 

thanks I found it.

I do agree the bass sounds noticeably bettern with the cover door off.

I am surprised by now that nobody has tried to modify that door with a speaker grill by cutting a big hole and gluing or screwing a grill on. Wonder how much that door is, maybe getting a spare to mess with it.

Also, I wonder if the reason there is less bass with the door has to do with the padding on that door that might absorb all the sound..anyone just try taking that padding off the door?

 

The reason for the closed , padded panel is to keep tire/road noise from intruding into cabin for the times when you are not blasting the stereo .
Look into that subwoofer compartment ( which unfortunately also probably also acts as a wheel well echo chamber because of it's location ) ) and you can tap the sheet metal of the exterior. If the sub were under drivers seat like many other vehicles, its sound waves would not be " enclosed ".

It's probably MBZs need to have their flagship luxury SUV approximate " Lexus quiet" on test drives .

 

Changing speakers and/or subwoofers will probably not do very much good. The H-K system digitally limits the very low end bass response (using both compression and EQ). They do this so that they can get the maximum performance out of the cheap little 6 1/2 sub they chose to install. It's called "value engineering" and may be an infection they caught from Chrysler. Instead of installing a proper 8" or 10" or even 12" (Lexus) sub like the Japanese manufacturers do, they listened to their marketing department who said that most of their customers were old and tone deaf and didn't really care, so they cut corners (costs) on the sub.

I have been considering doing some sub work on my ML550, but the digital EQ (which I have measured) would required additional electronics to "counter EQ" what they've and thus makes the likelihood of a good result very low. Too bad, because the H-K system could have been world class.

- FD

 

I honestly did not know (after 2 and a half years) that my GL had this many speakers. I would definitely agree that the bass is lacking but my major complaint is the (lack of) clarity of the speakers. I don't know if the root of my complaint is from the speakers or the amp (or both). Has the system been changed/improved at all since the original (2007) GL's?

 

I don't know about everyone else but when I compared my GL550 HK to my GS350 ML Premium sound system and my CLk bose. My GL550 wins.
I played the same CD track in different volum levels and on system default/max bass.

I think its safe to say that my hearing sense is better then adverage due to my band days but I still think my GL wins on overall sound quality. The GS sound system seems slightly clearer on higher volums.