The Alpine CD changer I put in my W126 can play MP3 even though I don't know what MP3 is.

 

I already have the MP3 player sitting in my room, I do not want to shell out that much more money, plus 6 discs in the trunk are annoying, you cant replace CD while car is moving. Also my MPD head unit has remote and everything.

 

hahaha, it is annoying to have the cd changer in the trunk. But better than none. With 6 disks to listen to, by the time they finished, probably a good time to stop for gas anyway. So, I would change the magzine at the same time. You'd get used to ti and don't think so much after a while.

 

yes but again, replacing head unit would be FREE, i just take out old one and pop in new one. I would not have to spend MORE $$ buying 6 disc changer. so its not cost effective at all to do that.

 

In my case, I need the MB head unit for the phone. NO choice. IF not, I would put the Alpine flip up display headunit in and use it like the command. So, the W126 got the Alpine instead.

 

Man all of you guys should be fortunate to even have this 12 speaker bose! I went through alot of trouble with the w126 to get decent sound.

I would just replace that Bose amp and leave everything original....I learned on other cars that aftermarket only helped with clarity of sound but the bass was worse cause the stock speakers had deeper bass and that was including the 126 speakers.

 

Benzonline,

You're incorrect. Are you saying that aftermarket speakers are clearer but have less bass than stock Bose speakers? If so then you're wrong. High end aftermarket speakers are straight BETTER than the 10+ year old stock Bose speakers in the W140 in EVERY aspect (bass and clarity). The reason the bass is worse with aftermarket speakers is because the stock Bose amp has crossover settings to match the stock Bose speakers. Those settings just do not bring out the full potential of aftermarket speakers. However, if one changed the speakers AND the amp, I guarantee that the sound will be MUCH better than Bose. This is why altering a Bose system is an "all or nothing" deal. Everything in this system is built to work together to reproduce optimum sound so if one changes one aspect, the sound quality suffers. The only alteration to Bose systems that does the least damage to sound quality is changing the head unit. The amp and speakers MUST either be kept together or thrown out entirely otherwise musical imbalance is inevitable.

Sidd

 

Hey Sidd,
I agree with the speaker placement thing and that benefit of having them fire at you. But, I like them a little higher and in the door for stock looks and closer to my ear. True, you get far clearer midrange and tweet if they fire at you, like the principle of a ribbon tweeter's presence. They have to fire at you to get them to sound good.
For keeping them in the door, I'd put the tweeter (in our cars) in between the mid and the woofer. For better clarity, the mid and the tweet should face you, so you can fiberglass them at and angle in the stock location so they fire at you for proper imaging. Shouldn't get in the way either. What do you think about that idea? You get the benefits of the kick pod, without getting in the way of your feet, and they stay in the doors. That would be pretty cool. Also, take a look at the door panels of the 928. You'll notice they have the mid and tweeter right next to each other at the top of the door, and if you take off the cover, they have the tweeters angled at the driver on the later models. Some of the nicest and cleanest sound I've heard were from systems in those cars.
About the Adire Audio stuff. Dan Wiggins is the most stereo and technologically savvy guy I know. Anything to do with audio he knows, and knows the hows and whys of it too. The magnet is so large because the movement of the voice coils is so long, that the magnet needs to be that large to cover it. I'm going to stop by and talk with him about us working on the stereo in the mercedes, but I'd like to see what your ideas for this car would be, as it never hurts to have another opinion. I have two different complete setups, so a third would be nice. Email or message me it. You know, his Shiva subwoofers are also quite good too. I used two of those in my old BMW and they sounded very nice. Let me know what you think about the benz and also the fiberglassed speaker aiming in the doors.

 

Dual 5Ls,

I sent you a PM but something was wrong with the site so I don't know if you actually got it. Let me know if you didn't.

Sidd

 

ok guys, Even more confused about the amp.....

I thought the amp was broken. HOWEVER, when i used my car kit attached to portable CD player (through tape deck) the system sounded PERFECT, i tested it for 1 hour, not a single problem. ONLY the tuner messes up, make loud hissing popping sounds? WHY is this? is the tuner in the head unit bad or did the antenna connection go bad (i only get poor reception).

good news: I don't need a new amp

Bad news, I may need a new headunit unless i can just live with CD.

SIdd, Dual5 what u guys think?

 

What kind of noise? The kind you get when you don't get good reception? If so, it's your antenna. If not, it's the tuner on the deck (which RARELY goes bad). If it's the tuner, I'm sure it can be fixed by Becker. I thought you wanted to change your head unit though?

Sidd

 

well what u guys said made it seem like it was not possible, and I have short this Portable MP3 CD player in the arm rest and hard wire to so that its almost completely hidden (minus the tape adapter in teh tape deck) and then I can sell my head unit for alot of $$ (I got teh portable one for free, and it comes with a wired remote which i can mount anywhere). so I never listen to radio when i had MP3 CD player so i dont think its an issue at all. I don't even have preset stations on my MP3 headunit, thats how little i used radio. but the sound from the CD player in stock system is AMAZING, so i think i will just keep it like that. thanks

 

Are you talking about the SlimX MP3 portable player? That one has this little remote control LCD thing. It's pretty handy.

Anyway, if you're going that route, might I suggest buying a headphone amp? It plugs into the line out/headphone jack of the player and you'd plug your cassette adapter to its output. The sound is MUCH BETTER! When listening with quality headphones the music sounds like it's coming from expensive high end audio equipment. I tried it in a car and the sound is great. The amps start at $119 but I figured that if you're selling your deck, you can afford an even better amp. Just a thought.

Sidd

 

Hi sidd,

Its the Audiophase slim MP3 CD player, the the narrowest and one of the slimmest, it only cost $35 too (i got it for free though). The on I have the wired remote plugs into the headphone jack on teh CD player, then the headphones (or Tape deck adapter ) plug into that . the remote has skip-- and skip + as well as play, pause and stop. seems very hand that way no one can actually see the CD player. Also i can mount the remote on the drivers side of the center console so only I can really see it. I can use velcro and then wire the wiring through the center console so it won't look ghetto..

Is there an audio input on the stock bekker stereo? like a headphone jack styel, if so that would be perfect, but if not then i guess my way is ok as well. thanks

 

OmeyHomey,

Check your glove box. I don't know what year your car is but some models have an AUX input in there. It's much better than cassette adapter.

Sidd

 

i know the C32 has it but thats a 03 model, mine is nearly 10 years older. I'll check though. thanks for the idea

 

what 6 disc changers work with the bose system??? I was thinking that the portable CD player is kinda ghetto and annoying plus the sound could be better, trebles are too high and bass is not enough. its not crisp enough sound. any ideas?

 

Alpine, with an adapter. I have the Alpine unit and the adapter from my 1997 E320 which will work in the S. Let me know if you would like it. I can also send you a picture of it.

 

Meanwhile, 6 years later...

I read this thread several times before I took the leap, but I'm stuck on a problem that I didn't see described here. I'm hoping someone that's dealt with this before can help. Please see my post in the Audio forum about replacing stock head unit and amp, and the ensuing interference in the system.

thanks guys...

Brandon