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First post to the forum, been reading a lot of the topics on here but can't seem to find exactly what I'm looking for.
To cut a long story short, I have an S350, equipped with the Bang & Olufsen system. It's a fantastic car and great sound system.
Problem is, I had an Audi A8 prior, with the Bose system, and whilst the B&O certainly is clearer and more crystal, it does not have the "punch" that the bose had.
This in mind, I'm wondering if there's any guide on how I can (without destroying the electrical systems, and as neatly as possible) get another subwoofer put in the car, best locations, how to wire it in, recommendations in general basically... so I can have a nice heart-crushing B-line in addition and on top of the existing B&O setup.
I am looking into small sub. I don't think it needs much but definitely needs some punch. I don't have anything yet as far as information, but soon.
Where are you located
Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I mean the B&O is a great system, but there needs to be more feel to the bass. What have you found so far?
I also have a rattle out the rear parcel shelf under bass, I assume perhaps something has fallen into the cover for the B&O parcel shelf speaker... but I cannot for the life of me work out how to open it up safely to inspect. Any documentation on this?
No worries. I'd like to find the correct way to take the cover off the rear parcel shelf speaker without causing any damage.
Additionally, and most importantly, I need a way to put some good bass back into this car!
I have a s350L and the Harmon Kardon system which was lacking bass so i removed the grill on back shelf and ripped the sub out it has x4 plastic posts that hold it in place i then disconnected the sub which is dual voice coil so x2 cables and re routed them back into boot you have to take the lining out of boot for this by the way! high to low converter spliced into these x2 cables then rca cable into amp, Run a 4Awg cable from boot to front on passenger side under foot part of passenger side there is a block which brings power from battery connected to it earthed
[QUOTE=1975benz;7061919]I have a s350L and the Harmon Kardon system which was lacking bass so i removed the grill on back shelf and ripped the sub out it has x4 plastic posts that hold it in place i then disconnected the sub which is dual voice coil so x2 cables and re routed them back into boot you have to take the lining out of boot for this by the way! high to low converter spliced into these x2 cables then rca cable into amp, Run a 4Awg cable from boot to front on passenger side under foot part of passenger side there is a block which brings power from battery connected to it earthed amp then got a handmade 15" subwoofer box resign lined to spec of boot measurements then filled it with a 4000 watt 15" sub so now i have the perfect system with earth shaking bass with a car that looks stock got a controller up the front to turn it up and down it took me a long time doing it properly but man does it sound deep!!
Try some EQ first. If that's an improvement you may want to do a DSP/amp like the Bit One or Prima vs a sub in the trunk.
There are a couple of good EQ apps for IPhone (EQu) and there's also a DSP app (Aural Xciter) that will give you a good idea of how your stock system performs when you compensate for the very thin factory EQ. I think MB chokes their systems back to avoid dealing with complaints about rattles, but the HK subs sound terrific once they're fed more signal. They hit so hard I was concerned they were going to blow themselves up but they were absolutely fine. I did have to Hushmat the doors to keep them from rattling the innards though.
The HK gets two 8" dual coil shallow mount subs in the doors and an 8x12 on the rear shelf. The BO gets conventional woofers in the doors and two more on the rear shelf, so it's possible it needs more help on the low end than the HK.
There's also a write up in the link in my sig about a cheap but very effective mod to add a physical EQ in the glove box that sounds amazing for what it costs. It requires an aux in though (2010+ or 07-09 with an aux in/iPod kit)
The issue with a sub box in the trunk is that the trunk is so damn vault-like it takes a lot of power to have it affect the cabin. (Like two 15's and 4000 watts )
A lot of what makes bass punchy is actually mid bass, which is the territory of the 6" woofers in the cabin. The nice thing about having them on a DSP amp is that they can be tuned individually and blended with the factory sub to hit the way you like.
I was hoping there's some simple method in plugging in a new sub and having it fitted well so as to not protrude or look unsightly wherever it is placed.
Tossing in a new subwoofer in the same spot as the old one will not fix what you want it to. Mike is right that these systems have poor equalization. Thankfully for you the B&O system does a better job at hitting the right tones than the HK in the older models. I assume that you're young by the fact that you want to ruin the music with a bunch more bass. That can likely be achieved with Mike's solution as the stock system likely isn't utilizing everything it can due to the very limited equalization capabilities. But at least yours sound more pure than what we have with the HK where the mids are turned up artificially high.
Tossing in a new subwoofer in the same spot as the old one will not fix what you want it to. Mike is right that these systems have poor equalization. Thankfully for you the B&O system does a better job at hitting the right tones than the HK in the older models. I assume that you're young by the fact that you want to ruin the music with a bunch more bass. That can likely be achieved with Mike's solution as the stock system likely isn't utilizing everything it can due to the very limited equalization capabilities. But at least yours sound more pure than what we have with the HK where the mids are turned up artificially high.
No, incorrect assumption - I'm not that young! I have a 2010 S Class, that I paid extra for a B&O system, that to my ears is terribly underwhelming in the low-end. I have adjusted the EQ on COMAND and it is a step in the right direction, but not enough.
To be clear, I do not want to 'toss' a new woofer in place of the old one. Like I said in my original post, I want to add another subwoofer to compliment the existing system.
I fear you have a slight judgemental tone, hopefully I'm merely misinterpreting your post - but if so I'm sorry for whoever has caused you to have a bad day. But surely as someone who wants to come across as someone who knows a lot about music, you will understand that some genres of music as opposed to others, require a different sound type. What works for opera, does not work for baritone classical. So thank you, but I know what I am asking for - and it is not to 'ruin' my music.
No, incorrect assumption - I'm not that young! I have a 2010 S Class, that I paid extra for a B&O system, that to my ears is terribly underwhelming in the low-end. I have adjusted the EQ on COMAND and it is a step in the right direction, but not enough.
To be clear, I do not want to 'toss' a new woofer in place of the old one. Like I said in my original post, I want to add another subwoofer to compliment the existing system.
I fear you have a slight judgemental tone, hopefully I'm merely misinterpreting your post - but if so I'm sorry for whoever has caused you to have a bad day. But surely as someone who wants to come across as someone who knows a lot about music, you will understand that some genres of music as opposed to others, require a different sound type. What works for opera, does not work for baritone classical. So thank you, but I know what I am asking for - and it is not to 'ruin' my music.
Well that being said your solution is to splice a high to low converter into the existing subs then add a amp im using a jl audio they are very good then add a sub in your boot/ trunk it can be a 10" 12" or like me a 15" sub box should be tuned to 30 or 35hz ported you can use a bass controller for amp or a generic controller upfront to turn bass up or down job done!! oh you will have to rip out the cones of stock subs so air can pass from boot into car or you can have them removed but that will cost ALOT because you have to remove backseats and shelf to get to them so i just ripped out cones instead just pulled the cover which is behind rear head rests and subs are underneath your not going to use them again so it doesnt matter!! i did it to get very very low bass which is all about air movement, your system is balanced so as you turn it up because the sub is fed from stock system so as highs increase the bass will in a balanced fashion i have no regrets and love how it sounds!!
That sounds perfect, a lot of work indeed. How long did it take you to do or did you ask a specialist to do it? I'm not too bothered about the cost, but time is not really on my side when it comes to having a whole day free
What about mounting a small sub beneath the seats in the cabin itself? Or is that unadvisable?
And yes, I've previously heard the clarity on the JL subs, very impressed with them!
That sounds perfect, a lot of work indeed. How long did it take you to do or did you ask a specialist to do it? I'm not too bothered about the cost, but time is not really on my side when it comes to having a whole day free
What about mounting a small sub beneath the seats in the cabin itself? Or is that unadvisable?
And yes, I've previously heard the clarity on the JL subs, very impressed with them!
like yourself i dont really have that much time but yes i did it all myself one weekend i did all wiring in boot one day running cables to front for amp and controller and one day ripping out stock subs mounting jl audio amp connecting up and tuning alot of people dont set up there amps properly so the amp clips signal and damages the new sub you added? theres not enough space anywhere to mount a sub decent enough to sound good in car has to be boot/ trunk bigger the sub deeper the bass so its selecting the size of sub for the type of bass you require it would be much easier to get an audio shop to do install and not cut up your hands like i did but done properly you will not regret it!!
I will look into it! Did you find that opening a hole between the boot and the cabin negatively affected the normal soundproofing of the car? I.e. did normal drives (with the music off for instance) seem louder than before? I'd hate to upset the refinement.
I will look into it! Did you find that opening a hole between the boot and the cabin negatively affected the normal soundproofing of the car? I.e. did normal drives (with the music off for instance) seem louder than before? I'd hate to upset the refinement.
no change at all cant hear anything in boot doesnt change the feel or refinement or i wouldnt do it I love how solid these cars are so the last thing i would do is remove feel outside noises stay outside and with music off no rattles with music on i just enjoy super luxury car with ground shaking bass win win i think!!
No, incorrect assumption - I'm not that young! I have a 2010 S Class, that I paid extra for a B&O system, that to my ears is terribly underwhelming in the low-end. I have adjusted the EQ on COMAND and it is a step in the right direction, but not enough.
To be clear, I do not want to 'toss' a new woofer in place of the old one. Like I said in my original post, I want to add another subwoofer to compliment the existing system.
I fear you have a slight judgemental tone, hopefully I'm merely misinterpreting your post - but if so I'm sorry for whoever has caused you to have a bad day. But surely as someone who wants to come across as someone who knows a lot about music, you will understand that some genres of music as opposed to others, require a different sound type. What works for opera, does not work for baritone classical. So thank you, but I know what I am asking for - and it is not to 'ruin' my music.
My day is fine....thank you.
Before going all hog wild by installing new subs and amps, you may want to first try Mike's solution to fully equalize the system. There is a lot more power in the system than people realize due to the fact that MB purposely tones down the bass to keep the car from developing rattles. You'll never be able to hear all the system can do without proper equalization. It will be much cheaper to start with a good equalizer than do go straight for installing subs and amps....which could potentially do more damage than good. If you don't feel like your getting the results you want with equalizing the sound, then you can start adding on. But the equalizer will likely be an integral part of the system with the new components.
I'm a bit hamstrung here as I've never had the opportunity to hear a BO in a 221. Just looking at the speaker array in photos it has to be warmer and smoother than the HK, but I can see where it might not have a satisfactory bottom end.
That EQu app or the Aural Xciter app are only a couple of dollars. The Xciter plays 5 mins per day in free mode. Either one would let you put more low end into the signal and see if the BO woofers "wake up".
My bet is there's a ton of untapped potential in your existing hardware. Unfortunately as far as a plug and play sub upgrade it's rough. There just isn't enough depth in the rear shelf for anything aftermarket to fit. You'd need to hack open the sheet metal of the deck itself.
For either app you'd need an IPhone/ pod and at least one local file on the device. If you like what you hear the answer would be the Prima 8.9 integration amp/DSP, and a small mono amp for the factory sub. In the BO I wouldn't expect to replace any speakers or add any. I think that would maintain the premium feel of the system vs tearing out cones and doing a big aftermarket sub box and a knob in the cabin. The Prima install is total stealth. You'd never know by how the car looks or how COMAND operates that there's any aftermarket gear in it.
Here's a B&O rear deck sub module. Those look like 8".
Here's the depth
One approach would be to buy a used module like the one here and take it to a high end audio shop to see if they can source replacement drivers that can handle more power but fit in the module. If so then add a small dedicated sub amp that accepts high level (speaker level) inputs just to power the module. Having the spare module lets the shop test fit a bunch of stuff before they have to pull the rear interior out of the car to get to the module. Something like these might work:
I have the B&O system too - and my rattle was caused by the cover to the rear sunshade, rather than anything in the subwoofer itself. You can verify this cause by either deploying the rear sunshade, or holding it closed with your hand while you play a passage of music that causes the rattle..
Other than that, I haven't been quite successful at removing the sub for inspection...the cover to it does not "pop off" from the top - at least not easily - like the H&K system does. I thought it might have to though, because aren't the top of the airmatic struts mounted somewhere here?
Originally Posted by 221
Glad to hear I'm not the only one. I mean the B&O is a great system, but there needs to be more feel to the bass. What have you found so far?
I also have a rattle out the rear parcel shelf under bass, I assume perhaps something has fallen into the cover for the B&O parcel shelf speaker... but I cannot for the life of me work out how to open it up safely to inspect. Any documentation on this?
No, incorrect assumption - I'm not that young! I have a 2010 S Class, that I paid extra for a B&O system, that to my ears is terribly underwhelming in the low-end. I have adjusted the EQ on COMAND and it is a step in the right direction, but not enough.
Now i'm wondering if the standard HK throws more bass than the B&O. It's possible it does.
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