schizophonic

I really did think I got the Burmester sound upgrade when I picked up my 2022 S206 C300e in the UK. I'm making enquires with Mercedes-Benz UK to check my VIN number and the specification. I miss the old aftermarket sound system I upgrade in my Audi.

I've seen some Aliexpress 'upgrade' Burmester sound but wondered if its really worth the effort to do? I wouldn't say they are cheap plastic stuff but wondered if its a half-way house to get some sort of sound upgrade? My understanding between the 2 sound systems is as follows

Normal
Front and rear sound speakers in the door cards and all running off the MBUX headunit?

Burmester
Front and rear sound speakers in the door cards
Tweeters on both passenger and drivers door cards
Centre console speaker
Amplifier to power all the speakers.

Is that the differences between the normal and Burmester sound system?

Holo

You’re correct with the differences except that both models also include a center speaker. But the burmester does also include two 8” bass drivers in the front vs 1 6.5 in the standard system(huge difference). Additionally the burmester has two extra rear deck speakers that don’t make any difference really.

As for upgrading the system I would like to ask you first about what did you have installed in your previous Audi? This will give me a better idea of your expectations so you won’t be sorely disappointed doing the wrong upgrades.

schizophonic

In my old Audi, it was the A3 hatchback. So I added a all JL kit. DSP, a removable sub box in the boot. Changed the fronts to new speakers, crossover tweaters in the pillars added an AMP to power the front and sub. It sounded good.

I've again seen on Aliexpress you can buy 2 x 8" sub bass drivers. I'm assuming these are not just a simple plug and install for some sort of extra sound delivery?

Holo

I wouldn’t get the AliExpress subs unless they are oem. If not then you can pick up some subs from Steg which they do have plug and play for the w206. You’ll also need a amp to power them so I would suggest getting a dsp with built in amp. It all depends on how much you want to spend though. Keep in mind that the front speakers do not have a tweeter btw.

HumbleBy

The stock sound system only consists of 1 speaker in each door card and 1 6.5" bass-driver in the passenger footwell. Nothing more.
All speakers are driven by the MBUX headunit.

The Burmester system consists of a total of 15 speakers. The Burmester website has an overview of where the speakers are placed in the car.

My C300 only has the stock crappy system, which I started upgrading the second day of ownership.
I started by replacing the speakers in the doors with the ones from the Burmester system. That was plug and play. I also added Burmester tweeters and a crossover.
The tweeters were an enormous upgrade in itself, as the stock system does not have any.
However, I have to say that I was very disappointed with the Burmester mid-drivers in the door cards. The quality of these drivers is as poor as the ones fitted to the stock system, with only a slightly larger magnet.
I ended up replacing the ones fitted to the front door cards again with a STEG BZN4C component set. These are much higher quality speakers and provided a really nice upgrade to the sound.

My car still only has the 1x 6.5" bass-driver fitted, but this afternoon, I am going to fit the STEG BZN8 bass-drivers which consists of 2x 8" bass-drivers.
These will be driven by an Axton A101 mono-amplifier, while the rest of the speakers will be driven by the MBUX headunit.

I am sure you can get an even better improvement in sound by adding a DSP amplifier to all speakers, but I do not want to shell out the cash needed to purchase such a system.

BTW. Audiotec-Fischer also makes dedicated bass-drivers and door card component sets in the MATCH-series for the W206. They are more expensive than the STEG alternative. I have not heard the MATCH speakers, so do not know if there is anything to be gained over the STEG.

schizophonic

Interesting, thanks for your input. As you mention its plug and play, I wondered if it needed some sort of amp or DSP to utilise the Burmester speakers. I'm assuming as you've swapped most of the stock ones for genuine then you've open enhanced the sound quality of the speakers. In terms of loudness it won't go any higher the stock? Did you do any coding to get the additional features within the MBUX for the Burmester sounds?

I've seen some kits online (Aliexpress) selling the Burmester sound system for the W206 chassis but it also had some sort of AMP like the one below?

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005...UK%21793779659

CyberNerd

Sorry to bring up an almost dead post, however...
I'm in the US, I have the w206 C300 (2023 version). It has the Exclusive trim which was suppose to come with everything except the heads-up display and a few other things... unfortunately the one thing mine didn't come with was the Burmester 3D sound system. When I removed the center cover on the dash, I don't even have a center speaker! But I have Front bass???

*Get to your point nerd*
How do I add the center speaker? Mainly where do I connect wires to make it work. Also, does "Front Bass" mean I have two subs or one?

You would think the Exclusive trim would include everything listed...


Additionally, does anyone like Focal Inside?

Holo

Yep, you’re missing out a lot. Just tore my cars interior apart the other day to do some sound deadening and found no center speaker and no tweeter, and only one 8” bass driver with little output. Unfortunately this is a very crappy system that they give out to everyone. The good news is that you don’t need the most expensive to upgrade it, unless you want a completely flat signal with 0 molestation from the factory head unit (the signal output sometimes fluctuates which I believe is mbux just being glitchy). The focal inside line is great and they just came out with the pnp speakers for the w206, although very expensive and I personally don’t think it’s worth it except for the front woofers.

Going back to the stock system, you’ll have to get a pair of two subs since the single one needs to be replaced. Idk where the wire goes for the center speaker but I ditched it completely since unless you have a dsp, it’s just not worth having a center. Having that said, I did buy a helix v eight dsp recently since I’m just tired of having to deal with this stock molested signal. If you aren’t up to upgrading yourself then I would suggest talking to a reputable shop. What area are you located in? I may have a couple suggestions if they are near me.

UrBusted

I'm surprised you don't have a centre speaker for SOS functionality. For front speaker you get the MatchUP8 with the correct loom for your w206 and the MatchUP S4MB-CTR. The loom will come with the output for that centre speaker. The centre speaker will have another input hole for the SOS but I'm not sure about cars that SOS feature for cars that don't come with it from factory. Front bass is just Mercedes' name for the standard 4 speaker 1 subwoofer system I believe. If you have the Advanced Sound System (between base and burmester) you would then have 2 front subwoofers, component fronts, coaxial rears.

CyberNerd

I'm going to go with I probably have 5 speakers..

And definitely no center speaker at all. It might have the cables down in the dash but I couldn't tell when I popped the cover off. All I could see is there wasn't a speaker in there.

Holo

you are correct, it’s 5 speakers. Also if you shine a light into the tweeter housing you’ll see nothing. Also another note, MATCH by helix, and steg both carry speakers for the w206.

CyberNerd

welcome to the conversation. We covered that already. 😜

Okay I am in the US and having a hard time finding anyone that ships speaker to the US for my car. The few that I found are also outrageously expensive for what I am wanting.

Can someone point me in the right direction of where to get speakers online that ship to the US?

Another question is, did anyone wire up a center speaker and if so how?

Holo

There’s a dealer I bought my helix v eight from in Houston TX called SLA Acoustics. They also carry the big brands like focal, blam, audiofrog, etc.

UrBusted

Allwoodsaudio will sell you every speaker you need and tell you which options are available. I spoke about wiring the centre speaker above; all woods will sell you a loom that'll work with the helix or matchup amps that include cables to connect the centre speaker.

CyberNerd

Hey thanks for the help! I just found his eBay shop.
Final question (for now &#129315 my car is obviously not coded for 810. Is that a setting I will need to change (have someone go into the coding of the vehicle) or can I plug and play my way to having a working system?
​​​

CyberNerd

Will definitely check that out! ☺️

UrBusted

The MatchUP loom for the 5 speaker will make it plug and play, no coding or anything required. You'll have the standard equaliser and fader as well as the functionality available on the Match/Helix amplifier