Any further information on where BEST to go in Southern California / Los Angeles ? Name / Address of business and Name of installer ?

 

Thanks again to John P (see his posts above recommending Superior Radio of Sagus Ma as the shop that did his install)

Today I had Superior Radio install an Alpine KTA-450 as John described in his post above with some extras.

Bill (owner) is great to deal with as John noted and Rob (installer) did a GREAT job...see pics.

Rob worked full time on the job from 10:30 to 6:30 (I know as I was running back and forth monitoring the install).

I'm former Nuclear Submarine Engineer and pretty fussy. I am more than pleased with Rob's work (he even braided all the wiring runs and it's a lot of it as 4 relays are needed to be able to default to factory if desired) so it isn't a bag of snakes)....... AND the result is GREAT sound and control !

Attached find some pics as to why it took longer than some installs (instead of set it at the AMP and forget it I wanted to be able to adjust F & R independently so had 2 potentiometers installed and also wanted to default to "as factory" so reason for the "on/off Sw" that can be seen installed in the rear center console location under the slide cover still leaving a "smugglers box location behind the control shelf.

Pics attached

Steve

 

Fabulous! I wish this shop was in my neck of the woods. How many $$$? Did he comment on the quality of the speakers or suggest any upgrades?

 

Sreamliner:

Re cost: My changes/additions to what John had done to allow F & R adjustability and default to factory added about 30% to John's #.

Re Speakers: OK for me and Installer did not recommend any different but, there is no bass speaker in rear so limited bass from rear; for me OK as is.

For adjustments I have Command set to Logic 7, bass and treble set to 8 and F vs R on the pots installed set to my ear.

Again Superior Radio did a great job and I highly recommend them to anyone in my area for the upgrade.

Interesting note: I was considering getting something else when my lease is up in 2020. Problem was we love the car and don't want a cloth convertible or 4 seater. Car has all options including ABC (only thing I didn't get was B&O high end audio) but, the sound system turned me off. Now with this fix I intend to buy out at lease end.

 

I'd be curious to find out what the lease-end buyout figure will be. The 2015 I just bought was priced at $46,000 in November just after coming off lease (it was about $94,000 new). I spent many weeks trying grind them down to $40K, ultimately paying $42,500. No ABC though.

 

I did that and did not see any EQ settings...


Edit: I was looking in the wrong place; see Post #163 below....

 

You did a lot better than I did. I have a 2017 SL550 with the B&O system. I don't get anything holding the red end call then the 1 & # keys. If I press the end call on the steering wheel followed by the 1 & # key I get a multi tone chime but no setting window opens up. What is displayed on your screen immediately prior to pressing the end call 1&# keys?

 

eddieo45

Ans to your question as to buyout on my 2018 sl550 w/ ABC fully optioned except for the high end B&O

Window sticker was $125,230

36/12 lease buyout is $67K

 

The B&O could be different, but try this: get in the car with Keyless Go key on your person, turn on the radio. I selected CD* so it said "no disc"; simultaneously press and hold the END CALL, # and 1 buttons on the radio and you should see that first screen I posted above.

*I don't think it matters what source is selected but if you use a radio input you'll end up resetting the 1 preset.

 

That could be a little bit high, as compared to an open market purchase, but that's to be expected, and you should be able to negotiate that down when the time comes. It's difficult to research because your car is somewhat of a unicorn. There are so few out there with ABC that I just searched nationwide on cars.com and couldn't find one!

 

Hi Eddie,

Some questions and comments Re your post of 7AM EST this AM:

I have repeatedly tried to access the "engineering menu" on my MY2018 using the sequence you and others have provided to no avail. I believe someone earlier noted that MB locked out access to the menu using this sequence in MY 2015 or 2016 and only way to access it is with dealer input because owners were messing up many different settings causing lots of problems.

Anyway...For you and others with MYs that allow owner control of the "engineering menu" and have said that they were able to get some F to R adjustment I have a few questions:
1)Looks like what you found useful was menu 7.0 "HW settings" and you show sub menu 7.8 "EQ"....Is that the correct menu you found for adjustment?
2)Confusing to me as I always thought "EQ" (equalizer) only adjusts bass/treble not FADE (i.e. F to R adjustment)

Am I missing something here?

What menu and sub menu did you find F to R fade control?

Looking forward to your response, Steve

PS: Tx for the suggestion on another of your posts to negotiate EOL buyout (I didn't think that was possible).

 

I just tried to enter the engineering menu on my 2017 SL550 with B&O radio without any success. Thank's to all of you for posting what worked for you; guessI'm just out of luck. Will be stopping in my local Best Buy this coming week to try the installations springer19, JK417and jetjok did. Also planning on trying to duplicate the slick control installation steve sl550 put in his rear console.

 

7.8 is Audio Parameter and 7.9 is EQ Parameter, and selecting EQ Parameter DID NOT show any fader control. My point was that I was successful in getting into Engineering Mode, but unsuccessful in finding any fader control there. I didn't want to click "Parameter Clear" for fear of what it might do, but it appears "grayed out" anyway, not selectable.




Yeah, in my experience EVERYTHING is negotiable, even when it shouldn't be. Sometimes I have to pay landlords for rights I already have, as it's faster than litigation. In your case the dealer's two options are to retail the car or send it to the auction. Anyone retailing the car aims to make $5000, so they usually have more room in the lease closeout figures than dealing with the uncertainty of the other options. It's amazing how much power you gain by walking away....BTW, I'm south of Boston; I'm guessing you're north? I grew up in Revere and East Boston, 60's-70's.

 

When the 3 year lease was up on my wife’s 2016 E350 Sedan, I got the dealer to “CPO” the car, giving us a one year warranty extension. They replaced two tires and some incidental items, gave it their big inspection and actually saved us several thousands compared to the straight lease buyout. I’m sure they ended up making a few bucks as well.

 

Eddieo45 and Streamliner,
Tx for tips on EOL options !

PS to Eddie:
I'm in Andover
Grew up in E Boston (Saratoga St in the Heights on way to Winthrop) then Revere (Suffix Ave) same time frame as you then Navy as Engineer on a Nuc Sub

 

The interior of that car is dusty and needs cleaning

 

lol, you folks are justifiably harsh!

 

I love your installation. Could you share a few more details of the panel you installed in the rear center console? Is there a separate potentiometer for the left and right rear deck speakers or do the potentiometers control the front to rear left and right channels? Do all your steering wheel controls still operate as OEM or has any of their functions changed as a result of the modifications you made? Is the panel with the potentiometers permanently installed or friction fitted in the console? Would really appreciate any other details of your modifications; anything you would add, delete or change if you had it to do again?

 

Fun33,
Your questions:
"I love your installation. Could you share a few more details of the panel you installed in the rear center console? Is there a separate potentiometer for the left and right rear deck speakers or do the potentiometers control the front to rear left and right channels? Do all your steering wheel controls still operate as OEM or has any of their functions changed as a result of the modifications you made? Is the panel with the potentiometers permanently installed or friction fitted in the console? Would really appreciate any other details of your modifications; anything you would add, delete or change if you had it to do again?"

My reply to your questions here: 1)"I love your installation." THANKS, me too. 2)"Is there a separate potentiometer for the left and right rear deck speakers or do the potentiometers control the front to rear left and right channels?" Front pot controls all front speakers volume, rear pot controls all rear speakers volume. All OEM command control of sound, bass, treble and balance retained. O/I rocker sw between front and rear pot to reset to factory default if desired . Installation required the following: a) Alpine KTA-450 50W X 4 Power Pack Amp b) 2 L Pad Volume Controls (the large pots vs small ones selected to insure they handle the current generated) c) 8 relays to allow isolation when changing to and from factory default set up d) AX-MLOC725 AXXESS line level converter 150 watt e) wiring and misc hardware for mounting and PVC to match MB interior for pot and sw mounting (note how all the wiring is braided for easy ID and dressed alongside the OEM wiring all under the storage box with no wiring exposed) 3)"Do all your steering wheel controls still operate as OEM or has any of their functions changed as a result of the modifications you made?" Steering wheel controls as well as command "sound" control remains as OEM 4)"Is the panel with the potentiometers permanently installed or friction fitted in the console?" Panel with the pots and sw fabbed from PVC to match interior plastic and cut/trimmed/bent formed to fit snug in the forward space that holds the removable bottle holder that I never use (bottle/large cup holder easily snaps out and the panel assembly sits over forward lip and friction fit at rear STILL offering storage space of approx 5X5 at rear of the pot/switch assembly. 5)"Would really appreciate any other details of your modifications; anything you would add, delete or change if you had it to do again?" Hard for me to not always want to impoove something but, in this case I'm totally happy. Hope this helps.
Regards, Steve

 

steve sl550,

Thanks for that comprehensive reply. I'll be visiting Best Buy tomorrow and your detailed response will be invaluable when arranging my own installation. Hopefully, the Orlando Best Buy can duplicate your beautiful install.

Thanks again,
Bob

 

Interested to know how you made out @ BB, did they have any comments further suggestions?

Steve

 

BB won't replicate your install for me. Only willing to add an amp to power up the rear deck speakers. They will set the volume to my preference and it will now play every audio format EXCEPT the Audio DVD. If I lived closer to New England, I'd take a trip to Sagus.

Thanks for your help,
Bob

 

Hi Bob (fun33),

Doesn't make sense why their install won't play CDs, it should have nothing to do with the new AMP (mine works fine with all formats (CDs, USB, SD and all I have filed already on the internal HDD (I just checked all again to make sure and all OK...sound F & R for all).

Be interested to know why they say no CD

Steve

 

If you load a DVD, (as opposed to a CD), please note that it comes up as 'Video Media' on the 231's Command System, (rather than Audio Media).

A DVD seen as 'Video'' by Command may require the HK Logic-7 Surround (Audio) System for that DVD to be turned OFF, even if the Logic-7 Surround Sound has previously been set to 'ON' for all Audio Media types. (The Logic-7 Surround Sound is designed for Audio Media types only).

In fact, a DVD (music demo) disc that came with the User Manual for my 2013 231 actually has a specific instruction to turn off the Logic-7 Surround Sound System before playing it.

I suspect that because a DVD is considered to be 'Video Media' by the 231's Command System, a 'non-Audio' selection has much to do with the Best Buy's 2nd Amp's performance as mentioned by Fun33 in Post #147 above)...:.

 

Ah that may be the case.

I am not using any DVDs so no issue for me @ this point.

Steve