A bit of audio research

[Markland556]

Well before i just dive in, i would like to know how easy it is to fit 6 1/2"s in the front and rear? Looking into upgrading the system to some nice infinity's. Also what is the maximum mounting depth?

[VIP_MBZ]

Originally posted by Markland556
Well before i just dive in, i would like to know how easy it is to fit 6 1/2"s in the front and rear? Looking into upgrading the system to some nice infinity's. Also what is the maximum mounting depth?

Easy to do 6.5's in the front... I'm using DLS UR6S which are pretty deep, so I think anything by Infinity will clear easily. Rear door is 4", so it's more of a stretch. Rear deck I believe is 5.25".

-Ray

[Markland556]

crap... lol. already ordered 2 sets of 6 1/2's... looks like i will have to make them fit.. HAHA i love challenges.

[VIP_MBZ]

It would probably be easiest to try to stuff the 6.5's into the rear deck location rather than the door location. The rear door speaker is just for the rear passengers anyway, you can hardly hear its output from the front.

-Ray

[Markland556]

sounds good

[Benzon]

Everyone says to just not do anything with the rears except turn them off, I faded my stereo to just the fronts and the sound just did not fill enough for me, maybe it's just my car but I would say 6.5's up front and 5.25's in back pull the rear decks and use the holes for bass transfer into the cabin, let me know how that 6.5 fits in the back, thanks a lot.

[VIP_MBZ]

Originally posted by Benzon
Everyone says to just not do anything with the rears except turn them off, I faded my stereo to just the fronts and the sound just did not fill enough for me, maybe it's just my car.

I used to be an idealist audiophile, but especially in the car, there is no room for idealism. In other words, you will hear a lot of hardcore audiophiles tell you that rear audio sucks ass (on the basis that high end home systems have only 2 channels), but in all honesty, the car isn't a hardcore audiophile environment.

Part of the listening experience in a concert or even a good home setup is hearing the reflections of sound off of the walls, even though that means the sound isn't "neutral" anymore. In the car, we simulate this by having rear speakers firing forward.

The negative is that it unfocuses the stereo imaging, but this can also be avoided by applying a bandpass on the rear channels so that the majority of the treble still comes from the front. Coupled with a small delay, this can still leave you with the dry purity of an unprocessed front stage, but with the enhancement of a simulated environment.

Anyway, that's my story and I'm sticking to it.

-Ray

[OzC36]

These old threads might help:

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=367&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9221

[VIP_MBZ]

Originally posted by OzC36
These old threads might help:

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=367&perpage=15&pagenumber=1

http://www.club202.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=9221

Thanks for the info -- quick question, this may sound dumb, but how do you remove the grilles on the rear deck?

-Ray

[Proven Guilty]

ray is the man with sound quality and stereo advice, and his post is pretty much spot-on.

as for removing the rear speaker grilles, the entire rear deck is basically reinforced cardboard with carpet over it and is quite flexible. the grilles themselves are simply preassure fit in with plastic tabs. when i removed mine, i did it by simply pressing the grilles back towards the rear glass while lifting up on the "lip" of the grille with a quarter. a standard screwdriver or maxxed out credit card would probably do the trick just as well :)

[OzC36]

The photos on the thread could also be useful for rear speaker removal:

http://www.mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=4782

[Markland556]

Ok, well i bought some Infinity 6010CS speakers for $90 a set... God i love employee discount.. HAHA

So anyway im off to a great start.. well not really. why do mercedes parts have to be soo brittle.. i swear the VW i have can be dissasembled without breaking anything that you can see... LOL

Im thinking ill just cut a huge hole for the tweeters i got and then bondo them in and paint the piece, just eliminate the ridges all togeather...

Also do you guys think the stock MB wires for the speakers are sufficient enough? I will be running roughly 100 watts to the speakers..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/xboxonly/SSL10664.jpg

Here is what the tweeters look like in the little pods..
And another pic of how i mounted the main speakers..
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/xboxonly/SSL10665.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v474/xboxonly/SSL10666.jpg

[Proven Guilty]

it looks to me like you tried to pry the speaker grills out with a screwdriver, instead of depressing the tabs from inside of the air vents like you're supposed to :p

[Markland556]

i did press in the little tabs.. guess i just dont have the magic touch... o well.. ill post pics when im done with the body filler..

[Cru328prod]

im also doing all of this in about a week or 2, but weird thing is i haven't heard any kind of audio come out of those tweeters in the car, is that just for a bose setup or what?

[VIP_MBZ]

Originally posted by Cru328prod
im also doing all of this in about a week or 2, but weird thing is i haven't heard any kind of audio come out of those tweeters in the car, is that just for a bose setup or what?

They should definitely be working, even for the standard audio system. It's probably a wiring issue, but when you replace your speakers you will be running all new wiring to the tweeters anyway from the crossover, so I don't think it should be a major concern.

-Ray

[Markland556]

im actually using the stock wiring right now.. the only wire im upgrading is from the crossover to the amp in the front and all new wire for the rear deck.

[pnsji]

I was having issues fitting a 6.25" into the front door. The issue was the magnet was too thick and I can not clear the window. I had to build a custom ring so that it pushed out the speaker and then it fit just fine.

I have not done 6.5" so far. You might consider kick panel.

http://www.qlogic.ws/products/q_forms_detail.jsp?classID=57&categoryID=257&groupID=5664