hello all! I need speakers for the SDL....
 

Greetings!

I was hoping someone out there had replaced the pathetic stock speakers on their 300 SDL (86/87) with something more substantial. Any hints? It looks like changing the speakers is a royal PITA.

As a follow up, it looks like I can put 4x6 in the front and 6.5 in the back? I am replacing the head unit as well right now.

If I am correct, is the installation difficult? I saw a few threads and it looked easy, but.....

4" or 4x6M up front. 6.5" fit well in the back with some slight modification.

Head unit power is crap, get a small external amplifier to drive them.

Thanks, I did pick up the 4x6 and 6.5 speakers Sunday.

Can someone fill me in on the Amp? I assume I need to run the wires from where ever it is installed to the head unit, but what about the speaker wires? I have never installed an amp, so a little guidance would be helpful.

As for where to put it, is there one that fits under the rear seat? I do not want to put it in the trunk (like the room), but I do want it hidden.

I'll give you the skinny when I get home, or just search for me as the poster in this section.

Thanks,

I did a little searching, and I found some useful stuff. I did not find the nuts and bolts stuff I would need though.:o

Specifically,

1. How do I install the amp? Let me guess:
a. I need to run Power, Speaker, and RCA connectors from the AMP to the Head Unit.
b. I need to hook the RCA wires to the Head Unit and the Speaker Wires to the Amp.
c. I am not real clear about how to hook up the power though.:confused:
d. Should I run the speaker wire straight to the speaker holes and bypass the speaker wire in the car?

2. Where can I hide the amp? I am looking at a Kenwood AMP right now that has 35x4. Is there a heat issue if I hide it under the back seat? How about Somewhere in the trunk? Where can I mount it? How does it mount? (I am assuming screws, but assumption is the mother of all screw ups).

3. If I am vaguely clueless about the Amp I am totaly clueless about the sub-woofer. I want to add some base, but I do not want to vibrate the rear end of the car into next week. Where/how to I address this? Do I need a seperate AMP?

Thanks so much!

Yes you run all new wiring.

Take a power cable from the battery, run it down the length of the body to a distribution block then to the amplifier. 8awg is fine for a small amplifier

Yes, run all new speaker wire. 16-18awg is fine.

Trunk, under the seats is too hot. Any place you deem fit. I'd do it high on the rear panel that covers the fuel tank. Mount to some MDF.

A subwoofer will need another amplifier. You may be better purchasing a five channel amplifier to help with installation. A 35x4 + 200x1 would work well. I'd step up to 4awg power cable for sure. 16-18awg speaker wire for all, subwoofer I would go to 12awg.

300 SDL speakers
 

I, too, am looking at speakers and a head (don't know if I'm ambitious enough for an amp right now.) Looked at Sony Bluetooth MEX BT5000. Looked at Infinity Kappas and MB Quartz and Rockford Fosgate for speakers.

One experienced dealer thought we could go larger than 3 1/2 inch for the front, then said no. The air conditioning ducts interfere, so he says. Another dealer said 4 x 6 is no problem...he installed them in a 300SDL or a 450 some days ago.

If I don't go for the amp, what are good efficient speakers?
Also does the depth of the Kappas (big magnets) rule them out in the front? I hear they need a lot of power to sound great.

FWIW I went with the Sony BTX 5000. I also went with Boston Accoustics in the front and rear. I used 4x6's in the front and 6.5's in the rear. You will need to cut the speakers to get them in the front, but they fit.

One other note, the fader in the car severely hamppers the HU power. Basically with the fader you get 7/10 rms amps to the speakers (wowefully inadequate). There are two options; the first is to bypass the fader with the internal wiring (there is a thread on doing that here, but I don't remember who started it). The second is to run all new speaker wire.

Good luck.

Speakers for SDL
 

How's the sound when you use your phone through the bluetooth Sony head? What phone are you using with the Sony?

This is where I'd insert a quote from a philosopher if I'd had my morning caffeine.

The microphone kind of sucks. People b*tch about it sounding like I am in a box, but they can hear me. Maybe its the speaker phone syndrome?

The outbound sound is great however. Comes through the speakers perfectly.

speakers SDL
 

I heard the same about the fader from a very honest guy at Circuit City.

So did you go the Amp route? Putting the amp above the fuel tank mildly terrifies me, despite diesel's legendary low volatlility. Amps can get hot.

I'm leaning towards infinity kappas but they're power hungry. I think dome tweeters made of silk or other light materials makes the cleanest sound.

A Diesel Tank is Never Empty Unless There's No Fuel (Rene Descartes)

Still not enough caffeine.

I by passed the fader yesterday. MUCH BETTER! I do not think I will need a amp now. The bass is adequate and of course the speakers sound a great deal better.

I will write up the procedures for doing this in a seperate thread; others may be curious.

Speakers for SDL
 

Great that you didn't need the amp.

I'll tell you, it's an education to go to the retail autosound vendors. Each one has their own rap, and it's hard to compare prices because they all take different profit on the equipment and charge differently for the labor, as well as steering you to different equipment.

I'm reluctant to do it myself right now, and pondered buying the equipment and going to an installer. But I'm nervous about ordering what I want, then finding out it won't fit.

I'm keen on the Infinity Kappas but have been warned they're power hungry. One head I looked at is rated at 50 Watts RMS per channel, but that's peak power. Real, average power is around 20 Watts per channel.

And the thing about the Infinitys is that they are deeper than some other speakers, and they might dig into the air conditioning ducts.

Anybody install Infinitys in a 300SDL?


"A Wise Man is Satisfied With 3 Liters. Seek Not After More Horsepower" Gandhi

I posted my experiences in seperate thread. (search for my user name in this forum).

I am not sure if you are at all mechanically inclined, but this is not that hard of a job, and I am sure you could do it yourself. This install was my first, and it was a breeze compared to what I thought would happen.

As for the speakers any 6.5 will fit in the rear, those are pretty easy. It is the front that makes it difficult. If you are looking to put 4x6 in there you will either have to cut the dash or cut the speakers. I opted to cut the metal from around the speaker rather than the dash but it is personal choice.

If you like the speakers, I am sure you can make them fit if they are 6.5 or 4x6's. If you want to go to a 4 inch speaker in the front you may be able to reuse the speaker bracket that current front speaker is mounted in.