300E quality speaker options? Opinions please... - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Bill '90 300E · #1 01-24-2002, 11:35 PM

OK all...I've read numerous posts regarding speaker options for the 300E...I just replaced the Becker unit yesterday with a JVC KD-SH55, 50x4 with a trick motorized faceplate...the difference is like night and day already with original factory speakers still in place...I only want to replace the front and rear speakers (i.e. - no door mods to add speakers, no dash cuts and no subwoofer as the JVC unit has enough capable bass adjustments options for my tastes)...I listened to 4" Polks and 4" Infinitys only so far...the Polks have more bass, the Infinitys have more highs...overall I think the Polks are the better speakers over the full range...I know MBQ's are rated highly, as I'm sure many more are...Any other opinions out there? I don't want to spend more than $200 or so for both front and rears...If I'm not asking too much, please be specific as to why your speakers and/or opinions are the best ones (i.e. - clarity, midrange, highs and lows)...thanks in advance to all of The Brothers of the Benz's...L8r, Bill

Gebhard · #2 01-25-2002, 12:06 AM

I started out in the same situation as you are in now. My advice is to stay away from the MB Quarts. Awesome speakers, but if you mount them in the stock dash location, they are very weak on mids and the largest you can shoehorn in there (with a lot of cutting) is the 5 1/4. Very sensitive to location. (I have 5 1/4 " MBQ coaxs in the dash and 6.5s in the doors). What started out as a low budget stealth install has turned into much, much more. Although with the new 4s coming soon for the doors, it ought to sound great. I understand your not wanting to cut the door panels, I sometimes wish I hadn't.

Find a speaker that has strong midrange with a sound you like. A coax with a tweeter (as opposed to just a 4.5 or so speaker) will give you crisp highs. The mids and bass will be the challenge. Sounds like the Polks are good.

FWIW, should you discover you do need a sub, installing a 10 or 12 inch sub in the spare tire well (with the spare tire still in there) works pretty well.

Congrats on the SH55, very fine unit.

yal · #3 01-25-2002, 10:28 AM

MBQuarts will only sound good if you add an amp to the system. If you do not want to do this then may I suggest getting the Polk 5" coaxials EX350 from crutchfield for the front and maybe a slim subwoofer to slide under the seat like the Kenwood KSC-WA62RC.
The back speakers take some work but you can order an exact replacement through a blaupunk dealer such as http://continentalimports.com/

Hope this helps these cars are a pain to upgrade...

SCLJA · #4 01-26-2002, 01:54 AM

I use a speaker made in germany that is designed only for the 124 mbz both for the dash and the rear deck. If you want to do some custom fabrication work on the rear deck then you might consider going with a 6.5" speaker. These speakers are excellent in both the mids and highs. They have the same clips that allow them to snap into the dash, also they have the right connectors on them so they just plug straight into the stock harness.

Scott@La Jolla Audio

#5 02-08-2002, 05:51 PM

I went with the 4" Infinity Kappas all around in my 300E (I'm using a Blaupunkt Sydney head unit & CD changer with about 24 watts RMS x 4). I thought the Infinity's had suprisingly good bass for 4" speakers by themselves, and I liked the mids & highs. But for deeper bass, I also have an 8" Alpine sub mounted through the Emergency Kit with a seperate amp. It sounds great!

pentoman · #6 02-11-2002, 09:18 AM

is the sub type r or s? what amp are you using and what's the RMS power? Can u show me/describe how you mounted the sub thru the first aid kit hole, got any pics??

thanks,

Russ

#7 02-11-2002, 09:34 PM

Russ,
I don't know if the sub is "R" or "S". The subwoofer & amp were installed about 5 years ago by a good local audio shop, back before I knew much about sub particulars. I only recently removed the OEM Becker and installed the Blaupunkt & Infinity speakers. I can tell you the sub is an 8" Alpine 6806GX, the amp is an Alpine 3522S pushing 80W RMS to the sub, set to low pass at 80 hz. That doesn't sound like much power in this day & age, but I've got the gain only up to about the 1/3 postion, and its got all the bass I could possibly need, without overwhelming the rest of the system (which has *plenty* of volume). At my explict direction (I knew how I wanted it installed), the audio shop simply cut a hole through the rear deck under the emegency kit cover, installed the sub, then put a grill and a fabric cloth matching the interior color over the sub. I left the emergency kit cover in place, but damped it so it wouldn't rattle - a perfect stealth installation. The Blaupunkt gives me far better control over the bass contour than the Becker did, and having the entire trunk area to use as a "cabinet" gives the sub great strong, very deep bass - I am extremely pleased with it, and I think I'm a pretty particular listener.

pentoman · #8 02-12-2002, 09:16 AM

thanks for your reply

The type R and S are only applicable to newer Alpine subs - mine is a type-R, which is better than S, but is simply mounted in an enclosure in the trunk. It sounds OK when stationary, but is almost inaudible when moving along above 40mph. My kicker amp only delivers it around 60-70 W RMS, which could be my problem, but I'm also interested in mounting below the first aid kit, but haven't yet seen anyones methods for doing this

later,

Russ

blackmercedes · #9 02-14-2002, 11:19 AM

The factory 4" locations suck.

Don't butcher your door panels. Call the dealer and price them out...

If you want to make custom panles, do the kick panels. This is preferable to the door for imaging anyway.

Take the stock panels off, make a fibreglass mold, and make room for a quality mid-tweet combo. Mount the tweet close to the driver for best imaging. Mounting it high on the dash is a goof, as the highs will bouce around on the glass making for tinny sound quality.

We did lots of W124 and W201 cars with kick panels and a single sealed sub enclosure, and the cars sounded great and the overall cost was really low.

Go for the best your budget will allow. A good coaxial is better than crappy separates.

WRS · #10 02-14-2002, 11:39 AM

You may want to check out the Canton RS 10 cx speakers. They are a coaxial 4" that sound really good mounted in the stock front dash location.

After trying MB quart, Polk, and JL, I've decided I like the Canton's the best. The imaging seems to be the best out of all three when located in the front grills on my 86 300E. The midrange has an extremely smooth response curve. The downfall of these speakers is their bass response, but it was on par with all of the other brands mentioned above.

If you can still find them, MB quart used to make a stock mounting bracket for 13mm (5.25") or 16mm (6") speakers for the doors. A template is provided to cut the hole in your door. The bracked slides into the hole and is secured with four screws. You can then mount the speaker in the bracket. If you take your time, it is not a complicated job and will allow you to "hide" speakers in your door. My car had black interior and the black speaker grills blended perfectly. The only way you can tell something has been added to the car is when the system is on and you are listening.

All in all, I was able to install the entire system in a long weekend. So I have the Canton RS 10 cx's in the dash for high's and upper bass frequencies, and a 13cm woofer in each door for the bass. It is an extremely balanced and tight sounding system.

check out www.cantonusa.com for information on the speakers.

Remember, it is your ears that should make your final decision!

Good luck!

#11 02-14-2002, 12:29 PM

FWIW, I am looking into MA Audio Y2K40 for the front and Y2K50 for the rear. A friend of mine attends car stereo competitions, and says that the MA Audio is consistently among the leaders in sound quality, and an excellent value when compared with higher priced brands. link to MA Audio for more info.

I'm not sure of the speaker depth compatibility. I'll let you know if I find out something.

PoloBenz · #12 02-14-2002, 11:26 PM

Hi,
I just thought I'd put in my two cents on this subject. I have been going through a hassle to get all my audio parts in for my w124 300e. I finally got everything in, and made an appointment to get it installed. The car has been in the shop this entire day, and it will be done tomorrow evening (hopefully if all goes well).
Anyway, to the important stuff... I looked long and hard to find the best speakers for stock locations (I don't want to cut up anything) for my low budget price. I ended up buying the new Infinity Kappa series 42.3i (4.25 for the front) and 52.3i (5.25 for the rears). The 42.3i's can handle 50 watts of power (RMS) while the rear speakers, 52.3i's can take up to 55 watts of RMS power. The 52.3i's have a rotating tweeter. The cone has a "Ceramic Metal Matrix Diaphragm," and according to Crutchfield, is 30% larger than other cones for speakers of the similar size. Each set (single coaxial) comes "with a customized outboard crossover to direct frequencies to the proper drivers for the purest possible signal" - straight from Crutchfield's magazine.
I also went with a JVC SH-99 headnote. It has 3 sets of pre-amp outputs, a LOT of features, and most importantly, it plays MP3 fiels on CR-R's and CD-RW's!!! It only pushed 19watts per channel, so i decided to go with a Precision Power Instruments (PPI) 5 channel amp, rated at 4x50 4ohm and one by 400 2ohm all RMS with 12.5 volts of power. That rating is from the factory, and it is said by many that PPI's are under-rated. I'm on a very tight budget, so I had to go with a single amp system. For the other 400wats, I had originally planed to buy an IDQ sub; however, I was fortunate to stumble across a good deal at a local Good Guys. Yes, Good Guys. Even though they may not have the best reputation, they sold me 2 MTX T-6000 series 12 in. 4ohm subs AND a Q-logic sealed box, AND, get this, a 2 year warranty on each sub!!!! The price, you might ask, a mere $200.00 plus tax for everything...that is less than one IDQ sub!!This was a good close-out deal. Also went with a 1 farad capacitor to help until I get a new battery.
Sorry for the tangent, but I got a little hyper, especially since I have waited so anxiously and patiently over the last 2 months to get my stereo system. Tomorrow is the big day. I'll post up on how everything sounds/turns out.
Hope this helps in any way.
-Tony

By the way, here are the prices that I paid:
PPI PCX 5800 amp = 520.00
Infinity Kappa 42.3i = 79.99
Infinity Kappa 52.3i = 94.99
JVC SH-99 = 269.99
MTX subs/box & warranty = 210.00 (had to pay tax)
Capacitor (1 farad digital top) = 100.00
Install...quoted at 500.00..we will see exact price tomorrow...keep in mind that since I purchased most parts of the net, the labor charge per hour is a little "more than usual" since the installer is not profiting on the sale of the parts.
I had to pay 40 dollars total in shipping for everything I ordered of the Internet (speakers,headunit,capacitor).

deuce · #13 06-07-2002, 03:04 PM

Hey Tony,

I just bought some Infinity 52.5i's on eBay to go in the rear deck of my 124. They are the successor to your 52.3i's. How'd yours sound and how was the install? I'm very interested in your input.

Deuce

PoloBenz · #14 06-10-2002, 03:39 AM

Hi Deuce,
I really am hoping that the successors to the 52.3i's have a smaller case/basket around them. The 52.3i's did not fit in the read deck of my 300e...the installer tried everything, from shaving a bit of the basket case, to taking out the plastic speaker-holder, all to no avail. Only option was to cut into the metal body of the car to make the diameter larger, which means a lot more $$ on the bill. I went with Boston speakers at the time, and I probably will replace them with nice MB's or Infinity Reference speakers...after all, the bass from the 2 12's is crazy that the quality of the rear-deck speakers is un-noticeable.

Installing the front and or rear speakers is quite easy, especially with the D.I.Y. directions on this site.

The front 42.3i's sound awesome. I have Rainbow speakers in the Euro '86 300sl, and they do sound really poor compared to the 42.3i's...in my opinion. The 42.3i's are very clear and full, and sound very very nice!

If you need anything else let me know.

I really hsurround ope that the 52.5i's have a smaller basket-case sourround to them!!

Good luck,
-Tony

deuce · #15 06-10-2002, 07:07 AM

You and I both. However, I think it's actually going to be larger. The diameter of the 5i is about 2mm larger than the 3i so I may be screwed. But, if they sound that good, maybe I'll just do some cutting.

Thanks for the input. I had a voice coil go in the front speakers and a local shop put in Sony X-Plods. They are OK but a little on the bright side. I may swap them out for the 42.5i's. That combo with my Alpine deck should sound really good. I'll put in a sub later if necessary, but I don't listen to techno or rap so I don't need a ton of low end.

I'll let you know how it turns out.

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