No extreme modification required - Here is another decent speaker that will top mount in the dash of W123's.

Auditor RIP 100C 2-way 30 Watt RMS - See the attached PDF file for technical specifications, including physical dimensions. Auditor is a company owned by Focal, which some of you may know, and the actual speaker itself looks an awful lot like an older Focal model. They sound really good for what I paid for them. (About $60) I call them my "faux"cals.

I did clearance the underside of the dash speaker covers slightly with a Dremel on my '77, but that doesn't seem to be required on the later models, if the covers in my '83 parts car are any proof. Aside from the typical trimming of two tabs on the speaker itself, I also had to carefully pry the black chrome looking tweeter cover trim off of each speaker, but the tweeter will be completely safe under the factory speaker grille, so there is no harm in it. They popped off easily with a little twist of the Exacto knife blade. (What? I void warranties! And you do too, if you're installing dash speakers in a W123, since they all seem to need one or more tabs trimmed.)

The sound from these speakers is rather nice and very full for a 4" speaker, and they are not as harsh as most of the 4" speakers I have listened to recently, which is great when the high frequency stuff pretty much bounces off the windshield glass and straight at your ears due to the speaker location in the W123's. Compared to the all too common Pioneer TS-G1043R that sell for about $50 a pair, and quite honestly shred my ears with their little sonic razor blades that they call tweeters, these are much smoother and far less beamy. (Though, if you're not opposed to bottom mounting a set of speakers in the dash due to them having way too much tweeter projection, the JL Audio Evolution C2-400X speakers sound absolutely amazing for a 4" speaker, and have the fullest sound and best bass response of any dinky speaker that I have ever personally heard.)

FYI, If loud is what you're after, they do that pretty well, too. I'm pushing 17 Watts RMS to each with a circa 1997 mid-grade Pioneer tape deck. Between that and a tape adapter, I can listen to the FLAC files I keep on my phone. It's a little ghetto, but it sounds alright for now. That's right - I am not running any rear speakers.

Attached Files

Fiche-Technique-100-C-2163.pdf (657.7 KB, 236 views)

__________________
- K.C.Adams

'77 300D Euro Delivery
OM617 turbo / 4-speed swap
404 Milanbraun Metallic / 134 Dattel MB-Tex

Current status:
* Undergoing body work

My '77 300D progress thread