Suggestions for adding rear sound and/or bass to 500SL.
 

Hey guys, Ive got a 1991 500SL and have noticed a lack of sound from the rear due to the lack of speakers. I wanted to see if anyone had added woofers and/or speakers in the rear of a SL and how they had done it. Im considering some kind of slim free air woofers for the rear hatches, or just a sub in the trunk and a couple of 6X9's in the rear hatches.

Any thoughts?

A lot of people put 10 inch subs in the rear hatches. Scott has some pictures of this. I think you could put a single 12 in there, I tested a 12inch solobaric and it looked like it would fit. The air space under there seems close enough to a cubic foot for a typical 12inch. Just save your old hatch lids for resale time, you can make new ones to cut up for the subs.

Roger

Can you point me in the right direction to view these pictures?

Scott at LaJolla Audio is the expert on this, here is a link to a picture he posted on this forum

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/car-audio-multimedia/43838-500sl-stereo-i-need-help.html?highlight=500sl

The picture shows 8 or 6 inch woofers, I think, but the idea is the same for the larger ones. If you contact Scott I 'm sure he can show you some more pictures.

Roger

There are lots of options depending on how much you want out of your system. Here is a pic of a set of 6.5 in speakers and then there are many options fomm8 in to 10 or 12 in.

Scott@lajollaaudio

Scott I wish I was on the west coast so I could just drop my car off to you. I dont know where to begin. Are those woofers free air? Is there any sealing thatneeds to be done to the hatches? I need to find a good custom shop in my area, but dont think there are any, sigh.

Tough problem . What I did ...
 

I own a 79 450SLC . I added an Alpine CD player and then started to consider speakers . For me there was no perfect solution . There was NO WAY that I was going to let even professionals start hacking holes in any part of this classic car . That would absolutely ruin it . The original speakers are located in the front of the dash on both sides . 4 inch two ways that for their day were probley fine but do not provide enough fidelity to do this Apine justice . I looked at Boston Acoustics 4 inch , two ways , that would have fit in the space and considered a bass tube or woofer in the trunk and listened to this set up . Awlful sound !!! After much thought , this set up sounded good and did not damage the car . I had two Blau Punct 6x9 s mounted in small speaker enclosiers (from Best Buy) and had the wires run to the back and placed them on the back seats (dont use the back seats anyway and for all pratical purposes they are invisible) . I know this isn t perfect but I have not sacrificed my car to listen to my jazz !