setup in 450SL
 

Hey guys... some of you from the SL board might be familiar with my car, but I want to get more quality out of my system (so it doesn't distort). I replaced the 3 1/2" speakers in the dash and I put in two boxed blaupunkt 6x9's on the bench behind me. I have these wired to a Sony Xplod head with a cd player putting out 4x50W. I was wondering what my options are with what I have. My brother has some older sony 4 channel amps sitting in the garage, and a 10" sub in a bandpass box that barely fits in the trunk (and takes up all the room). I already wired it to have an amp in the trunk, I was thinking I could either
a: bridge one of the amps for both 6x9's on the bench, forget about the 3 1/2" speakers.
b: use an amp to power the 6x9's and the 3 1/2's
c: try fitting the sub in and never be able to use my trunk

I am trying to avoid option c because I need the trunk for my backpack and other various things. What do you guys think? I'm on a really tight budget. I'm leaning towards option A.

here are some pictures of the setup I have right now.


http://www.thedotcommune.com/tim/450pix/P1010047.JPG

http://www.thedotcommune.com/tim/450pix/P1010048.JPG

Robert, I have lots of experience working on 107's and since you happen to be in San Diego then you should stop by my shop and we can talk about your options! Here is a pic of a 107 rear speaker install.. Why did you install 3.5 in speakers in the front? The location handles a 4in perfectly and they sound @ 50% better.

Scott@lajollaaudio 858-581-6545

you've got a PM!

Read my response to Spinedocs query .
 

Don t start hacking holes . Read my response to Spinedocs query .

so... you did what I already have? check the pics... I have 2 blaupunkt 6x9's in boxes... It's still not clean enough for my taste, I like to play music with lots of bass.

FYI Tabasco there is no permanent damage done to the sl. The rear shelf is made of birch plywood and can easily be repaired or replaced and the carpet is readily availiable. There are plenty of ways to improve the system in your car also without doing permanent damage to it and without using a bazooka or speaker boxes sitiing on the back seat! This is dangerous, think about if you had to hit your brakes what might happen.

Scott@lajollaaudio

I actually have had them roll forward, but there's no real damage (maybe a little dent in the speaker grill), but I want to meet up with you sometime this week. When are you free? and where is your shop?

Scott - La Jolla Audio
 

Scott ; First - My car is an SLC 450 not an SL 450 . I have a back seat , not a carpeted void area like an SL . Second - My speakers are secured by a removable piece of velcro that doesn t leave any trace on the seat , from the back , no movement even during hard braking . Third - ANY holes hacked anywhere are very hard to fix and match color to the rest of your cars interior to make it all symetrical . Talk to real collectors , piece meal fixs like what you re doing are not accepable . Capet replacement requires all carpet to be replaced for perfect match throught the car . Same goes for side panels and all interior materials . All should match exactly , not some new and some older . If you think this doesn t make a difference your not being picky enough . I would not buy a MB that didn t look symetrical . Chevy style is not MB syle !

I agree with tobasco, in the sense that cutting holes is not the best idea. Even though it may improve the sound quality, you want to maintain the origionality of the car, in case a future owner decides to revert it back to it's previous state. That's why I've only done "bolt on" mods like K&N drop in, lights, and shocks: it is relativley easy to take off if need be, and it doesn't change any stock parts. On the other hand, throwing in a loud and clean stereo system is not a bad thing, as long as it can be taken out cleanly.

Tobasco just for your limited knowledge I work on cars that are a whole lot more expensive than a mercedes slc. From Datona Ferraris to Mercedes Gullwings etc... I can do an install in just about anything without making permanent modifications to the interior of the car. Carpet to me is not an issue as the original color and materials are all availiable still and if you have the money to do it right replacing all the carpet is no major expense. I the case of your car removing the stock rear shelf panel and making a new one and using stock material on it and running a sub through the first aid kit location is a viable option with no holes cut and no mods to the car.... Food for thought but I don't think there is any convincing you!

Scott@lajollaaudio

It` s all in the details ...
 

Most people are not as detail oriented about their cars as my friends and I are . Just because you install car stereos in expensive cars doesn`t mean that your perspective (or your customers) is always to safe guard the cars ORIGINAL factory condition ! I have seen many expensive cars that people have added after market parts to or re-engineered the cars factory condition and never was it a prudent decision , because it just cannot be fixed (as you say) back again to EXACTLY ORIGINAL condition . I along with many people would not buy these cars ! Put dingle balls around your windshield , drop your suspension , and superglue a little plastic Jesus on your dash . I don`t care ... Maybe someday when I lose my job as Head of Process Engineering for Intel , I can rise to your lofty job of being a ``car stereo installer``. It`s all in the details ... If you look .

Someday maybe you can tell me about exact original condition!Don't change your tires, belts, floor mats, or the radio. I think that you might be on the wrong forum as most people here are a little more open minded than you and are interested in something a little more tasteful than speaker boxes sitting on the back seat. I also think your idea of professional installers can be found at best buy and that is a totally different world. Don't change anything and there won't be anything for you to talk about!

Sc

Scott,
I would like to thank you very much for having me to your shop and letting me look around. I appreciate the advice, and I'm going to try to get something started (either 4" in the front, or wiring the amp). As for the quality of his work, I can personally say that I would trust him with ANY car (including but not limited to 300SL gullwing, ferrari enzo, lamborghini murcielago). I saw some of the cars that were in there that were in progress, including a totally stock and perfect ferrari (I forget which kind).

Oh yeah... my bro's car has a passive eclipse head that puts out 8V (I don't know what that means... I think it's really high quality). Here's some pics of the install we did on his car. It's pretty clean, we attached the amp to the left of the trunk, the MB Quart crossovers to the trunk lid, and this pic has his 2 12" Cerwin Vega's in a bandpass box (recently got rid of them for 2 10" JL's)

http://www.thedotcommune.com/tim/subs.jpg

scott,
as per your advice, I got some new 4" boston acoustic speakers (my bro got them for 20 bucks). I'm gonna install them tomorrow, so I'm hoping this will help out a little. If you have any ideas, suggestions, or anything else, drop me an e-mail, or reply here. You've been a great help, and you have a PM waiting from me that you haven't picked up!