Stereo & Speakers Upgrade

[DavidSoine]

I took a look at those side bolsters last night - there are two truly flat areas that look like good candidates for installation, but they are not very big - like 5.5" round max. I'm no speaker install expert so someone let me know if that is no problem when installing a larger speaker/grille...

best,

Dave

[Richard1]

Large speaker grills are going to look odd in an SL and a home-job is going to look really odd. I would either not bother or work really hard to hide them.

If money were no object, I'd still stick with the B/As 4 inch rounds in the factory slots in the front, sub-woofers under the seats, and opt for the Nakamichi in Amber.

[ctaylor738]

If you use the truck boxes, all you need to do is run the wires up behind the back of the seat, and get a pair of connectors that makes hooking them up and disconnecting them easy. I was also going to try to get a strap of some kind (velcro?) attached below the seat to hold the boxes when the seat is down. Remember, my objective is to be able to make these disappear without a trace when the judging team gets close!

Having been through my first judging, permanently installed speakers would cost one or even two points in authenticity, which would knock the car out of a serious competition.

I know, I know. But I do want to win a couple of events with this car. Then it's open season for an upgrade.

[450sl4me]

I'm not entering in any contests, but I wanted to keep my car basically original as well, and going that route, I/future owner could always remove them. Mine doesn't have rear seets, they would just sit there most the time. I was thinking about velcro as well to hold thge boxes in place. How hard do you think it is/will be to run the wire from the head unit to the back?

[ctaylor738]

I'll let you know. I'm going to run a new antenna wire, a hook-up for a CD changer in the trunk (just in case), and speaker wires this weekend.

[DavidSoine]

Here is the speaker location on the stunning 280sl on Ebay. This is one of the "flat spots" I referred to in an earlier post...and that is about the max size speaker that will fit there. There is another "flat spot" just aft of that location, about the same size.

best,

Dave

[Richard1]

Bastards!!! Now I want a new CD Player/speakers.

[450sl4me]

I found a head unit I liked... the Sony CDX-R3000. It's a real clean looking unit, only $139 at the usual retailers. Ah, but there's a catch. It's an extra $100 for the old SL to install it! Oh yeah, and you know htose nice Pioneer speakers I picked out for the dash ( Pioneer TS-G1040R), they are normally $35 to install, but another $100 for the SL! To top it all off, all these stories abouot how tough it is to install these is scaring me away form attempting to do it myself.

So on to plan B. I'm going to be in San Diego nexxt week for work, so I thought I will give Steve at La Jolla Audio a call in the morning and see if he wants to do the job. He posted pictures in an old post in the audio forum of some really clean installs he did w/ rear speakers. He seems to really know his stuff, I hope it won't break the bank!

[speedy72t]

Originally posted by 450sl4me
I was thinking about velcro as well to hold thge boxes in place. [/B]

We used to do this all of the time in the "old" days but I don't recommend it. Very dangerous setup if you get into an accident.

[450sl4me]

I got a quote from La Jolla today. Sony deck, Alpine's front and rear, $950. I'm leaning toward doing it, at least I know it will be done right.

[ctaylor738]

FWIW, I installed the Blaupunkt Orlando today in the 280SL in about an hour. I preserved all the MB connections by putting the appropriate quick-connect terminals from Radio Shack on the Blaupunkt wires.

I did the first part of the rear speaker wires by removing the driver's side under-dash panel - easy. I think it is going to be straightforward to go under the mats to the rear seat area with the speaker wire. The more complicated path is under the carpet that covers the sills.

I am going to try to anchor the truck boxes with something sturdy, but that will be hidden with the seat up. Will report as it moves along.

[450sl4me]

Drove the sl 300+ miles to San Diego yesterday. It ran flawlessly, even over the grapevi ne. Dropped it off at La Jolla Audio today for stereo install, can't wait to pick it up tomorrow, sholuld sound 100% better.

[ctaylor738]

My truck boxes and Polk Audio 3-way's arrrived yesterday. But we are out of town until the 17th, so the install will need to wait. Do tell us how yours turns out.

[DavidSoine]

FWIW Boston Acoustics FX4 speakers DO NOT drop in to the OEM dash speaker locations on an 87 560SL. Not much real estate in there, especially on the drivers side.

I found that the installers that put the stereo in our car (before we owned it) had put Capacitors in with the front speakers. This resulted in a highpass cutoff of about 1500 Hz! In that installation, the sound was made up by the back speakers, which of course we removed when we installed the rear seat.

Another oddity, the left and right speakers were different...both OEM Mercedes, one was clearly much higher quality than the other. (It even said "high quality" on it.)

best,

Dave

[ctaylor738]

Here is a picture of the Polk EX369's in the truck boxes semi-installed in the Virgin Mary. Next steps:

- get the boxes covered with the grey carpet
- install better quick disconnects
- figure out an unobtrusive way to anchor them securely. Ideas welcome. I am willing to have something permanent in the cargo area, since the seat goes up for shows.

IMHO, and I am by no means an audiophile, they really sound good. It's not kicker-style bass, but plenty good for classical and classic rock. Received a passing grade from my 19-year-old son.

It's about a minute to pull them out and put the wires under the seat.