Has anyone made a side by side comparison of MB Quart and Rainbow speakers? I found one reference here but it wasn’t conclusive. Also, is there much difference among speakers costing about $150 (US) per pair?

I want to replace the front and rear speakers in my 400E. The MB Quart and Rainbow are highly touted here, and not that I’d doubt any of the comments made, but it’s hard to find much of anything about Rainbow speakers outside of this Forum.


TIA

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Hi Tracy.

Try this link:

http://www.rainbow-car-audio.de/

Louis.

Finally found the reason for Rainbow speakers in a MB

http://www.prweb.com/releases/2004/5/prweb126345.htm

Upgrading your German car audio system just got easier.
The IQ Line from Rainbow Car Audio has been tailored to fit select makes and models.

(PRWEB) May 16, 2004 -- German Hi-Fi audio components designer and manufacturer, Rainbow Car Audio, is excited to introduce its new IQ Line of car audio speakers, tailored to fit select car models without altering the original auto manufacturer designed interiors. These speaker sets have been customized specifically for Volkswagen, Audi, BMW, Mercedes, and several other automobile lines.

The IQ Line has been designed to be installed in the original factory locations and have been acoustically tuned for each car model. The average driver can easily install them with basic technical and mechanical knowledge.

“Most off the shelf speakers will fit any car, but I don’t know of any speaker manufacturer that has optimized each crossover for a flat frequency response like we did at Rainbow Car Audio. The optimization of the crossover is the key to perfect sound,” Stefan Jelko, from Rainbow Car Audio, explained, “We have found that the average car owner wants to upgrade their audio system but does not want to dismantle, cut holes and retrofit the car.”

Perfect sound is insured thanks to car specific acoustic tuning. This is achieved through separate crossovers on the right and left to precisely balance the phase and level of the different axes from the mid-ranges and tweeters. IQ speaker sets provide optimal performance and fit perfectly down to the millimeter in most of these select lines of automobiles.

About Rainbow Car Audio
Rainbow Car Audio is a designer, manufacturer and distributor of high-performance audio systems for the mobile and professional markets. Founded in 1984 by Paul Jelko, Rainbow Audio has been pushing the limits of audio design and engineering for the last twenty years. Headquartered in Bad Rappenau, Germany, Rainbow supports distributors throughout the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Rainbow Car Audio employs progressive German engineering standards and a global business philosophy in designing Hi-Fi audio components. Rainbow has been winning performance, design and sound awards worldwide with its innovative design, handcrafted manufacturing, and distinct sound for the last two decades. Rainbow has a strong devotion to research and development, pouring nearly fifty percent of its resources back into R&D.

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

I would forego Rainbow (actually , I did forego recently when I bought Infinity Kappa), and focus on some other brands which, it seems, produce better products. Focal, MB Quartz, Infinity, even the Rockford Fosgates and Kenwood Excelons seem to be more talked about and in more cars in the car audio forums, not to mention in competition level cars you don't see any Rainbow's, so that would tell how much the more serious car audio buffs like Rainbows

Bottom line, you should listen to the different brands and notice the difference. I listened to some of the ones in my choices, and noticed the difference between them.

__________________
1995 E320 smoke silver / parchment

the reason Rainbows are not talked about that much is that they dont have many dealers across the country, and they are very very expensive, but they are very impressive in the right install, MB Quart is owned my Rockford Fosgate and is in many more audio dealers so there is much more exposure for them,

I have the top end 3 way MB Quarts in my car, but if I wanted the same level Rainbows I would have to cough up a decent amount more for them, I actually prefer the sound of Rainbows, MB Quart tweets are a tad harsh, but thats my ears, my personal favorite is Focals and BRAX, but once again they have astronomical price tags,

a great option to all of these is A/D/S, top end components with nice crossovers that are not quite the price of the others mentioned while still giving awsome performance

__________________
http://www.needasig.com//email.php/b...I9YmxhY2s=.png

SoundSolutionsAudio.com
CarAudio-forum.com

1993 300CE Brabus Edition
1999 528i

1992 300E

# of dealers is irrelevant, CDT and even Focal don't have that many dealers either, just look at their web pages for locations. If something is good, enthusiasts will dig it out and get them (heck , don't some of us in the US order stuff from Europe? )

I concur that MB Quartz highs are not right for everyone, hence I didnt buy them, but they are up there for some, and with the proper crossovers... look out.

Have no confirmation of how owns how, but that is irrelevent. That's like saying new Mercedes are really Chrysler b/c Daimler Chrysler is part of the group, lol

Expensive? THey have models fairly reasonable and even the ultra expenive CDT's are popular b/c they are high quality.

I mean Rainbows could be a hidden nitch in the car audio world, but I checked Car AUdio web page and they have never even done a test on them

Don't want this to get into a whats best or worst, just my point of view having just come out of shopping for components

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1995 E320 smoke silver / parchment

I have a set of Rainbows in my car and love the way they sound with the factory Deck and Amps. These speakers reproduce sounds that didn't even exist with the 12 year old stock speakers. They also sound clean and produce very even sound. I haven't done direct comparisons with other speakers but I know a good deal about speakers and can say these are top notch.

BTW my experience includes judging two IASCA events.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

Two experts stating they are good, hmm.. I am going to have to listen to a pair at a Mercedes meet or something, lol.

Any idea why they are not "in" with the IASCA crowd then? Just curious. Do they need to do better marketing?

btw, IASCA.... any decent web pages that you know of covering IASCA events etc?

I am no expert, btw, just look at the questions I have been asking recently.:p

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1995 E320 smoke silver / parchment

I also did an extensive search on Rainbows before purchasing them and like you I couldn't find very much information. Rainbow has just a handful of dealerships in the US and as stated before their speakers are very pricey. I bought them after listening to a set that were installed in another members car.

I also bought them because they were specifically designed for the W124 which means there was no cutting wires or the dash to install them. You simply plug them in and mount them and your're done.

I'm not saying a set of MB Quarts will sound worse or better, just different. I will say these speakers sound much better than your average speakers from Diamond, Pioneer, Kenwood, Sony etc.

IASCA is very interesting. One thing you need to keep in mind is that you can do very well in an IASCA competition with good quality speakers as long as they are properly located and are backed up with good amplifiers and equalizers. Sound staging and clean, even, crisp sound is very important with IASCA sound competitions. You don't need to spend rediculous amounts of money on speakers to do well, that is my point.

I'm not sure why the Rainbows aren't in with the IASCA crowd but then again I haven't been doing serious car stereo stuff for at least 4 years. I would imagine it does have to do with Marketing though. I could only find a handful of dealerships which sell the Rainbows and a couple of them were distributors only. That means there aren't any Stereo shops which have them mounted on the walls in every small town or even city and no one is exposed to them. Why buy something you're not familiar with when you can get something that already is known for being a good product and is available locally.

Either way I encourage you to listen to as many products as you can before making a decision. What you think sounds good may be completely different than what I think.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd

I've looked and looked for the Rainbow IX 120 CX front and rear speakers. I've found 3 places that sell them. One wants over $150 per pair, and the other 2 places want less than $100 per pair. The problem is that Rainbow is reported to be revamping their distributor lines, so there are none available.

Still, I'll hold out to get the speakers as they are top rated and fit the form factor.

Anyone know the speaker size and recommended type for the front doors of a 124?

__________________
...Tracy

'00 ML320 "Casper"
'92 400E "Stella"

Afshin,very well said.

I can only add one thing to that.

If at all possible listen to speakers mounted
in a simular car.
Eventough they sound really well mounted
in a sound wall at the stereo shop, they might
sound different in a car.

Louis.

well so much of Car audio is word of mouth and now online forums like this one are a major factor to that, but anyway what product is the best is the one that sounds the best to you not what sounds best to me

__________________
http://www.needasig.com//email.php/b...I9YmxhY2s=.png

SoundSolutionsAudio.com
CarAudio-forum.com

1993 300CE Brabus Edition
1999 528i

1992 300E

Placo,
I am getting conflicting stories from audio dealers about if the Rainbows will work w/ the factory head units and amp. One audio dealer told me there is no way to replace just the speakers and I would need to purchase a new head unit speakers, etc.. and of course they would be happy to do it for me and they have everything in stock.
I talked to another audio dealer in Ca. who carries Rainbow and they said no problem…

Will these IQ Line speakers work w/ my factory system?
I have a 1992 W124 E320 with a Becker head unit and my other MB is 2000 E430 with a Bose system.

Thanks,
LJ

Is your car a 1992 E320 or 300E? The E320 didn't come out until 1994. 1993 300E's got the 3.2 liter engine, but not the badge.

I know that 1993 cars, and also possibly 1992, got the bose system with the amp and receiver in the trunk that runs off of 2 ohms of resistance, instead of 4 ohms, which is the standard they everything runs off of.

My installer, who specializes in Mercedes and is an authorized Becker dealer, told me that I could replace my speakers, but that they would run "hot", and wear out quicker.

In the end, I ended up initially gutting everything (the amps and receive in the trunk, along with all the wiring in the car). I at first installed a Pioneer head unit, and everything (the 6 speakers and antena wire) had to be rewired to the head unit. The stock set-up has everything (head unit, speakers, antena) wired to the trunk.

I ended up investing into a high-end Nakamichi system, and had to go back and have all the wires re-routed back to the trunk where the amps were located. The antena wire is still routed to the head unit though.

__________________
Paul S.

2001 E430, Bourdeaux Red, Oyster interior.
79,200 miles.

1973 280SE 4.5, 170,000 miles. 568 Signal Red, Black MB Tex. "The Red Baron".

LJ,

The Rainbows will work with your original receiver and amplifiers without modification to anything.

I'm not sure about the overheating that Paul mentions, however, nor the longevity of the speaker. I'm also not a very good person to bounce longevity off of considering how little I drive the car. Then again I've never had a car audio speaker that retains it's original sound quality after a couple years of use.

Hope this helps.

__________________
Afshin

Current:
02 C32 AMG

Previous:
92 500E
84 190E 2.3 5 Spd