stereo upgrade for 450 SL

[450sl4me]

What is the best way to upgrade the stereo system on my 1980 450 SL?

I want a CD player, improved/more speakers. I want to keep things as original as possible, but I want quality sound as well. Has anybody installed concealed head units, but keeping the stock one installed for original appearance purposes? Where have you mounted new speakers w/o cutting up the car? ANy help woule be appreciated.

[yeldogt]

The best way to do this is to remove the OE unit -- and keep it. Just get a unit without all the loud buttons and lights and it will look fine. The OE unit is crap - for lack of a better word.

The dash speakers are quite small -- I can not remember -- They must be 4". I replaced them and I also cut speakers into the flat space behind the seats. 6.5 in my case.

The rear is where all the sound comes from - the fronts are just too small - but they add enough that it is well worth the upgrad.

When you look at the speakers that are in OE systems -- even the very $$ ones -- it is a shock how cheap they are!!

If you do this you can change back to stock with no problem. The rear shelf is just plywood with carpet over it. All the parts are easy to get and the head unit justs pops in and out!

The car is much nicer with a system you can play a CD and hear it too.

[cbdo]

Chris, a search of the site under terms like speaker, upgrade, head unit, etc. will turn up more than you could possibly want to know, especially on speakers. Of the head units out there, I found Blaupunkt made more over the years that were cosmetically compatible than anyone else; I put a Honolulu in mine (bought on Ebay) that turned out well, but there are some other models that match really well with the appearance, and most are at least acceptable (i.e., will comfortably outdo the Becker that was OEM). Obviously, I was interested in appearance first, but I did want decent sound; it just seemed logical to realize that an open car doesn't do justice to an extravagant system. I found Ebay a continuing source of ideas, and Blaupunkt's own site as well as Continental and one other I forget are also sources of info on models over the last several years.
A few Blaupunkts that seem cosmetically OK to my eye, and use amber or yellow displays to go with the dash lighting AFAIK; I'll post because I never found such a list compiled before, and there are probably others I'm missing.

ACD2800
ACD2900
Aspen CD42
Miami CD42
Florida RD168
Nevada RDM168
Madison CD127
Honolulu CD50

They'll vary significantly in vintage, power, features, etc.--my Honolulu is a good but not great cosmetic and style match, but works very well. All are no longer current, but can be had used, occasionally in essentially NIB condition.

[450sl4me]

Thanks for the info. I'll check into some of those ideas.

Chris