Stereo Upgrade Recommendations for '93 300E ?

What car do you have?

Sorry, ;-) I thought the title said it, '93 300E 2.8.

Any advice is great!

Thanks

Roy

Okay... It depends on what you want and what system you have now...If you have premium stereo in your car... which is with speakers by the door, you can get away with just changinge the head unit. It also depends on where you are... HD radio is a good option to have and if you want satellite too... look for unit that have both.

If you have standard radio system, no door speaker, then I'd spend a little more money and install external amplifier... spend extra money for front speakers... get the components. Components are expensive but can be had cheaply on ebay. They are worth every cent. Of course by adding external amp, you have to run new power wire to amp... speaker wires, and RCA wires... it will add up. But again... everything is worth it.

Partsexpress.com has alot of accessories you need to make the whole thing work unless you want to hire someone to do the work for you... look for some buddy who got experience to help you out.

Get one that you can connect an MP3 player to (you'll probably have most luck with an iPod). I can't imagine people still want to put up with changing CD's.

Ximinez

Recently I changed the (what was then an extremely expensive) Blaupunkt CD radio on my 1993 190E (in those days not integrated into dashboard).

Sorted out some sound quality problems by doing that.

Bought a 'bottom-end' Pioneer. Has a small auxiliary socket for mp3 players and the like. Paid a bit extra for that, just in case. Otherwise am happy to change individual CDs...!...

DAS

For direct replies replace nospam with schmetterling

The general design of a sound system that I like is what is called a 3 channel plus one. I run my front speakers and a subwoofer off a power amp and run my rear speakers off one of the pairs of outputs from the head unit.

I like JVC head units. The model I have in my 1982 300TDT is no longer available, but here is one with the same capabilities, plus the ability to control and iPod from the unit's remote.

I would recommend getting some front speakers capable of handling a lot of power. I have Pyramid 4094 4" speakers in the front. They will likely fit your stock mount space. They handle up 200 watts and sound great with rock or jazz or classical. $19.95 at eTronics

the rear I put in some Kenwood KFC-6990ie 6" x 9" 2 wayspeakers. I like Kenwood because their bass response goes down to 28cycles for good low bass. A bit pricier, they run $64.99.

And for a power amp you can't beat a Panasonic CYPA4003U 1000W 4- Channel Power Amplifier. I like a four channel amp. You run the front pair off one pair of outputs and then "bridge" the other pair to a single high powered channel to run your sub woofer. So that is called a 3 channel setup, the two sides of the pair you run to the front speakers and the bridged single output to the "pump," the subwoofer setup. You want a power amp that has two pairs of line inputs and also has a preamp out. The Panasonic I recommend has all these features and a special bass circuitry that gives a nice, full natural bass. It's great, like the Pyramids, for rock, jazz or classical. You can find one for less than $100 if you do a Google search for one. I found one for $89 a couple of months ago. I have a Baja unit in my 4Runner and an Alpine in my Benz (very expensive, nice, but not that much better). The Baja kicks ass too. They are maybe $10 less than the Panasonic, but not nearly as nice.

And for a sub woofer I like CDT Audio speakers. I have one from their 2006 product line that is slightlydifferent from what they now offer, but an equivalent speaker seriesis the CL-EFCast Alloy Audiophile Versabox Subwoofer. These CDTsubwoofers put out great smooth bass and offer sound reproductiondefinition for jazz and classical and can also thump out the bass lineon a Wilson Picket or Led Zepplin tune! You can pay a lot more for one of the more expensive series from CDT, but the sound can't be much better. I make my own subwoofer boxes out of solid hardwoods. I have a maple box in my 123 Benz, a mahogany box in my Corolla GTS and a pine ( I know, pine isn't hardwood) maple box in my 4Runner. They all sound a little different. I like them all. If space is a consideration, like it is in my Corolla, I used an 8" woofer. I have 12"s in the other cars. The 8" kicks ass just fine.

I'd buy my subwoofer from

, although I can'tfind the series of CDT woofers I am recommending at the WoofersEtc.site right now. Google the model of CDT sub you want and you willfind a good deal someplace. I guess that's it. I was just out in my 4Runner listening to some Led Zepplin and that system sounds great!

There are two things that are key - the subwoofer in a good box and the power amp. Without those you won't have decent sound no matter what. Pay attention to the volume of the box. The CDT speakers come with a spec sheet that will help you design a box or order the right size.

A head unit with two sets of preamp outputs is essential so you can set things up so the front track is the front track and the rear track is the rear track. If you get a head unit with just one pair of outputs you will have to have the rear connected to the front and vice versa because the single pair of outputs probably will be the rear channel, and the line out is what goes to your amp and with just one set of outputs you will have to pass that through to the subwoofer bridged output on the power amp. I have single output head units in my Corolla and 4Runner and I really prefer the two pairs of outputs unit I have in my Benz.

I hope that helps. I have been sitting here at the computer waiting for the morning chill to be out of the air so I can comfortably go crawl under my Benz and finish disconnecting everything so I can pull the engine tomorrow. I am having it remanufactured after 400,000 miles so the car will have kick ass sound and run great too.

Paul

call Crutchfield Electronics. 1-888-955-6000.

ask for Willis.

I got a very good radio for my '79 240d

However, for my '99 S-70 volvo, the radio system is such that a replacement radio was not available.

j.

Crutchfiled has excellent customer service, but you pay for it even if you don't use it. I bought a Legacy Baja amp from them for $129 and then two weeks later saw the same amp for $79 at eTronics.

Paul Fretheim