My ICE inc Kenwood Custom Fit Components

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GrahamC230K

MB Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 14, 2002
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9,755
Car
Audi A3 & S4 quattro
I have just fitted my replacement front speakers, which completes my upgraded stereo install.

I have details of the Kenwood Custom fit speakers, but starting at the source:


Kenwood KDC-PSW9521 MP3 MASK Headunit (Remote just in view at bottom). 10 Disc changer in the boot. Original Blaupunkt was good, but NEED MP3 and MASK!

mp3kenwood.jpg



Amp + Sub:


mynewice.jpg


Kenwood KAC-625 2-Way Amp (Bridged for Sub)

amp.jpg


Kenwood KFC-W2500 10" Subwoofer in Ported Carpeted Box (in the boot - Ski Hatch cover removed)

mysub.jpg


subfront.jpg



The Kenwood Components:

speakerbox.jpg


boxcontents.jpg


The new speakers

newspeaker.jpg


newspeakerback.jpg


The new tweeters

newtweeter.jpg


The downside was that perhaps due to MB changing them on my later car, the connections were not plug and play as they should have been. Sacrificing the old speakers though I neatly crimped the old OEM connectors on.
 
Worth is all to replace the original paper MB cones:

oldspeaker.jpg
 
Very nice Graham!

<makes note to self>Bring ear-plugs on Friday!!</makes note to self>
 
You bet!

Done final adjustment to sound just now and playing that at full wack with a hangover is suicidal.
 
Where did u buy these from man ????

Did you have to buy speaker adapters or do they come prefitted ??

Well How does it sound ??? Give us your final verdict.
 
Originally posted by Sanj
Where did u buy these from man ????

Did you have to buy speaker adapters or do they come prefitted ??

Well How does it sound ??? Give us your final verdict.


I purchased the Kenwood front components from Car Audio Direct who I can fully recommend. They had them in stock and could have delivered next had I not personally collected them.

The benefit of them is that they are specifically for the C-Class. You take out the old speakers and the plastic moulding which sits behind the OEM speaker and they just screw straight in. If you fitted regular 6.5" speakers you would need an adapter bracket.

As I said - one small down side was that the plugs they came with did not pair up to thew connectors in my car. Something that got changed over the years I expect and Kenwood have not been aware.

Perhaps Koolvin or someone else with an early C-Class could confirm if those connector look correct for them or not?

The verdict is that they sound extremely good. I am getting more volume without distortion, better fuller sound and I am hearing detail in tracks from the tweeters that I never knew existed previously!

Thumbs up
:) :)
 
Originally posted by GrahamC230K
You take out the old speakers and the plastic moulding which sits behind the OEM speaker and they just screw straight in. If you fitted regular 6.5" speakers you would need an adapter bracket.


The aditional part which you need to remove if fitting the Kenwoods:

oemspkrbit.jpg
 
That confirms it then. MB changed them at some point.
 
Speaker Wire Polarity

OK, here's something I forgot to mention and have just actually doubled checked to make sure!


For some reason, MB have striped the negative (-) speaker wire, instead of the positive (+) !

Make sure you get your polarity right when fitting speakers as the striped cable normally indicates posistive.

Get it wrong and your speaker moves in when it should move out!
 
Graham, thanks for yor reply on the other forum. I haven't fitted the speakers yet (Xmas job!) but when I lifted the speaker grills to check what speakers were already fitted in the doors I noticed that the speaker lead disappeared beneath the door trim with no plug of any sort it view :( I presume / hope that the plug connector has been tucked behind the door trim. Now all I have to do is find out how the trim comes off...
 
I chose not to remove my door cards to find if there was or wasn't a plug.

As I had already found out the connector plug on my tweeters was different (I guess MB changed them after Kenwood made the speakers) I thought it was a waste of time, so just cut the speaker cables and joined them.
 
Originally posted by samuelellis
is that a 8 or a 10 inch sub?
whats your box tuned to?
have you amped your components?


10" Sub. No idea what frequency it's tuned to - it was an EBAY purchase. The kit was new and I think the box may have been a Kenwood deal as I have seen other Kenwood subs in the same box on the web, but have no other info.

My components aren't amped, just driven by the 4x45 HU. Sounds good and is balanced with the output from the sub.

Koolvin has his components amped though and with the big power going to his 12" sub, his car is in a different league.
 
yea i cont afford to run a merk atm so im throwign a install in my rover (car cost £500 install is gonna cost nearly 3 grand if i do all the work myself, madness, sheer madness hehe)

i was thinking that was a kenwood in hose box myself due to the speaker terminal placement

have you tried puttign the box up agianst the seat firing towards the boot lid as oddly it makes the bass seem punchier (some long technical exlination why but i never remember it hehe)
 
samuelellis said:
yea i cont afford to run a merk atm so im throwign a install in my rover (car cost £500 install is gonna cost nearly 3 grand if i do all the work myself, madness, sheer madness hehe)

i was thinking that was a kenwood in hose box myself due to the speaker terminal placement

have you tried puttign the box up agianst the seat firing towards the boot lid as oddly it makes the bass seem punchier (some long technical exlination why but i never remember it hehe)
You could buy a early c class for 3k
 

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