Sound upgrade?

[b1g1an]

Cheers, thanks for the info and the kind offer. Currently waiting on the dvla who cocked up the previous owners plate transfer and now have to start again.

Did wonder if it even had tweeters, hence my comment about the 1er, as I don't know what the spec for the standard system is. Fingers crossed it's just the settings as you describe and not that they're "friend"

 

[b1g1an]

Oh, didn't realise it was a 3 year old post that had been bumped!!

LOL, that would've been too easy.

 

[gIzzE]

Fingers crossed it's just the settings as you describe and not that they're "friend"

 

[MD5]

I had my new amp fitted today, an MRX-V60, very quickly delivered by the people in the link, a good price, and it sounds great. Thanks gIzzE for your help, but I have one more question, if you, or anyone else, would be so kind? I got home to find out that the amp is permanently on, which I can see is not right, based on the manual.

Can anyone advise me of an easy way to remedy this please? The fitter didn't spot it, so if I can point him in the right direction, that would be great.

 

[trapperjohn]

Sorry if this states the obvious Mike and is a bit egg sucky. Most amps stay on for a while after the engine/igniotion is switched off. Could it be yours was powering down when you thought it to be "on"

 

[MD5]

I'll check in the morning, thanks John, but the manual refers to certain optional leads, or wiring in a certain way to prevent this happening (it's connected directly to the battery). The amp has a blue light, which remained on after I had switched everything off, and I had to go behind a panel at the rear to check.

Incidentally, if anyone (b1g1an?) is thinking of buying the amp in my previous post, I have just received an email from that supplier stating that their sale ends on Monday.

 

[gIzzE]

If they haven't hooked up the remote wire, the smaller one in the centre of the power block, then the amp will turn on/off when it sense a signal on the speaker level inputs.

What car has this gone in?

If it is anything like most modern can bus based cars, the cars stay powered up for around 15 minutes after you lock them, then they go to sleep, so it is probably powering down after you have walked away.

 

[b1g1an]

Incidentally, if anyone (b1g1an?) is thinking of buying the amp in my previous post, I have just received an email from that supplier stating that their sale ends on Monday.

Thanks for the tip but if I do go for an amp it'll probably be the smaller one g1zzE recommended which is a bit cheaper elsewhere.

Glad to hear you're pleased with the results

 

[MD5]

If they haven't hooked up the remote wire, the smaller one in the centre of the power block, then the amp will turn on/off when it sense a signal on the speaker level inputs.

What car has this gone in?

If it is anything like most modern can bus based cars, the cars stay powered up for around 15 minutes after you lock them, then they go to sleep, so it is probably powering down after you have walked away.

Thanks gIzzE. It's a 2004 E500 estate. I've just been out to the car (peeing it down!) and the amp is still on, unless it came on when I unlocked the car? Started the car after checking, and the battery convenience function warning has come up. I couldn't get it done locally before going away tomorrow for a week, so the installer is 25 miles away!

 

[MD5]

Can bus it is! When the door opens, power is sent to the radio, which is picked up by the amp, which then switches on. Fridge door syndrome!

 

[gIzzE]

Where is it located?
Can you leave it on show and lock the car down?

Battery convenience function warning doesn't sound great.

 

[MD5]

It's tucked in behind the panelling on the passenger side, the tailgate side of the nav unit, but my previous post was my attempt at explaining it's working as it should!


I called them first, and took it over. It was only after we stood chatting for a few minutes with the tailgate open that the light went off, but each time a door was opened, with the ignition off, the amp sprung to life, hence the fridge door analagy - how do we know that the light actually goes out when it's closed?!!

As for the battery function, the previous owner had an overlap of cars, so the outgoing one (now mine) didn't get used for a several months. He replaced the main battery as a result, and I may need to replace the aux battery at some point, as I don't use the car for lengthy periods myself, but it had been worked on all afternoon yesterday, so was just a little drained. In normal use, the message never appears.

Anyway, I'm going to Ely tomorrow for a few days, so look out!! Thanks again for your replies.

 

[gIzzE]

That is good, it also means that you don't get a loud crack when you put the key in and the radio turns on and wakes the amp.

 

[sinewave]

You can use the same trick to check this as you can use to check ya fridge light goes off.

Shove ya mobile phone in there on video and lock up.

Come back later and watch the footage which will reveal all!

 

[ashadam]

Yeah the Alpines will work fine, if you want to spend a bit more than a nice Genesis would be great, but they do get hot so mounting position needs to be thought about more.

Depends what you want to spend, to tap into the speaker level the Alpine, Pioneers etc. work a treat.

Hi Gizze is this alpine option suitable for a 2013 w204 had another test drive this weekend although sound is not bad it could certainly do with a little extra although I am not sure what exactly.

 

[gIzzE]

Yeah, if the W204 has the basic system, can be nav or audio 20 but not Harman Kardon, then it will be fine.

 

[DominoD7]

Gizze,

I been following this thread and plan to carry out the Alpine amp upgrade on a W219 CLS once I get my hands on one. To clarify- can an additional amp be added to a HK set up or only on the standard comand system?


Thanks in advance.

 

[gIzzE]

Just standard.

I am not sure on Mercs of that era whether the HK system is done over regular line level from the head unit or over MOST Bus (optical).
If it is the former you could replace the HK amp with something else, something better, but you would then be into an expensive swap.

I don't think if you found a car with Harman you would feel the need to upgrade, it is a pretty good oem system.

 

[ashadam]

Yeah, if the W204 has the basic system, can be nav or audio 20 but not Harman Kardon, then it will be fine.

Excellent I have the Nav 20 (standard option) without changer so now I just need to find a local audio fitter to get job done. I will use your advice from this thread thanks gizze. As my model does not command is connection for amp upgrade still i the boot. thanks

 

[gIzzE]

No, it is just a normal head unit, they all are from late 2008, even comand units.

You could buy the Blaupunkt Plug and Play system.

You get a Blaupunkt 4 channel amp and a harness, you daisy chain this into your connector on the back of the head unit and run the amp to the boot to hide it away.
This makes it a very easy install you can do yourself.