Audio upgrades in the '86-'93 124

[pkmaven]

Eventually everyone becomes aware of the shortcoming of the Becker Grand Prix tape/radio and thinks about changing the head unit (this action is NOT illegal!). Removing the Becker takes under five minutes and involves removing the ashtray, depressing two metal tabs at the bottom of the radio, and sliding it out of it's mounting hole. The front speakers can be replaced with any aftermarket (coaxial) 4" speaker, and the rear with 5.25" coaxial speakers. These will be four ohm impedance and will match the four ohm output of any CD head unit. All aftermarket CD head units have electronic faders inside. Do not use the speaker leads from the dirt-collecting fader on the console. (The 500E has a fader that handles much higher wattage than other 124 bodies.) Any four channel amplifier will make such a huge increase in clarity, that you will wonder why you waited so long! Mercedes engineers spent lots of time and money trying to keep outside noise outside. The rear shelf is steel with sound dampening material on one side. locating a sealed subwoofer enclosure facing away from the car in the trunk is more idealistic than realistic. To play bass into the interior of the car (imagine!) requires a ported or bandpass enclosure with a partially external port exiting from the top of the enclosure. To prevent whistling, the port should be square. It should pass just through the square cutout in the rear parcel shelf, under the first aid kit cover. Seal the small space around the port with silicone. Put the first aid kit in one of the fender wells in the trunk. If you use a bandpass sub enclosure you won't need a crossover. A single 12" woofer will flex the window glass unless the sub volume level is turned down for normal listening. A 200-300watt mono amplifier output at four ohms will drive the sub without problems. By entering the world of digital sound with your new, bi-amplified sound system, you will finally admit to knowing that the developed nations of the world have been listening to music from CD for twenty years! P.