W124 Speakers

[richip]

I recently decided to replace the speakers in the front of my E320 Cabriolet. I naively assumed that a quick trip to Halfords would secure some appropriate replacements. Wrong! They're an odd size - 4.75" instead of the vastly more popular 5.25". The pimply, but helpful, assistant conceded defeat after searching every catalogue in the shop.

I searched on eBay and found the Rainbow IQ line 231182 direct replacement. Unfortunately some of the reviews I read were not particularly favourable, and neither was the £100-plus price tag.

I eventually found CRB-120PP Car Speaker Pair - 130580 on Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000PJDXE6/ref=ox_ya_os_product. At £19.73 plus delivery I was prepared to take a punt.

I've now received them and they're not bad. Fitting involved de-soldering the connectors from the original speakers and attaching them to the new ones. I also needed to widen the hole in the sound-proofing material under the dash. All this involved was making some small incisions in the circumference to allow the slightly larger magnets to push through the hole. I did not need to modify the dash in any way. The original mesh covers fit perfectly.

Although lacking bass the sound is fine - certainly an improvement on the originals. They're not going to make your ears bleed, but if that's what you want you should have bought a Corsa, not a Mercedes.

 

[television]

As low mid and low frequencies are not directional you could fit something in the kick panels. It was a shame in the 124 that the sound is very hard to upgrade, even the doors are limited

 

[richip]

You're absolutely right Malcolm. In the 124 Cabrio it's hard to find somewhere to hide an additional pair of speakers. It's especially difficult if you're trying to retain a degree of originality.

 

[television]

I may have 2 speakers that may help, I will try and photo in the morning

 

[Juddian]

Standard speakers in my coupe, but at the risk of being classified as an undesirable again, i fitted a small active sub in the sizeable boot.

Adjusting it to provide ample proper bass effect as aginst shaking the windows out it does indeed make the inadequate sound from the car really quite pleasant.

See, i'll be on first name terms soon at the supermarket car park Sunday night, i'll change me name to Zen or Zac or troy or whatever they call themselves these days....get some underbody LED's next week..

 

[richip]

Don't forget your hoodie.

 

[scillyisles]

I have E320 Cab with upgraded sound system - original sound system was MB Special Radio Cassette which I upgraded to Nakamichi MB75 radio 6 cd changer unit with Rainbow front speakers and standard rear speakers. I find the Rainbows are good speakers and give a much improved sound. Since then I have upgraded the headunit to a Becker Cascade Pro and this works even better with the Rainbow speakers.

 

[grober]

Easiest way to upgrade front speakers in a W124 is to customise the front door panel pockets to form speaker baffles/enclosures. This was a optional fitment on USA coupes/cabriolets but can be done on any front inner door trim panel. The secret is getting it trimmed to a decent standard afterwards.:Oops: quite a few posts on here about it and until recently you could still buy custom made panels? ---at a price!