[TheMunchBunch]

I'm looking at upgrading the door speakers as they're the same ones that came with car nearly 20 years ago. I don't think they're HK speakers.

I understand that the standard speakers are quite low profile, are there any aftermarket speakers that fit in the standard pods?

 

[jbanks15]

remember to search our wonderful forum

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site:slkworld.com r171 replacement door speakers
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[aluchini]

I'm looking at upgrading the door speakers as they're the same ones that came with car nearly 20 years ago. I don't think they're HK speakers.

I understand that the standard speakers are quite low profile, are there any aftermarket speakers that fit in the standard pods?

Not sure about the no HK system as my R171 had the HK however I was able to replace with a low profile infinity speaker but it took a lot of modification to the bracket to work

 

[TheMunchBunch]

Not sure about the no HK system as my R171 had the HK however I was able to replace with a low profile infinity speaker but it took a lot of modification to the bracket to work

With a bit of research it seems like Mercedes were hell bent on making it a needlessly painful procedure 😅

 

[Skyalex]

Hi TheMunchBunch,
I did replace my speakers in my R171. I did not have Harmon Kardon. There was a great step by step guide which I followed with recommendations of speakers which I have followed. Just search in advanced search for "Full Speaker Upgrade" from nitro28. You"ll find it.
The only difference is that he had Harmon Kardon installed originally and I did not. My larger speaker touches the grill and pushes it a bit out, but it almost can't be seen. The door cover must be different at the normal sound system.
However, look for this post it helped me tremendously.
All the best with your upgrade.

 

[TheMunchBunch]

Hi TheMunchBunch,
I did replace my speakers in my R171. I did not have Harmon Kardon. There was a great step by step guide which I followed with recommendations of speakers which I have followed. Just search in advanced search for "Full Speaker Upgrade" from nitro28. You"ll find it.
The only difference is that he had Harmon Kardon installed originally and I did not. My larger speaker touches the grill and pushes it a bit out, but it almost can't be seen. The door cover must be different at the normal sound system.
However, look for this post it helped me tremendously.
All the best with your upgrade.

Cheers for that, I'll have a look into it!

 

[jbanks15]

here tis:

Full Speaker Upgrade

As many of you know I replaced my head unit a while back and at the same time ended up replacing the factory HK amp with a 4 channel pioneer amp. The factory HK speakers sound pretty good, but I consider myself an audiophile so I found myself wanting more, something with better vocals and power...

www.slkworld.com

 

[Rick_In_Tas]

With a bit of research it seems like Mercedes were hell bent on making it a needlessly painful procedure 😅

Didn't they tell you? That's what MERC stands for: Making Everything Really Complicated


OK, I'll get my coat .....

 

[Skyalex]

Yes Exactly! But we love it...😁

 

[mulletboy]

Why are you looking to replace them? What don't you like? I've got an R172 and the sound is pretty good, once optimised.

Many people don't know what to listen for. I do. Ex national Sound Quality judge (2015ish), I've run a national manufacturer competition team and helped setup cars that have done well internationally (2nd/3rd in Europe)

The speakers aren't amazing, but they're better than most people's. The standard setup in no way optimises them, though. 15 million speakers just makes things worse. I was considering a full replacement, then found out how to enable the fader. Forget the rear speakers.. fade full front, 2-3 steps towards the passenger, and +2-3db treble and +4-5db bass. More speakers isn't the key to success.

Sure, it's possible to do better, but in the stock locations? Even with sound deadening, better speakers and therefore better amps, plus time alignment? The improvements would be minimal

If you swap, you're likely going to add less efficient speakers, which means more amp power.. it's a trouble-fraught route

I've listened to 100s of cars, setup many and i won't be replacing mine unless they're blown.

If you do want improvements and they're not blown? Best improvement will be to add a DSP with time alignment first

 

[TheMunchBunch]

Thank you for that, I'll have a play about with the settings and see if I can dial them in a bit better. The sound quality in the stock speakers aren't fantastic but I'll give that a try again and see if I can work some magic.

If not then the goal is to replace the headunit, amp, speaker and subwoofers.

 

[J.J.B.]

Thank you for that, I'll have a play about with the settings and see if I can dial them in a bit better. The sound quality in the stock speakers aren't fantastic but I'll give that a try again and see if I can work some magic.

If not then the goal is to replace the headunit, amp, speaker and subwoofers.

I changed the speakers in my 2005 SLK350 for new speakers from my local MB dealer that were significantly cheaper than you find them at breakers in the UK! I also replaced the head unit with a pioneer job, for Apple CarPlay, and it made a significant difference. Am I cruising down the beachfront with my toonz to the max? No, but it did make everything audible and significantly better than it was before.

 

[mulletboy]

The stock setup is a mess, for anyone into true stereo audio. I had people jumping from behind my right ear to the left of the dash in front of me (rarely do people move around in a stereo recording). Get the best from what you've got before upgrading Spending money is the easy way out, and sure, it'll likely sound somewhat better with more expensive kit, but I'd put a well tweaked stock setup against a poorly tweaked aftermarket one any day.. and 99% of people don't know anything about setting up a system beyond increasing the bass levels and blowing their speakers

 

[xyoung]

I went with the Jehnerts speakers, Audison AP8.9 (sound processor/Amp), and Kenwood DMX1057 a bit too large, might have been better to go with Kenwood DMX958)

R 171 Roadster Produktkatalog - Jehnert Sound Design Automotive

Had to find a distributor in the USA. Don at unexpectedcreations.com/ Home

Sound great, and I like the door panels also.