The brief here was to prove that the level of standard audio kit fitted (at great expense) on top of the
price of the car is nowhere near as good as what is achievable from specialised
aftermarket components, and that includes the very popular Harmon Kardon Logic
7 System as fitted to the Mercedes. These factory fitted products are designed,
in the words of Harmon Kardon, “to provide all the passengers’ with an optimum
sound by using multiple speakers placed around the vehicles interior”
Well that is all well and good if you want to try to keep all your passengers happy with an "all round
sound", however the motorcar is a very personal space, one which we
treasure even more in today’s stressful world, and for those of us who drive
for a living, or simply want to enjoy an amazing audio experience whilst on the
move, then there is simply no substitute for an aftermarket audio upgrade.
Firstly we removed all the Harmon Kardon speakers (that we didn’t need), subwoofer and the single amplifier
in the boot that powered the whole system, and then we fully sound proofed the
vehicle using Dynamat, as even in luxury vehicles the speakers are still
mounted into what could only be described as a tin with a plastic lid! We then
fabricated new housings for the Hertz Mille door speakers, mounted behind the
existing grilles, and also replaced the factory tweeters with a set of matching
Hertz Mille components.
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Moving to the boot a simple subwoofer box, for the Hertz Mille subwoofer, and amplifier enclosure, for the
Audison LRX5.1 was made and trimmed to match, with the Audison Bit One
processor mounted behind with the controller mounted up front in the armrest
and that was it. So in summary we have removed a lot of components and replaced
with only a set of front component speakers, driven actively by the Audison
amplifier which also powers the subwoofer. All the processing and equalisation
is handled via the Bit One, which also allows time alignment so that settings
can be made to suit different listening situations.
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This set up is ideally suited to those customers who do not want to change the look of the vehicle, or indeed to
replace the existing factory stereo system, but still to benefit from a superior sound experience. However in this vehicle we opted to fit an Alpine INE-S900R head unit with the rear audio outputs connected to the standard rear door speakers in the event that I have rear passengers.
Overall the sound reproduction is truly amazing, especially when listening to my iPod, so please come along
for a coffee and have a listen, and then perhaps a discussion about how we can
improve your sound experience
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