Tag: MATCH

Missing Burmester

We recently had a client reach out inquiring about what options were available to upgrade the audio system in his 2024 Mercedes E 350. He recently acquired the vehicle, having traded in his last Mercedes which had been equipped with the premium Burmester stereo (option 810). Like so many of the clients that we meet, it wasn’t until after he took delivery that he realized his new Mercedes did not have the premium audio option. It was just the standard audio package and it sucked – BIG time.

How does Mercedes get away with this?

Take a look at this picture. That is a super basic paper cone speaker. Mercedes charges around $80 for this piece of hardware. This is an $80,000 car with a paper cone speaker that couldn’t cost them more than a few dollars to manufacture. They didn’t even throw in a tweeter or whizzer cone! The rear passengers are lucky to have any sound apparently. There is a nice empty channel where a tweeter could have gone if the car had been equipped with the premium audio option.

Thankfully our shop has what it takes to bring this audio system up to and beyond the level of quality you would expect in such a luxury vehicle. For this build we used a combination of vehicle specific products from MATCH and Helix.

Mercedes Standard Audio Components

The standard audio system in the 2024 Mercedes E 350 can be been described as horribly thin, tinny and reminiscent of an old transistor radio. Depending on the build date of your Mercedes you may only have 6 speakers – all in the front and nothing in the rear. However, this vehicle had 8 speakers total:

• 4″ components (midrange and tweeter) in the front doors
• Passenger side floor mounted “subwoofer”
• Driver’s side floor mounted subwoofer dummy plate
• 4″ round piece of foam in the center channel speaker location
• 4″ rear mid range speakers – we were surprised there were actually speakers back here – you could barely hear them!

Not wanting to do any sort of modifications to the vehicle, our plan was to use a combination of Helix and MATCH products including a super handy vehicle specific T-harness.

MATCH and Helix – the Perfect Match for this 2024 Mercedes E 350

The MATCH UP 8 DSP amplifier is at the heart of this 2024 Mercedes E 350 audio upgrade. This compact, yet truly powerful DSP amp features a hearty 6 channels x 65 watts RMS (4 ohm) +plus another 2 channels x 160 watts (2 ohm). We used the main channels to power the center channel, front components and rear coaxial speakers and the higher powered channels for the new Helix i5 subwoofers. John found a great spot to mount the amp under the passenger side dash, right behind the glove box.

The DSP software by Audiotec Fischer is what makes this audio system shine. Helix and MATCH DSP amplifiers are our go to product when upgrading a factory audio system because we know the results achievable thanks to their incredible software. We use their vast array of audio tools to perfect whatever audio signal we are working with. Each and every time we execute an audio upgrade using their hardware we remark on how incredible their products are. Our team is always deeply impressed and the client is equally floored by the end result.

The other benefit of the MATCH series products are their vehicle specific T-harnesses. We do not want to modify anything in a brand new vehicle if we can help it. We want the upgrade to be heard, but not seen. This is the case whether you’re simply looking at the vehicle interior or if you’re a Mercedes mechanic taking the car apart and servicing another item in the vehicle. We want these components to integrate seamlessly and for the most part they do in an exceptional manner.

Mercedes Speaker Upgrade Components

Not having seen the vehicle in person, it was hard for us to verify exactly what this car was equipped with prior to it arriving for the audio upgrade. Using the MATCH upgrade finder and working with MSC America, we presumed based on earlier models we would need the MATCH UP C42MB-FRT for our front component speakers and the UP S4MB-CTR for our center channel. However, once we disassembled the front doors, we hit a snag.

The UP S4MB-CTR matched perfectly for the center channel, but we found the front doors utilized a different type of mounting system. At this point we were already committed to the Match series speakers. We are big fans of their silk dome tweeter.

In order to use the MATCH UP C42MB-FRT John did have to make a modification to the plastic factory speaker housing in the front doors. If we were to do this again, we would recommend using either the Helix Compose i3 series (titanium dome tweeter) or Compose i7 series (silk dome) along with the appropriate CFMK100 MB.5 flex mount adapters.

The MATCH series speakers sounded superb. The silk dome tweeter is delicate and detailed, the midrange quite warm and pleasant. Performance wise we were quite happy with this choice despite the modification that we hadn’t planned on. After discovering this car had rear speakers, we proceeded with the Helix Compose Ci3 C100.2FM-S3 (3 ohm) with the Flex Mount adapter for a perfect fit.

The speakers is this car are really quite small. Even with a robust DSP amplifier, the best 4″ speakers can only play so low in frequency range. To really fill out this audio system with some depth and punch we needed to reproduce bass. But we did not want to see any type of subwoofer enclosure in the trunk or anywhere else in the vehicle. Meet the Helix i5 S200FM-S2.

The Helix Compose i5 Subwoofers Steal the Show

Hands down, the showstopper of this Mercedes audio upgrade are the Helix Compose i5 subwoofers. Holy cow. The amount of bass these free air subwoofers produce is off the charts and totally unexpected. Granted anything was an upgrade over the single passenger side factory subwoofer – if you can really call it that.

This is what the factory 2024 Mercedes E 350 subwoofer looks like:

And this is what the Helix Compose i5 subwoofer looks like:

This 8″ (200 mm) mid bass/woofer is available in single 2 ohm voice coil or dual 2 ohm voice coil. These impressive drivers also have some serious weight to them. They can handle up to 200 watts RMS and perform as both a mid range and subwoofer covering a frequency range of 25 to 500 Hz. Using the Flex Mount adapter CFMK200 MB.1S, the i5’s fit perfectly in the factory locations. Accessing these areas to install the new subwoofers does take a little time and skilled maneuvering.

John removed the dummy plate from the driver’s side footwell to install the new Helix i5 subwoofer. He also had to run wiring for the new sub to the new MATCH UP 8 DSP amplifier. The passenger side subwoofer is buried pretty deeply behind power distribution panel. The necessary effort to access and upgrade both sides is well worth it for the dramatic performance and punch the i5’s deliver.

It’s not only important to select the right components for an audio upgrade. It’s equally important to have these products installed by a skilled technician that knows how to use the tools of the DSP software.

DSP Tune for the Magic Touch

Installing the actual equipment is just half the battle. Setting up the DSP correctly to optimize and maximize performance is something our technician John is a master at. Once all of the equipment was installed he began the tuning process which he usually spends anywhere from 2-4 hours doing.

This involves setting up digital time alignment so all speakers are timed to hit the driver’s ears at the same time. It also entails setting optimal crossover points and gains for each speaker. Critically, it involves analyzing the frequency response with an RTA using pink noise with a mic stand set up in the driver’s listening position. The technician then makes the adjustments necessary in the MATCH UP 8 DSP to achieve the optimal sound quality RTA curve. Once this is complete, we do some additional fine tuning by ear listening to a variety of audio tracks together. I like to include sample tracks from the client as well.

Upgrading the stereo system in a brand new vehicle doesn’t have to be complicated if you use the right equipment and the right team to execute the task. If you’re interested in upgrading the audio system in your vehicle, contact our shop today. We’d love to help take your audio system from Standard to Holy Cow!

Have you tried the MATCH or Helix products in your vehicle? If so, let me know what you think of it in the comments below.