[W126 Coupe] Rear speaker replacement, recabling and new head unit

[Ronny Geenen]

MessageMatt,

I am surprised, that you took the JVC instead of one of the Eclipse units.
The Eclipse has a perfect sound for your speakers and very easy to operate because of the rotating 2 knobs.

Ronny 
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Matt Petersen<mailto:mattpetersen at paradise.net.nz> 
  To: mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com<mailto:mbcoupes at mbcoupes.com> 
  Sent: Saturday, January 29, 2005 11:32 PM
  Subject: [W126 Coupe] Rear speaker replacement, recabling and new head unit


  I have just finished rewiring the car front and rear with new quality cabling bypassing the fader switch. Removal of the under dash panels, the passenger side door trims and kick panel, the rear seat and the B pillar bases was necessary.

  I used the existing rear cabling as a draw wire to pull my new wiring through in the stock location. If you do this your join must be very very strong and as flat as possible to prevent the two being pulled apart when fed through, it gets tight and a bit of force was needed - nothing excessive though.

  I installed a JVC stealth head unit which has a flat black face when not in use which looks very factory looking. Whilst operating it remains flush with a modest graphical display visible. Highly recommend this unit if anyone is looking for a low key factory look.

  For now I have kept the factory front speakers and replaced the rears with the Eclipse 8363SE 6.5in unit. I will definitely be replacing the fronts with the SE8463E 6x4in units, I should have got them at the same time as the rears but the factory rears were torn and the fronts seemed okay so I thought I would try a new head unit.

  Removing the rear speaker covers is easiest if the rear seat is out as the grills come towards the front of the car and you need to push them into the top edge of the seat before they will come up and away. Along the side and rear of the covers are interlocking tabs that sit in slots which when pushed into place hold the cover. At the front is a lug that locks horizontally into a connector. One of my covers had a broken connector when I removed it and I was extremely careful and had already removed the first cover without a problem so these things get brittle over time. 

  The foam inside the grill is very dry and as soon as you touch it falls apart. I removed all the foam and refitted both speaker covers. The second speaker cover lug broke on refitting but they are held in place and can't move around without the lug anyway.

  The rear speakers have an integral pod that they sit on. The rear deck has very little depth to it for mounting speakers and the pod is necessary to lift the speaker clear of the gear just underneath the rear deck. By my measurements a depth of no more than 2in is about all you will get which limits speaker choice. The speakers have two screws at the front and then must be pried clear on the rear deck. Be careful with the deck covering here. The speakers have a double sided foam on them securing them plus there is a rubberised froam filling all available space around them. Push this out of the way and undo the screws, lever the speaker up at the front and then bring it towards you. There is a tounge at the back so don't twist the unit much before pulling it forward.

  The cabling from the rear runs through the factory grommet on the seat back and through to the speaker openings. If necessary you can run the speaker wire across the rear deck from the underneath inside the boot/trunk. The cable then runs down the seat and out the base and under the rear door plastic trim, through the B pillar bases and under the front door plastic trim, up the kick panel and into the rear of the head unit.

  As a large part of the car has to be removed to do this it's worth looking at any other jobs that could be done at the same time, illuminated sills, vacuum elements, first gear start etc.

  The sound difference is amazing, the Eclipse speakers are very good for the price and size.

  If anyone's interested, here are links to the gear I am using. The control panel and volume knob fold up and away into the deck when not in use.

  http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL026839&pathId=52&page=2&archive=true<http://www.jvc.com/product.jsp?modelId=MODL026839&pathId=52&page=2&archive=true>

  http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/speaker/integrated/se8363.html<http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/speaker/integrated/se8363.html>

  http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/speaker/integrated/se8463e.html<http://www.eclipse-web.com/products/speaker/integrated/se8463e.html>

  Cheers
  Matt.
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