2013 Mercedes C250 - Audiofrog, Helix, Zapco, & ResoNix

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Some time around 6(?) months ago, Josh contacted me looking for recommendations on shops to handle an install in his Jeep Wrangler that would be local to him since he was an 8-hour drive away in Ohio. He wanted to come to us, but the drive was just out of reach at the time and since he respected our opinion for a recommendation. Unfortunately, we found out that if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself. Que Josh calling us months after initial contact explaining his situation, and then promptly shipping the Jeep Wrangler out to us. After a week of the Jeep being there, Josh decides to switch the Jeep for his 2013 Mercedes C250 and a few days later, he's here dropping the Mercedes off and driving the Jeep back home to Ohio. Now Josh is a bit different than most. Josh used to be an installer himself, and can still whip up some pretty respectable installs. He wanted something that he wouldn't have the capability of doing on his own in his spare time, which can also achieve a level of sound quality that most would struggle to attain. Another need of his was high output. josh likes it to sound good, but he also likes to turn it to 11. Maybe he can chime in somewhere, but i think we nailed all 3 requirements Gear list is as follows..

. Kenwood DNX996XR - A great new top of the line offering from Kenwood. Zero complaints so far
. Helix DSP.3 with the Helix Director
. Zapco Z-150.6AP
. Zapco Z-3KD
. Audiofrog GB10oe
. Audiofrog GB25
. Audiofrog GB60
. (2) Audiofrog GB12D4


Unfortunately, we do not have many in-progress pics for this build, but we do have our first video log, which can be seen here!

Click to read more...

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

After coming up with a layout for the trunk, i started fabricating a steel amp rack while Kevin was running wire and fabricating a mount for the processor. The amp rack was secured down low to a pair of unused bolts that protruded out of the body of the car, and as well as 4 rivnuts that were installed in the frame where the rear deck meets the back of the seat. Once the amp rack was welded up, locations were marked and the rack was drilled and tapped for threads to have the amps secure to it with machine screws for quick and easy installation/removal. It was sanded and then painted in bedliner to protect it. In the second photo, you can see the lower attachment points for the amp rack. OEM bolt into OEM threads. For some reason, they were there and completely unused in this specific car.

The DNX996XR is Kenwoods new top of the line double din radio. It offers a ton of great features, but the most notable ones for Josh were the super clean signal that rivals something like the GS9, 5v outputs with no clipping up to its max volume and wireless Android Auto. 10/10, would use this unit again. The director was also installed into the modified Scosche dash kit, which fit pretty nicely. The piece was finished in SEM texture coat, SEM landau black, and SEM low luster clear.

The director was also installed into the modified Scosche dash kit, which fit pretty nicely. The piece was finished in SEM texture coat, SEM landau black, and SEM low luster clear.

The front half of the installs main attraction, the sail panels. We went into detail about these in our video (link posted in the first photo description), But what we did here was remove the OEM sail panel and fabricate the pod seem above. It mimicks the same shape as the oem sail, and houses the Audiofrog GB25 and GB10, which are mounted in a vertical arrangement. When going over the car and the goals for the installs end result with Josh, he was asking about doing pillars for the midranges, and the tweeters in the sails. The sail panels on this car looked pretty big, so i asked him "hey, do you prefer a deeper soundstage, or a wider soundstage?"... He said wider, and i pitched the idea of what you see above. Being able to get both drivers out on top of the door would help the width immensely, while also helping prevent comb filtering and cancellation in the off axis response in the drivers through their crossover range. I talk about this more in the video i mentioned, see the beginning of it for why.

In the end, the design we went for was to try to match the OEM shapes, grill style, and color . We also added some edge lighting to the very inside of the grill for a very subtle addition. These lights can be controlled by a switch to turn on or off with the dome lights, or be on constantly. In the end, they took up zero window space in the drivers line of sight, and were about 30 degrees off axis. Once tuned, it resulted in a soundstage that imaged well outside of the windows, and on some tracks even past the edge of the mirrors. Widest soundstage for a car we have built/tuned so far, and didnt have bad depth either.

 

[SkizeR 10+ year member]

Moving onto the trunk, here is what we came up with. The tire well enclosure totals out to 2.2 cubes between the two separate chambers which is plenty of airspace for the GB12's. The center piece mimicks the shape of the steering wheel trim and features the Mercedes logo that was laser etched onto matching aluminum. A cover was made for the subs to allow use of the trunk. We only lost about 6 inches or so of overall depth of the trunk at the bottom. Hardly noticeable.

 

[JTF Vegas]

Moving onto the trunk, here is what we came up with. The tire well enclosure totals out to 2.2 cubes between the two separate chambers which is plenty of airspace for the GB12's. The center piece mimicks the shape of the steering wheel trim and features the Mercedes logo that was laser etched onto matching aluminum. A cover was made for the subs to allow use of the trunk. We only lost about 6 inches or so of overall depth of the trunk at the bottom. Hardly noticeable.

Interested in having you do my installation.