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Stealth Stereo in w123 300CD

2K views 3 replies 2 participants last post by  westmore 
#1 ·
I recently picked up a 1983 300CD with the stock Becker tape deck head unit.



I want to keep the head unit to keep the car looking stock and keep the cassette capabilities, but add the best 4 new speakers i can in the available locations and have an amp to power them so that this stereo can sound as good as possible while still looking stock (and avoiding a subwoofer).

Does anyone have any advice or experience with these w123 stereos?

Thank you!
 
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#3 · (Edited)
I am quite certain the Becker can be used with an external amp; if it lacks preamp outputs (which most likely it does), you can either purchase an amp that can accept speaker-level (high power) inputs; or you can purchase a device (line output converter) that will step down the speaker level output.

Many modern amps have both "Hi" and "Lo" inputs. They are specifically designed for connection to either speaker level or preamp outputs.

The one thing you will have to be concerned with is powering the amp on when the radio is on. It is not difficult, and can be done in a number of ways. One of the easiest, if you have an external car antenna, is to connect the amp control wire to the radio lead that raises or lowers the antenna. Some radios (probably ones newer than yours) will have a connection specifically to switch an external amp. There are other ways as well. You might want to confer with whoever you buy the amp from as to the best way to do this. You can also search this site for "remote amp" or similar terms to find how folks have addressed this.

You might find some useful ideas in the R/C107 forum audio thread at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c107-sl-slc-class/1643707-107-audio-thread.html - while many of the posts deal with custom, non-original-look installations, some of the posts deal with ordinary connection problems, and with Becker head units similar to yours. One series of posts even deals with modern radios that maintain something close to the original Becker appearance.

PS - if you connect to the antenna power lead, and if the antenna does not extend when you are playing cassettes, then the amp would also not power on then, either. If the radio has an external amp switching source, you'd be in luck.
 
#4 ·
Thank you!

This is extremely helpful and think it's the best solution to solving my problem...

Now it's just a question of what 4 speaker combo would give the best range of sound

It looks like 4" upfront and 5.25" rear...

Any thoughts here from audiophiles is greatly appreciated

I am quite certain the Becker can be used with an extern;l amp; if it lacks preamp outputs (which most likely it does), you can either purchase an amp that can accept speaker-level (high power) inputs; or you can purchase a device (line output converter) that will step down the speaker level output.

Many modern amps have both "Hi" and "Lo" inputs. They are specifically designed for connection to either speaker level or preamp outputs.

The one thing you will have to be concerned with is powering the amp on when the radio is on. It is not difficult, and can be done in a number of ways. One of the easiest, if you have an external car antenna, is to connect the amp control wire to the radio lead that raises or lowers the antenna. Some radios (probably ones newer than yours) will have a connection specifically to switch an external amp. There are other ways as well. You might want to confer with whoever you buy the amp from as to the best way to do this. You can also search this site for "remote amp" or similar terms to find how folks have addressed this.

You might find some useful ideas in the R/C107 forum audio thread at http://www.benzworld.org/forums/r-c107-sl-slc-class/1643707-107-audio-thread.html - while many of the posts deal with custom, non-original-look installations, some of the posts deal with ordinary connection problems, and with Becker head units similar to yours. One series of posts even deals with modern radios that maintain something close to the original Becker appearance.
 
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