[W126 Coupe] Becker Radio, iPod, and Cassette Adaptor

[Shayegan, Richard]

Doesn't the 10 speaker system have some aux-in's on the back of the head
unit? You could always go with something like this
http://www.logjamelectronics.com/blitzuii.html if it has aux-inputs. It
pulls from the bottom of the ipod, instead of the headphones, so the
ipod volume and equalizer have no intereference in the sound, plus it
gives a better sound to pull from that bottom port rather than the
headphone plug. I was going to do an install in my car, but decided CDs
are fine with me and I turned away from wanted to cut up my coin tray to
make a slot for the ipod hookup. I still have the blitzsafe sitting
under my coin tray in fact....
Richard 

-----Original Message-----
From: mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com
[mailto:mbcoupes-bounces at mbcoupes.com] On Behalf Of Dawid Loubser
Sent: Friday, September 15, 2006 10:12 AM
To: Mercedes Coupes Mailing Lists
Subject: [W126 Coupe] Becker Radio, iPod, and Cassette Adaptor

My car has the original Becker 10-speaker sound system, and also had a
Sony CD Changer in the boot (with FM modulator which goes through the
antenna) fitted very early in its lifetime.
I have always been playing CDs, but never *quite* happy with the sound
quality - which I always attributed to the age of the system in general.
My previous car (MINI Cooper S) had a somewhat better-sounding stock
system.

I have a large music collection, of which a large portion is mirrored to
my iPod (4th gen, iPod Photo 40Gb) which I actually don't use that much
these days, since I'm a bit of an audiophile and though I prefer the
sound of Vinyl, for digital music, FLAC (lossless compression) is the
way to go. Nevertheless, I have a huge MP3-based collection (also a lot
purchased in that format at places like www.emusic.com). Furthermore,
nobody can hear the difference in the car anyway, so I decided I wanted
to integrate my iPod with the car, but without gutting anything. The
iPod radio transmitters are a no-go, they sound terrible, and they just
can't seem to get through the thick shell of the SEC, no matter where
you put it, especially in the city with all the frequencies pretty much
taken.

I decided to give the Cassette Adaptor a go (I had never used my
Becker's cassette before) and I must say, I am *SO* pleasantly surprised
at the sound quality. It's a 10x improvement over the CD changer
(provided you play with the Becker equaliser settings, I had to move the
bass to full neutral, and treble
+2 notches up).

Granted, I have heard better in my life, but I do think I know a thing
or two about music, and the SEC (mine is a 1990) has a truly fantastic
sound system, provided everything works, and is adjusted correctly. The
thin black cable running out of the tape deck can easily be routed into
the (unused) ashtray, and then into e.g. the glove compartment or change
tray, quite unobtrusively. I plan to route it into the glove compartment
soon.

Usually have terrible bass and treble (they sound muddy) but I tested
with artists like

(Electronic)
* Felix Laband
* Juno Reactor
* Logic Bomb

(Jazz)
* Miles Davis

(Rock)
* Maroon Five (Live Recordings)

and they all sound great My advice is, if your sound system sounds
weird, don't replace it! Rather play with the settings, or if something
is broken, fix just that component.  
Most sound systems sound best with everything in the normal position
(and most decent sound equipment have no bass/ treble adjustment to
begin with) but you have to play with the Becker. What I really like
about it, is that it automatically maintains two different settings for
radio vs. cassette, surprising for something this age.

This may be a useless post, I just wanted to share that I think the
stock sound system has some amazing capabilities. This is the best tape
deck I've heard :-)

Dawid

P.S> I know that I can run a line output from the iPod directly to, for
example, the fader control in the centre console. But I do not want to
pull things apart, and to get this working smoothly may require some
additional electronics fidgeting, not to mention that you effectively
bypass the pre-amp and rely on the iPod's volume control - not ideal for
me.
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