Just a fyi on the microphone install. I did this same install using a Kenwood KDC-X704 head unit. If you remove the fuse box cover on the left side of the dash board there is a clear shot to the head unit space. I used a 3 foot section of a nylon fish tape to get from the fuse box to the center space then just taped the mic wire to it and pulled it through. Worked like a charm. Also, even though my head unit puts out +5volts at the RCA pre amp outputs it was not enough gain to get the most out of the BOSE amp compared to the original Harmon Kardon unit. The original unit would allow the sub to punch my chest with volume 3/4 up. The Kenwood would not do that so I installed a Scosche LOC80 Speaker to RCA adapter and wired it directly to the Kenwood speaker output wires. Plugged the gray and white RCA plugs from the wire harness into the output of the adapter and now my BOSE amp and sub woofer sounds great with lots of punch. The output from the speaker wires was reduced to about +7 volts and I saw no need to rewire my subwoofer but thanks for the video. I watched it before I did my install. :)
I bought an Alpine unit (Alpine UTE-73BT) from Crutchfield as it was listed as working with my 2004 slk320 even though the unit is only 2 volts. They gave me a Scosche SLC-4 with it but i am unsure exactly how to hook it up, plus it's kinda big. If i follow how you did yours, i would wire all the speaker wires from the Alpine head unit to the Scosche line level inputs and then plug the white and gray RCA plugs from the Metra wiring harness into the Scosche Left & Right Front outputs? I'm wondering if they gave me this Scosche line output converter because i can adjust the gain on the outputs since the head unit is 2 volts.
@@marks291 You only need to wire up the front left and right from the head unit and plug in the gray and white RCA jacks at the output. The amplifier separates and distributes the signals to the tweeters, mids and sub woofer.
@@marks291 Once you hook it all up and before you stuff the receiver into its space, turn the radio on and while listening you can turn the gain controls to hear when it starts clipping the sound. For mine I was able to turn the pots fully clockwise and never heard any clipping at full volume. It sounds great and has a lot of punch.
Hi Bob, great advice regarding the mic. Incidentally, what year is your SLK230 ? I thought most SLK230's came stock with Becker radios. Can you clarify your sub situation ? Is it aftermarket ? Some SLK230's came stock with 2 door speakers, and 2 woofers behind the driver and passenger seats. These rear woofers were intended to handle the lower frequencies. Is this what's in your car, or are you referring to a single dedicated aftermarket sub ? Glad you mentioned the Kenwood KDC-X704. It's on my shortlist of head units to put in my SLK230. How has it worked out for you ? Any regrets, or would you have gone with something else in retrospect ?
you should put an voltage raising unbalanced - to - balanced (non-differential - to - differential) line driver in between the after market head unit and the factory bose amplifier, otherwise you will lose and least 50% of the required pre-amp line-in voltage and you will never drive the bose amplifier with the signal input strength it wants- i retrofitted the bose 2 ohm door and rear speakers and bose amplifier and LHD loom into my RHD r170 (which had only 4 ohm door speakers, no rear speakers, no amplifier when i bought it), added a now discontinued AudioControl Overdrive (not the Plus version) , head unit is a Becker 7990 with Becker iPod controller, looks and sounds as factory, its been a good setup since 2009
Good video, i ordered the same radio and did the install. I've got audio but I've got a nasty loud click when turning the volume to zero or switching sources. Any idea what that's about?
I have the same radio and have been trying to install in my slk, do I need a second ground look isolator for the right and left rear speakers that are behind the seats?
Hello from Australia after watching you video l purchased a JVC KD-T752BT stereo and there is no sound coming l wired the black red yellow orange and blue antenna wires to the 70-1786 Car Stereo CD Player Wiring Harness just like you did and there is no sound
The blue wire is to power on the bose system not the antena. Do you have the bose in your car? If not you'll need to wire up the speakers as well. Hope this helps.
@@13572danube Thanks alot for replying back, yes l did manage to get it working as you said l wired the white and grey front speaker wires to get it working
Can you tell me who you sold the original head unit to? I would love to get my radio modified to add Bluetooth and keep the look of the original unit. Thx
Just a fyi on the microphone install. I did this same install using a Kenwood KDC-X704 head unit. If you remove the fuse box cover on the left side of the dash board there is a clear shot to the head unit space. I used a 3 foot section of a nylon fish tape to get from the fuse box to the center space then just taped the mic wire to it and pulled it through. Worked like a charm. Also, even though my head unit puts out +5volts at the RCA pre amp outputs it was not enough gain to get the most out of the BOSE amp compared to the original Harmon Kardon unit. The original unit would allow the sub to punch my chest with volume 3/4 up. The Kenwood would not do that so I installed a Scosche LOC80 Speaker to RCA adapter and wired it directly to the Kenwood speaker output wires. Plugged the gray and white RCA plugs from the wire harness into the output of the adapter and now my BOSE amp and sub woofer sounds great with lots of punch. The output from the speaker wires was reduced to about +7 volts and I saw no need to rewire my subwoofer but thanks for the video. I watched it before I did my install. :)
I bought an Alpine unit (Alpine UTE-73BT) from Crutchfield as it was listed as working with my 2004 slk320 even though the unit is only 2 volts. They gave me a Scosche SLC-4 with it but i am unsure exactly how to hook it up, plus it's kinda big. If i follow how you did yours, i would wire all the speaker wires from the Alpine head unit to the Scosche line level inputs and then plug the white and gray RCA plugs from the Metra wiring harness into the Scosche Left & Right Front outputs? I'm wondering if they gave me this Scosche line output converter because i can adjust the gain on the outputs since the head unit is 2 volts.
Actually, the Scosche units are basically the same it looks, but the one they gave me has rear input/outputs which we don't need on this car correct?
@@marks291 You only need to wire up the front left and right from the head unit and plug in the gray and white RCA jacks at the output. The amplifier separates and distributes the signals to the tweeters, mids and sub woofer.
@@marks291 Once you hook it all up and before you stuff the receiver into its space, turn the radio on and while listening you can turn the gain controls to hear when it starts clipping the sound. For mine I was able to turn the pots fully clockwise and never heard any clipping at full volume. It sounds great and has a lot of punch.
Hi Bob, great advice regarding the mic. Incidentally, what year is your SLK230 ? I thought most SLK230's came stock with Becker radios.
Can you clarify your sub situation ? Is it aftermarket ? Some SLK230's came stock with 2 door speakers, and 2 woofers behind the driver and passenger seats. These rear woofers were intended to handle the lower frequencies. Is this what's in your car, or are you referring to a single dedicated aftermarket sub ?
Glad you mentioned the Kenwood KDC-X704. It's on my shortlist of head units to put in my SLK230. How has it worked out for you ? Any regrets, or would you have gone with something else in retrospect ?
you should put an voltage raising unbalanced - to - balanced (non-differential - to - differential) line driver in between the after market head unit and the factory bose amplifier, otherwise you will lose and least 50% of the required pre-amp line-in voltage and you will never drive the bose amplifier with the signal input strength it wants- i retrofitted the bose 2 ohm door and rear speakers and bose amplifier and LHD loom into my RHD r170 (which had only 4 ohm door speakers, no rear speakers, no amplifier when i bought it), added a now discontinued AudioControl Overdrive (not the Plus version) , head unit is a Becker 7990 with Becker iPod controller, looks and sounds as factory, its been a good setup since 2009
Thank you for this videooooooo!
I'm confused these fiber optic cables from wich part they coming from?
Good video, i ordered the same radio and did the install. I've got audio but I've got a nasty loud click when turning the volume to zero or switching sources. Any idea what that's about?
Did you buy the ground loop isolater in the video? It's about 12 bucks from crutchfield. That should fix it.
@@13572danube i guess i missed that part, but it's i contacted Critchfield support and they are sending me some of those free of charge.
I have the same radio and have been trying to install in my slk, do I need a second ground look isolator for the right and left rear speakers that are behind the seats?
Do you use the purple and green rca for back
hey sir what was that ebay website that buys the radios ?
Did you end up connecting the ground loop isolator to ground? That would have been when the GoPro died... Thx!
Nope. Don't need to ground it (I'm not even sure there is a ground lead). Just put it in the audio path and you're good.
@@13572danube Thanks again. I'm finally going to be able to installing one in my SLK this weekend!
Hello from Australia after watching you video l purchased a JVC KD-T752BT stereo and there is no sound coming l wired the black red yellow orange and blue antenna wires to the 70-1786 Car Stereo CD Player Wiring Harness just like you did and there is no sound
The blue wire is to power on the bose system not the antena. Do you have the bose in your car? If not you'll need to wire up the speakers as well. Hope this helps.
@@13572danube Thanks alot for replying back, yes l did manage to get it working as you said l wired the white and grey front speaker wires to get it working
I'm having the same issue, blue, yellow, black , red, orange wired, power on but no sound. When you say wire up the speakers, what do you mean? Thanks
Got there in the end, cut off the plugs and matched up the rest of the wires!
@milescockerill2104 You will have to individually solder the speaker wires on to the stereo to the wires on the car
Can you tell me who you sold the original head unit to? I would love to get my radio modified to add Bluetooth and keep the look of the original unit. Thx
I sold it on ebay to someone who was restoring an R170. You can usually find them on there as they were common to lots of Mercs from that era.
Blaupunkt has a retro line. Retro outside and high tech inside