Thread: Poor quality sound from the command stereo

I bought my first MB this weekend and love the car but am desperately unhappy with the stereo system. I bought a CLK550 with the Command / HK stereo system and have to say that it is the worst quality stereo system I've every heard anywhere. It sounds like a $9.99 kids stereo from Walmart.

I listened to several other stereos in several other MBs at the dealership today and they're all just as bad! The guys at the dealership are all tone deaf and can't tell the difference. They seem to think that if the stereo makes sound, then it is functioning correctly. I hoped that I would be able to upgrade the stereo but after some internet research I don't see any options for that. My fiance and I literally don't want the car anymore now and are extremely upset at the prospect of having to live with this car, or sell it and find something else again. I really can't afford the financial hit of paying taxes on a $34k car again.

That said - can anyone suggest anything I can do to fix the poor quality sound? I've tried every sound source - CD / Radio / Satalite Radio / Aux and they all sound like highly compressed mp3 encodings. The mid-range is distorted. Snare drums sound like someone crunching a paper-bag. Trebble is painful and hissy. I read about and suspect it's the design of the head unit that is obviously poorly digitizing the audio to send to the amp via an optical cable. What a TERRIBLE idea that is!

Please let me know if there is anything I can do to fix this problem or what my options are.

Many thanks in advance!

Alex

You didnt mention your budget.

Hi,

It's not really a question of budget at this point. A $200 stereo from BestBuy would be 1000x better than the HK Comand system in the CLK550. I'm not looking for a world-class system, just something that is as good as the stock system that came with my previous car - which was a Mustang GT.

I suspect that just getting to the point where I can install something off the shelf will cost mega-bucks so I'm asking for advice so I can know my options.

Is this something that can be fixed inexpensively? Is it a known weakness of all HK / Comand systems? Is it the speakers, the amp, or the head unit? etc etc...

I sat and listened to several models of Mercedes in the showroom with the same Comand system and they all sucked, so it seams it's not just my system. How come more people aren't complaining about the poor sound quality? Are MB drivers tone deaf?

Thanks!

Alex

Which sound profile are you running ?

- normal
- speaking
- surround

This is the first report of the Mercedes HK sound system being so bad I have come across. I speak to many owners during the course of my business and have to say all of them are very positive about the HK setup.

I would be interested to know, as Miro asks, which sound profile you have set.