2001 Mercedes Benz S500 Sedan

It's a nice day outside and there's not a pigeon or seagull in sight. "Well, baby, let's roll the Benz!" Kidding aside, it's all well and good to be protective of one's ride; but one wants to get as much enjoyment out of it as possible. Ron Canyon isn't shortchanging himself on that account; he knows how to smooth out the roads in his Malibu Beach community. With a cush 2001 Mercedes Benz S500 sedan with a super plush interior, it's the ultimate PCH (a road that stretches along the west coast) cruiser. Of course, for those of us who will never be able to afford one, any ol' Mercedes S500 might strike us as "ultimate", but this one has something else going for it. A man of distinction, Canyon wouldn't settle for a mere factory vehicle.

A 40-year-old auto dealer, Canyon has made cars and car audio his life-long passion. Like most of us, it all started in high school where being the fastest and loudest was key. Canyon recalls his high-school days when his classmates would "out sound each other". In 1980 such early audiophiles relied on brands like Blaupunkt, Clarion and Fosgate. "It wasn't about the installation," recalls Canyon "it was about having the latest equipment and the loudest system." From there virtually every vehicle Canyon has owned has been tricked out and equipped with a custom sound system.

Trading in his Porsche C2 Cabriolet for the Mercedes was a kind of compromise Canyon made to accommodate a second child - some compromise! With another pumpkin on the way the smallish Porsche had to move over for a big Benz. True to his personal tradition, a state-of-the-art sound system would follow.

A high-end 12-volt retailer and installer, 310 is located in Los Angeles, California. They are also business neighbors and partners with Canyon, who secures vehicles for 310 customers. Upon obtaining this S500 for himself he presented it directly to the shop and installers, Andres Vega and Armando Gonzalez.

Pre-InstallMercedes isn't cheap when it comes to sound damping their big luxo sedans, so a light treatment of Cascade VB-2 was applied to the inner door panel, rear deck and trunk. Phoenix Gold SS154 16-gauge speaker wire was pre-routed for all mid and high speakers while a heftier SS12, 12-gauge wire was used for the low-frequency drivers. Studio grade Mogami RCA cable and interconnects were used for the delicate low-level signals.

Some attention was paid to the electrical system as well. While the stock alternator, battery and cable were used under the hood, an isolated-for-sound SVR battery was hidden in the cavernous truck near the amplifiers. Two 1-farad capacitors keep up with the amplifiers under heavy acceleration. Making the connection is Phoenix Gold's 1-gauge power cable. Breaking the connection is a Phoenix Gold fuse block located right next to the SVR battery. To think, a 25-dollar part has the duty of protecting a 100k vehicle from going up in flames. Talk about a high-stress job!

By the way, that's 100k before 28k was spent on this high-rolling system. Featuring Alpine F1, with JL Audio, Audio Control and MB Quart in the mix, this sound system is as tech as the vehicle it resides in. I bet Canyon's high school buddies would be blown away by this one.

"Out Sound"To retain the factory hands-free phone and navigation system, the original control unit was left in place. An Alpine CDA-7990 F1 Status CD player was installed as a complement rather than a replacement. It was mounted directly below the original screen where the ashtray typically is. Hmm, keep ashtray or replace with Alpine F1? Not a tough decision.

The factory wooden trim had to be modified to fit the unit and was carefully refinished. Integrating the factory unit to the Alpine F1, while maintaining a higher signal level, is possible through Audio Control's Overdrive unit. With balanced input and output differentials it was the perfect module to effectively sew the elaborate original equipment with the extravagant F1 system.