Crackling

[soul_sound]

Ok well first off I'm new to this forum!
Hello!
Okay enough of the idle chit chat and let's get down to business. I have a basic knowledge of stereos and stereo related equipment.

I recently aquired a Panasonic deck (model DPX60) and installed it into my '87 Ranger and had no problems identifying and hooking up the seperate wires to the harness. All 4 speakers fade and balance properly and the deck itself turns on with my ignition and whatnot, so I'm pretty sure I have the wiring correct.

My problem is with the volume and sound levels. When I turn up the volume i get normal amount of sound until i hit the middle level, around 20-25. At this point the soundlevel gets too high and the speakers "crackle" out.
At first I thought this was becuase I had my stock speakers, and they just couldn't handle the wattage of the new cd player (stated - "40WattX4", I'm guessing more like 15-20WattX4).

So I installed a pair of 5 and 1/4 inch Coaxial JL VR series speakers in the front, suspecting that they would be able to handle the higher wattage without the "crackling".

But they didn't. They also crackle, leading me to believe that my wiring is faulty. I think I suck. But I triple checked everything and all the wires are secure and properly connected. I'm confused.

Is there a chance that my pre-amp in the deck is shot?
Any suggestions, I'll get back to anyone that has any troubleshooting questions for me!

--------Tom

[ridr4lif]

Its def not the pre-amp because thats where you are supposed to connect rca's if running an external amp. Did you "acquire" the deck used? That may be your first problem. It could be something internal.

Oh yea...and Welcome to the forums

TEDD

[Ryan from Ohio]

Im guessing the deck is faulty.

On another note you may want to try running new speaker wire.

[soul_sound]

Thanks.

Yes the deck was used it was bought at a pawn shop. That was my first mistake.

It has RCA pre-outs for all 4 speakers and a sub but I had connected all the wires throught the harness becuase I have no amplifier.

I guess I will hook the RCA's up to an amp and see if they're o.k. that way. Just need to borrow an amp off a buddy.

[rehabb]

how are your connections to your speakers cause if they are loose and tap you will hear that.

[soul_sound]

how are your connections to your speakers cause if they are loose and tap you will hear that.

All connections are fine and have been checked 3 or 4 times over now. I'm sure it's something in the head unit.

Is it worth it to get them refurbished? And what's the approx. cost vs. buying a replacement?

[daykareboards]

My nephew had the same problem with a pioneer deck he had... it turned out that the speaker wire labels on the wires coming out of the cd player were wrong...in short he had the negative feed hooked up to the positive terminal on the speaker and so on. try playing around with that.

[soul_sound]

Would 2 speakers sharing ground wires cause this? If so, why?

[Ryan from Ohio]

That would be it.

Each speaker running off the deck has to have its own + and - wire. You cant share these.