Trying to troubleshoot speaker problem

ryan jones · Post by **ryan jones** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:52 am

Hello everyone. I'm new to the forum.

I wonder if anyone can help. I'm on my third set of speakers for my car, and they've all had the same problem -- an extremely annoying crackling sound whenever the volume goes above 60-70% of maximum.

The problem doesn't seem to be with low-end sounds, but more of the high- to mid-range. They're mounted properly, and it's not engine noise. I'm beginning to think it could be the wiring (which is old and shoddy), but I'm not sure if something that simple could affect sound so much.

In lieu of doing a massive overhaul, does anyone have any advice/relatively inexpensive ideas I could try?

Anything would be much appreciated.

Thanks.

Post by **GlassWolf** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:12 am

get an amplifier for the components.
head units almost all produce audible distortion or clipping as you get above about 3/4 of full volume unless you have a newer, fairly high end head unit that's designed to be distortionless at full output. (think top of the line alpine F1 status, pioneer premiere, or eclipse)
If you're using a head unit for power, that's another major source of problems, since you're probably driving that dinky 15 watt per channel internal amp well into clipping and audible distortion, which explains the noise you're hearing.

It's nothing to do with your speakers, and everything to do with a lack of good, clean power.

on the bright side, a decent 50 watt per channel full range amplifier isn't overly expensive, and that'd be plenty of power to drive door speakers.

Ryan from Ohio · Post by **Ryan from Ohio** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 1:51 pm

Whats the year, make and model of the car?

What your describing is exactly my experience with "bass blockers".

If you have these remove them and throw them out!

Team AI · Post by **Team AI** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:08 pm

yeah and then pee on them

Post by **GlassWolf** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 2:29 pm

that was probably due to having the crossover too close to the power line somewhere. anything with a coil in-line with your signal lines is going to induce noise like mad.

ryan jones · Post by **ryan jones** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:35 pm

Thank you all for the timely replies.

A little more background: the car is a 91 Civic.

As for the radio, while certainly not top of the line, it's a relatively new Kenwood (don't know model #), 50x4. Given that, should I still try the amplifier?

Post by **GlassWolf** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 9:41 pm

50x4 is peak. real power is about 15 watts RMS per channel.
no head unit puts out more than about 25 watts per channel at most in reality so yes the amplifier is the best solution.

ryan jones · Post by **ryan jones** » Sun Mar 26, 2006 10:52 pm

I'll give it a try. Thank you.

shadowfox · Post by **shadowfox** » Thu Apr 13, 2006 6:26 pm

looks cool

fun fun