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very high pitch squeel from stereo


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kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 05, 2014 at 7:45 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
Greetings car audio enthusiasts! As many of you have noticed, I've been around the car audio and security world for many years, starting my love back in the late 70's before I was even 18. Now at 55 years old I'm still going strong, with no hopes of ever getting sick of quality music from my concert hall on wheels.
Having installed more head units, speakers and amps than I could ever begin to count, I've seen pretty much everything. Heard just about everything. Until now!
I recently purchased a Boston GT-40 4-channel amp. As if I'm still stuck in the 70's, I mounted it under my passenger seat! (9 out of 10 of my amps have been mounted in the trunk.) I do handyman and home maintenance work, so I carry a trunk full of tools. No room for any amps (but MIGHT move this one to the rear seat-back.
My most recent purchase/install was a pair of Audiobahn AMS690H 6x9 speakers. I wasn't happy with the little 6.5" Kenwood 3-ways in the back, so I looked for a nice pair of 6x9's with nice frequency response. These were brand new, never out of the box, and got a killer deal on ebay.
So, the minute I turned on my stereo to hear my new speakers, I noticed one of the 6x9's sounded really muffled. I turned the fader to the rear and noticed the left side was barely playing! I cranked up the volume louder and louder until it finally "popped" into action, and got sound from it. Not sure what the heck that was all about, but it scared me! I thought I bought a pair of refurbished crap speakers that were advertised as new!
Well, my troubles weren't over! Even though I properly adjusted my front and rear gains, and set my front 6.5's and tweeters to run in high-pass, everything from the amp was set properly. And yes, I ran my power wires to the amp on the opposite side of the car as the RCA and speaker cables as I always do.
Last night, I was cranking it up a little during an awesome chill song and the rear speakers started sounding muffled again, this time both of them! I was NOT happy! But then all of a sudden, I heard an ear-piercing high-pitch squeal coming from the speakers! (Sorry, took me a minute to get to the point of this post! LOL!). The squeal was enough to make my ears bleed (thank god it didn't). I've never heard this from any deck, amp or speakers EVER. I wasn't sure if it was caused by the amp or the speakers, but assumed the rear speakers were to blame! I tried lowering the volume all the way down to 0 but the squeal was still there! OMG! So then I turned the fader from front to rear and it was still there until I cranked it way up, then it went away. When it came back, I turned the fader to the front only and heard no squeal. As I turned the fader back toward the center, the squeal was back. But was was strange is it didn't only come from the rear speakers. I could hear it from all my speakers, but only when the fader allowed a signal to the rears.
Yes, the squeal eventually went away. But now I need to diagnose what that was all about.
Anyone have any ideas what it might have been caused by? Was it most likely the rear speakers? Maybe something in the amp? All I know is it sounded like some kind of feedback like you get when you get two microphones too close to each other or a mic next to a speaker. That ear-piercing high-pitch squeal. Yep, that one!
Now I'm afraid to even listen to my stereo for fear something is going to go wrong. But like I said, the deck is installed properly (had it in since last year), the amp is wired and grounded properly, and the problem only happened after the 6x9's were installed.
Any advice or opinion would sure be appreciated. In the mean time, I'm going to start looking for another pair of 6x9's! These Audiobahns are NOT as killer as I thought they were going to be! Only thing they kill are my ears!
Thanks for reading this novel. :)
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 05, 2014 at 8:35 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
AN ADDED NOTE (before anyone asks): my amp's power and ground cables are routed from under my passenger seat along my lower door trim and up under the glove box to the head unit. The RCA cables run up under the console in the center. The only electronics under the shifter console are the shift indicator bulb, which is burned out anyway. The weird thing is, not only have I never heard this kind of noise from a stereo in my life, it didn't happen after installing the amp. It only started the day after I installed the new 6x9's in the back. Not wanting to go all out on this stereo and certainly not hit any IASCA sound-offs, I didn't worry about running 12 gauge speaker wires like so many of my past stereos. I just ran the stock speaker wires and replaced the end connectors.
I was just reading a post in Crutchfield's forum where a guy had the same problem. He made me think: does it go away in a different source (for example, switching to radio or CD or standby), or does it go away when I shut down the car? The answer is: it seemed to go away when I switched to radio (from USB plugged in), but I will check again next time it happens. Also, I haven't tried shutting off the car or turning the key to accessory to see what happens.
I'll post any updates as soon as I hear that annoying noise next time. All I can say for sure is one of my rear 6x9's seems to keep going in and out (working, not working, muffled, not muffled) so I really think the noise is somehow caused by those speakers.
Thanks again for any suggestions. I may be into car audio, but I have never had to deal with issues like this before, so it's all new to me.
soundnsecurity 
Gold - Posts: 2,711
Gold spaceThis member has made a donation to the12volt.com. Click here for more info.spacespace
Joined: November 10, 2008
Location: Louisiana, United States
Posted: May 05, 2014 at 8:02 PM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote soundnsecurity
check your speaker wires for shorts, aka pinched wires, screws shot through the wire etc. otherwise its probably a problem with the audiobahn speakers. if the problem only started once you installed those speakers then go back and check every thing you had to remove to install them. also i remember you posting something about screwing those speakers to the bottom of the deck instead of the top like normal, take the back deck off and check to make sure you didnt shoot a screw through a wire harness.
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 06, 2014 at 8:02 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
Thank you! And you're probably right! Well, maybe.
I stopped by 4 local car audio installers and asked them their opinions. One (Foss Car Audio) is the oldest, longest lasting car audio store in my county, the others were Car Toys, Best Buy and a small business. What 3 of the 4 agreed on was what you suggested! A pinched or grounded speaker wire. As for a screw hitting it, that's not the case. The wires come through from the center of the speakers, inches from the screws. Plus I used long screws, not sharp sheetmetal screws. I'm ruling out a screw, but the way I ran the factory speaker wires from the top of the rear deck down under each speaker instead of drilling a new hole to pass those wires could have been my biggest mistake! So today I'll be checking those!
BUT, what 2 agreed on (1 was the Lead Master Installer at Car Toys, who is MECP certified) another possibility: since I mounted the speakers up to the bare metal of the rear deck, both those guys suggested maybe the cones were moving so much that the surrounds were hitting the metal, causing the voice coils to tweek a little. Both guys also said it could result in speaker damage or even damage to my amp! THAT makes a little more sense than a grounded wire. Partly because it hasn't done it again since I haven't turned the volume up very high since that noise came, and it hasn't happened again since. By the way, when it did happen, I was jammin' to some chill/electronica that had some very deep bass, which certainly could have moved the speaker cones a lot. I never imagined the cones could/would move enough to hit the metal surface, but the guy at Car Toys said "Oh yes, it happens a lot". He (and the other guy at Foss Car Audio) also suggested spacers. Made sense! The guy at Car Toys actually said he might have some laying around the install bay because some speakers come with them but are not used. I was in luck... he found a pair! I'll be installing those as soon as I can!
So I do believe we have narrowed it down! It's most likely (as you say) a speaker wire grounding out, OR it's the speaker surround hitting the rear deck. I'll remedy BOTH as soon as I can move all the tools and crap out of my trunk and crawl inside again. LOL!
Thanks again for your input! I always appreciate good, honest advice. I do have a vast knowledge of car audio and security, and have been installing it for more years than I want to count. But that does NOT make me an expert. I don't claim to know it all. So of course I'm going to run into something someday that I'm not familiar with, which this time is the squeal.
Temporary Band-Aid? Keep volume levels down a bit. LOL!
Kenwood 6-1/2's about to come out:
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
https://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh100/Hairball98498/99%20Prizm%20Stereo%20stuff/5-03-146x9installation7_zpsa7b99189.jpg
Audiobahn 6x9's in!
https://i254.photobucket.com/albums/hh100/Hairball98498/99%20Prizm%20Stereo%20stuff/5-03-146x9installation12_zps8004ba08.jpg
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
THIS COULD BE WHERE THAT WIRE IS GROUNDING!
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 06, 2014 at 8:05 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
I'm almost embarrassed by this speaker swap! It's not my normal practice to run speaker wires down the side of a speaker! But I was getting frustrated from laying in my trunk after being up for 18 hours! As soon as I can, I'm going to drill holes and shove rubber grommets in them for the speaker wires to pass through. Eventually, when I get a sub amp and subs, I'm going to run new 12g speaker wires from the amps anyway, so this was only temporary. But it still looks like crap! Like not wiping the dust of the deck before replacing the felt cover! LOL!
racerjames76 
Silver - Posts: 581
Silver spacespace
Joined: November 22, 2008
Location: Ohio, United States
Posted: May 06, 2014 at 8:24 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote racerjames76
If you aren't going to cut the deck out for clearance you can also use some 3/4" MDF as a spacer. This will allow more clearance. However you obviously know that a lot of your sound is being lost into the trunk space having it under mounted like that.
Hard to tell from the photo but are the tweeter wires touching the deck? The open wires coming from the cone to the tweeter housing?
A spacer will solve all of your clearance issues...You could in theory use tapered spacers to direct the sound through the 6.5" hole as well.
To master and control electricity is perfection. *evil laugh*
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 06, 2014 at 9:03 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
I'll have to disagree about losing much sound having them mounted this way. The tweeter and midrange are directed into the the cabin, and only the woofers are being partially blocked. Low frequencies are non-directional, so woofers don't need to be exposed for sound quality. They actually sound awesome! No complaints on the sound. It's that screech that killed me.
But back to the issue at hand...
As for the wires to the tweeter and midrange touching the metal, no. It does look that way but that was a bad angle. Here is a better view of how far those wires are from the metal.
very high pitch squeel from stereo -- posted image.
BUT, as you can see, my laziness may have cost me some nice 6x9's OR a nice 4-channel amp had something more drastic went wrong because of those stock speaker wires maybe grounding out. I'm going to relocate those today or tomorrow.
I'm actually thinking most of the problem is what 2 pro installers suggested: the woofer cone is moving up and down so far that the surround is touching the metal 9 (if not the actually cone itself). I did grab a couple spacers from the Lead Installer at Car Toys (FREE!). Will put those in as soon as I can.
When I was looking closely at the Kenwoods I took out, I noticed how shallow the metal speaker frames are. If those were mounted underneath like the 6x9's, I could easily see the cones or surrounds would hit the deck. So I'm guessing it's happening with the new speakers.
I recall the days when you could buy really thick plastic spacers for all sizes of speakers. Not sure if you still can. Haven't checked lately. The ones the guy gave me yesterday are only about a 1/4" thick. But he said they would solve my problem. We shall see.
Thanks for the input! Always open to opinion!
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 07, 2014 at 8:12 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
Not sure where the pictures went. Sorry.
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: May 09, 2014 at 10:39 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
Well, switched sides in back to confirm it was a speaker, and added spacers while I was at it. Sure enough, the bad left speaker that sounded blown from the day I installed it was still bad, only now it was on the right! It's weird, it sounded blown when I first powered everything up, but after some volume increased it popped into play. Well, that didn't last long. Now it sounds blown again.
Now it's just a matter of trying to find out what 3 Kings Audio wants to do for me. They have a 60 day return policy. I just don't look forward to paying the shipping. Might not pay to do it. Might be cheaper to just buy different speakers. Really wanting a pair of Clarion SRG6953R 6x9's!!! Love their huge frequency response curve!
Thanks for all the help! Looks like it was my speaker all along.
kenwood_nut 
Stock Boy - Posts: 227
Stock Boy spacespace
Joined: April 10, 2009
Location: Washington, United States
Posted: October 11, 2015 at 9:52 AM / IP Logged Link to Post Post Reply Quote kenwood_nut
It turns out it was a defective speaker, NOT any installation issue. Those Audiobahn speakers only lasted a couple months before they were toast. I replaced the back ones with Clarion 5-ways and the fronts with Clarion 3-ways due to their incredible frequency response.

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