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front right speakers very quiet?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=95525
Printed Date: March 28, 2024 at 8:18 PM


Topic: front right speakers very quiet?

Posted By: ryan h
Subject: front right speakers very quiet?
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 7:36 PM

Hey all, quick question here.  I am not "in the know" about audio stuff, and have always thought the speakers on my front right side were blown.  I took them out today for inspection and they don't appear to be blown, and the audio is in fact coming out of them however it is very quiet, but clear.  If I adjust the balance so it only plays out of those speakers and turn it up loud, they play, but still quietly.  Is this a sign of a blown speaker, or something bad in the head unit or amp?  I have checked all the wires and they are fine.

It is a Blaupunkt Austin CD41 head unit going through a JVC "DOHC Nikki Sixx" amp.  The car came with this stuff, I did not wire it however I have checked all of the wires and they aren't broken, they're all soldered and sealed tightly, and all connected correctly.  Thank you for your help!




Replies:

Posted By: bigbangs
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 7:38 PM
The polarity is reversed. Check to make sure you have the positive going to the positive of the speaker and the negative going to the negative

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Pioneer Deck
5.25 Kicker Front Speakers
6.5 Kicker Rear Speakers
2 12" Directed SX Subwoofers
Hifonics Brutus BXi 1206D AMP
1 Capacitor
2 gauge wiring..Big 3 upgraded
Steady 13.8 volts




Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 7:54 PM
Ha!  Thank you!  I hope you're right!  I'm gonna go out and switch the wires at my amp and see what happens.  This should be OK, right?




Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 8:06 PM
Hmm, I switched polarity of the F R speakers at the amp and still get the same thing.  What could this mean?




Posted By: jmelton86
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 8:44 PM

You said it's just the front right one and not both front ones? Try switching the two front speakers around at the amp (left sp to right output, right sp to left output) and see if the left one does what the right one was doing. If it does, the amp may be defective. If not, and the right one still doesnt play loud, then it may be defective.

And what do you mean front right speakers? Is it one speaker (woofer and tweeter(s) in same unit) or are they components (separated woofer and tweeter)?



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2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator
DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)
Big3 in 1/0G
1/0G to GTO14001




Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 8:57 PM
jmelton86 wrote:

You said it's just the front right one and not both front ones? Try switching the two front speakers around at the amp (left sp to right output, right sp to left output) and see if the left one does what the right one was doing. If it does, the amp may be defective. If not, and the right one still doesnt play loud, then it may be defective.

And what do you mean front right speakers? Is it one speaker (woofer and tweeter(s) in same unit) or are they components (separated woofer and tweeter)?


Its just the two speakers on the right side in the front.  They run off of each other from the same connection, four wires and two plugs.  Thanks for the idea, I will try switching them out and see what happens.  Can the head unit cause this problem as opposed to the amp, or could either do this?





Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 9:17 PM

OK, I hooked it all back up like it was, then swapped the R and L side at the amp.  The problem moved over to the driver's side and the passenger side plays fine now.

I guess the question is, which part is likely the faulty subject?  The amp or the head unit?  Is there some sort of test I can do?  I have no idea how to bypass the amp...





Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 9:34 PM

It could either be in the source or the wiring.  You switched output connections at the source but not at the actual speaker locations.  Next test I would do is to use my own wires to connect source to speakers.  You can use the amp outputs as you did before.  These are temporary speaker wire runs and don't have to be routed through the car like the permanent ones.  Disconnect the current wiring and replace with your new temporary wires.  You will find out if the problem is in the wiring from source to speakers.

Otherwise, to test input at the amplifier you should switch L and R inputs.  Pull out the RCA cables and switch them at  the amplifier.  If this causes the speakers to change locations like you witnessed before, either the deck or one of the RCA cables is at fault.  Try new RCA cables to narrow that down, and run them as temporary through the car as you did the speaker wiring.  But if the speakers' sounds remain the same, and you also ruled out the speaker wires, the amplifier is at fault.



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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 9:54 PM
I swapped the RCA cables as suggested and the problem moved back to the passenger side.  I will swap RCA cables tomorrow and see if I can figure out whats going on. :)  I'd much rather replace either my head unit or RCA cables than the amp, because this amp is on the rather pricey side.




Posted By: stevdart
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 10:19 PM

ryan h wrote:

I swapped the RCA cables as suggested and the problem moved back to the passenger side. 

Good news, then.  You ruled out your pricey amp.



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Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.




Posted By: jmelton86
Date Posted: July 11, 2007 at 10:30 PM

Alright, now do like stevdart suggested and use some other RCA cables. You don't need to route them yet as you're just testing to see if they're the culprits. If the sound is still weak then your stereo is defective. If so, just run both front and rear channels on the amp from the rear RCA outputs from the stereo (using RCA y-cables). The fader at this point would be the gains on the amp. Balance will still be retained.



-------------
2013 Kia Rio -90a alternator
DDX470HD GTO14001 GTO1014D (x3)
Big3 in 1/0G
1/0G to GTO14001




Posted By: ryan h
Date Posted: July 12, 2007 at 12:26 AM
Alright, I got the head unit out finally without buying those stupid keys and without damage, thankfully.  I was able to take some trim off and depress the tabs that hold it into the tray.  Anyway, I reset the wires back to how they should be, and then noted which speakers/jacks are working.  I then swapped those jacks to the non working speakers both on the head unit and amp.  The non working speakers then worked perfect on the RCA ports that shouldn't have worked if the head unit was faulty.  I suppose that narrows it down to the RCA cables!  Thank you all very much for your help!  I really appreciate everyone who uses this forum and adds useful information to it, this has been a lifesaver!




Posted By: haemphyst
Date Posted: July 12, 2007 at 10:33 AM
bigbangs wrote:

The polarity is reversed. Check to make sure you have the positive going to the positive of the speaker and the negative going to the negative

Ummm... Yeah, NO! That's NOT the issue. I just read this entire thread, but that was not the issue, ever. Reversing the leads on a speaker WILL NOT cause what was described.

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It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."





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