Boy did I have a problem with my Germ's...

[skibumdc 10+ year member]

A bit of a long story.

A few weeks ago I installed half of my new Germaniums in the passenger door. Made a pair 1/2" MDF rings, glued then together together, and used silicone caulk and non hardening modeling clay to deaden/seal the speaker to the door.

SecondSkin sound deadening on the door. Did an OK job, 2 layers in some spots., 90% of holes covered.

Well the tweeter was crackling, but I had already buttoned up the door.

Over the next 3 weeks the crackling went away and this weekend I did the drivers side door.

Did sound deadening first and did my best work yet. 2 layers everywhere with probably 90% coverage of outer and inner door skin. All holes were covered. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/yumyum.gif.0556df42231b304b9c995aefd13928a8.gif

Screwed the speakers in place, wired it all up and tested. hmm, ok. So i buttoned up the door panel and listened. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crap.gif.7f4dd41e3e9b23fbd170a1ee6f65cecc.gif

WHAT? No sound from left side. Tried to balance all to drivers side and more sound went to passenger side....same effect if balance was set to passenger side. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/verymad.gif.3f39c5c2fd57527b671fad3efdfac756.gif I have friggin' EXPENSIVE speakers and I broke something? NOOOO.

Took a break and came back, opened up the door panel. I took the wires before the crossover and hooked them up to my old Polks just to confirm it wasn't a wiring issue. Sound back to normal.

HMM, so I hooked wires back up with speaker out of door, and BAM! Normal sound.

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/confused.gif.e820e0216602db4765798ac39d28caa9.gif

Well with music playing, I know I know I'm not supposed to do this, I put the speaker back in its hole and as I start to push against the MDF ring the speaker stops playing. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/mad.gif.c18f003ab0ef8a0d9c27ca78d77a6392.gif

Turns out the speaker terminals were touching the sound deadening and either grounding or shorting out the speaker which had ALL kinds of strange effects.

Never even considered what it turned out to be.

Anyways. I have my IDQ sub back in place in it's custom fiberglass enclosure taking up no trunk space and listening to Germanium bliss.

These things play low enough now and are so detailed I barely even need subs for Rock music.

Listened to David Gray cd and it was piano and vocal bliss. Listened to the same cd with my old Polk setup, and it was good, but muddy lows. Also listened on my GF's Infiniti BLOSE system. What utter craaaapppp.

To say I am happy with my Germ's in an understatement.

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[headless 10+ year member]

Awesome. Glad to hear things worked out for you! I was wondering myself about the foil backing for the deadener conducting electricity - i suppose i've found my answer to that question... //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

Glad you got it figured out so you can enjoy Germanium bliss. Do you have plans to get a strong 4 channel amp and biamp them?

 

[skibumdc 10+ year member]

Not at the moment. For the next year I'm probably content. Been enough of a headache finding time to complete this project let alone venturing further.

I'm sure at some point I will though.

Upgraditis is a killer

 

[DejaWiz 5,000+ posts]

lol yes it is. In case you ever wonder or weren't aware, those Germs can take a beating... you can run 150-200w rms per channel to them.

 

[slick rick 10+ year member]

this was the EXACT problem I had with my driver side germ mid...this is after I finally wired up the xover right. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif It made the weirdest popping,crackling sounds from the mid...and it was hard to tell it was the mid and not the tweeter.

 

[02TurboA4 10+ year member]

Glad to see another Audi guy on the forum. You'll love the Germs once they fully break in. I had a set that I just recently sold to upgrade. Once you put more power to the Germs they'll really sing. I had mine running passive with 320w per side and they loved it.

 

[skibumdc 10+ year member]

Glad to see another Audi guy on the forum. You'll love the Germs once they fully break in. I had a set that I just recently sold to upgrade. Once you put more power to the Germs they'll really sing. I had mine running passive with 320w per side and they loved it.

Yeah, us Audi guys are out there. Boy what a car. It was quiet before the sound deadening, but man, now it's even better.

Those Germ's screaming at you while still looking factory stock is PERFECT.