crackling speakers

[spartise]

I've got a strange problem with my car stereo. It consists of an aftermarket head unit, and a 10" sub in the trunk, and 4 - 6.5" factory speakers. I started to notice a crackling as though I had a speaker blown. After troubleshooting, playing with both balance and fade settings, I came across something unexpected:

When the front driver-side speaker was in use, ALL of the speakers crackled loudly. But if I faded it to the back or right they all sounded fine. I took the panel off, and discovered the speaker was badly blown, so I ordered a new pair and disconnected that speaker for the time being.

Then today on the way to work all the speakers made an awful loud sound. I thought for a moment there may be an elephant trying to escape my trunk. I turned it down, then back up. And discovered later that the crackling had returned, only this time it is the REAR PASSENGER speaker that is the culprit, and it doesn't appear to be blown. So now I'm down to one speaker (Driver side rear). If I fade/balance just to that one it sounds good. If I involve the Passenger side rear, all (connected) speakers sound bad.

Just curious about whether I have a blown head unit or what. I don't want to buy a new one if I don't have to. Thanks in advance.

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[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I recommend that you purchase a decent set of entry level speakers that are much better than OEM speakers,that will handle a little more power than 15-3o watts..Infinity sound great,and polk, as well as jbl..Sounds like it would also benefit you to get a small 4channel amp to put on those speakers to clean up the distortion for you, and also give you some power without having to really crank it up, but you can max your volume knob out and set the gain to a safe level to keep from blowing speakers, and sound great at the same time.It doesnt have to be a brand new amplifier,and expensive..You can find a great sq/power amp old school type used and still in great condition that will be very affordable, and even sound and perform much better than a brand new amplifier,and can be easy on the electrical also..i recommend an Older Alpine DUO-B amplifier,even 2 of the 3522,can be very cheap to pick up, but deliver power, along with sq for you,giving you the best of both worlds without spendind an arm and a leg, as car audio can become very expensive buying..who says that it needs to be expensive??You will be surprised what you can find used that will give you the best for the bang for your buck??Alpine 3522 | eBay these amps were some of the best sq,along with some power amps, that still perform fantastic, one for the front, and one for the rears, for under $100,I have had this on a pair of 60 rms speakers, and perform quite well US Acoustics USX 4065 amplifier by ZED Audio | eBay Even this amplifier will out perform several 75x4 amps in sq, and along with delivering power for the money spent..just a couple suggestions of true power, and sq for old school,speakers to begin with I recommend something such as thesehttp://www.ebay.com/itm/4-Infinity-Kappa-62-9i-6-5-225-Watt-2-Way-Speakers-/230807993426?pt=Car_Speakers&hash=item35bd3a7c52&vxp=mtr

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

4) Infinity Kappa 62.9i 6.5" 225 Watt 2-Way Speakers 050667110031 | eBay These would be my suggestion for replacing the stock speakers,and the US Acoustics amp will really make these sound fantastic, and will last for quite a while,and should keep up with the 10 you have without any issues..just a recommendation That amp would only need an 8ga max feed with a max of 40 amp fuse,and the speakers should be just about right for that amp..JBL GTO608C 6.5-Inch 2-Way Component System (210 W) | eBayhttp://www.ebay.com/itm/2X-POLK-AUDIO-DB651-6-5-CAR-MARINE-SPEAKERS-2-PARIS-/160821115886?pt=Car_Speakers&hash=item2571af7bee&vxp=mtr

 

[spartise]

I appreciate the info, but that's not at all the response I was hoping for. I was hoping someone could explain what is making the system behave in this manner. Why is it that simply fading to center distorts BOTH speakers, while panning to LEFT only, that speaker sounds fine?

blown head unit? faulty wiring? other?

 

[maylar 10+ year member]

I'm leaning toward something in the head unit, maybe it's internal amp is flaking out. You haven't given an details about the equipment, so I'll ask:

Are the factory speakers 2 ohms by any chance?

What HU?

Have you replaced any of the crackling speakers with known good?