Distortion please help!

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Jr1993

CarAudio.com Newbie
I installed 4 door speaker and the right channel works fine. the front door and rear deck and front tweeter on 5he right sound great, however the left channel gets completely distorted if when I turn the volume past about 3 out of 18 so it sounds great on the left at a very low volume no distortions interference whatsoever but as soon as i increase the volume I cant hear anything at all except the distortion in the left. Like I said it's only the left channel. If I have it balanced all the way to the right that side sounds awesome. I've tried different speakers, I hooked it up to the factory amp and the aftermarket amp and it's the same problem I'm completely stumped. If you need any more details I will be checking this regularly please help! thank you
 
Try taking the speaker out of the door and playing it. The way the speaker is mounted in the door might not be completely flat. Worth a try
 
I mean playing the speaker completely unmounted. Not changing the speaker. You tried that and that one channel still distorted?
Also, try getting an RCA to phone jack and completely bypass the head unit and RCA's coming from the head unit and see if that helps.
 
I mean playing the speaker completely unmounted. Not changing the speaker. You tried that and that one channel still distorted?
Also, try getting an RCA to phone jack and completely bypass the head unit and RCA's coming from the head unit and see if that helps.
Yea I tried the speaker unmounted. The mach factory amplifier is actually an rcu so can't really bypass it. the facrory headunit in the dash is just a remote control. the tuner and inner working of the radio is all in the mach rcu amp. Have the speaker wires running to the loc I'll send a drawing sorry it's a poor drawing I'm not an artist by any means.
 

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Sorry, I thought you still had the aftermarket amplifier in.
Basically, to see if the problem is the head unit itself or the connections going from the head unit to the amplifier, you'd have to not get your signal from them and see if the problem persists.
Also, check the speaker wire going to that specific location. You could have a bare spot that's touching metal.
 
Sorry, I thought you still had the aftermarket amplifier in.
Basically, to see if the problem is the head unit itself or the connections going from the head unit to the amplifier, you'd have to not get your signal from them and see if the problem persists.
Also, check the speaker wire going to that specific location. You could have a bare spot that's touching metal.
So the aftermarket amp is still in but only running the right side of the car. I tried a different speaker wire same problem was still occurring. Could the output wire from the rcu cause this problem? I'm unsure because like I said it's crystal clear at a low volume and as soon as it hits around 3 its complete distortion. Could outputs just be damaged? I don't know how this could have happened but I'm at a loss at this point.
 
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It really could be anything except the amplifier (you tried 2 different amplifiers) or the speaker (you switched it) or the mounting surface (you played the speaker free air)
If you hook that speaker back up to the aftermarket amplifier (the pioneer correct?) Then, instead of using your head unit to control the music coming into it, if you can get a hold of some RCA's that you can input into your phone (RCA to headphone jack or RCA to whatever the iPhone jack is called) you can hook your phone (or any other mobile music device) strait into the amplifier and see if the problem goes away. Then you know it could be the LOC or the RCU. It's just troubleshooting basically to narrow down and find where the problem is coming from before you start spending money just blindly replacing things
 
It really could be anything except the amplifier (you tried 2 different amplifiers) or the speaker (you switched it) or the mounting surface (you played the speaker free air)
If you hook that speaker back up to the aftermarket amplifier (the pioneer correct?) Then, instead of using your head unit to control the music coming into it, if you can get a hold of some RCA's that you can input into your phone (RCA to headphone jack or RCA to whatever the iPhone jack is called) you can hook your phone (or any other mobile music device) strait into the amplifier and see if the problem goes away. Then you know it could be the LOC or the RCU. It's just troubleshooting basically to narrow down and find where the problem is coming from before you start spending money just blindly replacing things
I switched the rca Jack's around and the left side worked flawless...is it the outputs on The factory outputs then? I tried new wire different speakers separate amps also tried different rca Jack's on the loc and each attempt the left outputs off the rcu messed up even tried hooking.up a speaker before the loc right to the factory rcu and still no luck. So if any ideas on how the outputs on The rcu may have been damaged?
 
You mean you switched the left and the right RCA inputs around and that speaker had no distortion? Did the distortion move to a different speaker?
 
It really could be anything except the amplifier (you tried 2 different amplifiers) or the speaker (you switched it) or the mounting surface (you played the speaker free air)
If you hook that speaker back up to the aftermarket amplifier (the pioneer correct?) Then, instead of using your head unit to control the music coming into it, if you can get a hold of some RCA's that you can input into your phone (RCA to headphone jack or RCA to whatever the iPhone jack is called) you can hook your phone (or any other mobile music device) strait into the amplifier and see if the problem goes away. Then you know it could be the LOC or the RCU. It's just troubleshooting basically to narrow down and find where the problem is coming from before you start spending money just blindly replacing things
I switched the rca Jack's around and the left side worked flawless...is it the outputs on The factory outputs then? I tried new wire different speakers separate amps also tried different rca Jack's on the loc and each attempt the left outputs off the rcu messed up even tried hooking.up a speaker before the loc right to the factory rcu and still no luck.
 
The wires were cut short off the rcu so I had to take the pins out and solder a wire on that was long.ebough to work with.
So don't know what timezone your in but I live in mineesota so maybe I could just call and explain the situation through Facebook messenger or some other videochat service later tonight. Im just very frustrated with this while proccess. It's the 7th system that I've installed and I've never had any problems in the past.
 
Yes the distortion switched sides I did have to repin to harness is there a chance I have it wrong?
That's exactly what should have happened. The next thing I would try (because it's the cheapest fix) is change the RCA's (of you haven't already).
So, the chain goes head unit, into that RCU, into the LOC, into the amplifier right? If that's the case, I think it's the LOC to be honest. I've never personally used a line out converter, but from what I've read over the years is they are very temperamental and usually hit or miss.
 
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Jr1993

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