expert advice needed: car speaker degradation

[funcrusha76]

Hi there,

This is my first post, and I must be upfront that I wouldn't call myself a car audio enthusiast, but like good clean sound in my car.

I posted this query on another audio-related forum, and didn't get very satisfactory responses. So I thought I might see if someone in these parts could offer some valuable input. I'd greatly appreciate it if you could.

Here goes: I recently had some respraying done on my vehicle a VW Polo. When I got it back from the workshop I discovered that one of the repairmen had turned the bass settings on the stereo all the way to +9 (the highest setting on the system). FYI, I have made no modifications to the car's audio setup. The radio/CD player and speakers are all factory fitted.

Noticing that someone had played the stereo with the bass pumped all the way to the top got me worried though. And when I reset the balance and fade, and returned the treble to flat and the bass to +2 (my preferred setting), the sound just didn't sound right. To be honest, it sounded rather muffled at times.

Previously I played everything (all types of music from folk-rock to electronic music to hip-hop) on the same settings with pretty clear sound and some nice resonant bass.

As far as I can tell, by isolating each cluster of speakers in the car, nothing has been been blown. And yet my ears tell me that the sound produced by the speakers is worse than before I sent it in for repairs.

I am a little concerned that I might be responding to the thought that my system was played with the bass turned all the way up and at high volume, and that this might have affected playback subsequently. Thoughts? Is my system ruined for good?

Thanks for reading.

Funcrusha

Click to read more...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Not sure what sort of answer you are hoping for. You've already said none of the speakers are blown. Adjusting the bass setting too high isn't likely to cause any problems beyond that, so I guess Id have to vote that yes its probably a perception problem.

You said you only isolated each cluster of speakers, are you sure the individual tweet or mid isn't blown?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

are the speakers factory or aftermarket? factory or aftermarket head unit?

muffled sound could be attributed to blown tweeters. you'd still hear music, but it wouldn't be the same. you'll need to play some material with high-hats and cymbals that you recognize to verify.

 

[funcrusha76]

So had a closer listen today. Tweeters seem fine. What seems to be different is the response of the mid-range speakers (6") that pump out most of the bass. I don't remember them sounding so forceful. Even when I had the bass turned down to -2, at high volume I was picking up vibrations and distortions that didn't occur before. I'm a bit stumped by all of this. I've decided I will take it to an approved dealer for the make of car and see if they have anything to say about it.

One way-out theory I have is that the inside panels on the car were tested by playing the bass turned up and at high volume, but I am also skeptical that playing CD player on high volume can have such a drastic change on the car's acoustics.

:-/

Funcrusha

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

meh.... I've never had any problem cranking the bass and volume on my stock stereos... But I mean, keep in mind, stock speakers are an absolute joke... there's nothing to really fix with it if they are damaged, which I would doubt. Sounds like you might just be hearing things different, as strange as it sounds. But I'm definitely interested in what happens here. Honestly, if the dealers offer to actually take a look at it, I don't know what they'd look at...