HELP!?! Pioneer head unit dimming with new speakers.

[sead1234]

Hi I have a Kia Sportage 2000. The stock paper speakers that were installed finally disintigrated. I just replaced the front and rear speakers with new Pioneer speakers rated at 120watt peak / 30 watt RMS in the front and and 180watt peak / 30 RMS in the back.

The head unit in the vehicle is an older model Pioneer head unit from 2002 with has 45watt RMS x 4. The new Pioneer speakers I installed completely lacks bass and causes the head unit to dimm to the music on high volumes that contain bass. ONLY the head unit dimms and this did not happen prior to the install thus ruling out any other electrical issues.

The unit did not dimm when I was using the old speakers. All 4 new speakers have an RMS of 30 watts... the unit goes up to 45watt RMS per channel?? I don't understand what the heck went wrong?? Why is my head unit now dimming on high volumes with bass? I was told these speakers would work great with my pioneer head unit and I spent hours researching quality speakers.... Mid-range they sound fantastic, but they lack bass...

What do I do about the dimming head unit? What do I do about the complete lack of significant bass now?

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[eb2phkingood 10+ year member]

Hi I have a Kia Sportage 2000. The stock paper speakers that were installed finally disintigrated. I just replaced the front and rear speakers with new Pioneer speakers rated at 120watt peak / 30 watt RMS in the front and and 180watt peak / 30 RMS in the back.
The head unit in the vehicle is an older model Pioneer head unit from 2002 with has 45watt RMS x 4. The new Pioneer speakers I installed completely lacks bass and causes the head unit to dimm to the music on high volumes that contain bass. ONLY the head unit dimms and this did not happen prior to the install thus ruling out any other electrical issues.

The unit did not dimm when I was using the old speakers. All 4 new speakers have an RMS of 30 watts... the unit goes up to 45watt RMS per channel?? I don't understand what the heck went wrong?? Why is my head unit now dimming on high volumes with bass? I was told these speakers would work great with my pioneer head unit and I spent hours researching quality speakers.... Mid-range they sound fantastic, but they lack bass...

What do I do about the dimming head unit? What do I do about the complete lack of significant bass now?

what??????? simple, you are requiring more power from your alt now and its dipping into your battery and when a thump of the bass hits its drawing more power than alt is giving so the faceplate dims, as should your speedometer gauges and headlights a little too. you need to do an alt upgrade, the big 3, get a second battery, or go the retarded route and get a capacitor.

if its truly ONLY the hu dimming then you're on the borderline power drop where its ONLY the HU being affected right now. add any more power or what not and you'll quickly see the gauges/headlights go next.

 

[sead1234]

yea but why the speakers be drawing too much power... the head unit did not do this with the old speakers?? I see no dimming of the headlights or anything else... its only the head unit that dimms...

i don't want to have to install a new altenator.... that is absolutely rediculous just for 4 regular pioneer speakers... should I return these speakers then and buy 6 dollar paper speakers?? there has to be a real solution here...

 

[eb2phkingood 10+ year member]

yea but why the speakers be drawing too much power... the head unit did not do this with the old speakers?? I see no dimming of the headlights or anything else... its only the head unit that dimms...
i don't want to have to install a new altenator.... that is absolutely rediculous just for 4 regular pioneer speakers... should I return these speakers then and buy 6 dollar paper speakers?? there has to be a real solution here...

well realize you are not running a 45x4 rms hu like you think man. its 45x4 MAXIMUM watts. my stereo is a top of the line model cea compliant and has 18x4 RMS watts. but maybe someone with more knowledge than me will step in and help out.

 

[eb2phkingood 10+ year member]

yea but why the speakers be drawing too much power... the head unit did not do this with the old speakers?? I see no dimming of the headlights or anything else... its only the head unit that dimms...
i don't want to have to install a new altenator.... that is absolutely rediculous just for 4 regular pioneer speakers... should I return these speakers then and buy 6 dollar paper speakers?? there has to be a real solution here...

if i were you, first thing id do would be find a second ground spot, make sure its a **** good ground spot (not tied to chassis, paint ground off to bare metal) then see if it still does it. typically this is always a grounding problem

 

[miker 5,000+ posts]

Lol stop bitching about HU "dimming"... You drive a KIA wtf do you expect?

Of course you should upgrade your alt for that and yes. Your HU draws its power directly from your alternator.

You're getting bad advice.

Here is some good advice. Stop giving a ****.

 

[CRXBMPN 5,000+ posts]

aside from that part of it, are your new speakers a lower impedence which may cause the internal amp in the deck to work more and require more power in return dimming the lights on the faceplate?

 

[bwe45 10+ year member]

aside from that part of it, are your new speakers a lower impedence which may cause the internal amp in the deck to work more and require more power in return dimming the lights on the faceplate?

this was my first thought, and made the most sense to me

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

About the lack of bass... you sure you have the speaker wire's polarity right? Go into BALANCE and do you hear more bass when it's all the way to the left or right? Do the front and rear speakers separately. Sounds like this is pretty new to you and people make mistakes.

Your headunit probably does somewhere around 22 watt x 4 RMS, that 45 x 4 max figure is to attract newbies.

 

[sead1234]

aside from that part of it, are your new speakers a lower impedence which may cause the internal amp in the deck to work more and require more power in return dimming the lights on the faceplate?

what the heck is impedence??

My speakers are wired perfectly along with the head unit... I carefully marked the polarity of every wire and checked them against an electrical diagram of the car... Now clearly the head unit is drawing more power which is dimming the faceplate no it... how can i solve this without getting a new altenator... P.S. it dimms on battery power when the car is off as well...

 

[sead1234]

the speakers also sound scratchy...

 

[Wingsfreak9 10+ year member]

its cause you have a kia.