Problems With Car Audio Sound

[Lucas949790]

Hey, I’ve been having this odd problem that has been happening to my stereo system on my Honda fit 2010. Upgraded stereo and speakers, just used the old wires for the speakers. Okay so to the main problem, when the car is off I turn on the speakers play some music at the highest volume… absolutely no distortion. I turn on the engine, all the speakers in general get louder, and mid to high volume levels the sound just starts crackling. I don’t believe the speakers are blown, I had just got them. I was kinda thinking it could do something with the voltage, when the car isn’t on it holds a charge at 12v but when the car is on it has 14.5v because of the alternator. That’s all that I can think of… do I need a resistor to the stereo or just need to install an amplifier or what. Need some help here. Thanks!

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[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

I'd guess you're clipping. An amp would help with that.

 

[marc2112 10+ year member]

Yes, reset your gains with the engine running.

 

[Lucas949790]

Yes, reset your gains with the engine running.

I’ve done that, still crackles at those high volume levels still.

 

[Lucas949790]

I'd guess you're clipping. An amp would help with that.

Sorry, could you possibly elaborate on what you mean by clipping?

 

[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

Clipping is type of disortion that happens at high volumes.

 

[slater]

My Focal k2 speakers were doing that & they were over extending themselves at high volume under certain songs due to too much power going to them...
Not sure if over-extending is proper term, basically they were being max'd out / overworked & result was the noise...
My installer / tuner turned down the amp just a fuzz / made some tune adjustments & issue resolved...

 

[Lucas949790]

My Focal k2 speakers were doing that & they were over extending themselves at high volume under certain songs due to too much power going to them...
Not sure if over-extending is proper term, basically they were being max'd out / overworked & result was the noise...
My installer / tuner turned down the amp just a fuzz / made some tune adjustments & issue resolved...

Is th

My Focal k2 speakers were doing that & they were over extending themselves at high volume under certain songs due to too much power going to them...
Not sure if over-extending is proper term, basically they were being max'd out / overworked & result was the noise...
My installer / tuner turned down the amp just a fuzz / made some tune adjustments & issue resolved...

I have an app on my stereo but it’s not in depth as that. Do you know of any that I could download?

 

[RobGMN 5,000+ posts]

Does your head unit have EQ or crossover settings?
Try reducing the amount of bass going to your main speakers. Make the cutoff appropriate for the speaker size (i.e. a 6.5" speaker might produce 40Hz, but it will be a a useless level. Many start dropping off as high as 100Hz).

Two benefits: 1) You're not making the speaker physically perfrom beyond its limits. 2) You'll be using less power, which reduces the likelihood of clipping (where the AC waveform literally gets "sheared", becoming DC, effectively shorting out your voicecoil/s).

 

[Lucas949790]

I bought an amp and installed it. It seems to be working correctly. Now that I think about it was possible that the stereo that I had installed wasn’t giving enough power to the speakers which can also introduce distortion at high volumes. But seems to be fixed with the new amp, and can turn it way louder than previously thought. Thanks for the comments, I believe it leaded me in the right direction!

 

[Jimi77 5,000+ posts]

Glad that worked out. Enjoy your system.