Rear speakers malfunctioning

[mgear]

Hey guys,

I'm having a problem with my 2003 Lancers audio system.

I was at a red light a few months ago, and the rear speakers suddenly went out. I don't believe they're blown since the volume was on 8 out of 60 and they showed no signs of stress. For a few days after that the speakers popped in and out with the same kinda noise that happens when you quickly unplug headphones from your computer, that little poppy-buzz noise. This has made me believe I either have a short somewhere, or my headunit is bad. I've tried reseating the headunit and all relating wires. Fuses are fine and everything, but I just can't figure out what it is. The front two work perfectly.

Does anyone have a clue as to what's going on?

Thanks!

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[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

Check your speaker wire going from the head-unit to the speakers. Maybe there's exposed wire touching metal somewhere.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

If its just the rears take them out and get some good fronts lol

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

I can't stand just having front speakers. I know most people here prefer having just a front stage and a sub, but I really can't do it.

When I got my new front stage, I was happy with the output and general performance of the speakers, but I had the fader all the way to the front and I missed having an encompassing, surrounding musical force.

 

[Bettr n' Revrse 5,000+ posts]

I can't stand just having front speakers. I know most people here prefer having just a front stage and a sub, but I really can't do it.
When I got my new front stage, I was happy with the output and general performance of the speakers, but I had the fader all the way to the front and I missed having an encompassing, surrounding musical force.

I like to have a little something but I guess in a small car like mine it doesnt matter... in the new one Ill probably have a little rear thou

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

I can't stand just having front speakers. I know most people here prefer having just a front stage and a sub, but I really can't do it.
When I got my new front stage, I was happy with the output and general performance of the speakers, but I had the fader all the way to the front and I missed having an encompassing, surrounding musical force.

Some people just prefer this. Nothing wrong with that. Usually, if you don't feel encompassed by front speakers only, they weren't done right. Some T/A will trick your brain and you won't hear the speaker closest to you first. I know because I have been in both places. I have had only front and been unhappy, then was happy, added rears and was less happy, now no rears and happier.

As long as you are happy, that's all that matters.

Psychoacoustics at work. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif. ITDG plays a huge role.

 

[mgear]

Check your speaker wire going from the head-unit to the speakers. Maybe there's exposed wire touching metal somewhere.

Thanks for the reply guys.

And to be honest, I have no idea where the wire goes after the head unit. The speakers don't have any visible wires when viewing from the trunk. They aren't even in the metal part of the rear deck.

I wouldn't mind this so bad if it was sports car or something, but this is an older economy car with horrible sound insulating so I need to turn it up to hear it when driving and then I actually start to feel bad for the two front speakers that are working. Odd, yeah I know.

 

[MisterDeadeye 10+ year member]

Wait, you said it's a Lancer? My Mitsu Galant(2003) had clips with the wires on the top side of the speaker, and yours might be the same. Do you have removable grills on your rear deck, or do you have to remove the whole thing?

In my Galant, I had to take out the whole back seat, both of the rear pillars, and then the rear-deck. It was kind of a hassle. You should be able to follow the wires from the speakers through the rest of your car to the head-unit. You might have to remove the seats, maybe some carpet, and possibly even some of the interior trim to find that kind of spot, but that's all assuming your problem is what I said.

My car's awful about keeping noise in/out as well. I need to get some CCF and MLV and cover my whole car. That should get rid of the noise.

 

[mgear]

I just snatched this off Google Images, but yeah, this is how it looks without the grill on.

(Minus the aftermarket speakers)

It looks like the grill just pops off, but I'm not really sure.

 

[mgear]

Alright, looking at the car I know I'm going to break something trying to find the wire and where it runs to and from. Could I test it by putting a battery on one end and listen to see if the speaker pops? Would that damage the speaker if it's a AA, or should I use a 9v if possible?

If it turns out it's the head unit that's bad, what would be a good one that looks like something you'd expect out of the car factory and has at least 35 watts per channel?

 

[keep_hope_alive Premium Member]

AA is what you use to test the speaker, not 9V.

a DMM is better as you can look for short circuits and voice coil resistance.

i recommend using a DMM to measure resistance. you want to measure between the terminals on the speaker (should be just less than 4 ohms) and between each wire and car steel (should be very high, more than hundreds of ohms).

seeing the wire pinched between the speaker and the car metal isn't desirable. you should find another path for the wire and grommet where it passes through metal.

 

[mgear]

Alright, Tomorrow I'm going to try the AA and then once I can get in contact with my uncle who is an electrician, I'm going to see if I can use his DMM for this.

I'm going to do both so I get two sources of confirmation since DMMs can go bad. If it turns out it's the head unit, I'd need to buy a new one. The problem is that I haven't actually saw any headunits that have 35 watts per channel (what I need until I end up upgrading the speakers, then I'd get an amp too). Do they even make them with that amount of watts? Most I see are 10 to 15 watts, even the higher-end ones. Also, since it's only four speakers, would it be two channel or four?

 

[illadelph 10+ year member]

If your headunit has 2 rca's, I'd say just get a decent 2 or 4 channel amp and power your components from that. better sound quality and itll be louder too. if you wanna stick to just a headunit as your component power, and want to most power, i think a lot of Boss' put out like 45-60w a channel.

 

[TheUnderFighter 10+ year member]

I can't believe someone just recommended a Boss head unit? Just, no. Don't do that. Anyways, no, no head units are going to put out more than 18wRms per channel... and you'll be lucky to actually see around 12 of those watts. Regardless if you have better speakers, getting a 4 channel amp for them will make a world of a difference.

And also, that wire shouldn't be ran between the speaker and the car like, if that is how yours is done. And from the sound of it, simply sounds like a bad speaker connection somewhere. But, ya never know, could be worse.

 

[mgear]

Looking at the back of my installed headunit (factory), I really think it's some kind of proprietary connection.

I've never actually saw that plug anywhere.