Sound problem as results of high volume...not sure where to start

[SC4 10+ year member]

My setup:

Pioneer DEH-80PRS

Sony Components xs-gs1720s actively bi-amped

kenwood kac240s

So last night I'm cruising on back road's, going to pick up my gf, and blaring fairies wear boots by black sabbath when all of a sudden my driver side speakers get very cloudy, higher pitched, and loud as ****! It almost startled me as I fumbled to turn the volume down to prevent my ears from bleeding....

Now my speakers on the left sound louder and definitely more pronounced but all of the speakers sound like a larger pair of headphones, kind of a nasally sound, congested....and if i take the balance control to the right side my midbass comes back in the left, which has me super confused I looked at my speaker connection to the amp and nothing is messed up there. The stereo was sounding better than ever and then out of no where this happens.

I have reset the micro-processor and all the audio settings and the problem still exists.

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[Chromatic]

Hrmm tricky. I won't be of any specific help,.. but I'm interested in how this turns out.

To me the most likely culprit is the head unit (perhaps needs repair/replacement -- but don't do it based on me saying that) -- It still could be your amp technically even if wiring looks fine.

And there is , to me, a less than 1 percent chance it's speaker related. Weird things happen,.. but I'd guess Headunit, if it's fine.. Amp..

This is what I would do.

I'd grab some speakers (any proper ohm speakers ) and go wire them up to the Amp and just see if the same issue happens. Probably will,.. if not.. It's the speakers (crossovers, wiring, speaker itself, etc.. Not likely though).

If you HAPPEN to have another amp (even of lower power)... I'd wire the speakers and power, and so on into it just for a test.. If the "new" amp works.. you've found your culprit (unless for some odd reason the wiring just needed adjusting on the amp (ALL the wires, not just speaker wire)..

I know I don't have extra amps laying around.. but if you have one.. it's a good way to isolate it.

If you have neither speakers nor an amp to test.. (this may be the best thing to do first anyway).

I'd pull the headunit out and basically unhook everything and go over the wiring .. harness, pre-outs, remote, everything really well.. (check crimps, solders, joints, etc.) Then put it back in -- (As with the other things.. if you have or can borrow another headunit of any kind .. I would use it to test the rest of the equipment (amp/speakers).

Someone may come in here and say that's (XYZ) and you will be fixed up. But, to me it sounds like a trial and error troubleshooting issue.. but shouldn't take long to isolate which component (or wiring) it is.

Good luck.. I'll be watching the replies to see what it is/was.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Re run the auto time alignment and eq first thing

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

reset headunit first, what do you mean your speakers are bi-amped?

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

Hrmm tricky. I won't be of any specific help,.. but I'm interested in how this turns out.
To me the most likely culprit is the head unit (perhaps needs repair/replacement -- but don't do it based on me saying that) -- It still could be your amp technically even if wiring looks fine.

And there is , to me, a less than 1 percent chance it's speaker related. Weird things happen,.. but I'd guess Headunit, if it's fine.. Amp..

This is what I would do.

I'd grab some speakers (any proper ohm speakers ) and go wire them up to the Amp and just see if the same issue happens. Probably will,.. if not.. It's the speakers (crossovers, wiring, speaker itself, etc.. Not likely though).

If you HAPPEN to have another amp (even of lower power)... I'd wire the speakers and power, and so on into it just for a test.. If the "new" amp works.. you've found your culprit (unless for some odd reason the wiring just needed adjusting on the amp (ALL the wires, not just speaker wire)..

I know I don't have extra amps laying around.. but if you have one.. it's a good way to isolate it.

If you have neither speakers nor an amp to test.. (this may be the best thing to do first anyway).

I'd pull the headunit out and basically unhook everything and go over the wiring .. harness, pre-outs, remote, everything really well.. (check crimps, solders, joints, etc.) Then put it back in -- (As with the other things.. if you have or can borrow another headunit of any kind .. I would use it to test the rest of the equipment (amp/speakers).

Someone may come in here and say that's (XYZ) and you will be fixed up. But, to me it sounds like a trial and error troubleshooting issue.. but shouldn't take long to isolate which component (or wiring) it is.

Good luck.. I'll be watching the replies to see what it is/was.

Hey, really appreciate the assistance man, let the troubleshooting begin I guess!

I was sitting here all day like wtf, no one is going to say anything? so again very much appreciated! I will definitely keep this updated as I figure things out.

Re run the auto time alignment and eq first thing

I thought this at first as the driver side sounded louder, but even adjusting the left side closer doesn't help and there is definitely something impeding the sound as it is horrific.

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

reset headunit first, what do you mean your speakers are bi-amped?

If you read the original post I have reset the head unit's processor as well as audio setting to no avail. Also Bi amped means I have a channel for each speaker in my component set the head unit supports 2 way plus sub active crossover network so Im running one channel to each 6.5" mid bass drivers and one channel to each tweeter

 

[Jepalan]

OK - you said you were on "back roads" so I assume the ride was rough. You said you have the speakers "bi-amped" so I think you mean you are running the four-channel amp as a two-channel amp with bridged outputs.

You likely either have a bad RCA connection going to one of the amp inputs; or you have a shorted speaker lead on one of the amp outputs; or you blew one or more speakers; or blew one or more of the amp channels.

You need to start isolating the problem. The first thing I would do is get a DMM, disconnect each speaker on at a time from the amp and check the voice-coil ohms and check for each lead shorted to ground. If they all check out good then I would move on to checking each amp channel.

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

OK - you said you were on "back roads" so I assume the ride was rough. You said you have the speakers "bi-amped" so I think you mean you are running the four-channel amp as a two-channel amp with bridged outputs.
You likely either have a bad RCA connection going to one of the amp inputs; or you have a shorted speaker lead on one of the amp outputs; or you blew one or more speakers; or blew one or more of the amp channels.

You need to start isolating the problem. The first thing I would do is get a DMM, disconnect each speaker on at a time from the amp and check the voice-coil ohms and check for each lead shorted to ground. If they all check out good then I would move on to checking each amp channel.

Ok I didnt think about that the DMM is a good idea. By Bi-amped I mean 4 channels I'm running highs on the A bank (2 tweeters/2 channels) and mids on the B bank (2 drivers/2 channels)

Active front stage is another way to say it, im actively crossing over the signal @ the headunit, rather than a passive crossover after the amp that would then split to the tweet and driver.

 

[Side Show 10+ year member]

what are your crossover points for the tweets? and are the mids bandpassed?

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

Mids were bandpassed @ 100hz 18 db slope and up to 5k 18db slope the highs were crossed over @ 5k w/ a 24 db slope, but my crossover points are something ive been messing with so its never constant.

I removed the head unit and the amp and I am sending them both back.

The amp doesn't give me any headroom so im going to throw some extra money at it and get something worth while

and for the head unit I think I'm going to go with a kenwood double din i think it is the 370, w/ the plan of going w/ a bit ten for my active setup down the road.

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

Mids were bandpassed @ 100hz 18 db slope and up to 5k 18db slope the highs were crossed over @ 5k w/ a 24 db slope, but my crossover points are something ive been messing with so its never constant.
I removed the head unit and the amp and I am sending them both back.

The amp doesn't give me any headroom so im going to throw some extra money at it and get something worth while

and for the head unit I think I'm going to go with a kenwood double din i think it is the 370, w/ the plan of going w/ a bit ten for my active setup down the road.

btw the reason I am just sending them back is the headunit could only be returned to amazon until the 31st of january so I just went with it

 

[nismos14 5,000+ posts]

Bi amped and active are not the same.

 

[SC4 10+ year member]

Bi amped and active are not the same.

Yea I guess I could have worded it differently, I do understand this sir. I'm active and bi-amped so for my setup I described it correctly but worded it as if they were the same.

Thank you for the clarification