Audio electrical troubles.

Wahugg

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
87
Well I out of ideas and I need some help.

The problem I am experiencing is that the rear left speaker is not putting out lows or mids, and the the aftermarket sub will play bass, but is extremely dampened and when a hard bass note hits it almost completely fades out.

Here is the story;

This summer I was sick and tired of crappy sound. I ripped out the stock speakers and put three way 35w Kenwood's in the front, and two way 40 Sony's in the back. I know they are not the best speakers, but compared to stock they were heaven but they lacked bass. So I picked up a rockfordfosegate amp and a slim profile 10in 150watt kicker sub & enclosure. I put that all together and it was perfect. I simple tapped into the rear speaker wires in the B pillars and only twisted the wires and wrapped them in electrical tape. (I know this is a problem, more to come on it). I also added this aux input so I could hook my ipod up to it and stop burning all those CD's

This past week the wires that I taped into came undone. This is due to me having a bad work ethic over the summer and I went back and soldered the wires in the right way. I also took my radio and aux adapter out to properly solder the power connections as well. I put it all back together and I notice that the sub is not really hitting and the 4 other speakers were mudding like crazy on the bass. Before the sub would overpower the speakers before you could even hear them begin to mud, but now it is nothing but muddiness when I would try to get base. Then I noticed the rear left speaker did not have low or mids at all.

Here is what I have done;

-I changed the speaker in the rear left door so that eliminates the speaker as the problem still is present.
-I checked all the connections and they all have the same omage, so a almost broken wire causing resistance is not the problem
-Amp works fine in another car

This leads me to think it is the head unit as it has been resetting lately and if I fade the speakers fully to the left or right, my bass issue is resolved but the rear left speaker still lacks the mids and lows. But since this problem arose right after I was working on it, it seems it is more likely I did something rather then the HU taking a crap at the exact same time. But all the connections are tight and secure, and fading the speakers eliminating the problem makes me think other wise.

Any ideas? I am truly stumped on this

-Wahugg

What I specifically have:
-Front speakers: http://www.kenwoodusa.com/Car_Entertainment/Speakers/6.5''_Oversized_n_6.5''_Speakers/KFC-1662S
-Rear Speakers: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/st...10151&langId=-1&productId=8198552921666304891
-Amp: http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/product_details.aspx?itemid=233188 (mine is two channel not 4, bridges @150 watts)
-Sub: http://www.kicker.com/Comp (10in model)
-Aux input: http://www.crutchfield.com/p_469GM12AX2/P-I-E-Aux-Input-Adapter-For-GM.html?tp=1672
 

STLtrailbSS

Member
Dec 4, 2011
1,617
Is this only in aux mode or Is it present in all playbacks?
Just trying to rule out the simple things first.
 

Wahugg

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
87
It is present in all modes except fm radio, with or with out the aux convert installed.

-Wahugg
 

The_Roadie

Lifetime VIP Donor
Member
Nov 19, 2011
9,957
Portland, OR
But FM sounds fine in all respects?
 

Wahugg

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
87
As good as it can get. My FM has always had excess static and never had a good dynamic sound, but the bass does seem to get deeper and not get cut off.

-Wahugg
 

Wahugg

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
87
I was hoping that it might have been an over sight on my part and it have could be something else. I don't want to plop a who lot of money on an aftermarket head unit right now, way to many things going on, but I don't really want to go back to a stock HU. Might just have to go with this for a while.

Thanks for the help
-Wahugg

Edit:

I just remembered that the Rear Left speaker still does not work properly in FM mode. This still would seam to point to the HU but could it possibly open up any alternative causes? I can't think of any, but can anyone else?
 

MMIN

Member
Feb 26, 2012
55
It sounds like the speakers are out of phase. Any chance you changed the polarity of them when you changed the speakers or tapped for the amp? I would start by checking the speaker in the door and switching the positive and negative. Any time you balance left to right and it sounds strong to each side but weak in the middle something is usually out of phase. They are cancelling each other out because the soundwaves the exact opposite on one another. The same could apply for the amp hookup as well. Did you use a lineout converter or does the amp have high level inputs? If so did you tap 4 wires in or just 2? Another thing that could effect both the amp and speaker is if you got a cold solder joint when you redid the wiring. Just a few things to check hope it helps,
 

MMIN

Member
Feb 26, 2012
55
I think you missed his edit:

Edit: I just remembered that the Rear Left speaker still does not work properly in FM mode
 

Wahugg

Original poster
Member
Dec 4, 2011
87
I finally was able to get a new stock OEM radio in, the exact same model as the one I had before..... but the problem still persists, but I have made some developments.

The problem before was the bass would mud and distort in extreme amounts, and only the rear left speaker would not play low notes. I was able to rule out a speaker by switching them out, but the same problems of no bass notes was still present.

Well I was able to solve part of the problem, but even then I was not able to find a cause.

I was able to get ride of the bass notes by doing one of two things. The first way to get rid of the mudding was to fade the audio either all the way to the left or right. If the fade was balanced in the middle it would distort, but the closer it was to either full left or full right fade it got better. Well this leaded me to unplug one of the RCA cables after the LOC and the same effect was had. Bass sucked with both sides plugged in, but was perfect with only one side. If you unplugged the taps from the LOC the same effect was had.

I was also able to totally rule out the AUX input by removing it and using a CD and the same song on the CD for all the tests, there for limiting it to just the HU.

So in conclusion, it's not the HU due to a new one. The distortion is alleviate by removing one of the channels, and the rear left speaker lacks bass no matter what.

Here is a diagram of my set up

I am truly stumped.

-Wahugg

View attachment 21015
 

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