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Need some input on front speaker wiring for my 2002 Z28

Old 07-17-2014, 10:04 AM
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Default Need some input on front speaker wiring for my 2002 Z28

So i checked out the sticky for the monsoon system (which my car has). When i installed my speakers though, the wore colors were not the same. All of the wires for the front speakers and the sail panels were red and black. No other colors. Anybody else ever seen this?? I jsut went under the general assumption that red would be positive and black negative. I went with speakers from Ian at KeeAudio and have the HD-62cfx carbon door set and the EU-6 MB.2 subs. Fronts just dont sound right so i think the wiring may be off. Pretty much zero bass from the door speakers and on music with heavy bass they turn really muddy and almost muffled.

I have talked with Ian and he has been great helping out. Just wanted to check and see if any others had experiences where the speaker wire coloring was completely different fromt he sticky. Thanks!
Old 07-17-2014, 02:29 PM
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You just have to go farther back in the harness to find the correct colors. The speakers come with red/black wiring pigtails but the colors listed in the FAQ are there if you follow the wires back for about 10"-12".

However, from your description of the symptoms I would guess that you just have the pairs reversed - tweeter pair going to mids and vice versa.
Old 07-17-2014, 03:18 PM
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Awesome! Thanks WhiteBird. Was hoping to get you to weigh in. The speakers sound rather normal at low volumes and minimal bass and then get kind of crazy after that. I will tear in to it and check it out this evening. Thanks Again!

One more question. If i followed the tweeter leads through to the connector, wouldnt it be correct? Since the plug can only go one way? I followed the leads fromt he tweeter through the cone on the stock connector and used that to determine which leads were for the tweeter. Could it be a polarity issue?
Old 07-17-2014, 09:16 PM
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Originally Posted by UATahoe
Could it be a polarity issue?
No, if you had the polarity reversed, your music would just play backward.
Old 07-17-2014, 09:31 PM
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Lol nice effect. I'm pretty sure speakers would be out of phase causing poor sound. Just not sure how bad it would sound. I think it would definitely cause poor base response though for sure.
Old 07-18-2014, 06:57 AM
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Actually, it would depend on whether you had both sides the same or one side reversed. Speakers are not polarity sensitive by themselves. If you hook up all the speakers in your car with positive on the negative terminal it will sound fine. The polarity of speaker terminals is marked to make sure you hook up all speakers the same way because if only one is reversed, that speaker is "out of phase" with the others and that sounds bad.

But I like the idea of the music playing backward. Maybe that's how the "Paul is dead" rumor started back in the '60s (play the Beatles White album backward). Those of you who don't recognize that should Google it.

Last edited by WhiteBird00; 07-20-2014 at 07:48 AM.
Old 07-18-2014, 07:49 AM
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Thanks whitebird. Doesn't also cause the cone to extend in instead of out? Which could cause the lack of bass? Going to tear everything apart tonight. Work was too crazy yesterday.
Old 07-18-2014, 11:27 AM
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Every speaker generates sound by moving the cone in and out. For any given tone, the speaker cone will move in and out at a specific frequency (cycles per second). It does not matter whether the speaker starts with an outward motion or an inward motion - it's the number of times per second that it moves in and out that creates a particular sound.
Old 07-18-2014, 08:40 PM
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Ended up being a vibration between the speakers and the speaker brackets. Got it padded up with sound deadening and all is well now. Everything was hooked up correctly but the vibration was a steady deep buzz interfering with the sound from the speakers. Speakers sound really good now.
Old 07-20-2014, 07:23 AM
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Glad that was a simple fix! I have a similar problem on my passenger door speaker. I just need to open the door panel again, play a song that makes it vibrate, and dampen whatever is causing the rattle.
Old 07-20-2014, 08:55 AM
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I was glad too. The buzz from the vibration did a good job distorting the speaker sound. On the bright side, I am a pro at taking the door panels off now. Lol


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