Speakers play fine when the car is off, but sound like crap when its on...
05-24-2006, 03:22 PM
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Speakers play fine when the car is off, but sound like crap when its on... 
Hey guys, got a weird little speaker/stereo problem. My passenger side speaker has been farting really bad, so I naturally think that the speaker is blown and I need to replace it. So I buy some SPS-17C2 and I install according to the numerous walkthroughs that I’ve seen on the site. I get that all done and I turn the car on, and everything sounds fine. So I’m like cool. I was going to put the door panels back on when something told me I oughta start the car and listen to the speakers before I buttoned everything back up. Started the car and now both front speakers are farting real bad. Im not an audiophile, so I don’t know the lingo, so a farting sound is the best I can come up with to explain how the speaker is playing/sounding. So there’s the problem. Anybody know why the speakers play fine when the car is on, but play crappy when the car is started? 
05-25-2006, 02:23 AM
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IF we're talking about the stock Monsoon system, then the only thing I can think of causing what you described is engine vibration. First make sure you have everything bolted in tightly. Then try putting pressure on the speaker frame and see if that makes it stop. If that is the problem, some sound deadening material can probably eliminate it permanently.
05-25-2006, 10:24 AM
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Thanks man, I will try that tonight or tomorrow night. If that is in fact the case, should I just go buy some dynamat and just put it around the hole the speaker is mounted in? I apologize for being so stupid about this stuff but thanks for the help. Oh yeah, this is the monsoon system were talking about here.
05-25-2006, 01:46 PM
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I would start with small strips between the speaker housing and the plastic frame the door speaker sits in, and between the plastic frame and the door itself. Pretty much anywhere 2 parts touch, if not solidly fixed, can cause a rattle.
Crutchfield sells foam baffles for about $7/pr. You can put that between the speaker and plastic frame. That should dampen most, if not all of the vibration.
Crutchfield sells foam baffles for about $7/pr. You can put that between the speaker and plastic frame. That should dampen most, if not all of the vibration.
05-25-2006, 02:57 PM
#5
HiTech, do you know how the monsoon system behaves if the amp is not powered on? Do the h/u channels just route through the connections by default?
This might explain why the speakers are "ok" until the amp is powered on. Maybe there is some bug in his amp turn on, or not getting enough juice until the alternator is up and running. I dunno.
Seems ulikely to me though that audible distortion would be just due to engine noise / vibration.
This might explain why the speakers are "ok" until the amp is powered on. Maybe there is some bug in his amp turn on, or not getting enough juice until the alternator is up and running. I dunno.
Seems ulikely to me though that audible distortion would be just due to engine noise / vibration.
05-25-2006, 05:00 PM
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I didn't think it would be as easy as that myself. But I am willing to try anything. I feel like I wasted 100 bucks. How would I go about checking if the amp is powering on?
05-25-2006, 06:56 PM
#7
You know, this is really a confusing topic, because there isn't any really logical (or common) reason why the stereo would perform differently engine running vs not running.
So for clarity:
You get in the car, shut the doors, and crank the stereo up - it sounds fine.
Changing no other settings, you then start the car - and now the speakers are distorting (farting) and bottoming out (hard stop hit hit hit)?
Is that right?
So for clarity:
You get in the car, shut the doors, and crank the stereo up - it sounds fine.
Changing no other settings, you then start the car - and now the speakers are distorting (farting) and bottoming out (hard stop hit hit hit)?
Is that right?
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05-25-2006, 07:11 PM
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Originally Posted by todddchi
HiTech, do you know how the monsoon system behaves if the amp is not powered on? Do the h/u channels just route through the connections by default?
This might explain why the speakers are "ok" until the amp is powered on. Maybe there is some bug in his amp turn on, or not getting enough juice until the alternator is up and running. I dunno.
Seems ulikely to me though that audible distortion would be just due to engine noise / vibration.
This might explain why the speakers are "ok" until the amp is powered on. Maybe there is some bug in his amp turn on, or not getting enough juice until the alternator is up and running. I dunno.
Seems ulikely to me though that audible distortion would be just due to engine noise / vibration.
If you could play the HU with the amp off, all you would get is highs to the tweeters. I'd think the absense of frequencies below 2KHz would be quite noticeable. (FYI: 2KHz is near the frequency of C8 in terms of musical notes, which is the highest key on a standard piano.)
Last edited by HiTechGent; 05-25-2006 at 07:48 PM.
05-25-2006, 08:10 PM
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You know, mine was doing the same thing for quite a while and pissing me off quite a bit. Then one day all the bass was gone (no more farting either). So I thought all was well, and all of a sudden I got bass again. Now its farting again.
But mine's not like yours mine comes and goes with the wind. arggghhhh
But mine's not like yours mine comes and goes with the wind. arggghhhh
05-26-2006, 09:27 AM
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Originally Posted by todddchi
You know, this is really a confusing topic, because there isn't any really logical (or common) reason why the stereo would perform differently engine running vs not running.
So for clarity:
You get in the car, shut the doors, and crank the stereo up - it sounds fine.
Changing no other settings, you then start the car - and now the speakers are distorting (farting) and bottoming out (hard stop hit hit hit)?
Is that right?
So for clarity:
You get in the car, shut the doors, and crank the stereo up - it sounds fine.
Changing no other settings, you then start the car - and now the speakers are distorting (farting) and bottoming out (hard stop hit hit hit)?
Is that right?
05-26-2006, 09:32 AM
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Originally Posted by super_fro_daddy
You know, mine was doing the same thing for quite a while and pissing me off quite a bit. Then one day all the bass was gone (no more farting either). So I thought all was well, and all of a sudden I got bass again. Now its farting again.
But mine's not like yours mine comes and goes with the wind. arggghhhh
But mine's not like yours mine comes and goes with the wind. arggghhhh
05-26-2006, 11:52 AM
#12
HiTech - the amp does use speaker input sensing to power up. But what I'm not sure about is what happens if the amp itself doesn't actually turn on. I just know from past work that sometimes really goofy booster type amps would just play through like a normal connection if not powered. So I was thinking maybe this is what is happening. For some reason the amp isn't actually powering up until the engine is running, for one reason or another.
TheShadiest - at this point the only thing I could recommend is trying an amp swap. Especially if your wiring is all stock, then it would seem the amp is probably the logical thing to try. If you don't have a buddy to swap with, then maybe take a Firebird from a local lot for a long "test drive". The amp is pretty easy to get to and you could swap it out to try in prolly 10 minutes.
They are also very cheap on the used market and at boneyards, not much demand for them.
peace.
TheShadiest - at this point the only thing I could recommend is trying an amp swap. Especially if your wiring is all stock, then it would seem the amp is probably the logical thing to try. If you don't have a buddy to swap with, then maybe take a Firebird from a local lot for a long "test drive". The amp is pretty easy to get to and you could swap it out to try in prolly 10 minutes.
They are also very cheap on the used market and at boneyards, not much demand for them.
peace.
05-26-2006, 12:30 PM
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Well I have a Z28, but the amps are the same correct?
I thought that the amp drove the 2 back seat speakers and the 2 speakers in the hatch and the HU drove the 2 door speakers. If that is the case, what would the amp have to do with it anyway? Or maybe im completely wrong.
I thought that the amp drove the 2 back seat speakers and the 2 speakers in the hatch and the HU drove the 2 door speakers. If that is the case, what would the amp have to do with it anyway? Or maybe im completely wrong.
05-26-2006, 02:23 PM
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Oh ok, gotcha. One last question before I head into this over the weekend, Is there anything I can do to test out the amplifier before looking for a new one? Thanks for all of your help man, its greatly appreciated.
