Hi all. This is my first post on this forum so please bear with me. I hope the community can help me with this problem.
A couple days ago I installed a new JVC KD-AR300 Head Unit and replaced the factory speakers with a pair of 4" Pioneer TS-G1040R in the front and a pair of 5 1/4" Pioneer TS-G1340R in the rear on my wife's 1993 Hyundai Exel. This wasn't supposed to turn into a big or expensive project. I just wanted to give her something a little more enjoyable to listen to than what she had. We now are experiencing some audio problems which I have not quite nailed down.
At higher volume levels (not super-high though) there is distortion/static coming from the front 4" speakers. There is also a strange balance and fade issue as well where when the Head Unit's B&F values are set to "0" the rear speakers are barely distinguishable and the distortion on the front speakers is very noticeable. If we move the fade all the way to the rear speakers we can still hear audio from the front right speaker, albeit a bit diminished. If we set the fade to about half-way towards the rear, the front right speaker level drops off significantly but is still audible. If we move the fade all the way to the front both front speakers are audible at the same level but there is distortion at higher volume levels. The head unit puts out 19 watts RMS with a max of 50 and we are NOT overdriving it at the level at which distortion/static appears. At no point do we detect distortion/static from the rear speakers.
I have double-checked the wiring on the Head Unit and it is correct. I have checked the polarity on all speakers and they are all correct as well. Some interesting things to consider however are:
1. The car originally did not have rear speakers but the wiring was present in the rear deck. when my wife obtained the car she installed a pair of cheap 5 1/4" speakers in the rear and they worked fine with the factory stereo (at least that's what I've been told).
2. When I removed the factory stereo there were two additional small wire harnesses that looked like they were for speaker wiring. Both were coming off of the car's female wiring connector. I don't recall how many wires where coming out of them but I am certain it was no more than 4. I'd never seen anything like this before. The thing that really perplexes me is that one of those harnesses did not have a connection with anything -- it was just hanging there.
What I'm thinking is that the harness with no mate might be for the rear speakers since originally they were never there and the other harness is for the fronts. When my wife first installed the pair of cheap 5 1/4" in the rear they were never working properly at all because of the wiring issue at the factory head unit level. But why have it that way? It makes very little sense. I've done my share of installs and I am used to seeing all the stereo wiring coming into a single wiring harness from the car (power, speakers, power antenna, dimmer, etc.) which you just connect to the harness purchased with the new stereo.
If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for things to fix the problem I would be extremly appreciative. Sorry for the length of this post.
Replies (2)
Tinker18 on 10/12/2004 15:54:37
Im not entirely sure about the distortion at higher levels, but as far as the fading goes, that sounds like a wire is crossed somewhere in the vehicle. You could try pulling out the HU and taking each speaker, and testing them one at a time, for instance, take the front right speaker out, hook it up straight to the front right on the HU, and turn the fader to front right, turn it up listen for distortion, and then turn the fader to the back left, and see if you can hear anything coming out of that SINGLE speaker. That way, this should give you an idea as to whether it's a problem in the wiring, or if maybe something is up with the HU or speaker.
-KP
ttocs on 10/12/2004 22:23:06
distortion on 4" speakers at high volume levels is not uncommon. People often expect an aftermarket 4" to have more bass then the factory 4", but when push come to shove you just can only get so much out of a speaker that size(unless paul harvery is selling them). As for the extra hrns, that was probably for a factory option that was not hooked up or needed(sunroof, defroster, ect). If the speakers play then you have the right wires, but possibly not in the right order. It is also possable that the speakers could be grounding out now. Do you have and know how to use a multi meter? need to check impedence of each speaker.
A couple days ago I installed a new JVC KD-AR300 Head Unit and replaced the factory speakers with a pair of 4" Pioneer TS-G1040R in the front and a pair of 5 1/4" Pioneer TS-G1340R in the rear on my wife's 1993 Hyundai Exel. This wasn't supposed to turn into a big or expensive project. I just wanted to give her something a little more enjoyable to listen to than what she had. We now are experiencing some audio problems which I have not quite nailed down.
At higher volume levels (not super-high though) there is distortion/static coming from the front 4" speakers. There is also a strange balance and fade issue as well where when the Head Unit's B&F values are set to "0" the rear speakers are barely distinguishable and the distortion on the front speakers is very noticeable. If we move the fade all the way to the rear speakers we can still hear audio from the front right speaker, albeit a bit diminished. If we set the fade to about half-way towards the rear, the front right speaker level drops off significantly but is still audible. If we move the fade all the way to the front both front speakers are audible at the same level but there is distortion at higher volume levels. The head unit puts out 19 watts RMS with a max of 50 and we are NOT overdriving it at the level at which distortion/static appears. At no point do we detect distortion/static from the rear speakers.
I have double-checked the wiring on the Head Unit and it is correct. I have checked the polarity on all speakers and they are all correct as well. Some interesting things to consider however are:
1. The car originally did not have rear speakers but the wiring was present in the rear deck. when my wife obtained the car she installed a pair of cheap 5 1/4" speakers in the rear and they worked fine with the factory stereo (at least that's what I've been told).
2. When I removed the factory stereo there were two additional small wire harnesses that looked like they were for speaker wiring. Both were coming off of the car's female wiring connector. I don't recall how many wires where coming out of them but I am certain it was no more than 4. I'd never seen anything like this before. The thing that really perplexes me is that one of those harnesses did not have a connection with anything -- it was just hanging there.
What I'm thinking is that the harness with no mate might be for the rear speakers since originally they were never there and the other harness is for the fronts. When my wife first installed the pair of cheap 5 1/4" in the rear they were never working properly at all because of the wiring issue at the factory head unit level. But why have it that way? It makes very little sense. I've done my share of installs and I am used to seeing all the stereo wiring coming into a single wiring harness from the car (power, speakers, power antenna, dimmer, etc.) which you just connect to the harness purchased with the new stereo.
If anyone has any suggestions or ideas for things to fix the problem I would be extremly appreciative. Sorry for the length of this post.
Replies (2)
Tinker18 on 10/12/2004 15:54:37
Im not entirely sure about the distortion at higher levels, but as far as the fading goes, that sounds like a wire is crossed somewhere in the vehicle. You could try pulling out the HU and taking each speaker, and testing them one at a time, for instance, take the front right speaker out, hook it up straight to the front right on the HU, and turn the fader to front right, turn it up listen for distortion, and then turn the fader to the back left, and see if you can hear anything coming out of that SINGLE speaker. That way, this should give you an idea as to whether it's a problem in the wiring, or if maybe something is up with the HU or speaker.
-KP
ttocs on 10/12/2004 22:23:06
distortion on 4" speakers at high volume levels is not uncommon. People often expect an aftermarket 4" to have more bass then the factory 4", but when push come to shove you just can only get so much out of a speaker that size(unless paul harvery is selling them). As for the extra hrns, that was probably for a factory option that was not hooked up or needed(sunroof, defroster, ect). If the speakers play then you have the right wires, but possibly not in the right order. It is also possable that the speakers could be grounding out now. Do you have and know how to use a multi meter? need to check impedence of each speaker.
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