Did I install these wrong?

[_jb_]

I put new speakers in my car since the old ones were making a rattling sound. The ones in the dash were already replaced and looked fine months ago when I had the dash apart. Still work fine to this day.

But last week or the week before I put new speakers in my door and in the rear of my car. Now the right rear one started to "rattle". So I thought maybe I put positive to the negitive and so forth. After a few days, I'm starting to get the "rattle" from the right side. Will this happen if I wire the speakers wrong?

The speakers should be getting enough power, only when I have it turned up does the screen on the radio start to get dim to the beat.

 

[mrpeaches]

if they are little crapper speakers then they are probably getting too much power. what kind of hu and what brand / model are the speakers

 

[_jb_]

I don't think it's an "overpower" thing, since the speakers I bought say, "220 Watts max, 35 norm, 4 ohms" My headunit says 35x4, but I'm running 6 speakers.
So the speakers are getting about 24 watts each. Sound fine until I turn it up.

 

[iskwezm]

Look for anything that might vibrate from the speaker ot check the tinsel leads,the wires that go to the cone might be touching as it moves.

 

[_jb_]

no, nothing is touching the speakers.

 

[iskwezm]

no, nothing is touching the speakers.

What kind of speakers?Any tears in the cone?Are they distorting?

 

[Scorcher2005]

I don't think it's an "overpower" thing, since the speakers I bought say, "220 Watts max, 35 norm, 4 ohms" My headunit says 35x4, but I'm running 6 speakers.
So the speakers are getting about 24 watts each. Sound fine until I turn it up.

what head unit do you have that puts out 35w x 4? and your math of the speakers each getting 24w is wrong. The rear ones get the full power (35w each). Im not sure how the front are wired from the factory, but i think it may be some sort of series wiring. if this is the case than they would all get 17.5 w each.

 

[Scorcher2005]

wiring the speakers wrong will not cause them to rattle. it just reverses polarity causing them to be 180* out of phase with the others. What does the rattle sound like? it may just be that you didnt tighten them very well and screws are coming looser, casuing them to rattle.

 

[sacha]

maybe it's not even the speakers - could be something near the speaker that's rattling.

 

[strokedandblown]

not to bust your buble but when the headunit states 35x4 thats max its more like 11 or 12 RMS. Sounds like you have your Bass gain up too much, little speakers cant handle all that distorted bass. Just my .02

 

[Scorcher2005]

not to bust your buble but when the headunit states 35x4 thats max its more like 11 or 12 RMS. Sounds like you have your Bass gain up too much, little speakers cant handle all that distorted bass. Just my .02

hmmm, 35x4 max is very low for today's market. he must have a very old cd player. most of them now are around 50x4 max. about 20x4 rms.

 

[_jb_]

not to bust your buble but when the headunit states 35x4 thats max its more like 11 or 12 RMS. Sounds like you have your Bass gain up too much, little speakers cant handle all that distorted bass. Just my .02

Bass can be all the down, or all the way up. It doesn't matter.

 

[_jb_]

hmmm, 35x4 max is very low for today's market. he must have a very old cd player. most of them now are around 50x4 max. about 20x4 rms.

Yeah I think one of the guys before me put it in. It has a $399 price tag on it, so I'm guessing someone bought it a long, time ago.

 

[_jb_]

What kind of speakers?Any tears in the cone?Are they distorting?

No tears in the cone. My old speakers had about 50% or less of the cone around the speakers, and it rattled like hell. Now these new speakers are starting to sound like the old ones.

I'll get all the info tomorrow or the day after. I haven't drove my car yet, since I'm still working on the brake conversion. I don't feel like going out and looking at my car, otherwise I'll be working on it all night and not get any sleep. Damn second shift...

 

[Bloomy316]

Does this "rattling" sound happen at all volume levels? Or does it only occur at high volume? A couple of things I would point out. First, head units are NOT well suited for true high volume use in any way, shape, or form. There are power supply needs that a HU just simply cannot fulfill. The HU's amp will easily be driven into clipping, which IS the most audible form of distortion. This clipping kills speakers and amps. And, if you are using 6 speakers, you should have 2 pair of them wired in series to achieve 4 ohms, either to the front or back outputs of the HU. If they are wired in parallel you're HU's amp could already be on the fritz. It cannot withstand driving a 2 ohm load. Failure is the result. And, by the way, a HU amp of 35 watts is in no way the same as a dedicated, separate amp of 35 watts. And, you don't know the history of the HU, so it may already be bad. Secondly, if your speakers are of the "low end" variety those ratings printed on them are probably meaningless. Also, without some sort of high pass filter to keep very low frequencies from those speakers, they will distort terribly. Most "main" speakers like 6x9s, 5x7s, 5 1/4s, 6 1/2s, are only capable of reproducing frequencies down to 60 or 70hz at any audible, undistorted level. But, if you do not have a high pass filter those speakers will still be receiving those frequencies AND trying to reproduce them anyway, which they are NOT capable of doing. The result is audible distortion. The only way to avoid all this is to have compatible amps, speakers, subs, crossovers, etc. This is not magic, it just has to be done correctly.

Bloomy316's Dad

 

[_jb_]

Does this "rattling" sound happen at all volume levels? Or does it only occur at high volume? A couple of things I would point out. First, head units are NOT well suited for true high volume use in any way, shape, or form. There are power supply needs that a HU just simply cannot fulfill. The HU's amp will easily be driven into clipping, which IS the most audible form of distortion. This clipping kills speakers and amps. And, if you are using 6 speakers, you should have 2 pair of them wired in series to achieve 4 ohms, either to the front or back outputs of the HU. If they are wired in parallel you're HU's amp could already be on the fritz. It cannot withstand driving a 2 ohm load. Failure is the result. And, by the way, a HU amp of 35 watts is in no way the same as a dedicated, separate amp of 35 watts. And, you don't know the history of the HU, so it may already be bad. Secondly, if your speakers are of the "low end" variety those ratings printed on them are probably meaningless. Also, without some sort of high pass filter to keep very low frequencies from those speakers, they will distort terribly. Most "main" speakers like 6x9s, 5x7s, 5 1/4s, 6 1/2s, are only capable of reproducing frequencies down to 60 or 70hz at any audible, undistorted level. But, if you do not have a high pass filter those speakers will still be receiving those frequencies AND trying to reproduce them anyway, which they are NOT capable of doing. The result is audible distortion. The only way to avoid all this is to have compatible amps, speakers, subs, crossovers, etc. This is not magic, it just has to be done correctly.

Bloomy316's Dad

Yes it happens at all volume levels.

HU is a Kenwood KDC-4007 I believe. I can't find the info for the speakers, except they were Pioneers.

 

[Bloomy316]

The common piece in both equations here is the HU. I would swap it out, if possible, and see what happens. Hopefully, if the HU is bad, you haven't ruined the new speakers. If the amp in the HU is bad this could be the case, if you like to play it loud. The voice coils in the speakers could be burnt or damaged which will cause some noise depending on how bad the damage is. With the system off, push the woofer in and out gently. If you hear a scraping type of sound, you have a problem with the speakers.

Bloomy316's Dad

 

[Scorcher2005]

you should have 2 pair of them wired in series to achieve 4 ohms, either to the front or back outputs of the HU.

wiring two 4 ohm speakers in series would result in an 8 ohm load

 

[Bloomy316]

wiring two 4 ohm speakers in series would result in an 8 ohm load

You are absolutely correct. An oversight on my part. I re-read that about 10 times before posting and still missed that. The crucial point is that if they are wired in parallel@2 ohms, that's a problem. The 8 ohms would not be a problem for the HU amp.

Thanks, Bloomy316's Dad