When a car stereo "blows"...

Question

Awl--Is it usually the amp/transistors, or the speaker(s) itself?Both rear-seat dash "woofers" (mounted vertically, behind the headrests) buzz at any kind of volume, sound real crappy.Happened some time ago playing Creedence in my garage....  :(Radio: Panasonic 1263, from 1990 Mazda 929S, 6 speaker, w/ equalizer. Pretty nice.Also, these two speakers have their own plug to the back of the  radio.Does that imply that they are powered separately with a crossover in the radio (ie, only the lower frequencies being fed), or are all six speakers powered the same?I can't find the manual (or the radio on the web), so any guesses as to what a stock decent 1990 radio put out, in watts per speaker?  4 ohm.

Erik · Accepted Answer

In article , "Proctologically Violated©®"   wrote:Bet you anything it's the speakers... gain access to them and carefully inspect the cones. You'll probably find rips and/or tears. It's a pretty common occurrence.Don't know about the wattage rating. With the leads removed you can measure the voice coil resistance with an Ohm meter. The Wattage and resistance info might also be listed on the back of the speaker. I'm Pretty sure they're powered through a crossover.I must be on the 4th or 5th set of rear shelf mounted speakers in my old Accord... in mine they really get a UV beating.Erik

Scott Dorsey · Answer

From the symptoms, it's probably the speakers themselves.

Probably not, unless it's a 2-way.

Not much, but those ratings are mostly worthless anyway. Pull the speakers that are bad and you'll see either the cones or the connection between the cone and voice coil are torn. Take them to your local cheap auto parts chain and they will have some OEM replacements that aren't very good, but won't be any worse than the originals. Just make sure to change the right and left sides so the system is symmetric.

--scott

John S. · Answer

Sounds like bad speakers to me.

When a car stereo "blows"...

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