Front Speaker Amps

[slassiter]

I just got a '91 240SX SE. Let me preface this by saying 1) I'm not a car audio expert. 2) I have no money. 3) I don't care if I have a sound system that shatters windows, just a system with speakers that work.

I replaced the factory stereo and speakers. I replaced the speakers with 4X6 Pioneers. The day after I had them installed, the front left speaker began having problems. First the speaker didn't work at all. Then it came back on, but makes static, crackling noises.

I took it back to Circuit City where I had them installed. They said the front speakers are "active speakers," which means they have built-in amps in the doors. Apparently, water found its way into the door from the rains and it's screwing up the amp. They said I could bypass the amps, but that the volume of the speakers would drop significantly.

Has anyone else had a problem with water getting in the door and messing up the amp? The factory 4X6 speakers had a plate around them that filled the entire hole it was mounted in, but these Pioneers leave a sizeable gap, which is where I assume the water is entering.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to keep water from getting in there? If I choose to replace the amp in the left door, would it be simple to do myself? Where could I get a replacement amp for the left door?

As it dries out, the speaker is beginning to work better, but there still is a quiet crackling sound you can hear when the music gets quiet. I'm hoping everything will dry out and get back to normal so all I have to do is figure out how to keep water from getting back in there. But if it doesn't get back to normal, I guess I need to replace that amp, or bypass the amps entirely.

I'd like to get everyone's advice on what I should do.

[bing]

never had that problem and my car has sat with a mountain of snow on top of it recently...

[bing]

wait now i remember those amps...

take them out and ampt he speaks with just a small amp, liek a small pioneer, shit even a pyramid will do,

what did you replace the factory stereo with?? could you run it off your new deck???

[slassiter]

I replaced the stereo with a Sony CDX-L350.  How would I run it off the new deck? Would it take a lot of work?

[bing]

natch...

just read the diagram on the deck, sony's are usaully amped, so it probably has a 45x4... which is really liek 14 rms, but you can do it... i think all you need to do is just bypass the littel door amps and reconnect the wires... basically just rim them boards out baby....

[misnomer]

Your Circuit City guys are dummies <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

Pull those #### amps if you have an aftermarket deck, all they are doing is pulling your 20 or so watts from your deck and turning it into 5 or so watts from the amp <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

I pulled all the factory amps from my car, much much better off of an aftermarket deck or amp. To bypass the amps, you need to either find out which wires are the signal from the deck (unfortunately, I don't remember), or run some new wires back there. If you had somebody install the speakers for you in the first place, I'd recommend taking it to somebody to bypass the amps. That is, unless you feel like delving into it yourself. It's a fun project, but can take a #### of a long time if you haven't played around up there before :-)

[sykikchimp]

I didn't realize their were actually amps IN the doors. &nbsp;Anybody have any pics of what they look like? any actual specs on them? &nbsp;that would be interesting

[duderiffic]

Yea dude your first step with a factory amp in any stereo system is to get it the &lt;u&gt;FUCK&lt;/u&gt; out of your car!! &nbsp;Factory amps (like all things factory in audio) are complete ass and need to be destroyed with a hammer.

And to you Sykik, factory amps can sometimes be strapped onto the back of the speaker (which probably isn't the case) or zip tied (or something similar) around the speakers.

As for the original questions... yea expect it. &nbsp;People that work a Circuit City are complete retards, and they are quite fun to mess around with. &nbsp;Indeed he is dead wrong. &nbsp;If anything those amps are robbing you of your dynamic control, because you probably don't have much volume range before your factory amps receive an already amplified signal and begin to distort. &nbsp;This is my experince with almost every single amplified system I've ever done (alot). &nbsp;Some speakers however are 2 ohm or 1 ohm or even a ½ or ¼ ohm like in some cars and which case you either need to go aftermarket and rewire or get a type of impedence matching device. &nbsp;I know the 1990ish MAXIs need this. &nbsp;Your best bet is to disable that amp and go strait from you big mean Sony deck!! So you can get all 15 Watts of 1~2 THD% ass ripping power!!

[slassiter]

Thanks for the advice. &nbsp;I think I'll try bypassing the amps myself. &nbsp;The speaker stopped making the crackling noises today. The sun was out all day , so I think that dried it out pretty well, but it sounds like a good idea to bypass the amps anyway.

Will bypassing the amps be as easy as just unplugging a wire from the amp and plugging straight in to the speaker, or is it going to involve re-wiring?

[bing]

just try that first, i think it should be okay, but seriously, buy a nice little 4 channel amp, go used if you must, and amp all four speakers, it'll sound way better

[misnomer]

sykik, the door amps in the s13 are mounted on a metallish backboard behind the speaker, and forms a back to the plastick baffle. Not too difficult to disable, if you know which wire to kill <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

[Archangel]

Anyone know if the s14's have factory amps for the speakers??

[duderiffic]

Arch, my 98 SE didn't. &nbsp;It has a super nice stereo setup (as far as potential) the S14 stock stereo in my car is among the worst I've heard!! &nbsp;Some stock stereos do allright. &nbsp;I should hopefully be finishing up my write up so I can display my install, but it went off looking very factory and sounding flat awesome!! &nbsp;

As far as a rewire, yes find whatever two wires were your signal wires (with a test speakers and a battery or a digital multimeter) and just connect those to your speaker. &nbsp;Running new speaker wires would be ideal, but if you're not into stereo that isn't really necessary.

Jeff

[Archangel]

Yeah, I must say, my old Pioneer head unit fit exactly into the dash with no kit neccessary. &nbsp;I really like the stock looking stereo.

Hey duderiffic, were you the one who emailed me about a week ago? &nbsp;Somebody named Jeff emailed me about my STBs, just wondering who it was.

[240racer]

if you can't figure out which wires in the door to cut, you can run new wire from the deck. &nbsp;Your owners manual that came with the deck should tell you what colors the wires are and you can splice in new wires to go to your speakers. &nbsp;You might have to dig around under the dash to find the wires if you can't pull the head unit out, but it shouldn't be too bad. &nbsp;I always like running new wires because then I know exactly where they go, plus they are new and not cracked or rotted out. &nbsp;15 ft of wire shouldn't cost very much, just get 16 gauge at target or soemthing.

[duderiffic]

Arch, if I e-mailed you asking about Cusco sways and STB that was me... sorry to bother you!!

J

[my240likenoother]

as for the water geting in ther you need to get the stirafome baffels they r very cheep and work well &nbsp;any audio shop should have them

[RedlineRacer]

Does anyone know where I can get like two small cheap 50 watt each amps?

[Roly]

Originally posted by Archangel
Anyone know if the s14's have factory amps for the speakers??

Only if you have the 6 speaker system... if so, it's under the rear deck between the rear speakers.