DIY stereo upgrade for under $500.00

[Bent22]

Gents,

First of all, thanks so much for the intel. It sounds great except for one very, Very, VERY annoying issue.

First I swapped the sub and wrapped the enclosure. The next week I installed the rear speakers. The week after that the front, tweeters, and center dash.

Upon completing the RF speaker and subsequent test, I noticed an abnormal crackling and static sound coming from the speaker. I double checked the connections, so I assumed bad speaker. I replaced the speaker and this one also has the crackling. I then though perhaps it was shorting on the door somewhere... so I pulled it off the door and tested with original wiring. Still static/crackly.

So I went ahead an installed the rest of the system. All the speakers sound fine minus this really bad crackling sound. Even with the music/audio off it still crackles. I checked continuity from the speaker wire all the way back to the amp, both pos and neg were good.

Any ideas on what can be done? I'm at a loss. The speaker reads normal.

One interesting thing, I swapped the polarity on the speaker to see what happens and it sounded the same. No weird distortion. Any other tests I can perform to help me figure out whats going on here? I'm at a loss and the crackling is unbearable.

Guy, Smurf, anyone with audio knowledge please help a brother out.

Thanks!

Steve

 

[BIG TIME BALLER]

I have read multiple threads on audio upgrades... but im not sure I have seen just a pure speaker swap recommendation. I don't want to add amps and the like, just upgrade the factory speakers. I hear Focal, Infinity, JBL, Pioneer etc., but I want to hear from someone who just swapped the factory speakers for low impedance, higher quality speakers.

What did you chose, how did the installation go, and was there an improvement?

 

[Guy]

Unplug one speaker at a time until the problem stops. Isolate which one is the issue.

If you are sure it is the right front...
Make sure it’s not just a bad harness. I’m assuming you needs a Metra harness? These sorts of things usually happen when a wire grounds itself out.... as in it’s contacting metal and or positive to negative interference.

Report back. :/)

Gents,

First of all, thanks so much for the intel. It sounds great except for one very, Very, VERY annoying issue.

First I swapped the sub and wrapped the enclosure. The next week I installed the rear speakers. The week after that the front, tweeters, and center dash.

Upon completing the RF speaker and subsequent test, I noticed an abnormal crackling and static sound coming from the speaker. I double checked the connections, so I assumed bad speaker. I replaced the speaker and this one also has the crackling. I then though perhaps it was shorting on the door somewhere... so I pulled it off the door and tested with original wiring. Still static/crackly.

So I went ahead an installed the rest of the system. All the speakers sound fine minus this really bad crackling sound. Even with the music/audio off it still crackles. I checked continuity from the speaker wire all the way back to the amp, both pos and neg were good.

Any ideas on what can be done? I'm at a loss. The speaker reads normal.

One interesting thing, I swapped the polarity on the speaker to see what happens and it sounded the same. No weird distortion. Any other tests I can perform to help me figure out whats going on here? I'm at a loss and the crackling is unbearable.

Guy, Smurf, anyone with audio knowledge please help a brother out.

Thanks!

Steve

 

[Bent22]

Unplug one speaker at a time until the problem stops. Isolate which one is the issue.

If you are sure it is the right front...
Make sure it’s not just a bad harness. I’m assuming you needs a Metra harness? These sorts of things usually happen when a wire grounds itself out.... as in it’s contacting metal and or positive to negative interference.

Report back. :/)

Thanks for the quick response, it is definitely the right front. When you turn the audio off, you can tell it’s coming from there.

My stupid ass forgot to use the harnesses I’d purchased (back to my high school days) and cut off the stock harnesses and connected the speakers using butt connectors.

Do you know what voltage I should be getting across the terminals connections? If I use my multimeter from the positive wire to ground, and the negative wire to ground, should I be getting the same voltages? Or should the negative wire be 0 voltage?

Steve

 

[smurfslayer]

I didn’t have this, but I did have a weak / dead RF speaker and didn’t notice until I had the doggone thing back together. So to try and describe this, I didn’t have the crackling sound, but it have practically no volume, but not zero volume like disconnected. when that happens, you get the tinny, single speaker Sync / Raptor chimes.

In my case I had the RF and eventually RR speaker which had a connection that was weakened upon assembly of the door. I had to pay attention to wire routing better as I was trying to assemble the door after the dynamat.

Guy’s got it though, you need to trace back the R/F wires, re-do the connection, don’t just assume they’re good.

 

[Bent22]

So I’ve done a continuity check across the terminals. It’s showing open, which is good I believe because now there is no short I think that proves it, right?

I’ve posted pictures of the state of my truck right now... lol

 

[smurfslayer]

known facts
new wire + new speaker(s) at the same location = staticky sound. replacing speaker does not change the results. continuity appears correct.

Wiring is suspect, but not certainly suspect.
were it me, I’d rerun / recreate the connection entirely with a patch wire (don’t run it through the same trim and what not, just swap cables to see if that changes it.

if not, maybe you have a problem upstream of the splicing.

Upon completing the RF speaker and subsequent test, I noticed an abnormal crackling and static sound coming from the speaker. I double checked the connections, so I assumed bad speaker. I replaced the speaker and this one also has the crackling. I then though perhaps it was shorting on the door somewhere... so I pulled it off the door and tested with original wiring. Still static/crackly.

So I went ahead an installed the rest of the system. All the speakers sound fine minus this really bad crackling sound. Even with the music/audio off it still crackles. I checked continuity from the speaker wire all the way back to the amp, both pos and neg were good.

re-reading, I’m not sure we have full info here.

it looks like you did:

1) sub+ wrap enclosure
2) rear door speakers.
up to this point, all is fine.
3) front door speakers, tweeters and center speaker and then had crackling.

Walk back all of the last changes, not just the door speaker. You say the crackling is there all the time, not just with the audio.

This is not good.

You can retest along the way to gauge if you’ve made an improvement but you need to walk everything back on the last stages (plural) of upgrades first. if you still have the problem after undoing and repairing your last change, you broke, busted or otherwise compromised something.

keep us updated.

 

[Bent22]

known facts
new wire + new speaker(s) at the same location = staticky sound. replacing speaker does not change the results. continuity appears correct.

Wiring is suspect, but not certainly suspect.
were it me, I’d rerun / recreate the connection entirely with a patch wire (don’t run it through the same trim and what not, just swap cables to see if that changes it.

if not, maybe you have a problem upstream of the splicing.


re-reading, I’m not sure we have full info here.

it looks like you did:

1) sub+ wrap enclosure
2) rear door speakers.
up to this point, all is fine.
3) front door speakers, tweeters and center speaker and then had crackling.

Walk back all of the last changes, not just the door speaker. You say the crackling is there all the time, not just with the audio.

This is not good.

You can retest along the way to gauge if you’ve made an improvement but you need to walk everything back on the last stages (plural) of upgrades first. if you still have the problem after undoing and repairing your last change, you broke, busted or otherwise compromised something.

keep us updated.

 

[Bent22]

Thanks for the reply smurf,

So I had crackling before I did the tweeters and center console. I assumed it was a bad speaker and just pressed forward knowing I could swap it out. Then I swapped and no help.

Do y’all know what the voltage is supposed to be? I’m wondering if I have a bad amplifier. At that point.

A wire jump is a good idea. It’s crossed my mind. What I don’t know how to do is tap into it without breaking the connection of an already suspect wiring circuit.

Do we know what telemetry we’re supposed to be getting at either the speaker point or the amp out point?

Is it possible there could be a forscan mod, outside of eliminating fake engine noise, that could adjust the settings to that speaker?

Lastly, do you know where this wire is run? Does it go up the passenger side or drivers side door? Also, is there any inputs from the head unit that could be driving this static?

I’m also going to reset my sync system. It’s been screwy lately anyway (which perhaps could also be a contributing factor I suppose)

 

[smurfslayer]

So, I never put a meter on the speaker connections as my troubleshooting never got to that level. There is a for scan mod to send a flat “line” signal, rather than the altered one we have with Sony or b&o. I have not done that and I don’t recall the path of the speaker wire.

so, the crackling sound, if you balance/fade the system, is it present in any / all the other speakers? Do you have sound at all other speakers?

how much from stock does this system deviate?
- did you amp the sub?
- did you amp the rest of the system and did you implement some sort of signal processor?
- or did you leave the stock amp?

I know what you were thinking; push through and finish up what you can, but you really should’ve stopped when you had the problem. I think it would have lessened the frustration level. Easy for me to say, but TBH, I probably would have done the same thing, even though I know better.

Take a break from it, come back to it with fresh eyes.