any audio whizzes here?

[bub2006]

Bought a new stereo today for the car. Replaces a 21 year old Philips cassette deck. Wired it all in fine. When you turn the volume up it just cracks and pops. Tried another set of speakers and same thing happens. Ok at low volume distorted crackling and popping when high. Could it be a fault with the head unit? It's worse than the old one one high volume!

[Jack_Harpers_Teeth]

I am no audio buff but had a similar thing happen (only on high volume).

 

It is because the speakers are the wrong impedance, they were okay for your old set but mismatched for the new one, you need to find out what impedance is needed for the new one and get the correct speakers.

 

That's what I reckon.

[bub2006]

Tried three sets. The original 15w speakers,the 120w I used with old head unit and 180w soundlab speakers. All doin same thing.

[cobblers]

Are the speakers wired directly to the stereo or does one terminal on them go to the chassis ground? most "moderately" new stereos will shit themselves if this is the case.

 

Also check the stereo is earthed properly and has a good solid 12v feed

[plasticvandan]

is this with the engine running?if so then it needs some supressors

[bub2006]

No engine off and running. and speakers wired to stereo not to a earth point.

[Cheggers]

I'm no expert, but it sounds to me like it's fucked...is it new-new, or just new-to-you-new??

[bub2006]

Brand new. 50 quid Aldi special Bluetooth thing.

[Timewaster]

It might be worth checking the polarity of the speakers + to +, - to -.

I always found the easiest way to test is to get a 9v battery (stolen from the smoke alarm!) and dab the speaker wires across the terminals.

Watch the speaker cone, when the battery polarity is the same as the speaker - the come jumps forward. If the polarity is wrong, the cone pulls back into the speaker and they will sound shit.

Of course, a stereo from Aldi couldnt possibly be a load of shit now could it?

[bub2006]

Funnily enough I have had 3 stereos from Aldi and al been decent bar this. Also got a tevion digital camera what has done me proud for many moons! I no its no top brand kit but for what I use and needit for they always been good value.

[Cheggers]

If you've tried it with different speakers & cables and the problem's still there, you've pretty much narrowed it down to the unit itself.

[Spiny Norman]

Could it be that you're trying to play actual music on it? Most of these modern things are optimised for 'DJ fuckwit vs MC baseball hat ' thump-thump toss.

He says while watching The Faces on BBC4's Guitar Heroes programme.... - ah is that my cocoa already?...

[bub2006]

Not tried different speaker cables but everything was fine with old head unit. I've tried all sorts of music on it from modern thump thump through 80's pop 70's disco to country and western. Adjusted bass,treble and equalizer but no joy.

[Lord Sterling]

Not much of an audio wizz myself so I could be chattin bollox, but does the original radio set-up have an amplifier somewhere? My Sterling has an original amp tacked in the boot. It could be that the amp is just too weak for the new head unit.

 

You could try the new headunit outside the car plugged up to some speakers to check that it is the stereo.

[Station]

As an audio expert, from a technical point of view, I'd say your head unit is fucked.

[trigger]

Sounds like the units bo11oxed to me too, the ones up the cranes at work go like that after a year or twos heavy use.

 

If you've still got the receipt i'd take it back and get it swapped.

[hauserplenty]

Try new speaker wire; what have you got to lose? I'm assuming you spliced in to the existing factory wiring tho. If connecting your speaks with some decent 16-14 gauge wire doesn't solve the problem, I'd suggest you check the ground connection to the radio, (black wire) as well as the +12V wire (red wire). The problem could be that you're drawing too much current at high volume, giving you distorted sound.

If not, it's fcuked up. Return it.

[keef]

What is the impedance of the three speakers you have tried? You gave the wattage which isn't what is needed.

[cobblers]

TBH the impedance shouldn't be an issue, any newish head unit will use an off the shelf amp chip which will drive 2 ohms without cutting out up to a reasonable volume. None of these speakers will be less than 2 ohms - anything less than 4 is pretty much reserved for fancy subwoofers which none of those speakers sound as though they are.

 

If the speakers are 16 ohms or whatever then they'll need a lot of volts to make them loud, but both the new head unit and the old one will both run the amp chip off the same 12v supply so it makes no sense for the new one to be quieter.

 

 

I'd say in order of probability:

The speakers incorrectly wired (either across front/back channels - each speaker + - pair should be a matching colour, on plain one striped or the negative side bunged onto chassis ground either on purpose or not, older head units used to use this setup)

The power feed to the stereo is inadequate - Stick a multimeter between the black and yellow and black and red wires going into the back of the head unit when you turn the volume up. It shouldn't drop below 11.5v

Or finally a dodgy head unit, but QC on even cheapies like Tevion stuff is OK nowadays - they will be made by a massive chinese company that also build Mutant, Ripspeed and 5 dozen other "off brand" head units, as well as probably a lot of branded stuff.

[bub2006]

Well I took stereo back today. Put original In it till money better and ill buy new unit,speaker cable etc.

[bub2006]

The speakers were wired correctly. Never tought to check power. Old unit on full blast never gave these issues.