Audio crackling

[lolcantturn]

Due to my previous owner's complete half-assed-ness, I'm completing or trying to put together the puzzle of my car, thus I am forced to ask many questions on r3v that I can't find
I have severe crackling on my speakers after putting the audio system back together (the PO cut all the connections except the sony head unit connections, wtf?). At first I thought it was the 22 year old E30 speakers, but after trying a newer speaker, I ruled that out. I still have severe crackling under even the minor of bass, and at max volume of my headunit, It sounds like its on volume 3. Any help? Thanks.

[lolcantturn]

...bump

[StereoInstaller1]

Wow, sounds like a mess.

What year is your car?

What level of audio system did it some with?

What is this "sony head unit connections" you speak of?

[lolcantturn]

It's an 88 with the premium speakers. The head unit is a generic Sony one, it's nothing special, but it looks fairly new. Let me know if you want more info or even pics.

[StereoInstaller1]

All aftermarket decks are about the same, so Sony vs. Alpine is whatever.

So, your best bet is to bypass the factory amplifier. That amp is just in front of the antenna on the left side of the trunk.

You are gonna wanna splice the harness behind the deck properly, and splice the deck harness to the speaker wires. The whole operation takes me about half an hour...but I have been a pro for 30 years, don't be mad if it takes you a bit longer, OK?

On the back of your sony is


Black - Ground
Blue - Auto Antenna
Blue/White - Amp Remote on
Yellow - Constant Power
Red - Switched/Ignition Power

Your cars harness is gonna be this:

General Wires:
Purple/White - Switched/Ignition power - connect to Red on aftermarket harness
Brown/Black - Ground - connect to Black
Red/Green - Constant Power - Connect to Yellow
White - Power Antenna - Connect to Blue
Grey/Red - Illumination-connect to Orange

There will be 2 white wires. The one in the harness won't be needed, the one running with the antenna connects to the blue wire on the deck.

Speakers Wires:

This is where it can be a little tricky. The right side speakers (front and rear) have the same wire color for negative, Blue/Brown. The left is the same way, Yellow/Brown. Ill tell ya how i figured it out in a minute.

IF you don't find 4 pair of twisted wires, unwrap the harness about a foot or so. If you have the indash fader, you will need to unplug that, and unwrap that harness too.


Yellow/Red - Positive Left Front
Yellow/Brown - Negative Left Front

Blue/red - Positive Right Front
Blue/Brown - Negative Right Front

Yellow/Black - Positive Left Rear
Yellow/Brown - Negative Left Rear

Blue/Black - Positive Right Rear
Blue/Brown - Negative Right Rear

As you will notice, Red is the front speakers, black is the rear speakers (speaking about the secondary wire colors), and brown is negative, while Yellow/Brown is the left, and Blue/Brown is the right.

Now, you are going to connect those same wires to the speaker wires in the trunk:

Grey/red and yellow/red
Grey/Purple and Yellow/Brown

Grey/White and Blue/red
Grey/Brown and Blue/Brown

Black/Red and Yellow/Black
Black/Purple and Yellow/Brown

Black/White and Blue/Black
Black/Brown and Blue Brown

So, if you get this all 100% correct, you should have pretty decent audio, tweeters should work, balance and fader should behave well, too.

(most text cut and pasted from http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/c...termarket.html)

[lolcantturn]

All aftermarket decks are about the same, so Sony vs. Alpine is whatever.

So, your best bet is to bypass the factory amplifier. That amp is just in front of the antenna on the left side of the trunk.

You are gonna wanna splice the harness behind the deck properly, and splice the deck harness to the speaker wires. The whole operation takes me about half an hour...but I have been a pro for 30 years, don't be mad if it takes you a bit longer, OK?

On the back of your sony is


Black - Ground
Blue - Auto Antenna
Blue/White - Amp Remote on
Yellow - Constant Power
Red - Switched/Ignition Power

Your cars harness is gonna be this:

General Wires:
Purple/White - Switched/Ignition power - connect to Red on aftermarket harness
Brown/Black - Ground - connect to Black
Red/Green - Constant Power - Connect to Yellow
White - Power Antenna - Connect to Blue
Grey/Red - Illumination-connect to Orange

There will be 2 white wires. The one in the harness won't be needed, the one running with the antenna connects to the blue wire on the deck.

Speakers Wires:

This is where it can be a little tricky. The right side speakers (front and rear) have the same wire color for negative, Blue/Brown. The left is the same way, Yellow/Brown. Ill tell ya how i figured it out in a minute.

IF you don't find 4 pair of twisted wires, unwrap the harness about a foot or so. If you have the indash fader, you will need to unplug that, and unwrap that harness too.


Yellow/Red - Positive Left Front
Yellow/Brown - Negative Left Front

Blue/red - Positive Right Front
Blue/Brown - Negative Right Front

Yellow/Black - Positive Left Rear
Yellow/Brown - Negative Left Rear

Blue/Black - Positive Right Rear
Blue/Brown - Negative Right Rear

As you will notice, Red is the front speakers, black is the rear speakers (speaking about the secondary wire colors), and brown is negative, while Yellow/Brown is the left, and Blue/Brown is the right.

Now, you are going to connect those same wires to the speaker wires in the trunk:

Grey/red and yellow/red
Grey/Purple and Yellow/Brown

Grey/White and Blue/red
Grey/Brown and Blue/Brown

Black/Red and Yellow/Black
Black/Purple and Yellow/Brown

Black/White and Blue/Black
Black/Brown and Blue Brown

So, if you get this all 100% correct, you should have pretty decent audio, tweeters should work, balance and fader should behave well, too.

(most text cut and pasted from http://www.unitedbimmer.com/forums/c...termarket.html)

Holy Tits.
Thanks soooooooooooooooooooooooo much. I'm pretty stoked right now haha. Time to embark on my audio adventure! I'll be back if I have any questions. Again, thanks a lot!

[StereoInstaller1]

No, that 2 channel amp won't help anything. I mean, yeah, a tiny bit, but don't waste your time on it. That 2 channel amp might gain you 2db or so, maybe a tiny bit of clarity...but way not worth it right now.

The way I described you don't have to pull the kickpanels and trim strips off either.

[lolcantturn]

No, that 2 channel amp won't help anything. I mean, yeah, a tiny bit, but don't waste your time on it. That 2 channel amp might gain you 2db or so, maybe a tiny bit of clarity...but way not worth it right now.

The way I described you don't have to pull the kickpanels and trim strips off either.

Ok awesome, I'm in my E30 now and I think there's an error in the headunit wiring from the PO, I must get this system going
How's the quality of the stock speakers?

[lolcantturn]

Ok I fixed some of the wiring that weren't hooked up to the right colors. I can tell some of the connections are still bad because I can hear clearer sounds (I use clear loosely) just by jiggling or pressing on some connections
The back of my head unit gets real hot though, I know it's supposed to get hot, but it gets untouchably hot almost instantly. I'm not sure if this is normal.

[lolcantturn]

And I can't find the rear speaker wires inside the dash...uh

[lolcantturn]

..quadruple post.


This is what my right front speaker hole contains. 4 wires, one gray/brown, one blue/brown, one solid gray looking one, and one gray/white?
What the bloody hell connects to my speakers then? Do I have to like, connect the blues with the grays, then splice a piece of the blue/brown and hopefully guess one is the blue/red, and connect them with a separate wire to my speakers?

Like that?
Sorry Stereo, I know you must answer an "E30 audio install" question every week haha

[lolcantturn]

...
Out of utter desperateness I just started putting wires together.
Worked well.
The sound coming out of my right front speaker (the only speaker I have connected ATM) is awesome.

However I can only play radio..I hope my HU isn't faulty, because I want to play stuff from my iphone.....I hate radio. Aux isn't working :/