Speakers fizzle on bass

[McGyver]

I just got done testing out the 50cent speakers and they sound pretty bad. (but they're better than none!)

Anyway, i have an aftermarket head unit with stock wiring and premium amp. When ever the bass hits a get a "ffpppppfss" sound from all but the tweeter pods. Also, the volume is set at "40" and it sounds more like "12" in my other premium sound car. If I turn the volume up any louder i dont get any sound out of anything.

Could this mean that the amp isnt grounded or something?

[McGyver]

any thoughts?

[StereoInstaller1]

got a small home speaker sitting around? Hook it up and see how it sounds.

[bmwman91]

If bass makes the tweeters produce ugly noises, then there's a chance that the crossover is busted and you are damaging them. Hell, they might be long-gone by now...tweeters+bass=quick death. I THINK that the E30 "crossover" was just a capacitor in series with the tweeter connection (correct me if I am wrong). If it shorted internally, then bass goes straight to the tweeters.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yes, 'tis 6db/oct.

However, it is far more likely a bad amp (common issue) or a bad deck (also common) or a crappy install if aftermarket (WAY more common and can kill an amp).

Keep us posted, OK?

[McGyver]

Well i never threw any home speakers in there, but i figure i wont learn anything from them anyway. I still have the 2 stock premium speakers on the back shelf and wired 2 of those 50cent speakers to the front. The head should be in properly because i followed your directions luke. (i've done 4 other head installs)

I know that when i hooked up the head to my vert with premium sound (5/7 series stock head) i had to ground the amp up front as well as the head unit. I was having a similar problem with getting no volume out of the speakers before they sounded like they were getting too much power to operate.

This time I didnt see a ground for the amp up front. Do you think that splicing into the amp's ground at the back would help anything, or does this not sound like a grounding issue?

I guess i'll rip the amp out of the vert and try it on the coupe to see if that solves the problem.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yeah, if you have a spare amp, that works too.

[McGyver]

well i swapped in the spare amp and still had the same problem. So i guess its all down to the wiring.

[bmwman91]

Do you have a multimeter? If so, find the capacitor that is the "crossover" for the front tweeters. Measure the resistance across it. It should start out small for a moment & then go up to infinity / meter max. If it stays at some small value, the cap is bad. It can be fixed for $0.10 with a soldering iron, or maybe even some cutting & twisting of leads.