Help. Bad Distortion.

[iceman]

This is the first time I have done a stereo. It is in my '85 325e.

I have four Infiniti Reference 50?cs speakers from my friend and a stock E36 HU with stock wiring, that's it. I plugged it all in and everything powered up fine and made sound, but at high volume or when a song got louder it was really distorted. It sounds fuzzy and crackly. One of the speakers was worse than the other three.

Is the head unit too weak for the speakers? Or are the speakers shot? These are my only guesses.

Thanks for any help.

Alex

[Jean]

sounds like maybe you have a short in wiring...double check all the wiring.

[iceman]

Thanks for the reply. I'll give it a shot.

I did try running a speaker at the HU and it was still kind of crummy.

I didn't have the battery ground on very tight either.

[TurboJake]

Sounds like amplifier not turning on/interference to me.

Do you have a stock amp?

[AndrewBird]

Define "high volume". Even an unamplified system running off just the deck will create distortion at 80%+ volume levels.

I'm running the same speakers in my Jetta on deck power and can't go above level 40 out of 50 without it distorting horribly. But I generally listen to it at 25-30, so it's not an issue.

[iceman]

Sounds like amplifier not turning on/interference to me.

Do you have a stock amp?

No amp. Just the stock early e36/e34 C33 deck. I found out I can also check the resistance on the speakers to see how they are and I'll do that.

Yeah by full volume I mean if I turn it up past 3/4 on the dial :D

[Jean]

You either have a short OR driving the deck into clipping/distortion.

Disconnect rear speakers, try agan.... do the same with fronts, try again.

there is speaker distortion and then there is amp distortion, these do not sound the same.