Vibration from midrange speaker

Post Thu Jan 04, 2007 8:14 am

Last week I fitted some component speakers in the front of my car, with the cross-overs located below the stereo, all was well, I think, but I am now noticing a vibration from the o/s midrange, even at very low volume. My first concern was that I may have punctured the cone reassembling the kick panel, etc. but I popped it out last night, and all appears fine, but the vibration was even more noticable with the speaker sat in my hand - and therefore not vibrating against anything else.

I am going to check the wiring at the cross-over, but what is the cause of this problem likely to be? I bought the speakers as ex-display, but they appear to be in excellent condition. If one was blown, how could I tell?

Thanks for your help!

Post Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:16 pm

I think if you check the resistance across the poles and compare it to the resistance they should be that could indicate if there's a problem.

I may be wrong though.

Post Thu Jan 04, 2007 4:20 pm

ok, I will try that. I think I may try swapping the speakers from left to right, and see if that solves it. That is probably the easiest thing to do, despite the awkwardness of removing the bonnet lever, etc.

Post Fri Jan 05, 2007 3:31 pm

They were working fine when you first fitted them?
Deffo best to swap it with the other side first, just to make sure it's deffo the speaker.

Could be running too much, or more likely too little power through them?
What speakers are they? What amp or h/u are they running from?
Is all the wiring ok?

Have you been playing them too loud and letting them distort?

Post Fri Jan 05, 2007 4:25 pm

It is a Kenwood KRC-579R(?) head unit, with a 45w x 4 output. I have had it for the last 5 yrs, and am unaware of a problem like this before changing the speakers. I was running this before with the OE speakers, which I would expect should have a much lower power handling.

The front speakers are Pioneer TS-C1320 components, with a 35w RMS and 120w peak power handling, and run through a crossover.

The headunit runs through an autoleads phone mute, which I just altered (at the same time as fitting the new speakers) to go BMW Loom - Phone Mute - Kenwood (previously it had been BMW Loom - ISO, ISO - Phone Mute - ISO, ISO - Kenwood.

The speakers were purchases as ex-display, but I have contacted the seller and they have said that they would only have been fitted into a display unit, and are unlikely to have ever actually been connected. I am not sure I believe this, as they came without grilles / mountings, and the wiring for the tweeters, along with the crossovers all appeared to have seen some use.

Reading this as I type, it does seem likely that the speaker is buggered, but we will see what happens when I swap it with the other side.

Assuming that one of these midranges is knackered, would there be any prob with hooking up the old OE speakers through the cross-over? This way I could at least keep the tweeters, and therefore the higher sound stage? For better sound could I connect some other aftermarket speakers the same way, for example a dual cone or 2-way? The cross-over would take out the higher frequencies leaving the driver just to do the same job as the midrange, or would this be a complete waste of time?