Basic speaker query - 156 front door

poohbah · January 31, 2014, 07:13:55 PM

Folks, I am as far from an audio technician as you can get, so have what might be a dumb question about the door speakers in my Series 1 156.

As far as I know they are stock, and have worked perfectly til about a week ago, when the passenger side speaker started buzzing a bit during bass heavy tracks when turned up to my normal (loud!) volume. It kind of sounds like a bit of deadening has come loose, so that the door card or other hard material vibrates at certain bass frequencies. It's not terrible, just a bit annoying.

I pulled the front cover off and poked around - the speaker itself appears fine from the front - no splits or tears in the paper or rubber etc that I can see.

Any suggestions on what it might be? I'm hoping I don't need to replace the speaker.

Craig_m67 · January 31, 2014, 07:37:31 PM

Try another speaker.. The one from the other door if you don't have a spare. If it does the same thing, it ain't the speaker and man math applies

Ie. it already sounds like a man math opportunity to upgrade the speakers, dynamat and seal the doors, add an amp and/or just replace the HU.

World is your oyster

Your bound to be able to get a replacement speaker from a 156wrecker for a couple of dollars if man math doesn't work out. I threw four of those speakers out last week, sorry.

Mick A · January 31, 2014, 07:42:09 PM

I am actually a qualified audio technician. haha.

From what you describe, you have a blown voice coil on the speaker.

poohbah · January 31, 2014, 09:24:22 PM

Quote from: Choderboy on January 31, 2014, 07:42:09 PM
I am actually a qualified audio technician. haha.

From what you describe, you have a blown voice coil on the speaker.

Thanks for the tips guys - and ... bugger. Oh well.

shiny_car · January 31, 2014, 09:37:58 PM

If the cone and the 'surround' aren't obviously torn, it may be the 'spider' behind the cone that is torn. Any of these places can tear due to fatigue (and cheap materials), resulting in the vibration noise you hear. You'll need to unscrew the speaker and check behind, to be sure.

Could be a blown voice coil, but once fried, the speaker usually stops altogether.

As suggested, swap speakers. Even swap the right side to the left. I can't recall if the rear speakers are the same, but if they are, you could simply put a rear speaker in the front, and 'fade' to the front.

poohbah · January 31, 2014, 09:39:03 PM

cheers guys, will get the screwdriver out tomorrow.

colcol · January 31, 2014, 09:43:31 PM

I replaced my Genuine Alfa / Fiat / Lancia front speakers with direct Pioneer replacements, went straight in, sounded about the same without the crackle and static.
Try moving the speakers around ie back to front left to right and see if you have one bad speaker.
If one speaker is bad, reduce power to that one, by setting it on say 8 and the good speaker on 11, and see if the crackle stops.
I tried to buy direct replacement Pioneers in Australia, but no one had them and no one in the UK would ship them, luckily i found a new set on ebay, from a bloke that brought them back from the UK and tried to fit them to his Peugeot, but the speakers were the wrong ones, Colin.