jwp@uwmacc.UUCP (Jeffrey W Percival) (01/07/86)
I know zero about speakers, so this problem might seem pretty trivial to a lot of you... One of the two speakers in my car is making a "fuzzy" noise that correlates with low notes in the music. The problem just sort of started up. I don't use excessive volume in the car, and only I drive it, so I don't think the speaker has been exposed to damaging signal strengths. Do speakers randomly go bad like that? I bought it 2.5 years ago, and it is a fairly good one (I forget the brand and type, but I can find out if anyone is interested). I took it out of its bracket in the trunk, and I found that if I touched the paper lightly, the noise went away (along with the bass response). There were no visible defects. Any thoughts? Jeff -- Jeff Percival ...!uwvax!uwmacc!jwp
saf@bonnie.UUCP (Steve Falco) (01/09/86)
> One of the two speakers in my car is making a "fuzzy" noise that > correlates with low notes in the music. Do speakers randomly go bad > like that? Yep. The car environment is pretty rough with very high and very low temps. plus humidity. It is entirely possible that the cone has warped slightly causing the voice coil to rub - this makes the fuzzy noise. It is also possible to warp the basket of the speaker by mounting it on a less than flat surface and/or overtightning the screws. If switching the speaker leads (switch left & right) doesn't cause the fuzz to move to the other side of the car, you can be sure it's in the speaker. If the problem moves, then it is in the radio/tape unit. If the speakers have a long warantee, you might get a free replacement. I know that most home systems have at least a 5 year warantee but I don't know what car speakers typically have. Good Luck. Steve Falco AT&T Bell Laboratories
fish@ihlpm.UUCP (Bob Fishell) (01/15/86)
> > One of the two speakers in my car is making a "fuzzy" noise that > > correlates with low notes in the music. Do speakers randomly go bad > > like that? > > Yep. The car environment is pretty rough with very high and very low > temps. plus humidity. It is entirely possible that the cone has warped > slightly causing the voice coil to rub - this makes the fuzzy noise. > It is also possible to warp the basket of the speaker by mounting it on > a less than flat surface and/or overtightning the screws. All this is true, but I'd like to add that there is a basic problem with the construction of many auto speakers that can produce the effects described. Most Auto speakers are the "coaxial" variety, which place the tweeter and possibly, a midrange driver, in front of the woofer. These are usually attached to the speaker terminals by gauze wire that is attached to the surface of the woofer. As the auto speakers are usually long-throw types, this creates considerable flexing of the attaching wires. Metal fatigue eventually sets in, the gauze deteriorates, and you get a variable resistance that's modulated by the bass driver. I've experienced this with two sets of auto speakers. In each case, the prescription is to snip off the gauze connections and wire the tweeter/midrange/crossover assembly to the terminals via a bypass wire that is routed around the woofer cone. I used 20-gauge stranded zipcord for the repairs. I also drilled holes in the speaker housing to route the wires through, so I could get the grilles back on. This took care of the problems, and it's held up for over two years now. -- __ / \ \__/ Bob Fishell ihnp4!ihlpm!fish