nemoD

I'm starting to trouble-shoot my stereo and listening carefully at each speaker. There was clearly something wrong with the system because during some parts of some songs the distortion was undeniable, although generally it wasn't noticeable. I assumed the problem was the OEM door speakers given all that I've read here but now I'm seriously doubting that: the distortion is horrific at any volume and it's only the passenger-side door speakers (mid-range, the tweeters seem fine so far). It sounds to me like the signal itself is distorted, rather than the speakers blown. Does one-sided distortion sound like a particular failing with car audio generally or Gen1 RDX specifically? I'm wondering if the right channels of the amp or head unit might be blown...?

It could be a coincidence that both speakers are on pax side but that seems unlikely. I've never trouble-shot car audio before so I'm starting from scratch and I wasn't able to find anything directly on-point here on AZ or generally online about one-sided distortion.

Any thoughts on where to start? I'll upload an audio sample if I get time.

Thanks,
N

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

could be the amp

nemoD

I just swapped some speakers around (not new or different speakers, just swapping locations), thinking that the passenger-side speakers would continue to sound awful despite sounding more or less normal in other places. However, this time, the distortion was very low on the passenger side and had moved over to the driver's side. Then the distortion just started moving all over the place. I changed the source from AM to FM to AUX to Bluetooth so the problem isn't isolated to a single source. It also seems like the sub might be cutting in and out as I was playing "heavy bass songs" and sometimes changing the level of the sub made no difference.

Does anyone have any thoughts on high levels of wandering distortion?

Also, I have a pair of JBL GX600C component speakers (mids and tweeters for both sides). Is there any reason to think that hooking up a JBL driver to the vehicle without swapping crossovers and tweeters would cause a problem?

Thanks.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

sounds like you found that the passenger speaker is bad.
swap the components! ( i think you're overthinking it) just do it.

nemoD

Sorry, I might have worded things poorly. The distortion doesn't track with a particular speaker or speakers. The distortion is happening at various channels and the speakers can sound great or terrible depending on which channel is distorted at that moment. So the problem doesn't lie with the speakers. So my hunch is either head unit or amp but it's odd to me that the distortion is moving around (independent of the speaker used).

nemoD

I uploaded an audio file of what a distorting speaker sounds like:

https://sndup.net/5j5g

To clarify, it's not any one or more speakers that distort like this all the time - sometimes the speakers sound normal and sometimes the sound wretched.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

the amp.

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thoiboi

has anyone suggested the amp may be going bad or no?

nemoD

Thanks for the advice guys but with all due respect I think the problem here is the amp. I ordered one on eBay (used), hopefully that does the trick.

justnspace

iTrader: (1)

hopefully, its the issue!

CSmoney28

Omg 😆 lol 😂

nemoD

Damn. There's no change in sound after swapping the amp so unless the used, replacement amp is also fried, I need to move on to next suspect. I could replace the head unit with a used one, but that would be a few hundred dollars used and there's no guarantee that would fix the problem. In fact, most wrecking yards sell "as is, final sale" so most won't let me test it on site before buying. The dealer quoted $700 for new.

Any thoughts on ruling out other problems before I spend the money on the head unit? Once bitten twice shy and with my luck, I'll discover after spending hundreds more that the problem was a bare wire that can be fixed with an inch of electrical tape.
thx.

CSmoney28

Damn $700 no thanks and I hope you don't spend that kind of money to find out it was a cheap solution all along.

nemoD

Things took an odd turn today. I replaced the head unit and everything sounded great except - for one door speaker. That door speaker still still has static/distortion, so I started to remove it and as I back the screw out, suddenly it sounds fine. I tightened the screw and it sounds awful again. I did this a few times, always with the same result. Electrical short?

nemoD

I uploaded a so people can see this bizarre screw issue.

holografique

just replace the head unit and your speakers, or at least buy one speaker as a way to validate which ones are shot based on process of elimination.

I ended up replacing my amp, head unit, (with used OEM amp and head unit) and ALL new (3rd party) speakers, and its been working like a champ since.

Also note, the sub has it's own small amp/driver (mounted in the sub encasing) that can go bad as well.

if you still have issues after replacing, then you may have bad wiring. Luckily my wiring was good, however I did have to replace the connectors to all of the side door speakers on the wiring (soldered with new connectors that matched my new speakers). they were rusted out from water leaking from the rotted out weather stripping on all 4 door windows. I had to replace the weather stripping as well on all 4 doors. I did it all myself buying OEM parts and just using the service manual. Note that replacing the weather stripping takes time and patience, so be prepared for it if you end up having to go there as well

nemoD

Holographique: thanks for replying. I had an interesting weekend. A couple of days ago I had my iPhone connected to the head unit via an aux cable. Suddenly the volume dropped by 95% with some speakers going completely dead. But the minute I plugged the charging cable into the phone, the problem went away (phone was just below 20% power). And coincidentally or not the next day I had to replace the car battery because it suddenly died. At this point my guess is that there are multiple issues going on:

1. The failing car battery was causing the “system wide” problems. This would explain why swapping the head unit and the amplifier made no difference. And it makes sense to me since I’ve been sitting in the car for long periods of time without the engine running and with the key set to “run” testing the stereo - I didn’t realize until yesterday that the RDX battery is so underpowered and that the “run” position draws so much current. If it was the battery, it’s pretty ironic because me playing music trying to troubleshoot why the stereo sounded so bad made the stereo even worse.

2. There's an electrical short somewhere.

3. The tightening of the speaker mounting screw warped the voice coil and that's the source of the distortion. There’s no electrical components anywhere near the speaker or the screw so this is the only explanation that makes sense to me. What I don’t understand is why this became an issue - presumably it wasn't this way when it rolled of the factory floor.

4. The speakers are blown and need to be replaced which was my thinking when this all started.

I know little about car audio so I my analysis might be wrong but this is the best I can come up with. At this point, I need to figure out how to replace the door woofers and tweeters with aftermarket replacements, which come with their own crossovers, even though the OEM crossovers are in the amp. Maybe someone has some suggestions. I know I should aim for 2 ohm replacements but I can use 4 ohm if I’m willing to lose volume. I’d like to get everything sorted out with a $500 budget.

Anyway, thanks to everyone who weighed in.