help - new polks all around - popping noise
trojannemo
Posts: 6
hey guys.
let me tell you all i've done first, then tell you the problem...
i've got a Kenwood cd/mp3 player (KDC-MP238) that I installed in november. car is a 1995 cadillac deville. since then i couldnt put up the volume because the cd player would dim and turn off. i added a second ground, re-did all the wiring for the cd player, and added a second line to the battery. now it doesnt dim and it can sustain any volume i put it at without turning off.
i have the following speakers (all Polk):
front doors: 2x 3.5" (DB351) + 2x 5.25" (DB521)
rear doors: 2x 5.25" (DB521)
rear deck : 2x 6x9" (DB691)
in total 8 speakers. up until today the speakers had been spliced and just made to work using electrical wire and electrical tape. ghetto but they worked fine, just couldn't put up the volume because of what i said above.
today i removed all the electrical wire and did the connections to all the speakers properly using speaker wire and gold plated connectors, no more twisting or anything. i didn't run new wires from the head unit, kept the original wiring and where needed added the speaker wire and connectors as i previously mentioned.
the car originally came with 6 speakers, not having any oem speakers in the rear doors. i ran insulated speaker wire from the rear deck speakers to the rear doors and that's how i hooked up the 5.25s in there.
once i go to test it all out, it works, no dimming, i can go really loud (not that i want to, just testing) but now i get really loud popping noises from most of the speakers, including the 6x9s. today i installed for the first time the 5.25s in the rear doors, but the 6x9s have been there since january and i have never had this popping sound from them.
the popping sound goes away if i put the Bass to -8, but at +2 (which is my preferred setting), or even at 0, i still get the popping sound.
in terms of the wiring to the unit being right, i tested isolating the speakers (FL, FR, RL, RR) and they all get the sound in the right side of the car.
i double checked all connections and everything seems to be connected properly. the stereo goes up to 35 in volume. at 20, no popping or very little, but anything past (when i want to go "loud" i like to listen at 24-26, not any higher) i get the popping, badly.
where could i have gone wrong with the process today? remember, yesterday with the ghetto connections and splices, i had no popping. today with the right wires and the right connectors, i get the popping.
the only thing i can think of, which will sound stupid, is perhaps i have the wires backwards in terms of + and - ? when doing the connections (before hearing the popping) i tested the cables both ways, trying to find out which was which, and they both sounded the same to me, both ways the speakers would work. is it possible i have the wires reversed (the + wire to the - terminal in the speaker) and if so, would that cause the popping?
if not, what would you say is the cause of the popping? it seems useless to spend all this money buying 8 polk speakers so i can "hear" my music and now i cant go louder, or even as loud, as i could with the Ghetto 5 speakers i had before i got the 8 polks...
your help is very much appreciated:D
let me tell you all i've done first, then tell you the problem...
i've got a Kenwood cd/mp3 player (KDC-MP238) that I installed in november. car is a 1995 cadillac deville. since then i couldnt put up the volume because the cd player would dim and turn off. i added a second ground, re-did all the wiring for the cd player, and added a second line to the battery. now it doesnt dim and it can sustain any volume i put it at without turning off.
i have the following speakers (all Polk):
front doors: 2x 3.5" (DB351) + 2x 5.25" (DB521)
rear doors: 2x 5.25" (DB521)
rear deck : 2x 6x9" (DB691)
in total 8 speakers. up until today the speakers had been spliced and just made to work using electrical wire and electrical tape. ghetto but they worked fine, just couldn't put up the volume because of what i said above.
today i removed all the electrical wire and did the connections to all the speakers properly using speaker wire and gold plated connectors, no more twisting or anything. i didn't run new wires from the head unit, kept the original wiring and where needed added the speaker wire and connectors as i previously mentioned.
the car originally came with 6 speakers, not having any oem speakers in the rear doors. i ran insulated speaker wire from the rear deck speakers to the rear doors and that's how i hooked up the 5.25s in there.
once i go to test it all out, it works, no dimming, i can go really loud (not that i want to, just testing) but now i get really loud popping noises from most of the speakers, including the 6x9s. today i installed for the first time the 5.25s in the rear doors, but the 6x9s have been there since january and i have never had this popping sound from them.
the popping sound goes away if i put the Bass to -8, but at +2 (which is my preferred setting), or even at 0, i still get the popping sound.
in terms of the wiring to the unit being right, i tested isolating the speakers (FL, FR, RL, RR) and they all get the sound in the right side of the car.
i double checked all connections and everything seems to be connected properly. the stereo goes up to 35 in volume. at 20, no popping or very little, but anything past (when i want to go "loud" i like to listen at 24-26, not any higher) i get the popping, badly.
where could i have gone wrong with the process today? remember, yesterday with the ghetto connections and splices, i had no popping. today with the right wires and the right connectors, i get the popping.
the only thing i can think of, which will sound stupid, is perhaps i have the wires backwards in terms of + and - ? when doing the connections (before hearing the popping) i tested the cables both ways, trying to find out which was which, and they both sounded the same to me, both ways the speakers would work. is it possible i have the wires reversed (the + wire to the - terminal in the speaker) and if so, would that cause the popping?
if not, what would you say is the cause of the popping? it seems useless to spend all this money buying 8 polk speakers so i can "hear" my music and now i cant go louder, or even as loud, as i could with the Ghetto 5 speakers i had before i got the 8 polks...
your help is very much appreciated:D
Post edited by trojannemo on
Comments
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Well the first thing that jumps out at me is that youre using 8 speakers!!! Thats way too many but if you want that many - God bless.
The problem is that if youre running them all off the head unit, youre overloading your head unit.
Your head unit is a 4 channel HU but its mean to run each channel at 4-8 ohms. Youre running each channel at 2 ohms if youre running all 8 speakers at once off this HU. Youre overdriving your HU.
Disconnect 3.5's in the front doors and the 5.25's in the rear door and see if this fixes the problem.polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st
polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D -
thanks for the reply.
i'll try that tomorrow morning, see what happens. if that turns out to be the case, what can I do? i do want to use all 8 speakers! my previous car ('06 Maxima) had 8 bose speakers + i put a sub and amp in the trunk, so i got spoiled sound-wise.
is this where getting an amplifier comes in handy? i want to be able to enjoy all these Polk speakers that i bought (from circuit city - no returns as the store is going out of business!!!) and eventually add something in the trunk as well.
i'm really into the listening part of the audio, but because the maxima already came with that nice sound system, this is my first time actually installing speakers and running speaker wire and such...:o
EDIT: after some online reading, it seems like i'm going to need that amplifier. if it's not too much to ask, can you point me in the direction of one? all i see is 4 channel, 2 channel...what do i need to run the 8 speakers? -
Look around here at Crutchfield.com
What youre looking for is an amp that is stable at 2 ohms stereo which means 2 speakers on each channel of the amp.
Profile is an excellent entry level amp if youre needing something cheap. The Polk PA200.4 is also a great choice.polkaudio sound quality competitor since 2005
MECA SQ Rookie of the Year 06 ~ MECA State Champ 06,07,08,11 ~ MECA World Finals 2nd place 06,07,08,09
08 Car Audio Nationals 1st ~ 07 N Georgia Nationals 1st ~ 06 Carl Casper Nationals 1st ~ USACi 05 Southeast AutumnFest 1st
polkaudio SR6500 --- polkaudio MM1040 x2 -- Pioneer P99 -- Rockford Fosgate P1000X5D
