flatline · Mar 9, 2014

The rear sub speakers are torn and useless,I bought some new speakers today but they do t work when wired up in the same wy as the originals.

They are getting 12v from plug and the speaker wires have some volts,not sure what they should have but would it be less than 5v?.

I was going to remove them at some point anyway so I hooked the speakers up the the rear pillar speaker wires and they sound ****,no bass and are really quiet.The stock ones sounded better and louder and they sound **** to begin with lol

All the speakers in the car sound tinny and weak,I've tried 3 different head units and its the same with all 3.

I'm sure when I picked up the car it wasn't like that so something must have gone wrong but I'm clueless.

Any ideas?

discool · Mar 9, 2014

U will find two 12v supplies, one is switched, at the amp in the back door plus the audio supply, the replacement loudspeakers must be compatible with the amp.

Voltage at the speakers is in millivolts.

flatline · Mar 9, 2014

When you say two 12 volt supplies do you mean on the plug that connects to the amp?

discool · Mar 9, 2014

flatline said:
When you say two 12 volt supplies do you mean on the plug that connects to the amp?

Yes 1 permanent live and 1 live when the head unit is on.
I have the colours of the two wires involved some where will go and look if u can't find them yourself, easy to find if u have a meter.

flatline · Mar 9, 2014

Yes i have two with 12v with the head unit on and the wires (black & black/white) give volts too.

The speakers i bought are the same size and have separate tweaters,how would i find out if they are compatible?

Maurand · Mar 9, 2014

flatline said:
Yes i have two with 12v with the head unit on and the wires (black & black/white) give volts too.

The speakers i bought are the same size and have separate tweaters,how would i find out if they are compatible?

Go to HB.Litherlands in Bispham if they are still there. Take one of the drive units with you. I would think they are just standard 4ohm full or wide range speakers.
The amp in the back of my 300 is the same. The drive units full out meaning a full 12 volts DC went into them from the amp. Not bothered to repair it still sat on my bench. But DO NOT connect new drive units to it until you get the amp checked out. It will damage or even blow the voice coils in the new speakers.
I speak with a little knowledge I build audio amps for a living. No longer in Blackpool but in the wonderful center of France, good here isn't it Big Lad ?

Hope some of this helps.

Graham

discool · Mar 9, 2014

flatline said:
Yes i have two with 12v with the head unit on and the wires (black & black/white) give volts too.

The speakers i bought are the same size and have separate tweaters,how would i find out if they are compatible?

All need is similar loudspeakers but which will go to a low bass frequency so look at the spec of the loudspeaker, standard midrange door ones won't but will work, and u don't need tweeters or dual cones.

The wire colours that I have on my disco at the amp are.

1. 12v amp power taken from the head unit supply, (light green/orange wire at the amp
2. 12v amp switching wire supplies and switched by the head units 12v output (purple/yellow at the amp
3. Audio signal cable (black & white wires in a screened cable)
4. Local earth wire is black at the amp.

flatline · Mar 9, 2014

Just been looking at all the wires and block connectors and took note of all the colours on both to see what matched up.

The male block connector on the right is for the front & rear speakers,all the wires match apart from the front right which has different coloured wires on the speaker.

The male block connector on the left powers the head unit and the amp for the sub speakers. The green/orange wire is on the block connector but the purple/yellow isn't,there is a purple black. The purple/yellow & green/orange give 12v at the amp.

At the amp there is also a black wire on its own and a red,black and bare wire together in the same outer cover.I found the same three wires had been cut at the stereo but the bare wire looped back on itself?

No idea where the wires were originally but its got to be why it's not working (I hope lol)

A my next question is where are they meant to be?

flatline · Mar 9, 2014

1char

discool · Mar 10, 2014

I'm giving u the colours that are at the amp in the back door not the head unit.

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

I know but i have wires that are at the amp and not connected to anything at the head unit,i spotted a thread from 2011 which funnily enough you replied too lol. In that thread you got the red and black wires that normally have a connector on them and made 2 into 1 with a 20 amp fuse cut in half,i think it then connected directly to the head unit?

Those wires are the one that have been cut on mine so cant be connected to the amp,is there a way to connect it up so it works like it did with the original stereo?

discool · Mar 10, 2014

2011 was it, and still working

Ok the red & black wires are the audio feed to the amp. somewhere in between the head unit and the amp there is a cable change, at the amp that audio feed appears in a screened cable, black and white wires, strange but true.

If you now don't have a feed from the head unit to the amp u will have to install one.

Therefore, from the head unit u need to run a twin wire to behind the drivers foot well kick panel and after the removal of the door tread strips run under the carpet to the rear light and on through the rubber connecting hose into the door and to the amp.

Getting a wire out from the head unit area is a problem, I used a long thick cable tie as a mouse and pushed it along the side of a heavy round wiring harness that can be seen from the left hand side of the fuse board and up into the head unit void, and pull it back with a cable attached (a data cable I was installing at the time for a new multi CD player to replace the existing factory one under the seat). it took me 10mins just to do that.

U may alone the way find the "screened cable" which u can connect to which will save u going as far as the back door.

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

Right,there is a red and black wire which looks like it goes from the amp to the head unit wires.

If I'm right and mine are black & red from front to back how would that hook up to my head unit?

It's got ports on the back for "rear sub,front audio out" but I connected a speaker to it and nothing happened.

Also I ripped some of the wires from the amp block out and don't know what order they go back in (I'm awesome I know lol)

Cheers for your help discool

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

1char

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

10char

discool · Mar 10, 2014

Your head units rear outputs won't drive a speaker on their own, they just pre-amplified outputs, but either pair will do for the bass amp.. I bridged my pair as I just wanted mono for my sub amp which is fitted under the front passenger seat.
As for the amp in the back door connections, u will have to see if you still have the existing terminal block then follow the wiring diagram in the Haynes manual connect your wires to the terminals that are numbered. If not trial & error in not trying to damage the unit.

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

I added some connectors to the red and blak wires,if I understand you correctly I plug them into either the"R" or "L" sockets on the head unit thn figure out the wires on the amp block connector?

Which sides do they plug into because if I plug the red into the right side it cuts off the speakers for that side.

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

Now the purple wire isn't giving me any volts at the amp end grrr

discool · Mar 10, 2014

flatline said:
I added some connectors to the red and blak wires,if I understand you correctly I plug them into either the"R" or "L" sockets on the head unit thn figure out the wires on the amp block connector?

Which sides do they plug into because if I plug the red into the right side it cuts off the speakers for that side.

Haven't a clue, it should not but may depend on what the setting your head unit has.
From the details on the unit it looks as both the red and white on the left are the outputs for your amp, once connected u will have to set up the output gain, the bass level u wish to go down to (Hz) that info is in the manual that comes with the unit again depends the the head unit.

flatline · Mar 10, 2014

After facing with it all day I finally managed to get some sound from the speakers but its not what I would call loud lol,I think the amp is fecked so I bought second hand amp and sub on ebay and collected it locally.

Can I used the 12v feed for the original amp? Will it be the constant feed or the one that comes on with the stereo?

Get ready for more questions tomorrow hehe

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