Speaker Crackling

[supervol0509]

Last season, we had some crackling in one of our bow speakers. I checked the wiring connections and they were fine. I assume the next thing to check is the grounding, which I don't really know how to do. If anyone has some guidance on how to check this, the assistance would be greatly appreciated.

[BCRider]

Crackling while it's playing or all the time? It could be blown.

You could always try moving it to another location to see if it does the same thing.

[chpthril]

If its just one speaker, then is likely the speaker or the amp channel the speaker is wired to. Possibly the RCA cable or the source, depending on how the system is configured.

[supervol0509]

It crackles when it is playing. I will go ahead and switch it out with another speaker.

I assume it is possible to move it to another amp channel? Not sure another is available. Would have to look. I am fairly certain that it occurs whether we are listening to the radio or playing music off a phone using the audio jack. Not sure if that is what you mean as "source". I guess there is an RCA cable between the "source" and the amp that could possibly need replacement?

[cramer]

Swap speakers left to right. If the crackle follows the speaker, that's the issue. (More than likely, that's the culprit.)

If the crackle stays on that side of the boat, go the amp and first swap the rca left to right. If it changes sides, it's the RCA cable/source unit. If it doesn't, change the speaker output from left to right. If changes, it's the speaker wire, if it doesn't it's the amp channel.

[supervol0509]

Ok. So I did as directed and tracked it down to the amp channel. Luckily, I had an open one that I could use, and I no longer get any crackling. I am getting only bass out of one of the front speakers, but I think that is a separate issue as that speaker is starting to deteriorate.

[chpthril]

Low notes only would indicate an inoperative tweeter or the amps is set to low-pass. However, if there are 2 speakers sharing that same amp channel on the other plays normal, then its likely the tweeter.

[supervol0509]

I don't know very much about stereo setup, but I just saw that I had 6 ports in the amp for speakers (the 6th port was open). I used that 6th port for the new setup, and left the 2nd port (the malfunctioning one) open. I guess I'm confused that if I have speakers wired to separate ports how they might share an amp channel. Please let me know what I need to check. Also, the particular speaker that I am only getting bass out of is wired to a port that I previously used but did not notice any issue with. Not that I checked extremely closely, though.

[chpthril]

Is the amp an OEM Wet Sounds thats long and has a polished stainless shroud? Of so, that open channel is tied to the one next to it that powering the subwoofer. They are both set to only send low frequencies to a woofer, will not work for a full-range speaker AND woofer.

[supervol0509]

It is an Wet Sounds amp with a polished stainless shroud. I don't believe the speaker that I wired to the open channel is giving me just bass, but will have to check. I never noticed just bass coming from any speakers, previously, but never really checked. I would think if there are 5 cabin speakers, the amp provided should provide the full range to all of the speakers. Is that not the case? If I have 1 or 2 channels just putting out base, I guess my options are either live with that setup or get a new amp? I'll take a picture of the amp outputs next time I am up at the boat.