Senith

I just bought a car from my brother and it came with two Kicker DX57 speakers in the back that he put in a long time when he didn't know much about anything to do with speakers. I decided to leave them in and bought my self a stereo so i can listen to some music but when i raise the volume too high the stereo just shuts off. I'm guessing this is some protection so i don't blow something or what not but this is annoying me off. Is there anything i can do so i can raise my volume up higher. Here is a link to the speakers: http://www0.shopping.com/xPF-Kicker-DX57
And here is a link to my stereo: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Kenwood+...628&st=Kenwood

Just recently i purchased a sub because i would like some base in my car but I'm worried because of these stupid speakers shutting off on me. Here is a link to the subs that i bought: http://cgi.ebay.com/XXX-Car-Audio-2-...item35a2824344

So what I'm really asking is how can i make this setup work so my speakers/stereo doesn't shut off with this new sub i bought.

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soundman98

you will need to check all the connections, it could be anything--there was just another thread where someone was having a similar problem with their amp

otherwise, try a different set of speakers connected directely to the headunit with known good wire.

check and make sure that the hu is getting good power and good ground(will need a mulitmeter), and that there is no frays or broken wires going into the radio.

Senith

Right now the sub/amp is not hooked up. I only have those 2 speakers and my stereo in my car. And i know the wiring is good cause i redid once i got the car. I think what the problem is that when i blast the volume too high the speakers are putting out more than the car can handle so it shuts them off with the stereo for safety. But i was wondering is it possible to hook up an amp or a power converter type thing to my speakers.

soundman98

what year/make/model car is it?

i have never heard of any car or stereo that will turn off to prevent damage.

some radios have a volume limit setting, but no stereo will cut all power if it gets too loud.

Senith

Its a 1997 Chevrolet cavalier 2.2L. And it doesn't cut all power as far as i know. I believe it just shuts off my stereo. And i know it cant be some limit because i can play some songs at 30 volume and then some i can barely play at 20 volume because the base is so loud it just shuts it off.

YESindeed

get yourself a good multimeter. pull out the stereo and unplug the stereo harness. test the resistance of the speaker leads at the harness. should be 4ish ohms for each then test each speaker wire to ground, should read nothing. if it reads outside of these specs is why its going into protection mode.

also check your ground, make sure you have a good solid ground for the stereo.

Senith

Oh snap i guess the ground might be the problem. My cousin hooked up the stereo so ill have to double check that. Cause the stereo came with a harness that i had to connect to an adapter that connected to the stock radio connector. The adapter came with a black wire so my cousin hooked up the black wire from the harness to the blackwire from the adapter.

Senith

Should the ground from the harness be connected to the adapter or somewhere on my car?

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YESindeed

usually the adapter but if that ground is bad (this is where said multimeter will come in handy), then just run a new one. i cant stress enough how much that meter will help you. start with a cheap auto-ranging one ($30 craftsman works great).

Senith

Yea i bought a 15 range digital one from radioshack for 20$. Can you explain to me in more detail as to what i should be touching and with which lead cause im new to the meter.

smartass365

Crutchfield has a good guide.

http://www.crutchfield.com/Learn/lea...de.html?page=3

With the meter set on the "v" with the straight line (dc voltage), you should read about 12-13.8v on the yellow all the time and same on the red when the ignition is on.

On the ohm setting (horseshoe) measure each speaker. The wires are usually the same color with a stripe or something on them. Like YES was saying, you should be reading about 4 ohms, but with dual voice coils like the speakers you linked to, you can only get 2 or 8 depending on how they're wired. To test the ground, use the same setting with one probe on the black wire and the other on a good bare metal surface (if you can't fine one, the seatbelt bolt will do)


As far as the speakers go, if you measure pretty close to two ohms on a speaker you should google series vs. parallel speaker wiring. Most head units can't handle 2 ohm speakers and the output protection kicks in. On the polar, 8 ohms won't be able to provide as much power as rated, so that could explain why you have to turn it up nice and loud.

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Senith

Well i know its the speakers because i looked at all my wiring on my stereo and its perfect. I also took the speakers out from the back and i was able to raise my volume above 30 with no problem. So i believe the speakers are putting out more wattage than my car can handle and i dont know what how to fix that.

soundman98

ok, first speakers don't put out wattage, they are dumb devices-- they take whatever voltage/wattage you give them-- though 1/2 watts do anything, and 2000 watts will blow them.

don't just go over the wiring physically, check it with a meter set to volts or ohms, depending on what your measuring.

also check that the radio is actually grounded(disconnect harness form radio, and use ohm setting on meter and measure between harness ground, and a known good ground point-- should be near zero).

also, if the speakers negative leads are grounded, or combined, this can cause a issue with some radios-- each speaker should have its own positive and negative wire off the the headunit.

just becuase everything looks good doesn't mean it is-- i learned this the hard way-- it cost me a radio and 3 amps-- i had pinched a rca cable in the door sill re-installing the cover, and it slowly fried the rca connections on all of them-- and everythhing looked fine the entire time.

kross

Since you took the speakers out, check the resistance on them. Use the ohm setting on the meter (the Ω symbol). It should read around 4 ohms. Anything significantly lower (such as 2 ohms) would indicate a problem.

If the speakers are fine, and you want more volume, then you need an external amp. The amplifiers built into all headunits are only capable of putting out around 20-30 watts RMS. Your speakers are capable of handling around 100 watts RMS. (Always look at RMS wattage ratings, not peak ratings. The RMS rating is how much power it can put out sustained, without significant distortion, for amplifiers. For speakers, the RMS rating is how much power it can accept for sustained periods of time without damage.)

You can get 2-channel 100 watt RMS amplifiers for around $100 online. Of course, the wiring and installation can be tricky if you're new to this. But there are some good guides online we can point you to if you decide to go this route.

Hope this helps!
-- Kevin

YESindeed

yeah but test it where the speaker wires go into the stereo (with the harness unplugged) that way it will tell you if theirs a short.

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