Used OE Speakers?

[swenpro]

My tweeters (speakers in the door) start to crackle after I've been playing music for a while... I'm assuming this is a sign that they are going out. What do you think of installing used speakers off of another E34? (For example from here) I don't have the money right now to overhaul the sound system, but to be honest, I've been pretty happy with the sound of the stock one...

[winfred]

you may need to spray the volume knob with contact cleaner, squirt it and work the hell out of it and squirt it again

[gmannino]

That will not fix your tweeter from crackling. That popping sound is your tweeters bottoming out or mechanical noise from a rip or tear. You will have to replace the tweeters. OEM tweeters from any bmw should work.

[pundit]

That will not fix your tweeter from crackling. That popping sound is your tweeters bottoming out or mechanical noise from a rip or tear. You will have to replace the tweeters. OEM tweeters from any bmw should work.

Sorry but tweeters don't usually 'bottom out'.
Most tweeters have very little cone/dome excursion (often no more than than 1mm or so) which rarely shows up as audible mechanical noise.

Tweeters rarely give any obvious signs of a problem until the coils burn out and go open circuit at which point... No sound!

Most audible high frequency distortion is often caused by amplifier clipping at higher levels or a bad connection or dirty potentiometer (volume/fader/balance control) such as Winfred suggested.

I would start by cleaning the volume control with contact cleaner.
There is also a possibilty of a bad solder joint somewhere which may alter with temperature.

Larger speakers (bass drivers) can suffer quite severe mechanical damage before they expire completely.
This usually shows up as a scratchy rattling noise caused by the voice coil overheating and separating from the coil former which then scrapes against the pole piece.

[genphreak]

Most audible high frequency distortion is often caused by amplifier clipping at higher levels or a bad connection or dirty potentiometer (volume/fader/balance control) such as Winfred suggested. I would start by cleaning the volume control with contact cleaner.There is also a possibilty of a bad solder joint somewhere which may alter with temperature. Larger speakers (bass drivers) can suffer quite severe mechanical damage before they expire completely. This usually shows up as a scratchy rattling noise caused by the voice coil overheating and separating from the coil former which then scrapes against the pole piece.

I agree. Problem will be the Volume Pot if adjusting the volume (at any level) makes a scratchy noise-

Easiest fix requires no tools or supplies, just a bit of elbow (or should I say) finger grease. (At the risk of upsetting anyone)

Turn the stereo off, put your left index finger on one side of the voume knob, your right index finger on the other. Now move them up and down a whole bnch of times real fast to wind and unwind the now from 0-maximum.

The intense use will clean the contacts naturally and you'll be fine for another little while. Sometimes it is just lack of use that can cause this, an intense clean like this can resolve it for a long, long time.

I though my sub was blown a while ago, made all the classic blown/burnt coil noises. Amazingly, it turned out to be a loose conector inside the enclosure

The tweeter problem described in this thread is probably a dodgey connection a the amp pr loom connectors.... contact cleaner on all should help, from the amp forward, or it could be a connection in the amp. I'd connect a new tweeter to see though- it could be that. They are $2/pair in bin out the front of this place here

[bigtallsam]

i agree, from my experiene working in pro audio/pa if a speakers broke you'll know about it from the word go

if sypmtoms show up after a while its usually an amplifier problem, i.e. getting too hot

if it was a loose wire it would not depend on time but would be completely random

if you like it loud i would suspect the amp in the head unit or external one if fitted, although the advice from the other guys regarding the volume/fader knob may well help

regards

s

[gmannino]

My tweeters (speakers in the door) start to crackle after I've been playing music for a while... I'm assuming this is a sign that they are going out. What do you think of installing used speakers off of another E34? (For example from here) I don't have the money right now to overhaul the sound system, but to be honest, I've been pretty happy with the sound of the stock one...

Read this thread carefully because it seems to me that he is having problems after he has been playing them for a while. Voicecoil warms up and starts to short, creating tweeter noise. I've seen hundreds of tweeters go out with making similar noise. I am unclear if his tweeters are making noise when he turns the volume up or down. But if his tweeters are crackling when NOT adjusting volume, it would surely be bad tweeters. Not a bad amp or dirty volume knob. I understand the volume knob can have corrosion on it and create noise, but only while adjusting the volume.
Swenpro, if your tweeters continue to make the noise without adjusting volume = replace tweeters.
If they make noise only while adjusting volume = clean volume knob contact or replace radio.

[gmannino]

Sorry but tweeters don't usually 'bottom out'.
Most tweeters have very little cone/dome excursion (often no more than than 1mm or so) which rarely shows up as audible mechanical noise.

Tweeters rarely give any obvious signs of a problem until the coils burn out and go open circuit at which point... No sound!

Most audible high frequency distortion is often caused by amplifier clipping at higher levels or a bad connection or dirty potentiometer (volume/fader/balance control) such as Winfred suggested.

I would start by cleaning the volume control with contact cleaner.
There is also a possibilty of a bad solder joint somewhere which may alter with temperature.

Larger speakers (bass drivers) can suffer quite severe mechanical damage before they expire completely.
This usually shows up as a scratchy rattling noise caused by the voice coil overheating and separating from the coil former which then scrapes against the pole piece.

12 year old tweeters could easily bottom out! and over-excursion creating the sounds that he hears.

[winfred]

i've had many a bmw radio volume knob fuzz in and out while not being touched and stop doing it after cleaning, the amps can do it too, you hit a bump and it gets scratchy or drops out completely then pops right back on

I understand the volume knob can have corrosion on it and create noise, but only while adjusting the volume.

[swenpro]

Thanks for all the advice, guys... I'll try the volume knob cleaning trick first and see how that pans out. It indeed only starts to crackle after I've been playing music for a while (especially when playing off of a cd or mp3, I guess radio doesn't demand as much), and I don't think it has anything to do with adujusting the volume, but playing music softer seems to prolong the amount of time I can listen to music before the crackling begins. Again, the crackling only starts after I've been playing music for a while, so I won't know the result of any experimenting right away, but I know for sure that it's annoying when it does happen :P

One more thing... the PO had 2 10" subs that took up half my trunk, so I've since removed those and sold them since that's just not my thing. I completely removed the power supply that went to the subs, and some of the wiring going to the car I just tucked back behind the factory amp (which is still intact). I don't know much about speaker wiring, but since the sound system has still sounded fine since removing the subs I've just left this be. Would the PO have done any other mods that I need to restore to normal when he installed subs?