Dumb question: speaker blown or something else?

[ThatYeti]

So last week I was rushing to get ready for a track day and get a new harness installed. Disconnected battery, pulled seat, panels, installed schroth racing harness, buttoned it all back together and didnt get back in the car til the morning of the track day. Turned on the car and before my phone connected to Bluetooth I hear a full humm. Was coming from the rear driver's side speaker but didn't have time to address so I just turned up the music and sent it.

Now having time to take it apart, I unplugged that speaker and the low hum went away. Assumed it blew somehow in the process, maybe some juice left in the system when I reconnected the battery? Thought afterwards of trying to plug it back in to see if it went away (idiot!). But hoping someone here may know before I order a new one or just leave it for now.

Also I broke one of those white plastic clips on the door panel, anyone know where I can get just one or two?

Thanks in advance and for reference (not sure it matters) it's a 2017 limited with the OEM plus sound package

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

So last week I was rushing to get ready for a track day and get a new harness installed. Disconnected battery, pulled seat, panels, installed harness, buttoned it all back together and didnt get back in the car til the morning of the track day. Turned on the car and before my phone connected to Bluetooth I hear a full humm. Was coming from the rear driver's side speaker but didn't have time to address so I just turned up the music and sent it.

Now having time to take it apart, I unplugged that speaker and the low hum went away. Assumed it blew somehow in the process, maybe some juice left in the system when I reconnected the battery? Thought afterwards of trying to plug it back in to see if it went away (idiot!). But hoping someone here may know before I order a new one or just leave it for now.

Also I broke one of those white plastic clips on the door panel, anyone know where I can get just one or two?

Thanks in advance and for reference (not sure it matters) it's a 2017 limited with the OEM plus sound package

Well, since they're not Bose speakers, there's not much to those rear speakers to be able to troubleshoot them:

Gently push on the cone in and out to check for a "crunchy" sound/feel indicating the voice coil is burnt. If no sound, continue.

Take a 1.5 -volt battery (AA, C, or D) and using a small gauge wire, attach the positive terminal of the battery to the positive terminal of the speaker, and then attach a wire to the negative terminal of the battery and then tap the wire to the negative terminal of the speaker. Each tap should push the cone out and you'll hear it make a soft pop sound. Reversing the wires during this test will pull the cone in and give you the same pop sound. Don't use a 9-volt battery during this test or you could damage the speaker. If the speaker makes the pop noise, there's probably nothing wrong with it.

However, you mention replacing a harness. Can you elaborate on replacing this harness?

My guess is something to do with the harness change is the cause of the problem.

[ThatYeti]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Well, since they're not Bose speakers, there's not much to those rear speakers to be able to troubleshoot them:

Gently push on the cone in and out to check for a "crunchy" sound/feel indicating the voice coil is burnt. If no sound, continue.

Take a 1.5 -volt battery (AA, C, or D) and using a small gauge wire, attach the positive terminal of the battery to the positive terminal of the speaker, and then attach a wire to the negative terminal of the battery and then tap the wire to the negative terminal of the speaker. Each tap should push the cone out and you'll hear it make a soft pop sound. Reversing the wires during this test will pull the cone in and give you the same pop sound. Don't use a 9-volt battery during this test or you could damage the speaker. If the speaker makes the pop noise, there's probably nothing wrong with it.

However, you mention replacing a harness. Can you elaborate on replacing this harness?

My guess is something to do with the harness change is the cause of the problem.

Actually did tap the cone while it was all apart and seemed fine, but the harness I meant was a schroth racing harness so nothing to do with the speakers other than needing to pull a bunch of panels around that speaker to install it.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

Actually did tap the cone while it was all apart and seemed fine, but the harness I meant was a schroth racing harness so nothing to do with the speakers other than needing to pull a bunch of panels around that speaker to install it.

You pinched a wire someplace when pulling or replacing the panels.

[ThatYeti]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

You pinched a wire someplace when pulling or replacing the panels.

Kinda what I thought, but when I pulled it all back apart it was still doing it. What am I missing?

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

Kinda what I thought, but when I pulled it all back apart it was still doing it. What am I missing?

The wire is still broken where it was pinched. The good news is you will have a good idea of the area to look in and not have to chase through the whole run.

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

Kinda what I thought, but when I pulled it all back apart it was still doing it. What am I missing?

I'm not too familiar with the OEM+ system. Is it just an add on to the standard 8-speaker system? Does it amplify the rear speakers or does it just add a subwoofer to the standard system? I'm just trying to figure out what COULD cause the issue you're having. In a standard system, if the speaker were ok, then that would tell me you have either a wiring issue in the car somewhere between the output of the head unit to the speaker, or you have a bad channel in the head unit. Those really are the only two things that could cause what you're describing in THAT case. However, with the addition of an amplifier, you increase the possibilities of other things being the problem.

Is your head unit OEM or aftermarket?

[ThatYeti]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

I'm not too familiar with the OEM+ system. Is it just an add on to the standard 8-speaker system? Does it amplify the rear speakers or does it just add a subwoofer to the standard system? I'm just trying to figure out what COULD cause the issue you're having. In a standard system, if the speaker were ok, then that would tell me you have either a wiring issue in the car somewhere between the output of the head unit to the speaker, or you have a bad channel in the head unit. Those really are the only two things that could cause what you're describing in THAT case. However, with the addition of an amplifier, you increase the possibilities of other things being the problem.

Is your head unit OEM or aftermarket?

Believe it's just a replacement of all the factory speakers, plus an amp and a subwoofer. Spoke to them last night and before selling me a new speaker they insisted I swap the passenger/driver side speakers to see if the issue is the speaker or something else. Going to see about doing that at some point when I have time to take it all apart and will be sure to look for a pinched wire as it makes sense that would be the issue but given the hum goes away when I unplugged the speaker I'm leaning towards it being the speaker.

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

Believe it's just a replacement of all the factory speakers, plus an amp and a subwoofer. Spoke to them last night and before selling me a new speaker they insisted I swap the passenger/driver side speakers to see if the issue is the speaker or something else. Going to see about doing that at some point when I have time to take it all apart and will be sure to look for a pinched wire as it makes sense that would be the issue but given the hum goes away when I unplugged the speaker I'm leaning towards it being the speaker.

Is the hum coming from ALL speakers, or just the one in question?

If swapping in a temporary speaker and the hum remains, it's probably not the speaker. When you do swap speakers upon recommendation by the manufacturer, please take a few pictures and post here.

Is there a website you can post a link to that has this package that has been installed in your car?

Still interested in knowing if the amplifier also powers those rear speakers.....or is it just a subwoofer amp? You've not been entirely clear on this yet.

[ThatYeti]

Originally Posted by FR-S2GT86

Is the hum coming from ALL speakers, or just the one in question?

If swapping in a temporary speaker and the hum remains, it's probably not the speaker. When you do swap speakers upon recommendation by the manufacturer, please take a few pictures and post here.

Is there a website you can post a link to that has this package that has been installed in your car?

Still interested in knowing if the amplifier also powers those rear speakers.....or is it just a subwoofer amp? You've not been entirely clear on this yet.

Hum is coming from just that one speaker and the link below is to the setup, though I think mine might be a version older based on the discussion with them, though they didn't specify what exactly might be different.

https://oemaudioplus.com/product/86-brz-fr-s/

[FR-S2GT86]

Originally Posted by ThatYeti

Hum is coming from just that one speaker and the link below is to the setup, though I think mine might be a version older based on the discussion with them, though they didn't specify what exactly might be different.

https://oemaudioplus.com/product/86-brz-fr-s/

So no hum from any other speaker, got it. Obviously, the speaker is going to stop making the humming noise (in addition to all other noises) when it's disconnected. Speakers can't PRODUCE humming noises by themselves, but they can REPRODUCE a hum if it exists in the speakers' signal input. Again, this doesn't sound like a speaker issue, it sounds more like a problem in the pre-amp signal (the drivers' side, rear speaker output from the head unit) or an amplifier channel issue.

Looking at the manufacturers' site that you linked, as well as watching their installation video, I am unable to determine if they supply a four-channel or a six-channel DSP amplifier for the existing 8-speaker setup, nor can I determine if the DSP amp is summing the front and rear head unit speaker outputs or allowing a four-channel independent signal input into the amp. It would be nice if I could see a wiring schematic supplied by OEM+ for your particular sound package installation.

When watching the video, I noted that in some installations, they use a jumper connector on the 10-pin harness for the front door speakers at the factory door speaker amplifier, but in other installations they connect a harness from the OEM+ amplifier setup to the 10-pin harness instead. Answer this: When you use the fader control on the head unit, does it actually fade between the six front and two rear speakers?