Speaker "Vibrating"

[mculik5]

Hi. New to this forum. I have 2021 Ram 1500 Big Horn with the 8.4" Uconnect without nav. Over the weekend, I noticed that the speaker on the front passenger door is vibrating when the music is "bassy" and doesn't sound as clear otherwise. It plays audio accurately - no static or popping or anything like that - but doesn't sound right. If the music isn't "bassy," you probably wouldn't notice, but it's very obvious when the music is "bassy" and also obvious if you compare it to the other speakers one speaker at a time (using the front/back/left/right settings).

I'm not an audiophile, so I don't know whether the vibrating is a speaker problem or a mounting problem or something else entirely. When investigating earlier today, I noticed that if I tap the speaker grill with my hand, it makes the same vibrating noise. But...it doesn't seem like a "something's loose" kind of vibrating. If you've ever heard a teenager in a Honda Civic with their bass and volume turned way up and the trunk decklid vibrating...that's the best way I can describe the sound...

My gut is that there's a problem with the speaker, but what would cause that? I've owned six vehicles since I started driving many years ago and have had all kinds of issues, but NEVER speaker/audio issues.

Any thoughts before I pull the door panel off?

Thanks.

 

[Rick3478]

Sounds like something loose in the grille or door panel. Would be very unusual for the speaker itself to do this, they are usually glued together pretty thoroughly. But you'll have to take it apart to diagnose and fix anyway.

 

[Rick3478]

The door itself has plenty of opportunities for loose parts, too.

 

[mculik5]

@Rick3478 - Thanks! Will let you know what I find.

 

[KMach]

Reference STAR publication case number S2123000081. Ordered parts for mine and it fixed it. Butyl tape fixed the remaining rattle I had from the plastic door trim where the door seal meets the door.

 

[mculik5]

I pulled the door panel off today and it's definitely the speaker. This videos shows what I'm hearing.

Is this a blown speaker or some other problem? Unfortunately, I don't have known good speaker to sub in to see if it's the wiring to the speaker. As I said, the other speakers sound completely fine.

Thanks!

 

[Rick3478]

Might be voice coil rubbing. Sometimes cone will warp if it gets damp. Substitution is probably your best diagnostic.

 

[phisch]

My front left door is doing the exact same thing. Super buzzy. Doesn’t sound completely blown, but it’s not right. Currently deciding if I’m going to replace the front 6x9s with JL Audio, Kicker or Infinity Reference.

 

[mculik5]

@phisch - I'm going to call the dealer tomorrow to see about a warranty replacement, but if they give me the slightest bit of hassle, I'm just going to spend a few bucks and get better ones.

For anyone who knows car audio...do you think that having the volume on the car stereo turned way up but the volume on your cell phone turned down could cause the speakers to blow. As I think about when the speaker may have blown, I think it was a nice day where I was running errands by myself with the windows down and the music up - not obnoxious, but definitely not low. I remember being surprised to see the volume bar on the stereo itself close to max. I typically keep my cell phone volume quite low, and like I said, I wasn't blasting it, but I wonder if the near max volume signal from the stereo, even though the actual sound output was more reasonable, could have caused damage. Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[phisch]

I did car audio for years, like really loud competition stuff, although I’ve since tried to not modify my more expensive vehicles the past 10 years. I listen to a lot of jambands and have my kid in the car most the time. Def didn’t blow a speaker due to loud volume. You likely did not either, unless you got a phone call and the ringer through the speaker blew it out. Just a crappy base factory cardboard speaker. Mine actually goes in and out every few days, it’s probably a just slightly defective voice coil. honestly I’d rather take the door apart myself than have the guys at the dealer do it. I think I’m going to order the infinity reference 3-ways and start there.

 

[mculik5]

@phisch - Thanks!

Dealer wanted me to bring the truck in, which is a pain and not worth the hassle. Plus, I completely agree with you - I'd rather do it myself. The Mopar part is like $30 and backordered right now. I was shocked at the low price from the "stealership," so crappy speaker is probably an understatement.

I contacted Crutchfield and they told me my system (8.4", no nav, no Alpine) is a 2 ohm system. They have literally one speaker that is confirmed to fit the front doors and is 2 ohm. Kicker 42PSC652

So, not being an audiophile and figuring these will be more than sufficient for my ears, these are what I ordered. Crutchfield included the 6x9 adapter plates and wiring harness adapters, so no drilling the truck itself or cutting any wires, which is nice.

We'll see if I notice any difference over stock when they get here on Wednesday.

 

[phisch]

You’re probably going to lose bass going even from the factory 6x9 to those Kickers. The infinity reference are 3ohm (have not heard them personally) and shouldn’t make too much volume difference. There are a few audio threads on here that you can follow. Crutchfield has a 60 day return policy if you don’t like them, keep us posted! I have the same audio system with the Big Horn EcoDiesel. I’ll let y’all know when I finally end up making a decision here.

 

[mculik5]

Got the speakers - Kicker 42PSC652 - in last week. Super simple job. To my ear, I did lose a bit of bass initially, to @phisch's comment. However, these speakers are very "treble-y," so I was able to turn the bass up without the sound getting distorted and am very happy with the overall sound.

 

[phisch]

@mculik5 great feedback! Thanks for following up.

 

[phisch]

I finally made a decision here. After quite a bit of research I ended up going with the Alpine Type-R S69.2 set of 6x9s. Crutchfield said they were slightly too big to fit but they dropped in perfectly. Zero modification necessary. They sound really clear through a range of frequencies. Very solid speakers, would recommend. I as going back through old builds from decades ago and remembered I really enjoyed Alpine R series, I don’t like metal tweeters and the R’s were always very smooth and consistent. I was hoping to be resistant to the audio bug since it’s been a while modifying a car, but I think I’ll be doing the rear doors with the same speakers and we’ll see where we go from there. My last really big bulld had 1500 wrms and hit 147.9dB… pre children, we won’t be going that big anymore.

BTW the stock 6 speaker setup, sans ANC, has 4ohm 6x9s in the front doors. I know that’s been a point of contention around here.

PS: tape down the metra speaker adapters, I rolled down the window and yanked the terminals off the speakers and had to pull the door panels off again. I’m off my game