[Freakquency]

It does. I’ll be honest, I REALLY wanted to get new amps. Who doesn’t like getting shiny new toys? But the more I thought about it I would have to redo the install plus (more than likely) a re-tune. It just seemed like a lot of hassle. I’m absolutely in love with how the car sounds with even my basic tune so after a LOT of mental anguish today I figured why mess with it.

I already messaged the guy about the amp and after the swap I’ll open the current one up and see what I find. If it’s fixable I’ll take care of that and maybe keep it in the possibility I get a 2nd SQL & it’ll replace the F4.

Looking forward to hearing it in this new iteration in the future. I enjoyed the Malibu a lot and this looks even better

 

[TheTodd]

It’s definitely better than the Malibu. As long as it stays above 30 degrees anyway. 😎

 

[BP1Fanatic]

I vote Orion HCCA's!

 

[TheTodd]

The “new” V9 has been swapped in. This morning was 23 degrees and the R midbass crackled about 2/3 of my 30min drive to work. Even though it was nice & toasty inside the car there was still frost on the trunk lid when I got to work so I’m 90% sure it’s related to amp temp. It’s supposed to get down in the low 20s again tonight so now I just have to wait. If the noise continues I guess I’ll have to look at the RCAs and then speaker. While things were apart I tried jiggling the RCAs just to see if it would do anything. It was near 40 so there was no noise but figured I’d try just in case… nothing.

Crossing fingers that this solved it.

 

[TheTodd]

Well, that was a bust. I think I may have a bad midbass. It crackled all the way to work this morning. It’s still somewhat playing music but it definitely doesn’t sound good. I’m going to try to swap in a known good speaker in the next few days to make sure. There’s still a possibility it could be a bad RCA but, believe it or not, that may not be the easiest to diagnose & swapping speakers is easier at this point. I could easily swap a temp cable but it’s also using a Y-connector (which could ALSO be bad) so even swapping cables L to R is gonna be a challenge with the current wiring layout. Especially since bending over in my trunk is really not good for my back.

 

[TheTodd]

I tore it apart again and swapped RCAs. It’s gonna get down in the 20s again tonight so we’ll see what happens.

My logic says a speaker shouldn’t be intermittently good/bad depending on temperature so I’m kind of banking on RCAs… I guess hoping or begging is the words I’m looking for.

 

[naiku]

Well BOO… it looks like my V9 is taking a 💩.

Read that and thought much the same as the emoji, never had any issues with it crackling here, then read a few more posts and it sounds like it's the midbass itself is the problem.

Sucks you bought a new amp if it's not that, hopefully you can get it all resolved and don't have to spend too much time in 20F messing about in the car.

 

[TheTodd]

At first I was upset with myself for buying an amp before doing proper troubleshooting but I’ll be honest… I’ve been really contemplating getting a second SQL and if I decide to do that I’ll swap out the F4 with the 2nd V9 so… no big deal. It was a nice amp for a good price.

The toughest part of troubleshooting this is it’s not a quick process. Since it’s still getting relatively warmer during the day it’s a swap this, wait until morning… nope… swap this, wait until morning. But on the positive side it’s a little nicer to be working on it in 40 degrees vs 20. It’s not even just an air-temp problem. Whatever is causing this has to be cold saturated for a while like overnight. I’m really really hoping on RCAs. It’ll be easier and cheaper to replace one or more of those than replacing TM65s either under warranty or not.

 

[ItsonlyaHONDA]

Get an other SQL 😃

 

[dkc7]

Can u attach a wire and driver righto the amp when it buzzes to check if its the tm65

 

[Stycker]

Check grounds first. Then swap midbass. Physically move the left to the right and the right to the left.

 

[naiku]

I’ve been really contemplating getting a second SQL and if I decide to do that I’ll swap out the F4 with the 2nd V9 so… no big deal.

It's funny, I was thinking of suggesting doing exactly that since you now have the 2 x V9's. Might be worth reaching out to Logan @squiers007 if you decide to sell the F4 as he was potentially looking for a PDX amp.

 

[TheTodd]

Check grounds first. Then swap midbass. Physically move the left to the right and the right to the left.

Grounds are good. I’m doubtful that would be the issue since the noise is only in the one woofer. I would think if it’s a ground issue it would present itself in all the speakers on that side (one amp runs L, the other runs the R).

It was a little easier to swap the RCAs than speakers at this point so I went there first. It never got below 32 last night so there were no noises this morning. And it looks like it’s supposed to hover around there until tomorrow night then it dips into the 20s so I doubt I’ll get noise until Saturday morning.

 

[TheTodd]

Temps finally dropped low enough that I got noise. It’s still the pass side woofer even with RCAs swapped. I might still try to find time to swap with a known-good speaker to be sure but I’m more confident now that it’s the speaker. I’m still confused, though, as to why it’s only when cold.

 

[JI808]

Temps finally dropped low enough that I got noise. It’s still the pass side woofer even with RCAs swapped. I might still try to find time to swap with a known-good speaker to be sure but I’m more confident now that it’s the speaker. I’m still confused, though, as to why it’s only when cold.

Swapping drivers left to right will help nail down the issue. If the symptom moves with the driver swap, it's a driver. If it doesn't, it's something in the signal path.

I'm guessing it's not the driver, but a component in the signal path. Swapping RCAs doesn't swap every component in the signal chain. You're just hearing the issue at the driver.

 

[TheTodd]

I’ll try to do that in the next day or 2. Thanks

 

[TheTodd]

I took my lunch break today to swap drivers so we’ll see what happens tomorrow morning as current temps are above 34. While I had the door panels off I checked all wires, connections, possible pinch points, etc.. All seemed fine with no stray strands that could short out, no coil rub, wires were good, no corrosion, etc. either. I also left the door panels off so I could possibly diagnose further when it happens.

 

[JI808]

If it moves, it's a driver. If it doesn't, it's a component in the system.

 

[dkc7]

Why dont u take the passenger driver out put it in your freezer then test on your home system. Then u know if its the driver.

 

[TheTodd]

Why dont u take the passenger driver out put it in your freezer then test on your home system. Then u know if its the driver.

A) I actually thought about doing that but I’m not sure how my Sony receiver would handle 4ohms instead of the the 8 it usually runs and…
2) It sounded crazy even in my head so I didn’t. Then I just kept waiting for <30 degrees for the last 2 days.

It should be cold enough within the next hour or so to give er a test listen. Alexa says the current temp is 29 but I got home from work 2hrs ago so the ambient temp in the car probably isn’t quite there yet. I’m just worried about what it could be if it’s NOT the speaker. I’ve eliminated the amp & RCAs already so I’m not sure how to check if it’s the DSP and I really don’t want to disassemble the interior in the cold to see if it’s a speaker wire somewhere.