I put in an alpine stereo over 2 years ago and have not had any problems until this week. The drivers door speaker has no sound except for a buzzing. This has happened the last two times I drove xf, but after it warms up( if this makes sense). It starts working again. I never changed the amp hook ups. But I don't think this would make any difference except for more bass. I just don't know if I should look at replacing amp or speaker or what?!?!? I hate to just keep throwing parts at the problem. Anyone got suggestion? Please help! The buzzing has to stop!

 

put the oem head unit back in and see what you get.
if all is well, then Alpine problem.
if not, then amplifier problem.

 

But why would it start buzzing after so long?

 

Because something is broken or disconnected. It is NOT the speaker, that I can assure you. Buzzing indicates an open coupling or bypass capacitor in an amplifier (not necessarily THE amplifier) somewhere or your leads from head to amp are disconnected. A transistor in saturation could also sound like that as well.

 

Ok so where should I start looking? I know that all of the connections on the radio are secure because I made sure of that when I installed it. So do I check the amp? Where would the transistor be? Close to amp?

 

The head and amp are full of transistors, if one of them has failed, or some other component, it is time for a new head or amp.

Now,
If you have good sound from all other speakers, then power and ground to the head and amp are fine, so we know the problem is with the amp, head or speaker.
It if CONSISTENTLY works after "warming up", then we have a component failure in the amp or head unit.

In any event, the only way I know of to track this down is to swap left to right conections between the head and the amp. If the problem moves to the other side of the car, the problem is in the head. If it stays on the same side, it is amp or speaker.

It the speaker is truly buzzing (continuous rate of buzz) the problem is NOT in the speaker. If the "buzz" is varying with the music, it COULD be a bad speaker, but from your descriptoin, I dont see that. Here is a question: There are TWO door speakers, do they both make the same noise? If so, and I'm sure they do, then it certainly is not the speaker(s).

 

No music on that side at all only a buzzing sound. Even with the sound all the way down it buzzes. It only stops when I turn off radio.

So next question if it is the amp. Can I get it fixed or should I look into buying new one( different brand)or replace with used one?

 

replace with oem : $99 and up on ebay and car-part.com
new amp - you must be sure all the channels are there and you are familiar with audio wiring, or have a shop/friend that is.
Aftermarket amps come at all price points, but are unlikely to fit in the same space as the oem amp, unless they are pretty thin ....

 

^^^ What he said ^^^

There is no service information available on the factory amp that I am aware of (tho I could be wrong, if you were 'plugged in to' the industry, mabye) and no easy source of parts. Added to that, actual component-level electronic techs are rare; you won't likely find one. And at $75 an hour and up, you can source another one on eBay for less than the repair.

My bet is that it is that Apline head unit. Should have bought a Kenwood!



Pizzaguy aka
Mark Christopher
KenwoodUSA Corporation
Systems Division
Suwanee, GA

 

Mark, I have an old Alpine too, I'll gladly trade it to you for a NEW Kenwood to get it off the street.
( I want bluetooth, usb, am/fm, 4v preamp outs, silver face )
I bet your fancy shmansy Kenwoods don't have a clock display as nice as the Alpine, do they ?

 

I don't know, I won't put ANYTHING but OEM in my Crossfire.

I don't even TALK to the car audio group, they are worthless, we in LMR/Systems make the company money but every year we are told there will be no raises because consumer electronics and car audio are losing money and we must prop them up.

For that reason alone, I'd never put anything Kenwood in my car, even tho I can get the stuff at about 45% off.

 

Thanks so much guys! Sorry I prefer my alpine over kenwood. Plus I got the blue tooth and USB charger and 4 channel. Went to work out this morning and stereo worked fine all the way there, but when I got in car to go home it was buzzing again! Stopped to pick up lunch and it worked the rest of the way home! It's crazy. I'll try to order amp on ebay and see what happens.