Stereo / speaker issue

[Tclark18]

Please bear with this long post, frustrating I cant figure out. I have installed 2 new clarion CMSP-651RGB-SWG speakers in my cockpit area. I have also 2 speakers, original in forward berth of Sea ray 225 weekender. I have an original clarion XMD2 receiver. I put in new speakers because port cockpit speaker was trashed, ripped cone, they were original. Now when I use the stereo ALL speakers are popping, crackling, whatever you can call it and the receiver display in flickering from bright to dim. I have re done the connections at the new speakers 2x and still occurs. I have cleaned all grounds at control station ground buss and also at main negative bus. Still flickering display and ALL speakers popping. My next step is to try and run straight power and ground to the battery alone and see if it still happens....Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Stee6043]

I'd wonder if the LED's might be casing some interference. How did you wire the LED's? If you disconnect those does the popping continue? Any chance you had popping from the receiver before the install, but you didn't notice it due to the trashed speakers?

 

[Tclark18]

Stee Thanks for the reply. I have not hooked up the LED's as of yet, so it is not an issue. What i did notice was 2 things. 1. if I keep volume very low the receiver still flickers but speakers don't seem to pop. 2. when I first turn on receiver it does not happen until it "warms" up. The receiver actually feels hot on the back, I have it pulled from the dash mount. To be honest I never noticed it last year with the old speakers, as I was only listening to one cockpit speaker or had a portable speaker with me. Whats bugging me is its ALL 4 speakers....

 

[Stee6043]

Stee Thanks for the reply. I have not hooked up the LED's as of yet, so it is not an issue. What i did notice was 2 things. 1. if I keep volume very low the receiver still flickers but speakers don't seem to pop. 2. when I first turn on receiver it does not happen until it "warms" up. The receiver actually feels hot on the back, I have it pulled from the dash mount. To be honest I never noticed it last year with the old speakers, as I was only listening to one cockpit speaker or had a portable speaker with me. Whats bugging me is its ALL 4 speakers....

It sure sounds like the receiver might be kaput. Is it the original from the boat? I wonder if having four functional speakers all powered up and fully functional drove the receiver into early retirement.

There are some super sharp audio guys on this forum that will likely check in soon. I'm a bit of a hack...

 

[Tclark18]

Thank You Stee, much appreciated. I hope to get more reply's.........

 

[ocgrant]

3 things...
1. check the ground on the receiver, probably an issue
2. volt meter on the constant power (should be yellow wire) see what your voltage is while playing audio
3. Original units do go bad (my guess)... My buddies Clarion sounded like Chit... I installed a new Fusion for him last week and wow, his crappy speakers sound decent now.

 

[Tclark18]

3 things...
1. check the ground on the receiver, probably an issue
2. volt meter on the constant power (should be yellow wire) see what your voltage is while playing audio
3. Original units do go bad (my guess)... My buddies Clarion sounded like Chit... I installed a new Fusion for him last week and wow, his crappy speakers sound decent now.

Thanks!....Do you remember which model you installed?

 

[ocgrant]

Thanks!....Do you remember which model you installed?

770 the nice main unit. It allows you to do about anything as far as configuration. Plus you can control everything from your phone. I have it in my boat and run 4 zones, wife and kids love it.

 

[Tclark18]

770 the nice main unit. It allows you to do about anything as far as configuration. Plus you can control everything from your phone. I have it in my boat and run 4 zones, wife and kids love it.

Thanks for the info. Just got back from boat and the receiver is worse, wont even display with power going to it. I checked RED, Yellow and ground..All good voltages. I guess time for a new install

 

[TheDudeAbides]

Please bear with this long post, frustrating I cant figure out. I have installed 2 new clarion CMSP-651RGB-SWG speakers in my cockpit area. I have also 2 speakers, original in forward berth of Sea ray 225 weekender. I have an original clarion XMD2 receiver. I put in new speakers because port cockpit speaker was trashed, ripped cone, they were original. Now when I use the stereo ALL speakers are popping, crackling, whatever you can call it and the receiver display in flickering from bright to dim. I have re done the connections at the new speakers 2x and still occurs. I have cleaned all grounds at control station ground buss and also at main negative bus. Still flickering display and ALL speakers popping. My next step is to try and run straight power and ground to the battery alone and see if it still happens....Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Might be the ohms of the speakers being too much for the internal amp of the head unit. Those older units couldn't handle much with speaker resistance and it's possible the new speakers have more resistance than the old ones. That's why amps have different wattage ratings for different ohm speakers. So it's possible you're basically exceeding what the stereo can do because the new speakers cut your wattage output by half or more. Have you tried just running the new speakers alone? Do all speakers distort at all volume levels or just higher? Also verify you didn't accidentally swap any positive/negative wires.

Might be time to think about replacing the head unit. You can "upgrade" to a newer Clarion head unit to the CMD series for not too much. I scored a brand new in the box CMD8 for $60 about a month ago on Ebay.
But anything after I think the CMD6 you'd have to change out the remote and cables from the 6 pin to 8 pin. Even still, you can find a CMD4 pretty easy and cheap and it will nearly be plug and play with what you have.

 

[Tclark18]

Might be the ohms of the speakers being too much for the internal amp of the head unit. Those older units couldn't handle much with speaker resistance and it's possible the new speakers have more resistance than the old ones. That's why amps have different wattage ratings for different ohm speakers. So it's possible you're basically exceeding what the stereo can do because the new speakers cut your wattage output by half or more. Have you tried just running the new speakers alone? Do all speakers distort at all volume levels or just higher? Also verify you didn't accidentally swap any positive/negative wires.

Might be time to think about replacing the head unit. You can "upgrade" to a newer Clarion head unit to the CMD series for not too much. I scored a brand new in the box CMD8 for $60 about a month ago on Ebay.
But anything after I think the CMD6 you'd have to change out the remote and cables from the 6 pin to 8 pin. Even still, you can find a CMD4 pretty easy and cheap and it will nearly be plug and play with what you have.

Well thanks to all who have offered advice. Problem now solved. Turns out after I attempted to put a borrowed head unit in I STILL had same problem. Prior to diving head first in the water and giving up I tried 1 last time. Turns out that my yellow (memory) wire which runs to my battery was not securely attached! I must have cleaned every ground on my boat, 2x!......Should have looked here first. Thanks all!