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Old Nov 13, 2007 | 08:19 PM
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Default Radio Speaker Problem

I'm technically challenged when it comes to radios so please bear with me. I have an aftermarket corvette radio with a Jenson amp in my 68. The speakers on the left front and left rear ( green wires ) work great, but the right side don't work at all, front or rear ( purple wires ) I plugged the speakers on from the left side and still nothing. Is there a voltage check that I can do to see why there is no power to the right side speakers ? What should the voltage be to the speakers on the + terminal. There are two fuses, both of those are good.
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Old Nov 13, 2007 | 08:45 PM
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When I installed an Alpine in my '69 I had a similar problem. In my case it was a bad butt joint connection in the wires. Go back and check all wiring connections and re-do them if necessary.

Also check your grounds and make sure the speakers are in phase...+ to +, - to -. If the speakers aren't in phase you'll lose a lot of sound quality.
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Old Nov 13, 2007 | 09:00 PM
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Originally Posted by Roughrider
When I installed an Alpine in my '69 I had a similar problem. In my case it was a bad butt joint connection in the wires. Go back and check all wiring connections and re-do them if necessary.

Also check your grounds and make sure the speakers are in phase...+ to +, - to -. If the speakers aren't in phase you'll lose a lot of sound quality.
Everything is connected right, (+ to + ) ( - to - ) and the grounds are connected. All of the connections look good . Just don't work on the right side. I need some voltage readings for the wires or some advice on where the voltage should be coming from. Is there a reading going into the amp that I should check or a reading coming out.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 09:10 PM
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No radio experts here on the forum ??
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 09:53 PM
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You need two wires coming form each speaker (+ & -) Take a 1.5 volt battery and connect + of speaker to + on battery. Take - of battery and tap it on the negative of the speaker. You should hear the speaker making a poping sound. This test will tell you that each speaker is working properly.

Try that and let's see what happens
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 10:29 PM
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You need to be way more specific,, are you driving all 4 speakers from the amp? If so. I'm assuming that your driving the amp with two line level cables, right? If one cable isn't "correct" the one side won't work. Is the stereo ballance adjusted to one side? how are the amp adjustments? all that needs to be checked.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 10:36 PM
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Originally Posted by spedaleden
You need two wires coming form each speaker (+ & -) Take a 1.5 volt battery and connect + of speaker to + on battery. Take - of battery and tap it on the negative of the speaker. You should hear the speaker making a poping sound. This test will tell you that each speaker is working properly.

Try that and let's see what happens
I tried plugging the right side speakers on the left side and they work perfect, but when I plug them back on the right side they don't work, telling me that there is no signal or voltage coming through the wiring for the right side. Is there some kind of a reading that should be coming through that right side positive ( + ) wire ? Neither the front right or rear right works even though the speakers seem to be fine.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 10:47 PM
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Originally Posted by RunningMan373
You need to be way more specific,, are you driving all 4 speakers from the amp? If so. I'm assuming that your driving the amp with two line level cables, right? If one cable isn't "correct" the one side won't work. Is the stereo ballance adjusted to one side? how are the amp adjustments? all that needs to be checked.
All 4 speakers are hooked to the same Jenson amp. There are two green wires for the left speakers + and - and they seem to be fine ( work as they should ) There are two purple wires for the right side + and - and they are dead. I don't know what you mean when you say two line level cables. If you mean power lines, there are two power fuses and they are both good. I've moved the balance and it doesn't make any difference. What are the amp adjustments ? I don't see any type of adjustments on the amplifier itself.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 11:00 PM
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Originally Posted by bj1k
All 4 speakers are hooked to the same Jenson amp. There are two green wires for the left speakers + and - and they seem to be fine ( work as they should ) There are two purple wires for the right side + and - and they are dead. I don't know what you mean when you say two line level cables. If you mean power lines, there are two power fuses and they are both good. I've moved the balance and it doesn't make any difference. What are the amp adjustments ? I don't see any type of adjustments on the amplifier itself.
All I can assume is that you have 4 sets of wires , two sets for each side, and that the amp is capable of driving 4 speakers. The head unit will drive the amp with two (L&R) line level jacks, that is how the music gets from the head unit to the Amp, L&R. There are many different types of amps, one channel, two channel and 4 channel. If your going to drive 4 speakers, then you need a 4 channel amp, in addition, there are controlls on some amps, such as Gain for each input channel (2- L&R), Fade for a 4 channel unit ( 2rear channels) and bridging, which takes two of the chanels on a 2 or 4 channel amp, and makes them one for a sub woffer.

First thing i would check, is the drive to the amp. There should be 2 line level jacks going from the head unit back to the amp, these are the round type with the center pin and the cup around them. switch these and see if the speakers flip/flop on working, if so the problem is before the amp, if not, the the problem is in the amp.
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Old Nov 14, 2007 | 11:39 PM
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Originally Posted by RunningMan373
All I can assume is that you have 4 sets of wires , two sets for each side, and that the amp is capable of driving 4 speakers. The head unit will drive the amp with two (L&R) line level jacks, that is how the music gets from the head unit to the Amp, L&R. There are many different types of amps, one channel, two channel and 4 channel. If your going to drive 4 speakers, then you need a 4 channel amp, in addition, there are controlls on some amps, such as Gain for each input channel (2- L&R), Fade for a 4 channel unit ( 2rear channels) and bridging, which takes two of the chanels on a 2 or 4 channel amp, and makes them one for a sub woffer.

First thing i would check, is the drive to the amp. There should be 2 line level jacks going from the head unit back to the amp, these are the round type with the center pin and the cup around them. switch these and see if the speakers flip/flop on working, if so the problem is before the amp, if not, the the problem is in the amp.
Thanks, I will look at it again tomorrow.
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