Hey guys,
Im new to active posting but not to reading the tons of info that this community has. This is a great resource that im thankful is here. Im also not such a newb that im ignorant to some of the amazing talent that lurks here in the audio section. Ive read some great threads here on many topics. With that said Im hoping to get some assistance with an issue. Ive blown not one, two, but 3 speakers in 2 months. Today almost instantly. Now, Ive installed dozens of car audio systems and realize I can throw all that out the window with sleds. I also realize that 3 sets of blown speakers is some type of weird denial that there is an issue that Im missing. frankly its embarrassing...lol.. My setup is a 2020 FLHXS with boom gts, A Soundstream, pn1000D, BT355, "ultra flash". The ultra flash was done a couple weeks ago and I had already blown the 1st set of Polk db652s, and was trying Rockford p1650's that blew this weekend. Today I tried another set of db 652s in the fairing and amp front channel, and Polk mm652s in the lowers on the amp rear channel. I hooked them up, turned the gain on the amp down, ran a 80hz, 100hz, 400,hz and 1kHz 0db test tones and noticed immediately one of the db652 s crackling, distorting, and cutting out, on the front channel of the amp with any tone I tried, nearly 0 amp gain, head unit half or less. I backed out of it for a minute, checked connections, cursed like a sailor, and tried music with the same result. To eliminate the bt355, as that was one common factor with all speaker casualties, I ran straight into the high level of the amp same issue with the front, at this point at least one tweeter was already smoked, then the rear channel and the sound was fine. I didnt expect the front would sound great, as I knew at least one speaker was blown, But I was eliminating possibilities. So, with that long winded story, my question, where should I go from here? Please dont say the rock from which I crawled. Im leaning towards amp? Is it possible to have one channel so messed up that it would do that? I was thinking voltage drop and clip, but that wouldn't make sense for the rear channel to run fine ?... Kinda lost, and frankly tired of buying $100 AR-15 targets... Thanks for listening and any help is welcome and appreciated!!

 

Sorry to hear you're having so many troubles man. It sucks, but we've all had our fair share of issues to overcome.

I'm going to go under the assumption that your amp is fine. Maybe it's not and is causing issues, but here are the steps I would take to try to get on the right track.

Also assuming you're running the four speakers in stereo (one speaker to each channel)

Ultra flash with BT LL is fine. Did you make any adjustments to the BT355? If so, contact Biketronics and see if they'll set it back to original for you. Pain in the butt to ship it back, but would be worthwhile.

Here's my setup steps for a system like yours.

Volume to 4 bars from top on Head Unit
1 khz 0 or -5 db tone. The choice is yours. But make sure it's a clean tone. Nothing from youtube. I recommend these https://www.wccaraudio.com/downloads (DD-1 Test Tracks)

Amp crossover set to Full (All frequencies passing through amp)

Do NOT hook speakers up to amp yet

If you do not have a DD-1 or Oscilliscope, use a multimeter set to AC volts. Find your target watts using calculator for AC volts and the ohm load the amp will see from the speakers.
https://www.rapidtables.com/calc/ele...alculator.html Enter in the ohm rating for your speaker (typically 2, 4, or 8) and the wattage you're looking to get to and it'll calculate your target AC voltage for when you turn up the gain on the amp. Refer to sticky on audio page for video tutorial from JL audio for setting amp gains with multimeter in this fashion.

After finding your target voltage (This is assuming the amp is fine and does rated power without distortion), set your crossover on amp to High Pass at around 100-120 hz.

Turn volume down, pull the USB stick

Plug in speakers to amp

Check with music at low volume and increase as needed listening for any audible distortion or issues. Note your new max volume on your head unit is 4 bars from top. Beyond that and it adds more voltage going to the amp, which increases amp output and increases the likelihood of getting to distortion point and hence speakers take a dump on you. In other words, crank it up to max and everything will fail.

If after going through all of this and you still have issues, it's time to look at your amp as possibly being faulty.

Feel free to shoot me a message if you run into any issues.

 

How old is your amp? I just determined the other day that my same Sound Stream amp was bad. It was causing crackeling/distortion from my tweeters of my coax speaker. I tried 3 different sets of speakers, all the same. Tried a new amp and all cleared up.

But I would first following Denton’s directions

 

As a side note...if you're running those test tones through your speakers (it reads as if you did) that could be part of your speakers demise. Never run a test tone through the speakers other then at very low volumes just to confirm the test tone is indeed playing.

 

Yes, my apologies for the lack of clarity. I had the HU turned down as well as the gain on the amp when the latest speaker gave up the ghost. I did this with a multimeter and a 1k test tone on the first set, with no speaker. Strictly by ear with the Rockfords. And was going to try the multimeter again with a 1khz tone... I was undecided if I was going full pass or 80hz cut off hp so that’s why that tone was there... I turned up the volume on them, with the tone, after the speaker made its racket. It was mostly due to denial and frustration that, yet another speaker took a dump... The first set of Polks were set with a mm at 20v nearly exactly, best I could... They sounded awesome for a couple weeks then poof, both tweeters at the exact same time without so much as a pop or crackle... Right now I’m in drop back to punt mode... She’s stock right this minute... Getting gun shy...lol Thanks SBates , and all trying to help... I’ll continue to read your advice...

 

Just a couple months old.. March or early April. But I live in Vermont so there isn’t a ton of time on it due to the weather ... The last set of Polks are the only ones that made any noise or gave warning... The rest were fine one second then it was like someone put a pillow over them with no warning, that I heard atleast

 

As I read thru the post I didnt see anyone mentioning the AVC. The Automatic volume control should be off in the headunit settings.

If it is on and you have your volume up your output voltage on the amp will increase considerably when riding putting you past your target voltages when setting the gains.

Also when setting the gains on the amp do it with the bike running. The 2 volt DC input voltage change will also change the your target AC output voltage.

 

Yes, thank you.. I did indeed have the AVC off and the bike running.. Its sitting stock again for now. I cant hear it very well but it is what it is. Im willing to spend what I have to for good sound at great volume, but I just want to be confident it will work.