Audio Systems: Car Audio, Unfortunately, rockford fosgate speakers, new rockford

Question
QUESTION: Hi,I recently (today) installed a pioneer DEH-1100MP stereo system. Everything works,lights, all functions, I can even hear cd spinning, but no sound from the speakers. Now, a while before this, I installed an older, but still aftermarket Kenwood deck. It worked fine, only problem was my speakers were blown and sounded horrible. So, I bought brand new Rockford fosgate speakers, which lead me to buy the new deck (pioneer). We wired it once, when we discovered no sound, we figured we must have wired something wrong. So we started all over with a brand new harness. After wiring once again, still no sound. So then, I figured It had to be a problem with the wires that came with deck. I exchanged a whole new deck and wires, and once again, bought a NEW harness and started all over. Still nothing. Yes, I did wire them right, I triple checked. Grounded it to car, if that makes any difference. I have read other questions that most people suggest that it may be something about bypassing or doing something else with the amp. I dont want to bypass it, because I bought the new deck FOR higher wattage and better sound. If I need to do something, please explain briefly what i need to do, it would be greatly appreciated. I am sick of messing with it, it sounded great when i had the other deck in, so why wont this one work. Please, please please help. Thanks so much,

Zac

ANSWER: Are you driving the speakers directly from the amplifiers inside the DEH-1100MP? Or, is there an external amp connected to it which is driving the speakers?  If the former system was using an external amp then that amp is still in the car?  And hooked up to the speakers?

You may have to bring out the Pioneer and bench test it to make sure it is working properly all the way. You can do this by running some leads from the battery to the DEH-1100MP and then hookup a known good speaker to one of the outputs. Then check each channel output one by one.  Once you know the unit is working good you know the problem is in the wiring connections to the vehicle (or to the external amp in the car).  Sometimes the amp is under the passenger seat; sometimes in the trunk; sometimes under the dash.....  sometimes they are hard to find.  

Hope this gives you some idea of how to troubleshoot the system.

You can find the wiring guide for your vehicle at several places on the web.  Just google for stereo wiring guide for your make, model and year of vehicle.



---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Hey, thanks for the reply. I figured out the problem. I should have included the fact that I drive a jeep cherokee, and the infinity gold system came with a factory amp. I just didnt have the amp connected because the chrysler harness had some wires that weren't color coated. Next question is simply why do you think my brand new speakers sound even worse now that i put a new deck in? is it because of the factory amp not working well with the newer deck? thanks

Answer
Sound quality is very subjective.  Sensitivity and mounting along with inadequate power are the most often found obstacles to good sound.  When mounting a speaker as a replacement it must be properly enclosed to keep the air holes and vents closed. Otherwise the sound from one side of the cone cancels out the other side and bass is lost.  If the sensitivity of the replacement speaker is too low it will eat up the power from the amp and run out of drive.  If the power is too low it will be insufficient to drive the speakers to full power.

And, sometimes the new speakers are just not good sounding.  If the difference is huge there is likely a technical problem.  Small differences are easily accounted for by virtue of basic differences in the inherent sound quality from the manufacturer.

Finally, sometimes one figures if the power were to be double the sound would be twice as loud.  This is not the case.  Doubling the power of the amp will only give a barely noticeable increase in power output from the same speaker.  If the replacement speaker were a little less sensitive, say the originals were 92db and the new ones were 89db you would be right back where you started so far as loudness playability.

Hope this makes sense to you.