Car Stereos: Failure Message on Xplod, sony xplod, internal amplifier

Question
Dear Brian,

I am using Sony xplod in my car - it has been working fine for the last 1 year of so and 2 days back it is giving me buzzing sound when I start the car/ xplod in the left rear speaker only. I am not using any AMP and the front and right rear speaker are working absolutely fine. No sound is coming from left rear speakers - please suggest the remedy as awaiting response from your end.

Regards,
Hassan, Pakistan

Answer
Hi Hassan,

I apologize for the delay in answering your question.

I'm a bit confused, because the subject line refers to "failure" message on the head unit, but you don't mention this in your question.  If you are seeing a failure message, that usually indicates a pinched, grounded or shorted speaker wire, or a speaker with a shorted voice coil.  When this happens, the head unit's internal amplifier shuts down for protection.

If it's just a matter of a single speaker not working, though, then a short circuit is less likely.  In this case, I'd suspect a defective speaker, rather than any problem with the head unit itself.  One way to troubleshoot the problem would be to reverse the connections at the rear speakers, so that the left speaker wires are connected to the right speaker, and vice versa.  (Depending on how difficult it is to remove the speakers, you might need to use some "jumper" test leads to do this).  If the problem continues with the same speaker, then it confirms that the speaker is defective.  However, if switching the connections causes the left speaker to play normally, while the right speaker fails, then the problem is in the speaker wiring or head unit.

Hope this helps!

Brian