When car speakers fail, they are often said to have blown out.
The speaker may not work at all, or it may sound awful.
Here are the main signs that car speakers have blown out:
Distorted sound, hissing, and fuzziness.
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If you suspect blown speakers, set your volume at a low- to mid-level, and listen for distortion.
Telltale popping or rattling instead of music.
Your speakers are almost certainly blown.
Lack of bass, treble, or mid-tones.
Lack of vibration from the speakers.
Feel the front of your speaker grills when the system is in operation.
Checking speakers for impedance.
Speakers that are in good working order typically had an impedance of 4 or 8 ohms.
If you find that your speakers have extremely high, or even infinite, impedance, they’re blown.
What Causes Car Speakers to Blow Out?
What happens is that the cone moves further than it is supposed to, which stresses the material.
Thermal car speaker failures happen when a speaker receives more power than it can deal with.
The excess power causes a buildup of heat, which can soften the glue that holds some components together.
This essentially blows the speaker, since it will no longer produce sound like it used to.
Clipping is an issue that is sometimes seen in car audio systems that include adedicated amplifier.
Its also totally possible for car speakers to simply fail due to age and normal use.
This is especially true withOEM speakers that are typically made from inferior materialsin comparison to higher end aftermarket speakers.
How Do You Tell if Your Car Speakers Are Blown?
Disconnect the speaker wires, and then check for continuity between the two speaker terminals.
If your multimeter shows no continuity, that indicates the speaker is blown.
If you feel like something is missing, then it might be a blown out speaker.
The new speakers should work just fine if you keep the volume low enough to avoid distortion.
