Help diagnose speaker issue

[whito123]

My new-to-me 2003 996 C4 came with the stock CDR23, MOST, amp in front trunk, dash speakers, rear speakers, and door woofers. My front left (driver's side) speaker makes very little sound - when I isolate it with fader/balance control, it mostly sounds like it is just making sound from the tweeter. I removed the speaker and inspected it, and the wiring and speakers look fine (visually).

Can anyone offer advice on how to diagnose what my issue is? ie: bad speaker, bad amp, bad head, bad wiring, etc.?

I'll be doing an upgrade to a PCM2 soon and want to get the speaker issue resolved by then.

Cheers.

BTW - great forum!

[rogerjohnsen]

You could start by using the passenger side speaker to isolate the speaker aspect assuming it works correctly. If the problem persists, next would be the wiring, amp, etc.

[whito123]

Thanks, good suggestion. I'll swap the front speakers and see what happens.

[gnetwerker]

If you have a DC voltmeter, you can measure the voltage at the door speakers. Normal speaker voltage is between 5-15 volts. Put on some music and the meter should dance like a VU meter. Most likely you've got a bad speaker coil and need to replace the speaker. It's unusual (but not impossible) for a single channel to go out on a multi-channel amp.