Car speakers

[skeith]

Ok the car is 17 years old, but lately some of the car speakers buzz (distort) on the heavy bass notes. I am wondering is the speakers are blown or if they are buzzing because the speaker covers (grills) are disintegrating and the speakers are now touching some surface and rattling where before they were not. How can I tell if I need to change the grill or the whole speaker. Is it easy to change the speakers yourself?

[mr jazz]

I'd imagine the speakers are, yes, either falling apart, or are loose and need to be tightened. At 17, I'd probably spring for new speakers. check www.crutchfield.com to see what will fit and how hard it will be to install.

[mjzee]

You might also want to empty out the door pockets. It could be the bass notes are making some things in there vibrate.

[skeith]

Thanks guys!!

If anyone else has any suggestions or experiences to relate, I would appreciate that too.

[Brad]

Assume it's all fixed?

[Jim Alfredson]

Most car speakers have a rubber gasket in between the speaker frame and the car door frame to cut down on rattles. After 17 years these have probably disintegrated. Check that first, but new speakers are pretty cheap and not hard to install. Crutchfield is good for researching, but I wouldn't buy speakers from them; their prices are too high. Find what fits then buy it somewhere else. Speakers are only two wires; not hard to hook up.

I spent $40 and put two new Pioneer speakers in my 1995 E150 van when I got it and that made a huge difference. The old speakers were falling apart and the gaskets were almost putty.

[mjzee]

I recently installed 2 new speakers in my 2006 Subaru. It was $100 including installation (I think they were Alpines). It made such a difference! I love my Subaru, but the speakers that they included were really crap.

[skeith]

Brad,

Not fixed yet... I have been too busy and it's been way too cold (I don't have a garage)

Thanks Jim and Mjzee for your input.

[JohnS]

Some years ago one of my speakers began to buzz. The cure was to tip out the accumulation of debris inside. Though I guess in view of the age of yours it's more likely yours are at the end of their life.