The driver door speaker no longer works in my '04 Subaru Outback wagon. How do you get at it to fix it?
Not sure it’s actually worth fixing a car speaker…
You’re best bet is replace it.
If you buy new speakers at www.Crutchfield.com…they’ll send you instructions on exactly how to replace the speaker.
If you don’t want to take that route…then try a forum specializing in Subaru’s.
You’ll want to make sure it’s the speaker and not the speaker wire that’s bad. You might be able to get a replacement at the junkyard, or at Crutchfield. If it doesn’t work, then you have a wire problem.
If you’re lucky, you might be able to remove the speaker grill and then remove the speaker, but most times you have to remove the door trim panel.
Or you can just adust the fader to eliminate the front speakers…
As texases alluded to, it is just as likely–if not more likely–that the wiring is at fault, rather than the speaker.
When you open the car door, near the upper hinge you will see a fairly thick corrugated black rubber boot which contains all of the wiring that runs into that door. If you open that boot, you will likely find that one or more of the wires inside has broken.
A simple splicing may be all that is needed.
If the quick fix suggested by texases and VDC isn’t the problem and it gets a little more intensive and requires panel removal, a trip to a car audio specialist who can do the job quickly might be worth it…I would at least for an estimate, then do the gazintas to determine your labor savings…which for me at my age ain’t much anymore.
Go to an autoparts store and ask for a panel removal tool. They only cost a couple of bucks and it will keep you from tearing up the door panel. Now look for a couple of phillips head screws in the panel. They will be located usually in teh door handle trim and the door pocket. Remove them.
Next, if you have manual windows, use a terry cloth towel to remove the c clip from the handle. Slide the terry cloth behind the handle and move back and forth until the clip comes out. It will fall to the ground and it may spring some distance so do it in a garage or some enclosed space. If you have to do it outdoors, use a large towel or blanket under the door and hope the clip lands on it.
Now with the tool, start prying the fasteners loose from the bottom of the door panel. Then work up both sides. The panel hangs in the window channel so when all the fasteners are loose, just lift up and out.
Thanks to all of you! I will get after it this weekend!
Let me add a little advice here, use another OEM speaker. If you use an aftermarket speaker, then replace both or you won’t have a good balance between them. If you go aftermarket, you need to get speakers that will work with the lower power output of an OEM radio. I don’t know what your radio puts out, and I’m not sure how to get the specs, but it is probably less than 10 watts RMS per channel. If you get a pair of speakers rated for 10-60 watts (typical aftermarket), you will barely be able to hear them at full volume.
The aftermarket speakers typical of above are better speakers than most factory speakers, but they need more power to drive them. I have a set that are pretty typical aftermarket with an aftermarket stereo rated at 22 watts RMS per channel and the volume is never very loud in my car, but at least it reaches comfortable listening levels when turned up.
If you bought a highend optional factory radio, it may drive the aftermarket speakers just fine. but I don’t know where you will get the specs to determine this.
If you get a pair of speakers rated for 10-60 watts (typical aftermarket), you will barely be able to hear them at full volume.
Sorry that’s completely wrong…A speakers wattage rating has NOTHING…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how loud they’ll get.
A speakers efficiency rating (along with max power rating) will give you an idea on how loud a speaker can get get.
Example…I have a set of home speakers that have a 60watt power rating…HOWEVER they have an efficiency rating of 96dbs. Meaning that at 1 watt they’ll put out 96dbs. These speakers will put out THUNDERING sound at a mere 20 watts. Where as a speaker that’s rated at 100 watts, but only with an efficiency rating of 85dbs…at 100 watts you won’t even be able to hear the music over my speakers playing at just 20 watts.
You will find that professional speakers used by theaters and rock bands are very very efficiency. They have efficiency ratings of over 100dbs. One speaker I’m thinking of has an efficiency rating of 105db’s…and max power handling of just 50 watts…When played at full volume…they’ll blow out your ear-drums.
Mike, my speakers are rated 10-60 watts and their efficiency is only 89dB/watt@1 meter. If you have a set with the same power ratings but an efficiency of 96 dB/watt @ 1 meter, then they will be a lot louder.
To say that the power rating has nothing to do with how loud they will get is not completely true. They are related. Its true that there are a lot of factors that determine the speakers efficiency, The power handling typically follows a curve related to power handling. Low power, high efficiency. High power, low efficiency. But you can take a high efficiency speaker and extend its power handling capabilities with heat sinks.
BTW, there is a big difference between speakers rated 10-60 watts vs up to 60 watts. When there is a low power reading, that means it needs a minimum power just to drive them where the “up to” are typically cheaper speakers with heat sinks.
To say that the power rating has nothing to do with how loud they will get is not completely true.
You’re right…I should have phrased it differently…Should have said that power rating ALONE has nothing to do with how loud a speaker will get…but what you said…
“If you get a pair of speakers rated for 10-60 watts (typical aftermarket), you will barely be able to hear them at full volume.”…
Is COMPLETELY WRONG…Without counting for efficiency you have no idea how loud a speaker will get.
Also note…that not all speaker companies rate their speakers the same. Some will say their speaker is rated at 100 watts…but the speaker is really rated at 100 watts MAX. My home speakers are rated at 60 watts RMS (continuous wattage)…NOT PEAK.
BTW, there is a big difference between speakers rated 10-60 watts vs up to 60 watts. When there is a low power reading, that means it needs a minimum power just to drive them where the “up to” are typically cheaper speakers with heat sinks.
My home speakers are rated at (1w - 60w).
I RARELY listen to my speakers over 5 watts. At 5 watts it’s MORE then loud enough. You won’t even be able to hold a conversation in the same room without shouting…(18’x28’) room. With High-end, High_Efficiency speakers you can drive them easily at 1watt (OR LOWER) without a problem. These speakers are NOT cheap.
I’ve listened to my home speakers though head-phone amps…and they sounded GREAT.
You can’t compare the home listening environment to that of a car. I too have a very good set of speakers for my home stereo system. 15" woofers, 2x 5" mids, 2x tweeters and a super tweeter. 20-20kHz ±6dB and 93dB/watt @ 1 meter 1kHz. 10 watts will give you concert hall volumes. My amp for that system is 35 watts/channel RMS. I bought this system back in the 70’s and it wasn’t cheap either.
My surround system needs a lot of power to drive the speakers. These all in one systems seldom supply much in the way of specs so I don’t have any, but at 100 watts per channel (peak, RMS or whatever?) it takes turning up the amp to about the -12 to -8 dB range to hear clearly. I am looking at replacing it with individually bought components, but getting specs is getting difficult. The manufacturers think everyone is too stupid to understand them.
But the living room ambient noise level is around 50-60 dB. Some people have living rooms that can be as low as 40 dBrn. A typical car has an interior ambient noise level of around 75dB, but the range is from the mid 60’s to low 90"s at highway speeds. Thats for vehicles when new. You need the radio to be 20dB above ambient to hear clearly. In some vehicles, that can actually cause damage to your hearing from just a short drive.
In my Saturn, I have the speakers mentioned in my first post and the 22 watts RMS/channel will not be too loud, although I usually listen at a lower level. I have the same size speakers, but another brand. I don’t know their specs but the same 22 watts will drive them very loud.
Back to my original statement, I am guilty of oversimplifying. Power ratings usually are inversely proportional to the efficiency and most people do not read past the power handling spec. My goal was to get the OP to look further into the specs and his system and not to arbitrarily buy one speaker and expect satisfactory results. That was my intent.
You can’t compare the home listening environment to that of a car. I too have a very good set of speakers for my home stereo system. 15" woofers, 2x 5" mids, 2x tweeters and a super tweeter. 20-20kHz ±6dB and 93dB/watt @ 1 meter 1kHz. 10 watts will give you concert hall volumes. My amp for that system is 35 watts/channel RMS. I bought this system back in the 70’s and it wasn’t cheap either.
Sure you can…The physics/math doesn’t change.
The output of the speaker will be EXACTLY the same no matter if it’s in a house or a VW Bug.
My home amp is rated at 12watts. It’s a single-ended-triode tube amp. Cranking it up all the way is WAY too loud. My rear speakers are almost as efficient as my front…Their at 94db’s…Fronts (left, right and center) are 96db’s.
I agree with you about how loud a vehicle noise can be…but it still has NOTHING to do with how many watts a speaker can handle to determine how loud the speaker will get.
Mike…not that I can contribute ny thing, but what heck. Yes, the actual output of a speaker is the same. What isn’t, is the effect on the sound by it’s listening environment. That’s why more wattage may be needed for different environments with the same speakers. Conservatively, the listening environment is more important on both loudness and response then the drivers and electronics when comparing systems that are equivalent, whatever that means. Drivers and specs mean very little when given by a manufacturer. Skiers always needed to be evaluated in the environment they are to be used…with a return policy. Tha is why for cars, you may ultimately be satisfied with doing bussiness with a car audio specialist then ordering speakers and doing the work your self. You will not be as happy cost wise…
You cannot compare the home listening environment to a car. It is math and physics, but there is not enough space in this forum to cover all that. Actually it can be difficult to compare one home environment to another as well as one car to another.
Speakers do respond to their environment. In a home environment, the speakers are placed in well engineered (good ones anyway) enclosures. Not so in a car. The frequency response of a speaker will be different in an anechoic chamber than the inside of a car door.
But none of this is important. I am sure you understand speaker technology and I assure you I do too. My original point was to get the OP to think about his choice on speakers. I don’t know his level of understanding of audio systems, but if it is limited, we probably confused him, but then he may already know what he wants and all he needed was the info on removing the door panel.
Triodes? In this day and age? Seriously? I am jealous. Single ended though, I would prefer push pull.
Based on my experiences with speaker replacement in cars, unless the car came from the factory with a high-end, high dollar optional stereo, anything aftermarket will be an improvement over the factory speakers. I had one quit working in a '96 Taurus I had, and got tired of it pretty quickly and just wanted some form of sound coming out my driver’s door. I got a pair of the cheapest aftermarket speakers Wal-Mart had to offer (Roadmaster brand 6X8s, sold exclusively at Wal-Mart for something like $25 a pair). They sounded surprisingly good compared to what I was used to, so I got another pair of the same for the back. Even this cheap aftermarket junk from Wal-Mart sounded vastly better than what the factory installed.
As to the actual failure you experienced, I will differ with some of the others on the board based on my experiences. Wiring certainly can fail, but the vast majority of car speaker failures I have seen ended up being the speakers themselves. A simple test to prove the speakers bad is to connect any known good speaker to the wiring for the non-working door speaker. If the wiring drives the known good speaker, but not the one it was connected to originally, the speaker is obviously at fault. If it won’t the problem is wiring or the amp/head unit.
I hear what you all are saying and agree what is said for most older cars and better systems in high end car. Let me add that in this day and age it is no longer a certainty that this is true. With the easily available technology, it is no longer as costly to evaluate a cars interior and match the speakers, interior and electronics. This is done in many not so high end cars, making it possible to change the sound quality by just ordering or buying speakers off the shelf without experienced advice. The 04 Outback may be doing quite well with the factory installed for the money. Car makers do have a need for NOT inducing listening fatigue which can occur in a car’s environment.
The reason I keep mentioning this is two fold. First, sound takes on the character of every surface it reflects from and secondly, the interior of a car can be dramatically altered just adding people, especially in available air space and sound absorbancy which a means a car is more in need of EQ that’s adjustable then any thing else. Buying after market speakers that are more sensitive in the 100hz range may give you the illusion of better quality which cheaper speakers often do, but it may do little and actually degrade accuracy throughout the rest of the audio spectrum or induce listening fatigue.
The bottom line for me is, if you want accurate sound that is non fatiguing unless you have a more acoustically stable environment, like a large travel trailer, you may be better off duplicating the drivers and location to factor installed or getting a professional opinion. If you are like me, and really don’t expect much from a car’s interior, I agree that almost anything will do. But, be aware, though it may initially sound better,increasing this listening fatigue is a real factor. Car makers don’t want to loose sales because of it.
Just to ramble a little more, cause I have way too much free time on my hands, Bose is both hated by audiophiles for not producing accurate sound, but revered by many average listeners who seem to value long term non fatiguing listening. Sometimes you can’t have it both ways and Bose happily makes money not selling to so called audiophiles while pleasantly pleasing the masses and car makers and the military and others who have to listen to sound for extended periods in cars, homes and other more demanding environments.
You cannot compare the home listening environment to a car. It is math and physics, but there is not enough space in this forum to cover all that. Actually it can be difficult to compare one home environment to another as well as one car to another.
The home or car listening environment has NOTHING to do with what you said…
All you said was that a speaker that’s rated in the 10-60 watt range won’t be loud enough. You said nothing about the environment. And as I pointed out…there are MANY MANY speakers with much lower power handling range but much higher in efficiency that will be A LOT LOUDER…The speaker wattage range along with it’s efficiency is what matters.
I was only using my home to show the relationship between high efficient speakers and low wattage and how loud you can get them. The EXACT SAME PRINCIPLES apply to home or the car environment.
Mike…not that I can contribute ny thing, but what heck. Yes, the actual output of a speaker is the same. What isn’t, is the effect on the sound by it’s listening environment. That’s why more wattage may be needed for different environments with the same speakers
I completely agree with that…but that’s NOT what Keith originally said. His first remark which I responded to was…
If you get a pair of speakers rated for 10-60 watts (typical aftermarket), you will barely be able to hear them at full volume.
Nothing was said about the environment…My whole discussion about a speakers efficiency and wattage range is true no matter what environment the speaker is in. The physics that drive the speaker doesn’t change because it’s in a car or house. Yes the environment has a HUGE effect on how a car’s system sounds…But I’m NOT comparing a home speaker to a car speaker. I’m comparing a home speaker to a home speaker or a car speaker to a car speaker.