Left speakers making a crackle/popping noise? Also static, help!

[Heffer_Slayer]

Gday guys, just recently my amp had fell down from its mount point

And ever since then, my front left splits have been making this strange popping noise during playback, and also regardless of volume on the headunit, there is a loud static noise. Like the "psssssssssssshhhhhhh" from a old tv.
I can have the headunit muted and i will still hear that strange noise coming from JUST the left speakers.

I have them amped off a 4 channel amp, though ive bridged them.
The splits are Alpine Type R's.

Any ideas guys?
I took off my door trim to inspect the connection to the speaker, seemed fine...went for a drive with it off. Didn't do it.
Put it all back on. Back to crackle and pop town.

[holdenboy]

Have a look at the RCA plugs on your amp, maybe they got damaged when the amp fell.

Try swapping the left speaker wiring with the right at the output side of the amp. If the noise can be heard through the right side then its the amp, and its probably the RCA connection.

[Heffer_Slayer]

Have a look at the RCA plugs on your amp, maybe they got damaged when the amp fell.

Try swapping the left speaker wiring with the right at the output side of the amp. If the noise can be heard through the right side then its the amp, and its probably the RCA connection.

Top notch idea, ill go try it out now!

[Heffer_Slayer]

Well i disconnected the rca's and the "psssshing"/static noise i described is still there. So i guess its not the RCA's, also the speaker drops in and out sometimes.

What else could it be? My speaker wiring? I doubt it would be the amp itself because my right hand side still works perfectly fine.
Could the split be damaged?

[holdenboy]

Did you swap the speaker wires around?

Just disconnecting the RCAs will only tell you its the RCA cables themselves that are at fault, im thinking its the RCA terminals on the amp. Swapping the speaker wires will tell you if theres a problem with this.

[Heffer_Slayer]

Did you swap the speaker wires around?

Just disconnecting the RCAs will only tell you its the RCA cables themselves that are at fault, im thinking its the RCA terminals on the amp. Swapping the speaker wires will tell you if theres a problem with this.

I just swapped the speakers wires over then. And yea i think youa re right!!
It is the terminals on terminals on the amp, the speaker terminals. How the hell did you know that!?? Atm my clarion amp is bridged into 2 to power the splits. Does this mean i will have to unbridge them Or need a new amp??

Its hard to know what triggers it because i just started to walk away from my boot and it started poppin again like crazy!! Its pretty random...
Though i think its the negetive terminal on the amp.

Whats the next stage in fixing this pain in the ass?
The static noise seems to have stopped but when the popping occurs the static is back.

Thanks for all your help so far!!

[holdenboy]

I would imagine its the RCA terminal on the amp itself that has been damaged and needs to be replaced.

[Heffer_Slayer]

I would imagine its the RCA terminal on the amp itself that has been damaged and needs to be replaced.

By RCA terminal, do you mean the plugs were the RCA's go into? Because i flipped around the speaker wires....
Unplugging the RCA for the popping side seemed to have made no difference in terms of static noise.
Im confused.

[danja]

It may be the terminals themselves, it may not be. What that's told you is that the circuitry powering the left channels has a fault.

Is there any obvious damage to the terminals? Do they protrude from the amplifier? If you wiggle the wires or the terminals themselves if they stick out do you hear any changes?

[Heffer_Slayer]

It may be the terminals themselves, it may not be. What that's told you is that the circuitry powering the left channels has a fault.

Is there any obvious damage to the terminals? Do they protrude from the amplifier? If you wiggle the wires or the terminals themselves if they stick out do you hear any changes?

I gave them a slight wiggle but it didn't seem to change anything, wiggled both the RCA's and Speaker wires but there is something definatley wrong with the left chanel.
though i do remember opening my boot and finding this amp on the floor, the mount had fallen off. So it may have been damaged like that, from what i remember the left channel's wires had little to no slack.

[danja]

So just to recap, the amp, with both the RCA's unplugged produces static on the left channel, and when you wired the right speaker to the left channel, the static came from the right speaker?

It's possible that either from the wire yanking out, or the impact of the fall, either the terminals have been damaged and/or a component on the PCB has become unseated.

If it's the latter it might be quite easy to repair, a TV repair guy could probably do it for you fairly cheap, if it's the terminals then depending on the damage it might be trickier to repair, unless you can find a replacement terminal!

Is it a good amplifier, and is it under warranty?

[Heffer_Slayer]

So just to recap, the amp, with both the RCA's unplugged produces static on the left channel, and when you wired the right speaker to the left channel, the static came from the right speaker?

It's possible that either from the wire yanking out, or the impact of the fall, either the terminals have been damaged and/or a component on the PCB has become unseated.

If it's the latter it might be quite easy to repair, a TV repair guy could probably do it for you fairly cheap, if it's the terminals then depending on the damage it might be trickier to repair, unless you can find a replacement terminal!

Is it a good amplifier, and is it under warranty?

Yep your recap is spot on.
The amp is nothing special its just some Clarion 4 chan amp my friend gave to me. Ive got it bridged so i get 130wrms to my splits!

So i guess ill have to open it up and check it out aye?
Im fairly good with electronics, but it doesn't make much sence seeing as you move it and nothing happens but at random points it starts popping, ive actually seen the cone of the speaker "pop", ie the cone moves out.

Im still unsure of what to look for when i open it up though...at this point im living with it but its really bad for the ears!!

[danja]

Well because it's happening with the RCA's unplugged, it's not the head unit. Because it's only one channel it wouldn't be the power supply/ground, so logic says it will be the amp. I'm thinking if it's impact damage a trace may have lifted on the PCB, so look for those. Also if you try un-bridging the speakers and trying each of the channels individually you may be able to narrow it down further.

Try Googling for amplifier repair, I remember seeing some sites in the past.

[holdenboy]

Yeah as danja said, have a close look at the PCB, you may be able to see a bit of damage somewhere.....but seeing as its nothing special i wouldnt worry too much.

If you cant find anything, consider paying a repair shop to fix it....just getting a quote will cost you anywhere from $40-$80. I would imagine you could pick up a replacement amp (same brand, same power) for around $200.