Did i just blow my stereo?
Discussion
I am not sure if i have screwed up, today i was updating the crappy old (original) sound system in an old Peugeot 206.
I put a new (cheap Sony) head unit in and new front speakers the other day but the rear speakers only arrived today.
As i was installing the rear speakers (just as i cut the wires to the old ones) , The stereo made a beeping sound ..I had figured that as it was turned off and the key was not in the ignition I didn't need to worry about it.
So, i finished installing the speakers and then turned everything on and had lost the radio presets which suggested to me i might have made the Sony s
t itself somehow.
I Then took the car out for a spin and the stereo works but it just doesn't sound very good at volume which is a bit disappointing so i thought i would take it out and put the original head unit back in and test that with the new speakers.
The original Head unit (Clarion) sounds better than the new Sony Head unit, and the Sony unit was REALLY hot when i took it out!
The Sony stereo is bottom of the line unit (Sony DSX-A200UI) and is reported to be 55w x 4 but at high volume the sound just falls apart. (and it gets hotter than the sun)
So for now at least, I guess I am sticking with the original Clarion Head Unit and might keep my eye out for something a bit better than the cheap Sony unit (that i may have blown something in!)
I would appreciate your thoughts on whether you agree that i may have blown something in the Sony, or whether the clarion is actually better equipment and needs less wattage to produce a nice sound, or both
I put a new (cheap Sony) head unit in and new front speakers the other day but the rear speakers only arrived today.
As i was installing the rear speakers (just as i cut the wires to the old ones) , The stereo made a beeping sound ..I had figured that as it was turned off and the key was not in the ignition I didn't need to worry about it.
So, i finished installing the speakers and then turned everything on and had lost the radio presets which suggested to me i might have made the Sony s
t itself somehow. I Then took the car out for a spin and the stereo works but it just doesn't sound very good at volume which is a bit disappointing so i thought i would take it out and put the original head unit back in and test that with the new speakers.
The original Head unit (Clarion) sounds better than the new Sony Head unit, and the Sony unit was REALLY hot when i took it out!
The Sony stereo is bottom of the line unit (Sony DSX-A200UI) and is reported to be 55w x 4 but at high volume the sound just falls apart. (and it gets hotter than the sun)
So for now at least, I guess I am sticking with the original Clarion Head Unit and might keep my eye out for something a bit better than the cheap Sony unit (that i may have blown something in!)
I would appreciate your thoughts on whether you agree that i may have blown something in the Sony, or whether the clarion is actually better equipment and needs less wattage to produce a nice sound, or both
If the new radio had radio memory before the beeping sound, then you have blown the fuse for the memory circuit.
This will be in the car fuse box possibly interior lights or cigarette lighter fuse.
The poor sound could be the speakers are out of phase.
You said you cut the speaker wires, the speakers need to play in the same direction so if you reverse + and - on a speaker it still makes sound, but is effectively cancelling sound from other speakers strange but true.
On a personal note Sony head units are not my favourite interms of audio quality.
This will be in the car fuse box possibly interior lights or cigarette lighter fuse.
The poor sound could be the speakers are out of phase.
You said you cut the speaker wires, the speakers need to play in the same direction so if you reverse + and - on a speaker it still makes sound, but is effectively cancelling sound from other speakers strange but true.
On a personal note Sony head units are not my favourite interms of audio quality.
I now suspect that as you say, cheap Sony head unit is cheap.
To be honest the replacement speakers are not the greatest either , I was trying not to spend real money and the rear speakers are only 10cm so there is practically no bass at all Coming from them.
The front speakers are 6.5 inch and I am wondering if I should just look for some bass woofers to go in the front doors and get all the high and mid range from the rear speakers..
I was pretty careful about getting the phase correct and they all seem to be working and he original head unit has no trouble remembering presets so I think if I blew something it was inside the Sony.
What I was really amazed by though was the heat of the thing when I removed it, I literally dropped it it like a hot potato. Then again I have never removed a stereo shortly after running it at volume for twenty minutes so maybe they all do that..
To be honest the replacement speakers are not the greatest either , I was trying not to spend real money and the rear speakers are only 10cm so there is practically no bass at all Coming from them.
The front speakers are 6.5 inch and I am wondering if I should just look for some bass woofers to go in the front doors and get all the high and mid range from the rear speakers..
I was pretty careful about getting the phase correct and they all seem to be working and he original head unit has no trouble remembering presets so I think if I blew something it was inside the Sony.
What I was really amazed by though was the heat of the thing when I removed it, I literally dropped it it like a hot potato. Then again I have never removed a stereo shortly after running it at volume for twenty minutes so maybe they all do that..
Spanglepants said:
Probably no help to you but does the Sony wire up exactly as the old Clarion did?
I remember my old Alpine units had the red and yellow wire the opposite way round to the previous units?
As you say, I had to swap the red and yellow wired in order to get the stereo to remember stuff when I installed it, but after the beeping it for hot everything again. I assume I activated a protection circuit or something by snipping the 'live' speaker wires.I remember my old Alpine units had the red and yellow wire the opposite way round to the previous units?
Depends on the age of the car, post 2004(ish) they started using multiplex wiring in the 206 which can cause aftermarket stereos to go funny.
The fix I seem to remember was to switch yellow (radio) onto red (car side) via the bullets on the radio loom, then tap the +12v ignition switch wire at the cig lighter (you can get to this by pulling the handbrake gaiter up) and connecting that to the red wire (radio side).
If you just switch the wires, then the radio will hold its memory, but it won't turn off on the ignition until the BCM shuts the car off completely. This will happen a few minutes after the doors have been opened, or the ignition has been turned off etc. Another side effect of this is the radio will turn on as soon as the car is unlocked or a door is opened, as the BCM wakes it up and the power is restored.
By tapping the +12v switched wire at the cig lighter, you'll retain proper ignition switching and by switching the yellow/red, it will retain the memory.
(However, as the French are the French, test both the red and yellow to see which one remains live after the BCM has shut down as I'm remembering 12-13 year old details here and may have them backwards.)
Ultimately, you want +12v switched on red (radio side) and +12v constant on yellow (radio side).
If it's pre-04, then you should just be able to switch the red and yellow, and everything will work.
The fix I seem to remember was to switch yellow (radio) onto red (car side) via the bullets on the radio loom, then tap the +12v ignition switch wire at the cig lighter (you can get to this by pulling the handbrake gaiter up) and connecting that to the red wire (radio side).
If you just switch the wires, then the radio will hold its memory, but it won't turn off on the ignition until the BCM shuts the car off completely. This will happen a few minutes after the doors have been opened, or the ignition has been turned off etc. Another side effect of this is the radio will turn on as soon as the car is unlocked or a door is opened, as the BCM wakes it up and the power is restored.
By tapping the +12v switched wire at the cig lighter, you'll retain proper ignition switching and by switching the yellow/red, it will retain the memory.
(However, as the French are the French, test both the red and yellow to see which one remains live after the BCM has shut down as I'm remembering 12-13 year old details here and may have them backwards.)
Ultimately, you want +12v switched on red (radio side) and +12v constant on yellow (radio side).
If it's pre-04, then you should just be able to switch the red and yellow, and everything will work.
Edited by Mr Happy on Sunday 3rd June 23:41
Thanks very much for that!
The car is a 2006 and I did get exactly the symptoms you describe after switching the red and yellow wires to get the new head unit to retain its station memory.
I have now gone back to the original head unit as it sounds as good as the new one plus it means my control stalk still works but I might try another head unit at some point and will refer back to your post if I do.
The car is a 2006 and I did get exactly the symptoms you describe after switching the red and yellow wires to get the new head unit to retain its station memory.
I have now gone back to the original head unit as it sounds as good as the new one plus it means my control stalk still works but I might try another head unit at some point and will refer back to your post if I do.
You can get head units that can use the cars audio stalks as the original did. I personally found the cheap ALDI/Lidl radios are better than some of the dearer named head units. I had an Aldi unit in one car for a long while and swapped it into the next car which had a pioneer unit and the cheap Aldi was much better . Good speakers also make a sound system better so if you got cheap rubbish speakers you’ll notice. I’m running Sony xplod speakers on a jvc head atm and it sounds as good as it can as I can only have 10cm one so front and rear. They’re not fitted to door pockets they’re in the car shell so don’t get any bass. If you want bass you can get speaker pad type material from the likes of Halfords that go behind he speaker to reflect the sound out so you get a little more bass.
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