Help wanted from someone who knows about car/ boat audio please

[Oscarpop]

Can anyone please give me some pointers in whether I am going down the right road here. I am totally new to this , so please don't flay me alive.

I have a pioneer stereo on a boat. its a DEH 4500BT

Link to the manual is here:

http://docs.pioneer.eu/Manuals/DEH_4500BT_QRD3141_installation_manual/

I have 2 sets of speakers wired into it.

One for the front and one for the rear.

The problem I have is that at anything but the lowest volume, the rear speakers distort badly. Apparently they are renowned for this. I am however unable to remove the rear speakers as they were bonded to the boat at construction.

Someone has suggested adding an active subwoofer to the unit to boost the rear speakers bass . They have suggested something like this.:

http://www.fusionelectronics.com/marine/products/subwoofers/MS-AB108

Apparently If I connect using RCA leads it will take some of the bass frequencies through the subwoofer.

Is this true? will it remove some of the strain from the rear speakers? I cannot tell from the stereo manual whethr this would work.


Many thanks in advance. And yes I know that to many , the thought of music and stereos on boats is distasteful. However we are hoping to become full time liveaboards soon, and want some home comforts.

Cheers

 

[elton]

The first thing I'd check is that the polarity is the same on each speaker. Second thing, check that nothing is causing resonance

 

[Oscarpop]

I've checked those.

The speakers are bonded into the hull. They are renowned for not being. Able to handle bass.

 

[Richard10002]

To start with, I'd disconnect the rear speakers at the head unit and disable them in the menu. Then I would get two new rear speakers that can handle the input and fit them. Then I'd look at removing the bonded speakers and filling the holes.

 

[elton]

Using the l/r and f/r balance controls, select each speaker in turn, to check them individually in isolation. It's unlikely that both rear speakers are faulty for example. Also, plug both rear speakers into the front outputs and vice versa.

 

[simonfraser]

To start with, I'd disconnect the rear speakers at the head unit and disable them in the menu. Then I would get two new rear speakers that can handle the input and fit them. Then I'd look at removing the bonded speakers and filling the holes.

+1 yep, old spkrs likely totalled by salt water and or inappropriate use.

Subs draw a lot of power and are very anti social, okish in a car

 

[MrB]

Does the head unit have a pre out? Maybe it cannot handle the speakers attached with out an amp and you could have it set up for external bass. Does the head unit display the setup? Can you adjust the crossover set up??? IIRC you have a basic choice with bass, 2 or 4 setting (i'm very rusty here) the wrong setting will kill your setup. As Simon said, a sub draws a lot of power, i run two amps on my car and each one draws 85A.

Just worked out your manual, no pre outs and if you want to run the sub you need to loose the rear speakers.....even then it wouldn't be much good with out an amp.