Miata Mailing List: February 1995, Message #175
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   From: JMardy@aol.com
Subject: Re: loudspeaker question
   Date: Sat, 4 Feb 1995 14:35:06 -0500

When I installed new speaker in my doors, I had problems getting everything
to work.  I ended up bringing my home receiver and CD player out to the car
and then hooked up the speakers directly to the receiver.  I was able to
isolate the problem this way.  Conversely, you can hook up a known good
speaker (like speaker cabinet, not just a driver) to each speaker connection
and test the deck.

Also, you can test the speaker by pushing GENTLY on the cone and listening
for scraping noises (this is with no signal to the speaker).

It is very important to make sure that the speaker basket is not torqued or
twisted as you tighten the screws. This can cause the voice coil to rub on
the magnet and will sound awful and probably trash the driver.

IMHO, the best thing you can do is get a decent power amp.  The power from a
factory deck is not enough to drive 4 speakers (or even 2) at high enough
levels without distortion.  When you turn up an underpowered amp, you get
distortion (and sometimes DC) which is what can blow up spekers.  You can
scatter a pair of speakers more easily with a 2 watt amp that with a 100 watt
amp.

Last thing, the better the seal between the front and rear of the speaker,
the better performance you will get from the speaker.

John
'94 R, Marin County, CA.