[Bortig The Viking]

Hi all, have just had a dash cam fitted and don't know if it's related but my speakers sound distorted when the volume is increased.
Normally have the volume lowish and I accidentally knocked the volume up to about half way and the speakers sounded distorted the radio hasn't got static or crackling and when fitted to the fuse box they said they used the cigarette fuse, might have been like it before I don't know but just wondered if anyone has any thoughts, phoning dealer tomorrow as it's only two months old, coincidence or not don't know.

 

[DrOzCLA]

Depends on what sound system you have optioned mate, the standard system isn't the best, there is some distortion at the higher volumes. I've got a 21 AMG 45S with the Burmester system and from new there was some distortion and vibration at higher volume settings. I fixed it to a certain extent by adding soundproofing to the doors which had the added benefit of providing more surrounding packing to the door speakers which has helped with the sound distortion somewhat.

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Depends on what sound system you have optioned mate, the standard system isn't the best, there is some distortion at the higher volumes. I've got a 21 AMG 45S with the Burmester system and from new there was some distortion and vibration at higher volume settings. I fixed it to a certain extent by adding soundproofing to the doors which had the added benefit of providing more surrounding packing to the door speakers which has helped with the sound distortion somewhat.

It's a standard stereo, 100w I think at about half it sounds like my speakers are shot

 

[DrOzCLA]

Even with the standard system, it shouldn't sound like they are blown at half volume, I'd be taking it back to the dealership, stick a service advisor in the seat and show them what is happening.

 

[mav238]

Even with the standard system, it shouldn't sound like they are blown at half volume, I'd be taking it back to the dealership, stick a service advisor in the seat and show them what is happening.

Actually my speakers, occasionally gets distortion when playing certain music types only. Generally, it does fine, even at max volume, no distortion, bass is pretty good as well. and it's the standard sound system.

I don't think the stereo system is broken, just that it's not a very well designed system, and becomes finicky with certain music types that has a certain frequency profile. Sometimes it's not even the speakers, it's the amp that is sending the signal out to the speakers that is the problem, having "spikes" in the overall sound wave pattern going out to the speakers. That's why audiophiles are so particular about the Amp they use, sending stable clean consistent signal.

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Well it's booked into garage, bit frustrated that the earliest it can go in is November 17, as its just two months old i thought it might have been in a bit quicker but it is what it is I suppose, the care seems to go out of the window once you bought it.

 

[Crester]

Viking... my advice... don't go running to the dealer for every little thing complaining of issues. The dealership will get annoyed by you and it will result in poorer service from them in the future. In this case for example, you don't even know that a dashcam installation had any issue because you never listened to the stereo at that volume before. Does it make sense for a dash cam installation to cause your radio to sound distorted at high volume levels? Or is it just that it's a low power stereo system so it doesn't have the power to sound clean at high power levels?

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Who's says I'm running with every little thing ???

 

[Crester]

Who's says I'm running with every little thing ???

You're responding to my post... so I guess that would be me. lol

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Not sure how you came to that conclusion, only gone about the speaker sound

 

[Crester]

Not sure how you came to that conclusion, only gone about the speaker sound

Let's think about this... does your complaint even make sense?

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Explain? My original post was asking opinions as I wanted thoughts on this

 

[Crester]

Explain? My original post was asking opinions as I wanted thoughts on this

You also booked a service appointment at your dealership and are ready to blame your dashcam installer.

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Not blaming anyone asking for advice, booked into dealer as if it is the speaker or speakers it's under warranty that's it.

 

[Crester]

Not blaming anyone asking for advice, booked into dealer as if it is the speaker or speakers it's under warranty that's it.

So let me ask you. When you calmly look at this situation... do you think there's something going on here worth booking an appointment at the dealer?

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Yes, as the guy agreed the sound was distorted and booked it in so they can hopefully sort it. All I wanted to hear was if anyone knew of any issues with dash cams and my issue.

 

[Crester]

Yes, as the guy agreed the sound was distorted and booked it in so they can hopefully sort it. All I wanted to hear was if anyone knew of any issues with dash cams and my issue.

It's a 6 speaker 100 watt system. The base of the base of stereo options available. It's weak and not made to much of any standard. If you raise the volume... it's not going to sound great because the system wasn't designed to sound great at high volume levels. It's probably working the way it's supposed to.

Sometimes you can add devices to your car and get an alternator whine... or you might hear an interference in the audio when the device you add to your car is turned on and off. But to add a dashcam to your car and then have it cause distortion to your stereo system only when you turn up the volume is really really really really really really unlikely.

What is more likely is that you are just experiencing the limits of that small stereo system.

 

[jmc]

btw
think the volume control has a finite bit resolution and may be calibrated to db levels and is thus nonlinear so half scale may not be half max power
anyway
the standard drivers will splinter at max knob setting with a nominal (say 50% to avoid clipping) input level to the amp from the dsp/preamp output
and i recall modern car amps are class d so definitely not class a without any kinks in the waves which will be discontinuities coming across as bumps/transients fed into the drivers and then any frequency response damping or crossovers in the drivers’ responses may or may not show up which could be perceived as random audio distortion
etc etc etc

 

[Bortig The Viking]

Update, been into the dealer and they had it for two days as they found one speaker totally shot, replaced under warranty, now sounds a lot better agree with the generic volume slider idea, have compared with a friend's c class and we both thought they sounded the same, as for dash cam no problem with that. Think some of it was me plus a duff speaker.

 

[jmc]

oh gosh good to hear it was just a bum driver
did they save the busted one for you to see?
just curious what it looks like … cracked cone … torn surround … dangling coil … or??