Wahooz

Hi, I recently installed a set of MB Quart PCE216 components for my front soundstage, hooked up to an Alpine 9835 (no amp...running off head unit power). After only about 2-3 hours total listening time on the speakers, they're beginning to pop and crackle whenever I turn the volume past 20 or 21 (really not that loud...at that point the speakers just start to distort). Again, I'm running off the HU power, so it can't be pushing more than 26W max. I thought it might be the wire (stock wimpy speaker wire to the crossover, then monster cable to the components) but after doing some searchs on this forum, doesn't sound like I'm pushing nearly enough power for the wiring to be affected (plus I've checked the wires and they're fine). Maybe I just have a bum set of speakers? I have Quart PCE213s in the rear panels and they work perfectly. Oh, BTW, one of the midranges from the front soundstage crapped out (negative wire broke away from cone), too. I'm thinkin' I got a refurbished or B stock set of speakers (Ebay). Thoughts??

S2KinVA

random though, ebay speakers = refurb or just bad voice coils

golfpro

I'm thinking it's more a problem of lack of power. Most components like more than 26 watts to sound good. And I doubt our stock unit puts out that much power anyway. Typically head units run between 14-22 watts RMS, with a few exceptions.

What's the RMS rating on those MB Quarts? I'll bet if you added a nice little amp your cut out problem would go away.

Edit: I just looked your speakers up on MB Quarts' site. The newest version of the 216's are rated 70-140 watts. An amp putting out 45 to 70 watts would really make those speakers sing.

Wahooz

Thanks for the feedback guys, but how come the rears don't experience the same problem? They're the same speakers, just smaller size (PCE213s). They sound fine at any volume level. How can you tell if you have a bad voice coil? Thanks again for your help-