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How to Fix a Blown Speaker? 7 Super Simple Steps And Tips

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Listening to music inside your car while driving is one way to relax. You can enjoy your favorite music anywhere you go. However, a blown speaker can ruin your mood.

Thus, your speaker may cause inconvenience since it doesn’t function properly. Before we proceed on the steps of how to fix a blown speaker, let us determine blown speaker symptoms.

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Blown Speaker Symptoms

If you have a damaged speaker, you may hear different sound distortions. The speaker can play sound, but you can hear a buzzing or hissing sound with the audio. Another symptom of a damaged speaker is a voice coil that is loose.

If something is loose in the speaker, there can be an extreme sound. There are also some instances that irregular power surges cause the bass to make the speakers blow. It can overheat voice coil and lead to wire damage. If this is the case, you can replace your speaker or get a new driver.

Additionally, you can also know if the speaker is damaged by touching the cone lightly. If it doesn’t vibrate like it should, the coil may be detached. If there are missing sound dimensions, a specific frequency range can be gone.

A blown speaker can have lackluster audio or don’t have a sound at all. Generally, most speakers can malfunction in different ways.

How does blown speaker sound?

A blown speaker sounds like buzzing noise that is quite annoying in the ears. It can have a scratching sound that is not good to hear. There can also be a rattling sound like the bass of your car.

Fixing a Blown Speaker With a Damaged Part

The following is a step-by-step guide on how to fix a blown speaker.

Step 1: Determine the speaker that is blown

If you will fix a speaker, first thing to do is to find the speaker with the problem. Find out which speakers causing the noise. You can disconnect each speaker on the sub one by one. However, if you have a speaker that is difficult to detach, you can use an equalizer.

You should determine the control balance option. If you think that there’s a broken car speaker, you may transfer its balance from the speakers’ left side into the right side to know the source of the noise.

Another way to find if the speaker is broken is to slightly turn up its volume to determine if the sound gets worse. You should not overdo it since it can make other speakers blown. Moreover, you can play something as you conduct this test. You can listen to your favorite music. So, you can hear if there’s a distorted sound on your car speaker due to any damage.

Step 2: Identify the problem

Now that you determine a workable suspect, you can double-check to ensure that it’s really the problem. In case you won’t be able to inspect the cone and surround due to a metal faceplate, you can unscrew it carefully.

Some of the car speakers come with fabric covers. You need to gently loosen them without tearing them. You can touch the cone gently. If you have a correct suspicion, you can take out the speaker from its case. Make sure to turn off the car fully. You can check your electrical outlet if it’s unplug for safety.

Take out the driver from its case and detach the two wires. Each driver can be labeled in black and red. If you interchange the wires, the speaker can have a strange sound.

Sniff the driver if it’s in your hand’s palm. You can smell it when there is a melted or overheated coil. If there’s a burnt smell, you can get a replacement driver or re-cone the speaker. You can check if there’s a torn voice coil. If there’s a melted voice coil, you may get a new coil.

Step 3: Prepare the space and get replacements

Once you checked the speaker that you took out, you can clean it. It may accommodate dust through the years. You can wipe it down with cotton swabs and pads soaked in alcohol. Once you clean the speaker, you can easily fix the damage to the speaker.

If there is a torn surround, you can get a speaker replacement. Generally, speakers come in common sizes, allowing you to easily determine the needed parts. It is also important to know if the car speaker’s manufacturer offers replacement parts.

Once you purchase a surround repair package, it can come with a brush and adhesive. You can use them for attaching the foam on the cone once you finished scraping and cutting the old surround. You can patch up the torn cone or get a new cone. You can get a whole new driver when cone was attached to voice coil.

Step 4: Installation of the preferred new surround

You can now install the new surround and eliminate the previous ones. Using a razor or scalpel, you can scratch off the residue on the foam before you soak it to the edges of the basket and cone using an alcohol with isopropyl of 70% to remove the glue traces.

If you have already cleaned everything, smear the epoxy resin on the latest surround’s inner lip and connect it to the cone’s outer flat edge. Attach the surround’s outer lip on the basket. Make sure not to toss the speaker’s voice coil. Try this through the “shim method” as you purchase a new dust cap.

Take out the current dust cap off. Ensure that it will not damage the cone. Next, you can slide the plastic shims to the coil’s sides. As the surround’s outer lip cures, take out the shims and place the latest dust cap to the speaker.

You can also turn on low-frequency audio on the car’s speakers as you try to center the surround’s outer lip.

Step 5: Patching the cone

If there’s a ripped speaker, repair it using paper. It’s a good fast fix for different sizes of damage but not the best solution if you want a peak performance if your speaker is torn. In this process, you will need glue and a paper towel.

Get a tissue layer and tear it to the dimension you want. Ripping is more effective compared to cutting since it enables the paper for blending with the cones.

Hold the single ply of paper with your hand and apply glue until it becomes mushy. Then, you can apply it to the tears in the cones. Do similar on the cone’s bottom side. If it is already dry, you can apply a matte or flat black spray.

You can also use the same method without using a tissue. You can dilute glue using a warm water. You can get a painter’s brush for applying the mixture to the speaker’s cone. After it gets dried, it needs to be a little bit stiffer. Additionally, the small tear should be attached. However, this glue method doesn’t work if you have larger tears.

Step 6: Re-cone the driver

A challenging method to fix a blown car speaker is to re-cone it. In this method, you will cut the voice coil, spider, and speaker cone, before you implant the latest ones and top it with the latest surround. It is the best solution if there are more damaged parts on your speakers. Meanwhile, before purchasing these parts, you need to consider the price.

In replacing the parts, make sure to get quality parts at an affordable price. Instead of buying new speakers, it is more cost-effective to install new parts by yourself or take them to a repair shop. It can help you reduce the price of a magnet, speaker box, and metal basket. However, if the replacement part is expensive compared to the speakers, you can simply purchase a new speaker set.

Step 7: Conduct a test on the speaker and driver re-installation

Before you return the driver in your car or speaker box, you need to do the final test. Once the driver is already working properly, you can install it again. Then, attach the wires to the right connectors.

Whether you have blown home speakers or car speakers, trying the steps above can help you bring back its sound quality that allows you to enjoy a convenient music listening experience.

Tips to Avoid a Blown Car Speaker

If you want to listen to quality audio with your car speaker, you can consider the tips below to avoid blown car speaker.

Don’t put the volume on max

High volumes may overpower your car speaker. It can result to voice coil damage or surround tears. You should keep your speakers in low volume to avoid them from being severely damaged.

Use subwoofer

Don’t place all pressure on the regular drivers. Instead, get a subwoofer for richer audio.

Soundproof your car or room

By soundproofing your room or car, you can have an easy time when listening to quality audio with your speaker.

Regular use may also lead to blown speakers. The good news is that you can have the materials you need on the next speakers that are broken.

Anatomy of a Car Speaker

Now that you have learned how to fix a damaged speaker, let us discuss the anatomy of a speaker.

Most speakers come with a metal basket that holds its other parts together. The bottom side contains a magnet, and suspended above it is a voice coil. A spider holds this voice coil – a circular disk that enables it to move up and down as it receives negative and positive charges.

External Parts of the Speaker

Diaphragm

It is commonly made from a stiff material like metal, plastic, fiber, or paper. The angled cone is the part that surrounds the dust cap and is affixed to the coil below. It can move up and down if the speakers are on.

Dust cap

Dust cap doesn’t impact the sound of the speaker. Its main function is to avoid dust from entering the voice coil.

Rubber foam suspension

It surrounds the speaker cone. The flexible ring attaches the cone to the top of the basket, which is also called the surround. It is soft, enabling the cone to vibrate.

Frequently Asked Questions

The following are some frequently asked questions about a blown speaker.

How would you know if your speakers are blown?

Usually, blown speakers are defined through physical damage on their parts. Well, the damage can also be accompanied by malfunctions of the speaker’s hidden parts. It can be a rip in the soft foam or a serious tear on the speaker cones.

Should I seek help from a professional?

You can also seek help from an expert to repair your broken speaker. The bad sound can be caused by thermal failure or mechanical failure. There is also a possibility that there’s something wrong with the speaker assembly. Replacing a severely damaged speaker is a good choice to enjoy quality audio.

You can also see the car’s manual and check the system controls to fix the blown speakers. If you want to save time, hiring a professional technician is the best option. They can check the equalizer settings and power output of the speakers.

Can a problematic speaker damage an amplifier?

Underpowering or overpowering your speakers can possibly damage an amplifier. With this, you should balance the power of your speaker. It is also worth noting to keep a balanced volume as you listen to the bass of your car speaker.

How to know if the speaker’s guitar amp is blown?

One indication that the speaker is blown is an unpleasant or sharp sound. You will notice an unfamiliar sound with your speaker. Heavy bass sound can imply that the speaker can be torn.

Do you need to replace your blown speaker?

Replacing your torn speaker is a good decision if there’s severe damage. Don’t replace your speaker if you can do the steps we mentioned above. It can help you save money for your speaker needs.

Conclusion

There we go, so that is the comprehensive guide on how to fix a blown speaker. Do you have a blown speaker? You can try the above steps, so your speakers are working properly.

Don’t max out the volume of the speaker to keep its perfect function. Maxing the volume of your car speakers will cause distortion and is a common cause why most speakers blow on the first place. In most cases, you’ll need to control the power of the amplifier.

Last Updated on: October 6, 2022

Hi, my name is John Snow and I am a car lover. With two decades under my belt fixing and driving cars, I'm always on the hunt for fresh, cutting-edge methods to give my ride a performance boost. Driven by my zeal to decode car problems, I'm on a mission to equip vehicle owners with accurate and handy tips. By doing so, they can fix their rides while saving both time and cash.

By John Snow