Rear speaker issues

[gr8shot]

Hi guys, first post here. Just bought a 96 cutlass supreme a couple weeks ago. Great car so far. Just shy of 200k on the 3.1 with brand new top end gaskets and it runs like a top and is in near showroom shape inside and out.

One thing that has me stumped is the rear speakers. All I can get out of them is treble. Like just out of the tweeters. Absolutely zero sound out of the woofer part. I tried ohm-ing the wires from the speaker to the plug at the back of the h/u but couldn't get any wires to show a connection for either of the woofers for the rear speaker. Both sets of wires for the tweeters ohm'd just fine though. So I'm kind of baffled as to what I should do next.

For reference I have the nice luxury interior. Has digital dual climate control, has the factory h/u with the CD player with steering wheel controls. The whole system is stock as far as I can tell. Still has the factory solders and what not. Not sure what else you'd need to know to help but I'll fill in any blanks I can. I'd rather not invest a butt load of money on aftermarket stuff if I can get the stock parts to work, as I'm sure they'll be sufficient as long as they aren't blown terribly.

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[xtremerevolution]

Chances are the speakers are shot. Can you post a picture of how they're wired up and what the speakers actually look like? Its a pretty common thing as they're often left in the sun and can dry rot.

[gr8shot]

Sure can. Ill be home in a couple hours and will take a pic or two n post em.

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[gr8shot]

I forgot to post the pics... doh.

Here they are.








If I have some time this weekend I might try and pull one and hook it up to my inside stereo and see if I can get some sound out of it. It doesn't look like the foam surround is damaged or torn up or anything. So at this point I'm still not sure what's up.

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[xtremerevolution]

Yep, your speakers are shot. Get another pair of cheap coaxials and call it a day.

[gr8shot]

How can you tell from the pics? I'm far from a stereo expert but they "look" to be fine? Not doubting you, just curious what you can see that I missed.

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[Mark 97 Cutlass Coupe]

What is the small black round thing on the right side of the speaker? I have a 97 Cutlass, with the factory cd/cassette, steering wheel controls, etc. I was wanting to update all the speakers as they are 14 years old and about shot. Mine is also stock. Can I just replace the old stuff with new? Do I need to know anything specific for replacement speakers to get them to work? And finally, is there a way to add an amplifier to the stock head unit so my dash still looks stock and lets me use the steering wheel controls. Thanks.

[xtremerevolution]

How can you tell from the pics? I'm far from a stereo expert but they "look" to be fine? Not doubting you, just curious what you can see that I missed.

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They're the factory speakers, and those dry rot, get old, and stop working. Plus, you ohm'd the coil and got nothing.

What is the small black round thing on the right side of the speaker? I have a 97 Cutlass, with the factory cd/cassette, steering wheel controls, etc. I was wanting to update all the speakers as they are 14 years old and about shot. Mine is also stock. Can I just replace the old stuff with new? Do I need to know anything specific for replacement speakers to get them to work? And finally, is there a way to add an amplifier to the stock head unit so my dash still looks stock and lets me use the steering wheel controls. Thanks.

You can replace the old stuff with new, but don't go too heavy on the new stuff. Just get some general replacements that are made for low power.

You can run an amplifier, but I wouldn't recommend it without a new head unit. The factory head units have terrible, terrible sound quality and it is very highly recommended that you replace the head unit. You can get a factory integration module to allow you to retain steering wheel controls on the new head unit.

[gr8shot]

They're the factory speakers, and those dry rot, get old, and stop working. Plus, you ohm'd the coil and got nothing.

All I did was ohm the wires from the speaker to the h/u. Couldn't get any connection on the woofers wires but did on the tweeters wires.


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[Jonathan_C]

What is the small black round thing on the right side of the speaker? I have a 97 Cutlass, with the factory cd/cassette, steering wheel controls, etc. I was wanting to update all the speakers as they are 14 years old and about shot. Mine is also stock. Can I just replace the old stuff with new? Do I need to know anything specific for replacement speakers to get them to work? And finally, is there a way to add an amplifier to the stock head unit so my dash still looks stock and lets me use the steering wheel controls. Thanks.

The small round thing to the right is called a capacitor. It is used a passive high pass circuit to protect the tweeter from bass frequencies that would harm the tweeter. If they appear to be 'blown out' (bursting at the seams), and you don't have sound coming from the tweeter, the capacitor is likely the culprit.

[xtremerevolution]

All I did was ohm the wires from the speaker to the h/u. Couldn't get any connection on the woofers wires but did on the tweeters wires.


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Ok, let me go through this again.

You don't get a connection on the woofer wires but you do on the tweeter wires.
You don't hear the woofer but you hear the tweeter when you play music.

The woofer has a voice coil, and if you test it with a DMM and you get nothing, there's a short somewhere in the coil, or its severed. Either way, its toast.

[Garrett Powered]

not sure why this would be hard to figure out. about a million of these speakers in the junk yard, right?


5 minutes to swap out with lower mileage ones for 5 bucks. that is all they would charge me probably. they might give em to me for free, but I got a few friends working there.

[95 vert]

Gonna agree with xtreme. Speakers are done. That is the "upper level" stereo system for the Cutlass. It has a factory amp mounted on the knee bolster to the right of the steering column. Mark97, if your speakers are identical to these, you have the factory amp also.
Don't put "regular" speakers in if you want to retain the "stock" system. They sound like shit. Very hard to find used speakers like these that don't have the same problem. I don't know if they are still available new or if a proper replacement can be had.

[gr8shot]

Ya I'm curious what I can do for replacement speakers since these have two separate connections. Can I just buy some cheap generic 6x9s and only hook up the wires going to the woofer part? Does that set of wires carry the full range or is it only lows and mids? Every set I've ever replaced before only had one set of wires going to it so it was a direct swap, easy as pie.

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[95 vert]

Ya I'm curious what I can do for replacement speakers since these have two separate connections. Can I just buy some cheap generic 6x9s and only hook up the wires going to the woofer part? Does that set of wires carry the full range or is it only lows and mids? Every set I've ever replaced before only had one set of wires going to it so it was a direct swap, easy as pie.

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I tried regular 6x9's and IIRC, tried both connections and the sound quality just wasn't very good.