Driver's side door mounted stereo speakers

sgiangregorio · January 11, 2004

On my 2002 Tahoe Z71, the driver's side door front speaker (still stock stuff, not sure if it's the tweeter or midrange) has started crackling a bit, but only at low volumes. If you raise the volume, it clears up (and it's not that I just can't hear it anymore). Weird I thought.

It just sounds crackling, kind of static-like at lower volumes. I'm thinking (hoping) it's just a loose wire or something. The truck is going in for some 4wd warranty work in a week or so, so if the speaker's bad, I'll have them replace it, but I'd like to take a look myself first.

I know many of you have done stereo upgrades, so how do I access the speakers behind the grill in the door? Does the grill just pop off with some coercing, or does the whole inner door panel have to come off (I hope not!).

At least I'm assuming it's an issue near the speaker, and not with the radio itself.

Thoughts?

Thanks for the help...

Wingnut · January 11, 2004

The whole panel has to come off.

It's not difficult at all though, just 2 or 3 screws, and unplug a couple of wires (Window/locks, lights, seat heater buttons et al.)

If you do a couple of searches there are several descriptions on how to take them off.

Hope that helped a little.

J-rod · January 11, 2004

Wingnut is right and it sounds like your diagnosis is too. However, if it does turn out to be the speaker, I would guess the ones I took out of mine ('02 Silverado LT trim package) would be the same??? Anyway, I can hook ya up if ya need to replace it and don't wanna spend the money for aftermarket.

sgiangregorio · January 11, 2004

The truck's still under warranty. This is the dealer's problem then, not mine.

Thanks

sgiangregorio · January 12, 2004

Well, I just pulled the door panel off. Wow! That is easy to remove and put back together without any new scratches!

I see nothing wrong with the speakers. In fact, I played them on at a time and they sounded perfect. So, maybe it was a loose wire that I fixed when I reconnected them, or just something else rattling. There was some of the plastic overlapping the mid range, so I trimmed that back.

Any other ideas? It does make me want to upgrade them though. So I don't think I'll be telling the dealer about this, as I don't want them tearing apart my door.

But J-rod if you really don't want those speakers, what do you want for me to take em off your hands, just in case I need a backup?

thanks!

DrFock352 · January 12, 2004

I just upgraded my door speakers to JL Audio components. Sounds great now but you'll need and amp to for real good performance. It took a little fabrication to mount them but id your handy with a drill and a rotozip it should be no problem. If not have them expert installed. the set runs about $380 plus amp.

sgiangregorio · January 13, 2004

Tahoe's come with a factory amp. Anyone know the specifics? I can hear it power up and down when I turn the truck on and off.

Wingnut · January 13, 2004

Do you have Bose?

sgiangregorio · January 13, 2004

No Bose. It's a 8 speaker system with subwoofer though.

J-rod · January 13, 2004

But J-rod if you really don't want those speakers, what do you want for me to take em off your hands, just in case I need a backup?

I replied by private msg so check that if ya haven't already gotten it.

woyster_00z71 · January 13, 2004

I had the same stereo setup in my '01 Tahoe Z71. The factory amp is a piece of crap! I bypassed the factory amp and my system sounded tons better (however the sub and tweets didn't work anymore). I now have an aftermarket head unit with an aftermarket amp to power the sub (which by the way is a piece of crap as well). Soon I am going to replace the factory sub and then somehow get the tweets to work again.

Anyway, basically the factory amplifier is a "de-amplifier". The stock radio provides 4-channels output and all 4 channels pass through the amplifier. None of them are amplified but they do pass through a high pass filter before going to the speakers (hence the de-amplification). While there, a positive signal from one of the rear speakers and a negative signal from the other is tapped and that signal is amplified by the amplifier. This "amplified" signal is about 22 watts or so and is used to power both the subwoofer and tweets by providing a 2-Ohm signal.

Good luck.

B.J.

sgiangregorio · January 15, 2004

Thanks for the explanation B.J.

Unfortunately, it's doing it again too. Don't know what the heck is going on.

January 15, 2004

I had the same stereo setup in my '01 Tahoe Z71. The factory amp is a piece of crap! I bypassed the factory amp and my system sounded tons better (however the sub and tweets didn't work anymore). I now have an aftermarket head unit with an aftermarket amp to power the sub (which by the way is a piece of crap as well). Soon I am going to replace the factory sub and then somehow get the tweets to work again.

Anyway, basically the factory amplifier is a "de-amplifier". The stock radio provides 4-channels output and all 4 channels pass through the amplifier. None of them are amplified but they do pass through a high pass filter before going to the speakers (hence the de-amplification). While there, a positive signal from one of the rear speakers and a negative signal from the other is tapped and that signal is amplified by the amplifier. This "amplified" signal is about 22 watts or so and is used to power both the subwoofer and tweets by providing a 2-Ohm signal.

Good luck.

B.J.

woyster, you're almost there buddy. you got the head unit, now dump everything else and go all the way. New component speakers in the doors (I use MB Quart) with tweeters and a separate sub. I have buckets in the back and built a box to go between the seats. Looks great, sounds great. Separate amps will fit under the rear seat just fine. No need to get stupid with the power, 50-70w per channel is ample for the doors and 100-200w for the sub. More than enough power to make you go deaf.

After that get ready to start looking for all those new noises you never heard before. They'll turn out to be fingers dragging on guitar strings and such.

ALL FACTORY SPEAKERS SOUND LIKE DIRT. If you do nothing else, replace the speakers.

sgiangregorio · January 15, 2004

Well, I just confirmed that it is the 6" round midrange in my driver's door. I'd love to replace everything, but I just don't have the time or desire right now.

dukbludvl · December 13, 2004

Help!!! I just noticed that the front passenger side door speakers in my Yukon aren't working. I can see through the grille in the door that the tweeter on top has fallen out of position (there is a TSB on this), but there also is no sound coming out of that side when i have the balance in the middle between right and left, and there is very quiet, muffled sound coming out when the balance is all the way to the right side and in front. So, I think I need to replace both the speaker and tweeter, right? Either way, I need to pull the door panel off to see what's going on. My question is this: if I do have to replace the speaker and/or tweeter, how do I know whether I have the "enhanced speakers" or not? Is the enhanced the Bose system? If so, I don't have that. I'm assuming I don't have the enhanced -- my Yukon is a 2000 2wd SLE model, and it has the 8 speakers plus sub.

Please help if anyone knows the answer to this, and please chime in if you've encountered either the hanging tweeter or no sound problems. Also, if anyone still has a spare factory speaker or tweeter that you pulled out of your truck, please let me know, as I might need to replace mine. The factory ones seem like they'll cost about $25-35 each from partszoneonline.com. Man, I know I should replace them with aftermarket all around, but I just don't want to tear my entire interior apart or spend the money on that right now. I just want to get the front pass. door speakers working properly again.

Thanks!