V8 Vantage Premium Audio Sound / Speaker Problem?
Discussion
Hello to everyone, long time forum lurker and recently aquired my first AM, a gorgeous Morning Frost V8V! I will add to the new owner thread shortly, but my first thread is in regards to a problem i discovered with the audio system after a drive this weekend just gone.
The car has the Premuim Audio system fitted, which up until last weekend had been fantastic! Went up to see a friend who lives a couple of hours away and was enjoying a selection of my music. About an hour or so into the drive the music suddenly seemed to drop noticeably quieter for no apparent reason. I picked up on it straight away and tried to turn it up and then flicked through the settings to see if anything had changed to no avail. I intially thought that one or both of the front door speakers must have blown, as there was literally no sound coming from the door speakers it seemed. The music playing then appeared to only be coming from the rear of the car and was at almost half the volume, even when you turn the volume right up to max. It also gave the effect of a sort of "theatre" setting where it's a bit like listening to music playing from another room if you understand?
Anyway i arrived at my friends and the car remained there till the next day. When i got in it again late on Sunday evening to drive back home the sound was back to normal again, working correctly. Then on the way home again, around half an hour into the drive the sound level made a very noticeable drop in volume and it was back to the poor strange sounding rear speaker effect all the way back home. Has anyone else experienced anything like this before? Is the amp on it's way out? Is there any sort of fix? Any help will be greatly appreciated. From my months of lurking before and after i found my car this forum seems like a fantastic place, and looking forward to being apart of it.
Thanks in advance.
Dan
The car has the Premuim Audio system fitted, which up until last weekend had been fantastic! Went up to see a friend who lives a couple of hours away and was enjoying a selection of my music. About an hour or so into the drive the music suddenly seemed to drop noticeably quieter for no apparent reason. I picked up on it straight away and tried to turn it up and then flicked through the settings to see if anything had changed to no avail. I intially thought that one or both of the front door speakers must have blown, as there was literally no sound coming from the door speakers it seemed. The music playing then appeared to only be coming from the rear of the car and was at almost half the volume, even when you turn the volume right up to max. It also gave the effect of a sort of "theatre" setting where it's a bit like listening to music playing from another room if you understand?
Anyway i arrived at my friends and the car remained there till the next day. When i got in it again late on Sunday evening to drive back home the sound was back to normal again, working correctly. Then on the way home again, around half an hour into the drive the sound level made a very noticeable drop in volume and it was back to the poor strange sounding rear speaker effect all the way back home. Has anyone else experienced anything like this before? Is the amp on it's way out? Is there any sort of fix? Any help will be greatly appreciated. From my months of lurking before and after i found my car this forum seems like a fantastic place, and looking forward to being apart of it.
Thanks in advance.
Dan
This definitely sounds like the amplifier is having difficulties. I'm not sure if the Alpine amp in the AM is one with thermal protection or not. If it has such protection like my Mac's or SS amps then overheating is usually only a problem once in a while with a really good track.
I would not expect this with OEM systems like the Premium and I've battered mine and had no such issues. My educated guess is that the amp has a heat problem causing a component to go high impedance or a poor solder contact that fails. Because it only happens on the front channels, it seems like a power supply problem.
If it was an audio circuit issue, I would expect distortion.
QED, the amps got a problem. Play some good tunes and progressively increase the volume and see when/if it trips out.
Another test you can try is to play this track.
http://www.puwer.co.uk/uploads/82%20-%20Distortion...
This track is a 0% distortion track recorded in a test lab. If it sounds s
t, you've got other issues.
I would not expect this with OEM systems like the Premium and I've battered mine and had no such issues. My educated guess is that the amp has a heat problem causing a component to go high impedance or a poor solder contact that fails. Because it only happens on the front channels, it seems like a power supply problem.
If it was an audio circuit issue, I would expect distortion.
QED, the amps got a problem. Play some good tunes and progressively increase the volume and see when/if it trips out.
Another test you can try is to play this track.
http://www.puwer.co.uk/uploads/82%20-%20Distortion...
This track is a 0% distortion track recorded in a test lab. If it sounds s
t, you've got other issues.Edited by divetheworld on Monday 22 April 20:35
Edited by divetheworld on Monday 22 April 20:36
Dan
If you're car is Morning Frost that suggests it's newer rather than older.
Some earlier Vantages suffered from issues with the bluetooth changeover relay contacts. More on this thread:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=112...
As well as distortion when on the move, that could cause sudden drop in loudness but I thought they'd resolved it in later vehicles.
I would strongly advise trying to contact James ex of Paralight (now Trackaphone). He seems to know more about the Aston audio system than Aston do and most certainly than many of their dealers (I'm not bitter!)
PM me if you want James' contact details. His Paralight email didn't get much response last time I tried to use it.
If you're car is Morning Frost that suggests it's newer rather than older.
Some earlier Vantages suffered from issues with the bluetooth changeover relay contacts. More on this thread:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=112...
As well as distortion when on the move, that could cause sudden drop in loudness but I thought they'd resolved it in later vehicles.
I would strongly advise trying to contact James ex of Paralight (now Trackaphone). He seems to know more about the Aston audio system than Aston do and most certainly than many of their dealers (I'm not bitter!)
PM me if you want James' contact details. His Paralight email didn't get much response last time I tried to use it.
peterr96 said:
Some earlier Vantages suffered from issues with the bluetooth changeover relay contacts. More on this thread:-
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=112...
As well as distortion when on the move, that could cause sudden drop in loudness but I thought they'd resolved it in later vehicles.
That's a really interesting read. Thanks for linking that again. Very good to keep in mind. http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=112...
As well as distortion when on the move, that could cause sudden drop in loudness but I thought they'd resolved it in later vehicles.
In thus case, The rear channels keep running as normal, that might be key in finding the culprit.
divetheworld said:
That's a really interesting read. Thanks for linking that again. Very good to keep in mind.
In thus case, The rear channels keep running as normal, that might be key in finding the culprit.
That would also fit in with the BT relay. Rear channels go direct. Front channels via BT relay in the footwell.In thus case, The rear channels keep running as normal, that might be key in finding the culprit.
If you don't have the Bluetooth phone kit, then it's a red herring.
my vantage is actually a pretty early one, it's one of the i believe quite rare 2006's in Morning Frost. It does have the factory fitted bluetooth which makes all the excellent responses very interesting and very relevant. I think my next port of call will perhaps be James (ex paralight) and see what can be done to remedy the problem.
Thankyou very much to everyone that's replied so far, i'll contact peter now for James's contact details and get in touch.
Thankyou very much to everyone that's replied so far, i'll contact peter now for James's contact details and get in touch.
AMV8DAN said:
just realised that i can't actually PM anyone yet as i'm a very new member! Peterr96 if you could possibly PM me the contact details for James that would be great, thanks again.
You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Pete's been in a pub since lunchtime, still there, then heading for a curry!I think I mailed Dan last night!
I might even have included some useful info.
I might even have included some useful info.
Neil1300R said:
AMV8DAN said:
just realised that i can't actually PM anyone yet as i'm a very new member! Peterr96 if you could possibly PM me the contact details for James that would be great, thanks again.
You'll have to wait until tomorrow. Pete's been in a pub since lunchtime, still there, then heading for a curry!
Question on the premium audio system…back to basics. Plenty of volume comes out of the front, centre and sub. However the rear speakers are very quiet, to the point that they seem worthless. Not being an Audiophile, I’ve no idea if it’s been setup like this or something is broken.
I’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
I’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
baz86 said:
Question on the premium audio system…back to basics. Plenty of volume comes out of the front, centre and sub. However the rear speakers are very quiet, to the point that they seem worthless. Not being an Audiophile, I’ve no idea if it’s been setup like this or something is broken.
I’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
See the Frequently asked Questions Wiki for base settings to use as start pointI’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
baz86 said:
Question on the premium audio system…back to basics. Plenty of volume comes out of the front, centre and sub. However the rear speakers are very quiet, to the point that they seem worthless. Not being an Audiophile, I’ve no idea if it’s been setup like this or something is broken.
I’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
That's normal in my experience. The rears kick out virtually nowt.I’m not daft btw, the fader doesn’t really make a difference.
Cheers
In reality you want the sound coming from a "forward stage" anyhow. If it's too rear biased at mid/high frequencies it'll seem strange.
Thanks for that, good to get confirmation. It’s just seems strange coming from my last car. An Audi with a b&o system with a gazillion speakers…music blaring all directions, but then again I’ve always stuck with all the default settings, no idea how to set it up. Although I’ve now followed the set-up on the forum.
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