MX-5 OC Forum

Having noticed distortion from from my passenger door speaker (appears to come from the larger speaker), I suspect it may be blown. The distortion is particularly apparent with bass reproduction and male voices on the radio. It has in the past rattled a little with bass but this was once sorted under warranty and more recently (outside of warranty) it was temporarily cured with a few presses of the speaker grill! Not so now.

I have not yet taken the door card off to explore for any obvious damage to the speaker to confirm damage. I am secretly hoping that something is loose and resolving this is all I need to do but, alas, I suspect the worst. I do not play loud volumes as I only have the stereo on when the roof is up, so if it is blown it is not from experimenting with max power...

Has anyone else experienced this problem or have any advice on how to confirm? 

The bose system speakers have a lower impedance than the standard system (2ohm as opposed to 4), so not sure how to source a replacement outside of the dealer network.

Guess I will need to speak with a dealer unless anyone has any advice/experience on sourcing a suitable replacement.

Any help appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 I've just had the same problem. The passenger side speaker started to rattle a week or so ago and I took the door panel off to investigate and it was the speaker itself that was making the rattle. So I guess the speaker is gone. This morning I've just noticed that the drivers side speaker also started to rattle. Just rang a nearby dealer to get a price for the speakers £160!!! for these. We've only had the car for about a month now and the Arnold Clarke dealer we bought it from said we would get 60day guarantee with it. So I'm hoping I can get them to sort this out.

Hi - incredible price isn't it for what I have learn't following much discussion on miata.net are actually pretty poor speakers in terms of construction and performance...

In the US, aftermarket replacements made by a company called Clearwater are available which apparently are far superior.

However - if the speaker is 'just' rattling, you may be able to fix this by ensuring the attachment screws are tight, or possibly more likely, other parts inside the door card (or the door card itself) are loose. Sorry, I am sure this is something you have checked but I mention just in case. The vibration force caused by the speaker is huge and anything that is not firmly fixed will vibrate like mad! Can you reduce the vibration by holding or pressing on the door card? If so then something is loose. If you have taken the door card off - make sure the plastic stud in the middle of the card (just like the ones around the edge) is pushed back in properly - easily missed - was by me first time I took it off.

In my case it was not so much a vibration but a dull distorted sound as if the speaker was actually not working properly. When I took the card off there was nothing loose but there was evidence of water on/below the frame. I cleared this and have not had a problem since. What compounded my problem and its diagnosis is that the noise was intermittent. I have a suspicion that when the cold damp weather returns so will my problem...   

Hope you get it sorted and/or the dealer fixes the problem

 Hi,

I did take the door card off and check for any vibrations nothing was really loose. Then I took the speaker off and it was still making the rattle/distortion noise and it was coming from inside the speaker. It was like the internals of the speaker were rattling. I did not notice any moisture when I took the door card off. Now the strage thing is that the rattle noise is mostly present only in the morning when its sort of cool/cold as the day goes on and gets warmer (specially these days its been quite warm) the rattle isnt there in the afternoon very strange. In the mornings the rattle is very noticable even at very low volumes.

Anyway I took it to my local Arnold Clark (Honda) to show them Saturday morning and the technician agreed the speaker was blown so they said they would order a new one in and let me know next week. I am not sure if the other speaker will also do the same thing I just hope if it blows it will go before my warranty expires.

 Quick update. Just gave the car a quick wash this afternoon and when I got in the car and switched on the radio BOTH speakers started to rattle/distort. So now I have two speakers which have gone  Anyway I will ring the dealer tomorrow and tell them I will need another speaker I just hope it doesnt go away when I go to show it to the dealers. Im really puzzled now and I was wondering if its water getting into the speakers somehow? When I took the door card out i did not see any moisture. Could this problem be coming from the Bose Amplifier??

I experienced the same symptoms - cold and damp in the morning - distortion. Warm and dry (sometimes later in the day) and all okay...

A thread on miata.net relayed that the centre cone 'solenoid' in the speaker was found to be rubbing on the outer core (I have not described this very well) and this was sensitive to temperature, ie when it was cold the clearance was tight (due to an imperfection) but was okay when the heat of the day expanded the clearances. I was about to explore this issue when all of a sudden the summer arrived and I have not had a problem so far. I still think moisture on the speaker, etc may play a part but this is just a hypothesis that I have not tested yet.

The fact that both speakers on your car suddenly became affected after washing, when of course water enters the door skin, lends support to this though. There is nothing you can do to prevent water ingress as the window seals are not waterproof. There is a water shield on top of the main speakers to prevent direct contact...

Your thought about the electrics/amp may have some validity - good thought. My problem also disappeared, coincidently, with me solving a minor leak into the cockpit from the screw that holds the external windscreen valance on the car following a screen replacement. see last couple of pages on this thread where I described my resolution: 

http://www.mx-5.com/Forum/Room/Topic/?topicId=3457&replyId=129684#r129684

Keep us informed - as I said- I think I will be revisiting this...

David

I'm also suffering from this in my 2006 NC.  Only with the passenger speaker as well.

I too had it checked out whilst in warranty, and now I'm out of warranty the problem has returned.

It's definitely moisture related though.  Was freezing this evening and the speaker worked fine, because it was dry.  I suspect that the speaker isn't blown, as it works fine in dry conditions.  I worry that if I replaced with a Clearwater (sounds ominous) unit, that the Clearwater speaker might also inherit the same problem...

Whilst on my first real run out in the '5 yesterday (after purchasing) I noticed an anoying buzzing from the drivers side 8" speaker. Although out of warranty (2006 car) I rang  a Mazda main dealer to get a price for replacement - they said 150 per speaker!!! but they also said that when replaced under warranty they use an exchange system, which to me suggests that there is known problem with them... however they didn't have any in stock and said there were not in stock at Mazda themselves.

I have looked into getting a set of replacements from Clearwater and have just had an email from them saying they are $199 plus $50 shipping cost to the UK. I think this is th only option as I trawlled the 'net today for alternatives but with out any success - even on Ebay!!

 Just a quick update: the Clearwater speakers were ordered, arrived about a week later, were fitted in a couple of hours and the difference is very much for the better...

Update: Having not suffered through the winter with distortion, once the dry spring arrived the problem returned!

I got fed up with it, even though (when the stereo is on) I mainly listen to talk radio.

So I ordered and fitted a set of the clearwaters from the US, along with fitting a little sound deadening material on the inner doorskins - just behind the woofer.

There is a dramatic improvement to the quality of sound, everything positive I have heard from others, very clear, crisp sound. At $199 + $55 shipping they are definitely worth it. All plug and play, easy to fit with excellent instructions.

However, be prepared to pay £30 VAT when it gets caught by customs. I ordered via clearwater themselves and they were scrupulous with the paperwork on the box - indicating the value of the contents.