S5 Vert- Only the headrest speakers work?
 

OK- 89 Convertible. Everything is from factory, and hasn't been changed. I'm going to keep it all original, as aftermarket just doesn't capture the looks that the original stuff does, despite sounding worlds better.

So, when I turn the car to ON or ACC from OFF, the radio/CD player comes on & plays. I can hear it through both front dash speakers, both door speakers, & the head rest speakers. However, after about 1 minute, it's only playing lows (bass), through which I'd have to assume the door speakers, as the "door woofer amp" (See below) powers those said door speakers.

http://a6.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...88643278_n.jpg

Not much longer after this, maybe another 10-20 seconds, the door speakers go out as well, leaving me with just the head rest speakers emitting sound.

Now, if I turn the car off, let it sit for a good minute, & turn it back on, all speakers work again, & it repeats.

Hoping someone here has dealt with this, or has some clues!

Thanks!

Landon

Hoping HALERS can help me here, haha

Hey Landon ...Sorry to burst your bubble but it sounds like your amps are fried, As you stated the Mazda Vert has individual amps per speaker and they are a pain in the ass. you can try and check them for shorts, but most likely you will have to upgrade the entire Sound System. When I got my Vert it was already upgraded to a nice set of door speakers and tweeters by the door handle. It had a rear amp installed for rear speakers behind the seats, but my headrest speakers did not work. I Checked the wiring diagrams and was able to restore sound to the headrest speakers by retaining the amp behind the drivers seat. Eventually the aftermarket rear amp went and I decided to upgrade the head unit to bluetooth and a new rear amp. My Kenwood head unit has a variable color display which nicely matches the gauges when lights are on. Bluetooth works great using the headrest speakers and the mic attached to my sun visor. when the tops down I can still communicate effectively by tilting the sunvisor down slightly and adjusting the headrest volume. Sorry for the long post but i thought it you might like the idea.

Yup, amp is fried. Fortunately, not exactly a high demand item. So should be had from someone with an S5 parts car for less than you might think. Search the classified section of this forum.

Awesome, that's what I needed to know!

Thanks guys :).

And just to clarify, I'll only need the "door woofer amp" (#3 in that picture) that's on the driver side, under the dash, correct?

Thanks!

Landon

mine does something very similar, turn it on and the left dash and door speaker are slow to turn on, and then after about a minute turn off.

i actually took mine apart, and followed all the connections, and the AE unit is bad. the tuner/cd/tape unit only outputs a stereo signal (r/L) to the AE unit, which splits it into RF, LF, R headrestm and L headrest. the headrest speaker out goes to the headrest amp, which is by the spare tyre. the front signal goes direct to the dash speakers and the door woofer amp is actually teed into that signal.

so the dash speaker has to work for the door speaker to work, however if there is a dash speaker, and no door, then the woofer amp is probably the issue.

i actually took the whole radio apart, and its all discreet components, so diagnosis requires way more knowledge about amps than i have!

you can check the outputs with a voltmeter, its AC voltage.

I unplugged the door woofer amp, & plugged the 2 harness pig tails together, & it did the exact same thing! So it's definitely a problem in the AE unit.

I've got another one coming in the mail soon, just returning from a radio service shop, so it should be top notch when it gets here :)

Thank you guys for your help!