Honda Odyssey Forum banner

Lost All Speakers - Sound Only Through Subwoofer

11K views 32 replies 13 participants last post by  alaaz 
#1 ·
I was upgrading my speakers today and everything was going well. I replaced the front door speakers, tested them for a while, and they sounded great. Replaced both the sliding door speakers later today, tested them and they sounded great as well.

I was still playing music when installing the sliding door panels. Installed the passenger side with no issue. As soon as I installed the driver side, BOOM, lost sound to all of the speakers but the subwoofer. At the same time I got a warning that I had a low batter and to shutoff all lights, etc.

Wtf just happened? All I did was hit the panel to seat it.
 
#5 ·
Ok, chalk this one up to fucking gremlins. I took the panel off and it did not help, I was still getting sound from just the subwoofer. I put the panel back on, same thing.

I started messing with the head unit, seeing if there was a reset mode. I read something somewhere about holding the power button for 2 secs (if the screen locks) to re-enable the screen. Tried that and nothing.

Finally, I shut the car off, then went back into accessory mode. I heard a little "pop" from the rear speakers (similar to powering up a home amp) and voila', I had sound again from the entire system. Shut the car back off then on again a few times to verify that it was here to stay (for now) and all is good.
 
#8 · (Edited)
JBL Club 6520....HUGE upgrade. The stockers are just woofers with a small ass magnet. Noticeable sound difference. Like I said, everything was working beautifully for 20 minutes until I was putting on the last panel and then got that error message about low voltage.

I still have a pair of tweeters to install (Infinity Reference) tomorrow.
 
#11 ·
HOLY SHIT.....I just went out......3 hours after it was "solved", did not touch ANYTHING.....and now I am only getting sound through the subwoofer again.

Edit: Now that I think about it, I am wondering if it is a battery charge issue......thoughts?
Sounds more like new speakers drawing too much power shutting something down.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#10 ·
Here's an idea, Slinkyskinked. Make sure your replacement speaker impedances match those of the Honda OEM speakers. (My hobby for the past 45 years has been speaker design.)

If the Honda speakers are 8 Ohms each and you replaced them with 4 Ohm speakers (for example), depending on how the 4 Ohm speakers are wired (series or parallel), the impedance the amplifier "sees" may be lower than the impedance seen by the Honda speakers. Amplifier loading is critical. It sounds to me like your amplifier is dealing with a lower impedance value and eventually overheating to the point of shutting down. The sub may have its own plate amplifier and therefore, immune to the shutdown. I believe it's common for car audio to use weird speaker impedances like 6 Ohms. If you used 4 Ohm speakers, you may still have a severe impedance mismatch.

I checked the JBL Club 6520 specs and they are 3 Ohm. If the Honda speakers are 8 or even 4 Ohm, you have a mismatch.

Thoughts anyone? Does this sound right? Sure does to me. Compare the speaker impedances of the Honda and JBL speakers.
 
#13 · (Edited)
Thanks to everyone who commented. I appreciate your help.

To potentially close this one out. The stock speakers are, I believe, 4 Ohms. My speakers are 3 Ohms, so while not exact they may be close enough. With that said, this morning I went out to do some more trouble-shooting, to include re-installing the stock speakers if I had to. I started the car, turned on the stereo and the speakers worked. Muttering, I shut the car off, go inside to get a cup of coffee (and spike it with Bailey's), go back out, start the car and.....nothing. Only the subwoofer was working.

I then decided to pull the sliding door speakers first. After doing so, I fired up the stereo and the front speakers worked. I then took a gamble and hooked up the right rear speaker; it worked and continued to do so. I hooked up the left rear speaker and it too continued to work. I idled the car for 20 minutes with the stereo on and the speakers continued to work. I shut the car off, waited 5 minutes, turned it back on a sure enough, the speakers worked.

At this time I reinstalled them in the mounts and put the panels back on. I idled the car for another 15 minutes and they continued to work. Shut the car off, back on in Accessory Mode, and they worked.

Chalking this one up to gremlins.

Edit: Been going out to the car randomly since I posted this update and the speakers are still working. Thought about replacing the tweeters and had the pillar trim off, but could not get the tweeters out for the life of me without damaging something.
 
#15 ·
it might be the battery that's not recharging fast enough ( in another thread mentioned in certain situation battery not charging at max). It happened to me a few times when stop at light; auto engine stop engage; hit the gas speakers shut off except centre ones for 1-2 seconds before regain sound.
 
#16 ·
Agreed, King Kong. There have been numerous discussions about the Honda battery being borderline on the requirements from all the trinkets it needs to support. If I ever need a new battery, I'll consult with the service department and see which one is the best. On the other hand, the battery may be just the right fit but the charging system is under-engineered.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Wanted to post yet another follow-up. Everything has been working fine since I last posted. I even went on an extended 12 hour road trip over Christmas with the stereo playing the entire time and did not have any issue.....until today.

I was driving back from skiing and had been on the road for 25 minutes when out of the blue I lost all sound again save for the subwoofer. Once I got home I gambled and did a factory reset given all the issues that I've read about with the infotainment system. Sure enough, as soon as the reset was completed I got my sound back. Granted, it could be coincidence but methinks not.

Edit: Went back out to the car to go to CVS, only sound through subwoofer. Reset in CVS parking lot and the sound came back. Went to Ace, lost sound again. Came home, did a reset, got sound back.
 
#18 ·
3 ohms vs 4 does not sound like much but that’s a 25% change. I bet there’s a sense circuit in the amp that’s freaking out. There may be a short circuit detect and if your on that cliff between ok and fail it may be doing exactly what your showing.

Impedance should be slightly higher the warmer temperature is. Does it mainly give troubles when cooler? My bet is the Honda engineers have a touchy short circuit detect.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
#19 · (Edited)
Again, the car worked fine for 6 to 7 weeks. I was in Brian Head, UT over Christmas with high temperatures in the single digits. No problem. Drove home in a snow storm for 12 hours straight, no problem. Car worked for 2.5 weeks after Christmas, no problem.

The stereo works when resetting factory settings. I let the car idle for an hour today after resetting it, no problem. Turn the car off, wait 10 minutes, then try the stereo again and only the sound comes from the subwoofer.

It is most likely not the speakers given the above. I've made an appointment with the dealer for this coming Monday.

Edit: I should add that if you turn the car off and then immediately turn it on again, the stereo works fine.

For giggles I just went out and measured the battery voltage (both across the terminals and from positive to a chassis ground): 12.22 volts. That is not a healthy battery.
 
#20 ·
Hmmm. Your adding additional current load by lowering your speaker ohm resistance on all mid woofers AND you have a lower than normal system voltage because of the battery. This wreaks of a high current cut out threshold.

Best correct the battery/system voltage issue first. Then if it doesn't correct, you're going to have to swap the speakers to those with 4 ohm exactly.
 
#21 ·
Agreed, Triaque. Just thinking about this intermittent cutout of the speakers, is it possible that there are certain scenarios where other accessories are drawing more power, which causes the amps to cut out? I guess I'm repeating what you said. He's still dealing with a low voltage and amperage issue. A stronger battery than the factory issue is probably needed - assuming his charging system is working perfectly.

It seems to me, the Ody battery is borderline just running its own stuff, never mind an enhanced and slightly different sound system. I notice that when the temperatures drop here in Ontario, I always have to reset my security system because of its trickle voltage draw overnight. There doesn't seem to be a lot of slack in this factory-issue power system. I assume the amps would pull even more power than the security system - enough to drop below their threshold voltage requirements.
 
#23 ·
First, let me say thank you to everyone who commented. Long story short, the battery was dying which seems to be an issue with these vehicles. When I took the car in on Monday, the battery measured 11.94v; 3 days prior it was at 12.2v. They replaced the battery and everything has been working great since.
 
#24 · (Edited)
Sorry for digging up an old thread, but I just encountered this issue.
@slinkyskinked has everything been working since new battery? My battery is only about 4 mo old and has been working well, but today I encountered the subwoofer-only issue, exactly as you describe above.

Edit: my Ody is a 2012 but the problem is exactly as described in this thread. Hopefully I can use this info to solve my issue.
 
#33 ·
I forgot to update this thread, did on the other forum. I did a bad job installing the aftermarket speakers, specifically the harness from crutchfield (not their fault). The rear left connection was loose which caused the intermittent failure. Redid all of the connections in a solid way and the problem has been solved for months.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top