Why might my last 2 BMW's audio systems have crapped out

Man of Honour
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17 Oct 2002
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its just pop/rock/electronic....i do play it loudly (~70%)...equaliser is just on its defaults.
i too wonder whether cars limit the volume to prevent breakages
maybe 70% IS too much for a car setup.

How are you aware of what is going on around you when driving with music that loud?
 

mjt

mjt

Soldato
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How are you aware of what is going on around you when driving with music that loud?
Yes; I use something called mirrors.
If I’m angry or in a bad mood, I sometimes blast music far too loud. Thanks to my eyes and mirrors, I have a very good sense of what’s occurring around me.
 
Associate
OP
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its like speeding, you need to be super alert, constantly checking. /expecting issues.
but yes dont play loud music in towns, it is distracting, , i live out on country roads...
 
Soldato
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If the recording level is high or compressed/distorted (most modern era cds) then it can overdrive and clip at lower volumes than a recording with better dynamic range. I've done tests of old recordings vs remastered ones in the 2000s where at a certain loudish volume the amp was fine and sounded good with the original recording with no clipping via visual meters, same song remastered went into clipping and sounded noticeably worse at any volume even not clipping.
I guess my ramblings to a point is that, even if some tolerance is built into a system not to overdrive the speakers, its also down to the source signal's level whether its mp3 or cd etc.. if its too hot it can overdrive much lower than you'd think and send DC to the speaker coil and cause damage, even the same song can cause different behaviour at the same volume depending on when it was released.
 
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Caporegime
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21 Jun 2006
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Based on his comments about keeping cars 10 years and the failures coming in the last year of ownership on his previous two, sounds like it's just old cars breaking to me

speakers don't tend to fail though. ever unless driven too hard or incorrectly wired.

if they worked for 9 years it's safe to say they will work for 90.

an amplifier is completely different. electronics do fail and depends on the quality of the component but 10 years is normal for one of them to fail. as in how many peoples tv's, etc fail after around 10 years is pretty common.
 
Soldato
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speakers don't tend to fail though. ever unless driven too hard or incorrectly wired.

if they worked for 9 years it's safe to say they will work for 90.

an amplifier is completely different. electronics do fail and depends on the quality of the component but 10 years is normal for one of them to fail. as in how many peoples tv's, etc fail after around 10 years is pretty common.

Speak cones do split after time. It's pretty normal if you're pushing them to their limits consistently.
 
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