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Rear Speaker Problem


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Guys,

I've had a search for this but can't find the answer.

I have recently bought a 2001 IS200 Sport.

Neither of the rear bass speakers work, the higher frequency ones do. The cables to the speaker in the boot are attached and don't appear to have been interfered with.

From what I can make out the bass and higher frequency speakers are powered and fed seperately.... so far so good.

I popped into a ICE shop who did a quick check on the bass apeakers and they made a nice hum, so I'm assuming the speakers themselves are OK.

Question is any thoughts on why the bass speakers are not being fed. If so where is the problem likely to lie ? I have seen some talk of there being a crossover in the rear behind the seat, some talk of it being within the amp( behind the glove box). Speaking to various so called experts at ICE places non of them really seem to have a clue about the set up in this car. Ideally I'd like a bit of knowledge to check myself first or to ensure that they are not going off on the wrong track. One was talking about the problem being in the head unit but that doesn't make much sense to me.

Thanks in advance for your help !

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Guys,

I've had a search for this but can't find the answer.

I have recently bought a 2001 IS200 Sport.

Neither of the rear bass speakers work, the higher frequency ones do. The cables to the speaker in the boot are attached and don't appear to have been interfered with.

From what I can make out the bass and higher frequency speakers are powered and fed seperately.... so far so good.

I popped into a ICE shop who did a quick check on the bass apeakers and they made a nice hum, so I'm assuming the speakers themselves are OK.

Question is any thoughts on why the bass speakers are not being fed. If so where is the problem likely to lie ? I have seen some talk of there being a crossover in the rear behind the seat, some talk of it being within the amp( behind the glove box). Speaking to various so called experts at ICE places non of them really seem to have a clue about the set up in this car. Ideally I'd like a bit of knowledge to check myself first or to ensure that they are not going off on the wrong track. One was talking about the problem being in the head unit but that doesn't make much sense to me.

Thanks in advance for your help !

What about if you pop into a lexus dealership and ask them they may know and shouldnt charge you for them to have a listen and to have a look....when you look at the speakers from in the boot do the bass cones move at all?? try putting your finger on them to feel if they move or not..they could both have blown magnets but wouldnt of thought that they would both go at the same time.... :huh:

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As far as I can tell looking at the IS200 wiring diagram there is no rear crossover mounted separately. The rear speakers are driven directly from the front mounted power amplifier via some connectors (IB2). I cannot see where these are located.

I take it you have tried the obvious, like adjusting the fader so that the signal is sent to the rear?

If you have tried that then unless the connector has been disconnected in the loom then I would suspect a fault in the power amp or the head unit.

You'll need some test equipment to track the fault down any further. Unless you can find someone to do it cheaply you would probably be better off buying a replacement head/amp from eBay, swapping it with yours and sell any working bits that you didn't need.

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I've always thought that the rear speakers were crap :blink:

When you adjust the fade and balance controls so that the rears are the only ones working, THEY SOUND NAFF ! :angry::angry:

.........Or is that how there supposed to sound??? :duh: :duh:

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It's the standard fit head unit. There is sound from the higher frequency speakers which I think are mounted on top of the bass ones, when they are working there is no movement from the larger cones, i guess they are some sort of two way speaker. I thought I'd read or heard somewhere that the two sets of speaker are wired seperately, the bass ones from the boot where you can see the wires and the others from behind the back seat...... although I have to say I am now getting confused !!

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If you have an SE/Sport model, the rear speakers are Bi-Wired direct from the amp

mounted on the left bulkhead behind the glovebox.

This means the tweeters & bass are powered independantly of each other,

so act as Four Speakers not Two.

It could be a break in the wiring (more likely a connector fault) or alternatively

a speaker or amp failure

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The rear speakers in mine have no separate high frequency units. They don't sound very good by themselves but from the front with the other speakers the sound isn't too bad.

unless u have the S base model you will have hi and low freq speakers in the rear. the high is mounted on top of the low range speaker - its not a 2 way speaker but 2 independent units - if u look from the boot you will see 2 sets of wires going to each unit.

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Thanks guys, I guess to start with I can avoid taking the rear seats out as there's nothing really under there then. Hopefully for some reason the supply from the amp to the bass rears has for some reason just become disconnected........ although I guess that may be overly optomistic !

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Looking closely at my rear speakers I see that there is a single pair of wires connecting to a small terminal strip mounted on the speaker (visible from the boot). The label on the magnet on the back of the speaker seems to suggest that there are 2 drive units inside the speaker as it quotes 2 different impedances and power ratings for the 2 units. This is quite common and the crossover can sometimes take the form of a simple capacitor connecting the incoming wires to the high frequency unit. The low frequency unit is connected directly to the incoming wires from the amp as no filtering is required.

It sounds like my installation (2000 model year - original factory) is different to yours. Without seeing your set-up I probably can't help any further.

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It may be a good idea to check the wiring at the power amp end. Its possible that an aftermarket stereo was fitted by the previous owner of the car and then the standard one put back in before it was sold on to you. In doing this the wiring may have been messed around with.

The amp is behind the dash on the lefthand side. open the glovebox and squeeze the sides in carefully, this will allow it to tip down completly. the amp is up in the top lefthand corner. It will have a single white multiplug in the bottom. Check around this for wires that may have been cut and joined.

Also try a simple circuit tester across the terminals on the rear speakers if there is no continuity between the two terminals the voice coil in the speaker may be burnt out.

Feel free to ask me any questions on this as I used to fit car audio. The is200 setup is unusual and many car audio places may not have dealt with one before!

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Thanks for all the above ! I've had a look at the wiring at the amp end, well what I can see of it without removing it or the trim, and it looks untouched, there is a white connector going to it and the wiring looks original, I guess that block connector has all the wiring for all the speakers so I guess it's unlikely to be there that the problem lies.

My speakers also have that marking on them about the different impedence and power rating.

Unless there is another connection in the wire between the amp and the speakers I guess one or other must be at fault, although when the guy in the first shop I went to connected something to the speakers in the boot they did make a deep burping noise( I don't know what it was !!).

Is it likely that the amp will just have stopped working on the rear bass channels only ??

I think I may have to give in and take it to someone to have it checked properly. Does anyone have any suggestions/recommendations of anywhere that might understand the system in the Essex/Herts/Romford borders sort of area ?

Thanks again.

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If you don't mind a drive to my workshop in hertfordshire I'd check it out for you. Also if it turns out the amplifier is at fault I have a working one that I took out of my own IS200 you could buy.

That sounds like a fine offer, thanks. Can you PM me contact details ? ( If I can figure out how it works !!)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Well it appears that it is probably the rear bass channel in the amp that is causing the problems. The speakers seem OK. So the question is does anyone have an amp they would like to get rid of/sell at a reasonable price ?(+P&P of course unless you're not too far away.). It does appear that the amp changed around 2000/2001 as mine is different to the one that Lexus Gaz had ( Thanks for your help!). The model I need ends 53040 and is all silver in colour. It is slightly larger than the earlier black/silver model which also connects slightly differently. If not I'll start looking out on eBay !

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  • 5 months later...

hi peeps can i say thanks for the info you have given me as i am new to lexus oc and i to have the same problem in my 200 sport nav now i have just fitted my old but very expensive unit in and i replaced the rears as they had all of the above ie popping and no bass but i have a new problem in the the 6x9 i got still make that noise and not very loud i am thinking of binning the whole lot and getting a amp to fedd the rears and a sub but if there is a way of sorting it out b4 i spend money i dont have could you plz get in contact asap in cornwall /plymouth area and would be plzed to see other members thanks chris

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