Alpine CDA-9856/Front Driver's Speaker
 

OK, so here's the deal. I got this thing for christmas, and about 2 weeks later the driver's side speaker is sounding not as loud *noticeably* even my gf noticed it. thought i had blown out the speaker, so i replaced the fronts, and with the fade all the way to the front it wasnt as bad, but now the new set is doing it again, and i cant take it anymore. i tried swapping the drivers to passengers and it remained the same, so it's not the speakers....the speakers in the doors are pioneer 3way 6x8's and i'm at a loss, is there any way the 'built in amp' that pumps 18w RMS to the speakers is malfunctioning and not sending the right wattage to the drivers side? i have the balance to the drivers side +3, and its close, but when you mess with the balance it throws everything off and doesnt sound the same to me..any telltale signs or a few things i could look for that might be causing this or am i just crazy? ...or should i call alpine on monday...:help:

Well if it's not the speakers (obviously as you've checked this) then unless you've got a bad connection somewhere in the speaker wiring, most likely it's your headunit. If that's the case, then depending on where you got it, you're most likely hosed. Alpine only honors the warranty if you purchased your unit through an authorised Alpine dealer. Ebay does not count, as I found out when the tuner in my 9855 started acting up.

If you still have your original radio, I would try plugging that in and see if it makes a difference. If you still are having problems, then my guess is you've got a bad connection somewhere between the radio and the wire harness, assuming you just purchased an aftermarket harness adapter and didn't try to cut and solder the thing in directly.

Process of elimination man... it's not glamorous, but it sounds like you're already on the right path, checking the speakers and whatnot. I'll keep my fingers cross for you that it's not the HU that's messed up. Good luck to ya.

i got it at BB, so im not completely effed... i just wanna get what i was supposed to

Well sweet... you should be fine then. If they did the install then I say take it back and let them fix it. If not, you're probably past the return period, so give Alpine a call at 1-800-832-4101 and see who their repair and service rep is in your area. Warranty should cover everything, that's one of the best things about Alpine.