How to Fix a Rattling Speaker 

It’s such an awful experience when your car speakers rattle at times when you are supposed to be enjoying some cool music during your ride. This literally kills the fun of listening to music while driving. However, rattling speakers are fixable, so if you have been experiencing some vibrations in car speakers, rest assured that you are going to get some solutions by reading this article. 

There are several ways by which you can fix a rattling speaker. The easiest way is to turn down your speaker’s volume and then adjust the bass and treble levels on your equalizer. If the speaker’s screws are loose, tighten them. You can also stop the speakers from rattling by placing some soundproof materials around the speaker. 

When your speaker blurs at higher volumes, there is a high chance of it rattling and even sending vibrations all over your body. If you are not comfortable with the rattling, simply turn down the volume and that may help a bit. Obviously, this may not solve the problem entirely and so in this article I am going to provide you with more tips to help you fix your rattling speakers. 

Does a Rattling Speaker Mean It’s Blown?

Although most blown speakers do rattle, a  rattling speaker does not necessarily mean that your speaker is blown. This is to say that your speaker may be functional and still be rattling. 

Usually, speakers rattle when they can not accommodate the electrical power that is being sent to them. This normally occurs when the speakers are working at their maximum levels and at extremely high volumes. 

What you will usually notice is that the vibrations create some sort of distortions in the sound that the speakers produce and reduce their overall sound quality. 

Since you can not conclude that your speakers are blown by just because they are rattling, you should pay particular attention to your speakers when they are rattling. 

Play some good music with your speakers and then take note of the sounds that they are producing. 

If you can hear the music alongside the rattling, then the speakers are not blown but are just rattling. 

However, if you do not hear any music and all that you can hear is the rattling of the speakers, then the speakers are blown for sure.  

Why Should I Fix My Rattling Car Speakers? 

Rattling speakers disturb the flow of quality music. If you do not care so much about music quality or what you are listening to, then this will not be a problem for you. 

On the other hand, if you are an audiophile, this could be bad for you. 

Besides messing up your music, rattling can also have some health implications on your body. The heavy vibrations from the speaker may also damage your car in the long term. 

Let’s see how the speakers affect you and the car. 

Rattling Speakers and Your Health

Consider a scenario where your speakers are giving out very heavy bass sounds. These sounds are capable of vibrating objects around your car. Eventually, your body also begins to receive its fair share of vibrations. 

Our eardrums are not designed to receive such loud sounds for a long time. If you are cruising in your car with rattling speakers in your car and playing loud music for a long time, the bass vibrations may affect your eardrums, chest, and joints of your bones. 

In order not to develop any health complications as a result of the rattling speakers, you should try to fix them as soon as possible so that you can enjoy your ride with music at reasonable volumes. 

Also Read:

How to connect 4 speakers to 4 channel amp

Rattling Speakers and Your Car

One other reason why you should also fix rattling speakers in your car is that they may damage your car. 

Most components of your car are made of metals and wirings which could easily be affected by the heavy vibrations from your car speakers. 

The metals and wirings may be pulled out of place because of the constant vibrations from the speaker. 

If you do not fix the rattling speakers in time, it will not be long before vital components in your car get damaged. 

How to Fix Rattling Speakers in Your Car

As I said earlier, rattling speakers can be fixed. In fact, you can fix them in a number of ways which I’m going to discuss with you soon. 

Since speakers often rattle at higher volumes, your first remedy to the situation is to turn down the volume of the music and see how things go. 

Hopefully, you may even fix the problem just with a volume adjustment. 

However, if the speakers continue to rattle, you should try out these tips: 

  • Adjust your equalizer
  • Tighten the screws
  • Soundproof the speaker 
  • Use a subwoofer

Adjust the Equaliser

Most cars nowadays have an equalizer that allows you to set different volumes for the bass and treble for the car’s system. 

When you notice that your speakers are rattling, playing with the equalizer may be a good option. 

Tune the bass and treble levels in the car in order to have a perfect blend of the two. 

This way the frequencies of the two will balance each other and reduce the excessive vibrations that would have otherwise been produced from your speakers. 

Tighten the Screws

Sometimes, the speakers in your may rattle as a result of loose objects or fittings around the speaker. 

Since the fittings are loose, the slightest vibration from the speaker often displaces them and causes them to produce weird sounds alongside your speakers. 

What you need to do is tighten the screws of all such components with a screwdriver. This will help stop the speakers from rattling. 

If the screws are way deep in the door of the car or anywhere you can not easily get access to, then you may consider hiring a professional to access the interiors and check them up for you. 

Another way is to also slightly hit the surfaces around the speaker to see if things will fall in their right places. 

If you do not urgently object that is close to the speakers, you can relocate them to somewhere in the car where they will not affect the speakers. 

Sound Proof the Speakers 

Soundproofing is a good of muting sounds around a rattling speaker. When you have a rattling speaker in your and observe around it, you’ll most see the areas around it vibrating. 

These are the areas where you want to install some soundproof objects in order to take care of unnecessary sounds. 

If you are not so good with the interior of cars, letting a professional do that for you will be a better choice. 

Depending on the speakers that are rattling, whether the door speakers or the back speakers, get into the interior of the panels and the lookout for objects that appear loose and shake.

Use a soundproof material to hold them in place or simply use soundproof tape on them to keep them from hitting other objects. 

This approach is likely to reduce the rattling of your speakers drastically if you are able to do it properly in all the areas around your car speakers.

Use a Subwoofer 

If you like heavy bass sounds in your car, then you should get a subwoofer. The addition of a subwoofer to your car’s audio system will offer you various options to play music from speakers. 

You can also get cool bass sounds in your music without having to turn the volumes of your speakers so high. 

The thing with subwoofers is that they use more electrical power and there demand a lot of power from the amp. Since the audio system in most cars isn’t really designed for this workload, you should supplement the power of the system by using quality capacitors. 

What you have to do is to use the alternator of the car to power up the capacitor and use the power for the amp when you are in for bass-related music. 

Why is My Sub Making a Rattling Noise?

Subwoofers can also rattle when they get damaged at some point. 

Rattling in a subwoofer is usually a sign that the cone of the sub is faulty. Sometimes, it could be that either the spider or the surround of the sub is faulty as well. 

You need to replace your sun once you realize that any of the components that I mentioned above is broken. 

Conclusion 

Rattling in speakers may occur even if your speaker is not damaged. It may be caused by high volumes, bass frequencies, and objects vibrating close to the speakers. 

Whatever the cause of rattling may be in your speakers, one thing is certain they do distort speaker sounds and ruin your listening experience. 

However, you should not be so worried when your speakers begin to make rattling noises. You can fix the vibrations in the speakers by turning down the volume and applying any of the fixes that I have discussed in this article. 

If you can not access the inner compartments of your car, seek the services of a technician to do that for you and get the speakers fixed.

Josephine

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