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Poor Sound Quality - Muffled, No Treble

9.8K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  drdread  
#1 ·
Friends - I'm thinking something has gone wrong with the Amplifier.

Here's the issue -

1. Driving along yesterday, approximately 5 minutes after starting car, and suddenly the sound from all Speakers became very 'muffled'. Did not 'gradually' become muffled. It was immediate. As if there is no Treble.
2. I have never had any issues with the sound system before. I guess it was only a matter of time...
3. Maybe related - I went to start the car in the morning. Would not start. Had not been started in a couple of days. I did have two 12v Ionic Air Purifiers plugged in, that I picked up recently from Amazon, which had good reviews. These run all the time, when plugged into the cigarette lighters, so I'm assuming they are draining the Battery. Fortunately, I have a pretty powerful portable jump-start pack, which I used to start the car, and it started immediately.
4. By the way, I believe my Battery is good - No other electrical issues, and the Interstate Battery is about 2 years old.
5. Anyway, back to the 'sound' issue. The sound is 'muffled' regardless of source. In other words, bad with FM Radio or IPod. Yes, IPod - I fitted a Dice unit made specifically for this vehicle about 3 years ago. No issues, works great, probably the best $125 I have spent on this car.
6. I went to the back of the vehicle, and pulled off the left cover, opening up the area with all the A/V and Navigation electronics, because I have heard from others in this forum that there can be some 'water damage' in this area. I did not see or feel water anywhere, but decided to unclip 2 of the 3 connectors (the 2 smaller ones) from a black box that I think is the Amplifier. Guess what? Water! I used some cotton buds - It took about 4 cotton buds to soak up the water from the 2 connectors. I sprayed both male and female parts with some electrical CRC QD Electrical Cleaner. Connected back up, started vehicle again, and tested sound.
7. Same issue, muffled sound.
8. Because there may be a definite, specific, issue that is causing this, that someone on the forum may know the answer to, I have not done any further research. I'll wait to see what responses I get, and go from there.
9. If this 'probably' or 'definitely' requires a new Amplifier, or other parts that will cost a few hundred dollars, I guess now is the time to think about replacing the whole system with something more updated, including a new touch-screen head-unit which has the latest bells and whistles..

So here we are again, a typical Sunday - Trying to fix the Range Rover...

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide, Simon
 
#2 ·
Ok, good news - sound is now ok. Jumped into the car for the first time today, after posting my original message, turned radio on, and Boston's "More than a Feeling" blasted out nice and clear.

I wish I knew what caused the issue, but I'm happy it works.

Let me know if you think I should do anything to mitigate this happening again.

I guess I now have time to fix my Ball Joint...
 
#3 ·
The Bass on mine seems very ' vibratey" to invent a word. It's like it's turned up far to high but when I check the tone settings, it's near the middle. Sounds the same with and with out the equaliser on. 2003 Vogue with LR's non touch screen sat nav with cd changer and tape deck.
 
#4 ·
Hey mate, jumped in my Range Rover this morning and the same issue - really muffled sound. I'm hoping after work I get in the car and the problem disappears. Wishful thinking right? Did you by any chance figure out what the issue was in the end?

Friends - I'm thinking something has gone wrong with the Amplifier.

Here's the issue -

1. Driving along yesterday, approximately 5 minutes after starting car, and suddenly the sound from all Speakers became very 'muffled'. Did not 'gradually' become muffled. It was immediate. As if there is no Treble.

So here we are again, a typical Sunday - Trying to fix the Range Rover...

Thanks in advance for any advice you can provide, Simon
 
#6 ·
It doesn't sound like nevill had a blown anything, since his problem spontaneously resolved after drying out some water ingress, which probably shorted out something affecting his treble.