The rear speaker/subwoofers are growling/buzzing/distorting louder than the overall volume setting when the fader and bass are turned up from the lowest settings. I recently replaced the radio/cassette-player in hopes of curing this problem; the radio unit had other issues too, e.g., a dead display and dead front speakers. Anyway the replacement cured the other issues but not the rear speakers problem. I am wondering if the power amplifier sub-woofer section might be the problem and not the speaker/subwoofer units because both rear speakers are affected..?? What is the best way to narrow down this issue without disassembly, or are my suspicions about the amplifier already correct..?? In any case I may want to replace the sub-woofers with more recently designed units. Thanx, Geoff

 

I had the same issues and, my case, it was the rear subwoofers. You need to remove the rear seat and side panels. There is a post here somewhere with step-by-step, detailed instructions. There are some who suggest that you do not have to remove the rear seat, but, again, in my case, I could not figure out any other way. First time, 1.5 hours. I could do the job now in maybe half that time. I used these speakers. Whatever you use, they have to be shallow draft or you will have to make modifications. These fit perfectly and sound very good. Good luck! Earthquake Sound SWS-6.5X 6.5" Single 4 ohm Voice Coil Subwoofer

 

MadBrad -- Thanks for the reply and the recommendation about the replacement speakers; I need to somehow confirm that the amplifier is not to blame before I start ripping into speaker replacement..?? Replacing the amp would be a lot easier, but I am well equipped to do the speakers as soon as I am convinced that I must..!!

 

I can only tell you that my both of my rear subwoofers were completely disintegrated. It was not a blown speaker issue that affected just one speaker, if that is where you are headed. There was no foam surrounding either speaker, hence the buzz at any other than the lowest volume. My car was garage kept and had only 56K at the time, which was just a few months ago. Checking the speakers may be easier than discerning the amp issue. Anyway, I am sure you will find the cure. You must have good music in this car, so I applaud your effort!

 

Thanks again, I am going ahead with the new speakers using your speaker recommendation..! I'm sure I need them in any case; and this will definitely convince me of the integrity, good or bad, of the power amplifier after I install the new speakers. Gotta get this repair going so I'm biting the bullet and will start thrashing as soon as I get the new speakers. I'll post a message to you about how it all turns out after that..! -- Geoff

 

You don't actually need to remove the side panels. If you are careful you can remove the grills, while everything is in the car. The grills are only a cloth impregnated metal mesh. The tabs that hold the mesh on the panel, are about 2" long, and 1" wide. They go through slots, and will go back in easily also, so long as you take your time. You can leave the lower tabs in the side cover, so it goes together easier. I changed both my subwoofers in about 20 minutes. The kid down the alley, who works for BestBuy showed me how. The speakers are mounted facing opposite of what you would normally mount the speaker. I was also told to not use the paper and foam type of speaker the factory used. My speaker cones are made out of some kind of thin hard plastic, connected to a clear membrane holding them centered. I probably don't listen to the same music as you, but it feels and sounds like Carlos Santana, Natalie Cole, and Eric Clapton are in the seat with me. I have never had a car sound system sound this good......Be cool.....Mike

 

Thanks Mike -- I have ordered the Earthquake SWS-6.5X speakers and I think I'll go with the seat removal method so I can inspect and clean all the areas under, behind, and around the seat and side panels. Plus I want to remove the speaker enclosures so I can do the speaker replacements on the workbench. I have all the tools and facility for the job, I enjoy really digging into my projects and doing them as perfectly as I can.


Your list of former rides is formidable..! Besides the Jag XK8 I have a 1938 Chevy Coupe with a fuel-injected 502 cu-in V8, a 1971 Triumph Bonneville bike, a 1977 Kawasaki 1000 LTD bike, and a 1997 GMC Safari Van..!
Keep On Truckin' -- Geoff

 

My front left dash speaker is beginning to buzz, and I would imagine that the rest of the speakers have probably deteriorated somewhat after 15 years. I replaced the speakers in the door panels last year, and they're just okay. Has anyone replaced all of the speakers in the car and might offer some suggestions on which brand and type to buy for the various locations. I listen mostly to rock and alternative music, and rarely play the music at elevated levels.


Thanks.

 

Geoff,

A couple of tips are to trim and reuse the existing ring. See this link: JagRepair.com - Jaguar Repair Information Resource In addition, when I cut the wires off the existing speakers, I remember there being very little remaining with which to work. So, I taped the positive wire on each side for ID purposes and then used some -- maybe a foot to 18 in. of small gauge (16 to 18) -- wire to connect to the new speakers on my bench. Then I connected the car wires to my wires -- already attached to the speakers -- with snap couplers. Not saying that is the best way, but it worked perfectly for me. Don't forget to check speaker parity before you button it up. The following thread from MHerman was very helpful as well:

I purchased my year 2000 XK8 convertible used about 4 years ago. On setting my stock Alpine radio to purely rear sound, no sound came out of the rear speakers at all. I checked possible fuses, but they were all still good. The front speakers all still worked and sound fine, but even at max volume, the sound was mediocre intensity. I decided to follow earlier advice on this forum to replace the rear speakers in hopes it would restore the sound volume and quality.

Following earlier advice in this forum, I tried to find the recommended Kicker 10CV654 speaker set, but they are now obsolete (at the time of this writing: March 2014), and unavailable on the used market - such as eBay. When I called the Kicker company, they recommended a particular speaker set - but my local seller (Fry's Electronics Sunnyvale California) did not have them in stock. They did have in stock the speaker box set Kicker CS67, listed as coaxial 4 ohm of diameter 6.75 inch, but also stated to fit 6.5 inch. I purchased the CS67 kit- list price was ~$80 for the pair of speakers.

On removing the original rear speakers they measure 6.5 inch OD, and are stamped on the back as 2 ohm. The Kicker CS67 are a perfect fit -- the holes match exactly, and the existing spade lug connectors (one narrow, one wide) exactly match the original narrow and wide spade connectors. Now the original radio performance is restored and sounds very good.

Surprisingly, when I replaced just the driver side rear speaker first, and tested it, the original passenger side rear speaker also was found to work fine too. On replacing both rear speakers, of course, the completed system works just fine too. On testing the removed original speakers with an ohm-meter, they both measure identically ~2.5 ohms DC. I did not replace the spade lug connectors... so I am at a loss to understand why the original rear speakers did not work. Like many things in the XK8, they seem to like attention like any good pet does - perhaps in this case oxidation in the connectors made an open connection, and the radio circuit seeing one woofer speaker open passed no current to either speaker. (this is not the way to design reliable circuitry - but we Jaguar owners know about that already ).

Anyway, I just wanted to update the group in case someone is contemplating replacing poor sounding or silent rear speakers. The Kicker CS67 are an easy replacement set. Tools required: a #2 Philips screwdriver, a T50 Torx male drive socket, and 10mm and 9mm female sockets.

The disassembly, replacement of the speakers, and re-assembly took me a total of 2 hours, but could have been done in about 1 hour total.

Here are the steps in the process to replace the rear speakers in the convertible:
1. Retract the convertible roof - necessary because we must remove the leatherette covers of both rear side posts and remove the rear seat back and rear seat - easiest with the top retracted.
2. lift off the plastic caps on both driver and passenger seat belt retractor loop holders. Put these in a plastic bag for safekeeping.
3. use a #50 Torx male bit to remove the driver and passenger seat belt retractor loop holders. [We remove the adjacent 2 philips and 1 9mm tonneau cover clip in steps 5 and 6].
4. use a #2 Philips screwdriver to loosen the rear seat belt retractor clips at the top of the back seat. Just pull the plastic seat belt holders up and out of the way. Put the 4 philips head screws in a plastic bag for safekeeping.
5. use a #2 Philips screwdriver to remove the screws at the top and front-face of the top side post covers. Put the 4 philips head screws in a plastic bag for safekeeping.
6. Use a 9mm socket to unscrew the tonneau cover fasteners.Put the 2 9mm head screws in a plastic bag for safekeeping.
7. Remove the back seat bottom cushion by:
a. unsnap the center vinyl cloth covering surrounding the 2 center seat belt connectors (which are black with red plastic centers).
b. behind the driver's seat, looking up at the bottom of the rear seat from the floor carpet, note a rubber "sock" covering a long threaded rod. Remove the sock and see a 10mm nut and washer. Unscrew the 10mm nut which holds down the rear seat. On the passenger side, repeat this process. Put both 10mm nuts, and the rubber socks covers, in a plastic bag for safekeeping.
c. lift up the front of the rear seat bottom cushion. It will become stuck due to the center seat belt clips which become stuck in the vinyl cloth covering. You must push the seat belt clips through this cloth covering (make sure the snaps are open so you can get these through.
d. Now the rear seat should just lift up from the front and remove it from the car.
8. Remove the back seat back cushion by:
a. Once the rear bottom cushion is removed, you will see 2 gold colored Philips #2 screws at the bottom of the rear seat cushion. Unscrew these and save the #2 gold colored screws in a plastic bag.
b. (You have already removed the 4 philips screws at the top of the back seat, which hold down the seat belt retractors).
c. Lift up the rear seat cushion. It has a U-shape which holds the top of the rear seat cushion to the rear sheet metal. Lift the rear seat back out of the car.
9. Remove the driver's side and passenger side top covers (the T50 torx seat belt holders, and the 2 #2 Philips screws and the 9mm tonneau cover clips were already removed). Just lift these covers off and remove them from the car.
10. Now it gets a bit tricky: you pull the speaker cover sidewall inward and away from the outer wall, and in doing so, pull the "toe" of plastic from under the door sill plate (the nice polished metal plate that says "Jaguar" on each doorsill). You will see two clips that hold the side panel in place: one clip will just push back in, and the rear connector is just a plastic tab on a support piece that is glued to the sidewall. The sidewall seems to be made of vinyl leatherette covered fiber board. If the rear plastic support tab breaks off, you may glue it back on with silicone or other cement.
11. Now that the side panels have been pulled inward, you see the rear woofer speaker. Only 4 gold-colored screws (Philips #2) unscrew and the speaker can be pulled inward. You will see the two electrical connectors (spade lug type, one is narrow and the other is wide). Just pull each connector off the speaker - they will match the replacement (if Kicker CS67 model).
12. Replace with the new speakers. The narrow and wide spade lugs will match the existing ones, assuring correct electrical polarity (and thus sound phase).
13. Turn on the car and test the speakers. Repeatly pressing the "Mode" button allows you to find the setting for "Fade" which sets the balance between the front (door mounted woofers and top door and front dashboard tweeters) and rear (woofer only) speakers. If you set to mostly rear speakers you should hear the rear speakers working. These are set up to be "Woofers" so you will only hear low frequency bass sound from them. (I think there is a filter circuit in the plastic rear speaker enclosure to only pass low frequencies to the rear speakers. The Kicker CS67 are coaxial and could deliver high frequency too... so the coaxial performance is really wasted using them only as woofers. But.... since that was all the store had available, and the sound is fine with them... I accept the situation.) Kicker does also make purely woofer speakers that are 6.5 inch diameter - and so do many other vendors... they all should work just as well as these Kicker CS67.
14. Reverse the removal process to put the car back together.
Special considerations:
a. Be sure you reinstall the "toe" of each side panel back under the "sill" of the driver and passenger door sills.
b. Be sure that you keep the rear seat belts in front of the rear seat back...
Note: my re-assembly had to be done twice, because in haste I forgot to re-insert the "toe" of the plastic front of one side panel under the door sill. On realizing this (after all was completed), I had to remove the entire rear seat cushions and do the removal and reinstallation twice. So my 2 hour job should have only taken 1 hour... I think.

Others in this forum have noted that the original speakers say "2 ohm" and yet 4 ohm replacement speakers seem to work just fine as well. These Kicker CS67 coaxial speakers are also 4 ohm and work just fine too.

I hope this writeup and notes will help other XK8 owners, as much as the wonderful earlier posters helped me tackle this audio repair job.

MHH March 8 2014