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Diablo 6 – Alpine IVA C800R – no sound. Please help


darth sidious
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My CD player / radio stopped working. I have zero expertise in anything related to in car entertainment but I believe the technical term is “it’s fcuked”.

 

Previously when I activated the car the unit would come on, invariably blaring out House, Soul or dance music from a CD that some idiot didn’t eject when the car was last used, whilst the dash lights went through their routine. A further turn of the key and the engine would roar in to life drowning out the racket coming from the speakers. All was well in the world.

 

What happens now is that when I activate there is a crackling from the speakers and then silence. The CD player is functioning. I can see it on the screen. I can change volume, skip tacks, change bass/balance/treble, switch to radio etc.

 

It’s the same story when I fire the engine. No sound to drown out.

 

And yes, before anyone suggests, I have made sure the mute is not enabled.

 

My conclusion is that the unit is working but for some reason the unit is not putting out a signal to the speakers. Alternatively it is putting out a signal to the speakers but they aren’t receiving the signal. My guess the former is the more likely scenario but then what do I know.

 

So I need help.

 

I am hoping that somebody out there may know about these things or maybe even experienced, and fixed, the same problem on their 6 litre.

 

Thank you in advance

 

D S

 

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Stereos are fairly easy and simple to work with, but here is my suggestion.

 

Just take it to a decent stereo shop, get them to pull your deck out, buy a new system yours sounds way outdated, put in some decent speakers while you're at it, intergrade your phone to it, voila problem solved.

 

The head unit is not worth anything trust me, get yourself a decent system with pop up display, gps, variable sound, bluetooth, reverse camera, aux inputs etc.. and get full use out of your audio system and not just sound.

 

Expect to spend $800 to $1500 for a decent system with speakers. There are lots that are cheaper not recommended but thats your prerogative, you can also go insane and spend $5000 not worth it at all imo.

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The Alpine IVA C800R is actually in 2 pieces: there is the head unit on the centre dash with the flip out screen, then there is the processing unit (otherwise known as "the brain"). It sounds to me that there is either a loose wire/bad connection between the head unit and the brain or there is a blown fuse in the brain. Regrets that despite having a 6.0, I do not know where the brain is located but I would venture a guess that it's under the dash above the passenger footwell. Perhaps you can check for any loose wire there.

 

While the unit is more than a decade old, Alpine's IVA series is among one of their best sounding units ever made. And we know how fragile and finicky the wiring of these cars can be. If it's not necessary, I would not swap anything out. And, as you would have known, the unit already have a flip up display, aux input and can easily be connected to reverse camera and GPS with additional modules.

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Guys - Thanks for the replies.

 

Nightlife - Wise advice, much appreciated. A new unit would be the easy route and would fix the problem. However I want to keep the car as original as possible and the IVA C800R came with the car when new. I might eventually do as you suggest but only after I have exhausted all repair, or if necessary replacement, options.

 

VCR - That is a great shout on the brain. I would never have known. Thank you. I will take a look tomorrow and see if I can locate it. Any idea what I should be looking for w-r-t size & shape? Where would the brain fuse be? Internal or external to the brain. And finally, just so I don't lay in bed at night wondering - what exactly does the brain do? Is it like and old fashioned version of a CPU? Or perhaps an amp?

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This is a pic that came from a quick Google search so the head unit might not look exactly as yours. But you get the idea about what the brain looks like and its size. Due to the flip up/tuck away screen on the head unit, there really isn't room for the single-DIN-sized head unit to contain all the circuitry required to run everything. So basically, the so-called head unit is a screen, a CD transport and a control panel; it's the brain that holds everything, i.e. tuner, pre/power-amp, video processing (for the external camera) etc... Check all the RCA female connector on the brain: white is left audio, red is right audio and yellow is video, the other multi-pin plugs (the 2 black round ones and the small odd-shaped one) are for power and logic controls, make sure those are tight as well please. (The small round hole on the left is for the radio antenna.) See the small black box near the upper right corner of the pic? IIRC, there should be fuse(s) inside that piece. You may need to trace a few wires from the brain to locate that little black box but that would be a good place to look. Good luck.

10185657_20101114142127.jpg

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The amp/control unit is behind the driver's seat. Be careful pulling the panel out. Its wedged in really tight (after removing 2 screws on the bottom and 2 in the storage box hinge). All of the components are stock Alpine and can be found cheaply on ebay.

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^Makes perfect sense since the CD changer is on the passenger side. I always thought that storage box was kind of shallow. This explains it. Thanks.

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It's working!

 

I wiggled a few wires, jiggled with connections and sound came back. I am not entirely sure which was the problem but at least i know where to fiddle about if it reoccurs.

 

Thanks to VCR (existence of the brain) and falconsprint (location of the brain). Once again proving that this place is the best on the web.

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It's working!

 

I wiggled a few wires, jiggled with connections and sound came back. I am not entirely sure which was the problem but at least i know where to fiddle about if it reoccurs.

 

Thanks to VCR (existence of the brain) and falconsprint (location of the brain). Once again proving that this place is the best on the web.

 

Well that is good news, trust me thats how most audio fixes occur :eusa_dance:

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  • 1 year later...

Sorry to resurrect but the bloody thing isn't working - again. That is to say that although the unit is powered up and the screen is illuminated there is no sound.

 

It was the first time on the road this year. i have been working abroad but had to come back to the UK for a medical appointment on Friday so I arranged for both cars to be MOT'd (both passed, no advisories. Happy days)

When I got the Diablo home I thought I would do the wiggle wires technique again. After all it worked two years ago. After about 30 minutes of laying upside down in the passenger footwell 1/3 in, 2/3 out of the car with my arm stuck up behind the dash and my hand working blind at the rear of the unit the sound suddenly came on. I elected to do this cac-handed method because getting the bezel off the face of the unit is a real pig and the bezel needs to come off to get at the release pins. Although I couldn't see and was working only by feel all the wires and connections in to the rear of the unit felt solid. I actually don't think the problem is anything to do with connections to the rear of the unit. Anyway: whatever I did, probably more by luck than judgement, it worked and i was a happy camper.

 

Then I shut the passenger door and the music stopped. I was a happy camper no more.

 

I recounted this sad tale to someone today and they said that it sounded like a loose wire to the door speaker. I have my doubts about this theory. So my two questions are:-

 

1) Would a loose speaker wire cause all the sound to stop? Surely this would cause only the speaker with the loose wire to be silent and the other speakers to continue broadcasting. Or is my limited understanding of HiFi wrong and the person I spoke with correct?

2) If it is a loose door speaker wire - what is the process of removing the speaker or getting to the rear of the speaker? Do i have to remove the door arm rest and door card? If so - what is the procedure?

 

I am off abroad for work again on Sunday but hope to be back home in early July so if anyone has any advice for when I return I would be most grateful.

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It sounds like a loose wire but not under the circumstances as described by the person that you met.

 

a) You are correct, it won't make sense to mute everything due to 1 loose speaker wire unless the wires crossed and arched the fuses and took out the amp. But even that shouldn't mute both channels.

 

b ) I am guessing the wire from the door is touching another wire which links the head unit to the brain. When the door wire is moved by closing the door, it pulled the other wire with it thus disconnecting/loosening it. Try doing what you had done before to get the sound back but play with the wires a bit so that they do not bunch up together.

 

c) Another possibility is a cracked/broken fuse holder. Plastic dies over time and the metal within the plastic fuse holder becomes disconnected and thus no sound is produced. Regrets that I don'y know where the fuse holder is but it probably will involve removing the head unit and/or the brain or exploring what's behind the centre dash in greater depth (literally).

 

d) No expert on car audio speaker mount but judging by the looks of the 6.0 door cards, the card/panel needs to be removed from the door in order to gain access to the underside of the speaker. I would try wiggling the wires first.

 

Good luck!

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The door speakers can be removed with the panel in place.

 

Pull off the wire mesh and you'll find 4 screws holding the speaker and its bezel. Attached to the back of the door panel is the crossover box with the speaker input pair and two output pairs. One pair for the 6" lower driver and the other for the tweeter. You should be able to see it if you put a mirror in the hole.

 

 

 

 

 

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