Been working through some electrical issue on my new boat, pretty much got everything worked oout except the stereo. I have a JL M4300 amp, one cable going from stereo to amp, for some reason the previous owner had the switch on discrete so the front speakers didnt work, I changed it nd everything worked for about a 1/2 hr, then a hear a loud crackel and all the power goes to one speaker and it gets real loud, If I shut it off it will work ok for a couple minutes then the same thing happens. The speaker that all the power goes to happens top be the one in the worst condition (pretty corroded), it should be replaced but low on funds.

Does this sound like an amp problem or a speaker problem?

Thanks

Sounds more like a problem with your head unit. Could be a bad amp, but I wouldn't think the speaker is the issue.

Jl amps usually just go out, so the voice coil on that speaker probably bad. If shorted will play until real hot and can go bal to amp. In hook sparker and try again. If plays you know your issue. Head unit amp which drives the rca's can go bad but this usually just kills the sound. Also you could have a short in amp that is exposing itself when hot. Start by unhooking speaker.

Thanks, it does seem to happen when it gets hot or it's been played for a little while, in a center console the speakers are pretty exposed so the back speakers were in pretty bad shape, I had to solder a wire to the terminal because it was corroded. I think the amp and head unit are fairly new but the speakers (Infinity Kappas) may be older.

I'll replace the back speakers and go from there.