Car Stereos: No Sound from Speakers, internal amplifier, speaker amplifier

Question
I am getting no sound from the speakers of my 2003 Honda Accord.  The stereo turns on correctly, the cd player works but I can get no sound out of the speakers. When I turn the stereo's power button on, I hear a slight pop as if the speakers turned on but still no sound.  Someone told me that it could be the factory amp has gone out but I can't seem to locate that.  Please help.

Answer
Hi Larnell,

I don't think you have a factory amplifier in a 2003 Accord, unless it's equipped with a factory Bose audio system.  Otherwise, the speaker amplifier should be built into the head unit.  

The problem you're describing might be caused by a defective speaker or shorted speaker wire.  A problem with one speaker output can kill the sound to all the speakers, as the head unit's internal amplifier shuts down for protection.  The "pop" you're hearing might be a clue, if you can tell if it's coming from a single speaker; in similar cases I've seen, the "pop" has come from the same speaker that's causing the problem.   Of course, if there's a shorted speaker output, it's possible that the short is inside the head unit.

If I were troubleshooting in this car, I'd remove the head unit, then use a multimeter to test each of the factory speaker wires for continuity with chassis ground.  This would indicate that a speaker wire is shorted somewhere in the vehicle.  Also, I'd measure the DC resistance through each pair of speaker wires; ie, test the resistance between the positive and negative wire of each speaker pair.  You shouldn't see a DC resistance reading below about 3 ohms; a much lower measurement might indicate a defective speaker.

Hope this helps!

Brian