Fluttering Noise at High Volumes or Very Low Frequencies

Assimilator87

I just picked up a Carver TFM-35, which is the first separate amplifier I've ever owned \m/, so I've been fooling around with different music and playing some tones. Well I gotta say that the low end performance has improved MASSIVELY, but there's a wierd issue I ran into. This mainly occurs with tones from 10Hz-30Hz. At a certain point in volume, the mids will start producing a fluttering noise, kinda like a jackhammer, instead of a smooth tone. If I turn the volume down or move up to a higher frequency, the fluttering will stop. Is this what an overdriven driver sounds like or is it something else? Also, the left speaker starts fluttering at lower volumes than the right. What might be the cause of that?

Thanks everyone!

F1nut

Play music instead of test tones, report back.

FTGV

Assimilator87 wrote: »

but there's a wierd issue I ran into. This mainly occurs with tones from 10Hz-30Hz...

Low frequency test tones in the 10-30hz range are a severe torture test for speakers and you run a very real risk of damaging the drivers even at lower volume levels.Some of the noise your hearing I suspect is the result of the drivers reaching their excursion limits.

phocion

10-30hz is rough for most large dedicated subs with over an inch of cone travel, much less your poor little 65**'s

You are almost certainly bottoming out all of your drivers when you do this, though some may bottom out sooner because they have a slightly different elasticity, or your channels might not be balanced.

This may permanently damage the cones, so I suggest you save the test tones, which are mostly sub audible to your ears anyway, for a tactile transducer, or the like, and feed your SDA's a steady diet of real sounds.

Assimilator87

Thanks for the advice guys. I'm so used to underpowered speakers that I had no idea what an overdriven one even sounds like.

F1nut wrote: »

Play music instead of test tones, report back.

Ah, but I like the soothing sound of single tones