new rti a3s cracking

hookem12

I have a denon 2112 with the polk rti a3, csi a6, and a bic f12 sub. I have ran audyssey but am still not getting a good sound

It is my understanding that I should check the audio signal through my receiver and match it

Example: nfl hall of fame ceremony- signal dolby digital - format 3/2/. 1

I have set my surround mode to dolby digital

my other choices are
stereo
dolby digital
multi ch stereo
mono movie
virtual

I find that stereo and multi ch stereo give me a much cleaner sound especially with voices- the dolby digital sounds muffled

some questions I have are:

1) do you have to have rears to use the dolby digital surround mode and get a good sound from it?

2) I am not getting much volume- I have it -32.5 db which is about half way but it sounds like the volume is not turned up very loud- when I listen to speakers at the store they have 300% more volume

3) I just watched a blu ray and also had these same experiences. I followed the blu ray players instructions on audio settings when using an AVR but there was one I did not know:


my most important question

4) my speakers also crack when I go just past half way on the volume so I turn it down from there but honestly I can not hear the voices on the blu ray watched. This is very disappointing and I hope someone can give me an idea on what to do

the first two days of owning the speakers I only ran them at low volume, overnights I leave it on music channels, and whenever I hear the cracking I turn it down-- but I am not kidding when I say I can not hear voices at this volume--

I THINK 90% of the cracking sounds like it is coming from the right bookshelf

I am using GLS locking banana plugs and have tightened them to where they just spin when I turn them but I don't know if they are actually tight do they really only need to be just in and the lock function is so they don't come loose?

my crossovers are at 80hz

Thanks guys

treitz3

Try switching the R & L speaker and change nothing else. Does the crackle move with the speaker or does it remain unchanged?

hookem12

I switched the right and left and there cables and no more cracking at high volumes it appears.

Did I ruin/damage the one that was cracking?

One issue that remains is on the denon receiver the banana plug connectors and red and black knobs on the receiver are both loose, when I try to tighten them (have locking banana plugs) it just spins but does not tighten.

They have some wiggle to them (receiver knobs)

is this an issue?

thanks for the support

BeefJerky

hookem12 wrote: »

One issue that remains is on the denon receiver the banana plug connectors and red and black knobs on the receiver are both loose, when I try to tighten them (have locking banana plugs) it just spins but does not tighten.

I'm willing to bet that that could be the problem. If the knobs aren't (or can't be) tightened down, the banana jacks will not have a good connection to the receivers output. This could be the cause of many intermittent problems, as well as the crackling you had. If you can't get it repaired, it is time to get a new receiver.

20hz

could be a intermitant speaker , I had a mid/bass driver in a ls50 bother me for years it made a intermitant gargle only way I found it was when I was able to isolate the sound and put my ear up to the speaker .
Maybe something like a stryke demo disc will help the stryke plays frequencies (one per track) from 10 hz to 30khz .

20hz

hookem12 wrote: »

One issue that remains is on the denon receiver the banana plug connectors and red and black knobs on the receiver are both loose, when I try to tighten them (have locking banana plugs) it just spins but does not tighten.

They have some wiggle to them (receiver knobs)

is this an issue?

thanks for the support

UNPLUG IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
pull the shetmetal cover off the receiver on the inside of the receiver you will see where the binding posts attach they have a little nut
?3/16 inch? that nut holds the post on , you will need to hold the binding post on the other side to tighten the nut I have a seen drop of some type of green loctite on the nut , hopefully that will fix all your problems .

selkec

I had this exact same problem. I did all the normal trouble shooting and found that I had a loose banana plug on my csia6. Of course I totally forgot to check this before I switched my rca cables to my amp. I went as far as to trade out tweeters. Then My buddy said hey, you have a loose banana connector on your center. DOH!!! how did I miss this. I even ordered a new xover from polk which im on the phone as I type this cancelling my order.

treitz3

hookem12 wrote: »

I switched the right and left and there cables and no more cracking at high volumes it appears.

Did I ruin/damage the one that was cracking?

Could you clarify this a tad bit for me? Does the crackling sound still exist on any speaker that is hooked up?

hookem12

I have not had much time the past few days to tinker with the system but currently I am not hearing any crackling and I have turned it up to 90% volume, which still isnt real loud.

Is it possible to get good sound with dolby digital sound choosen if I only have 3.1 or do I need 5.1 for it to sound good?

treitz3

Hello again hookem12, what you are referring too is the amount of channels within the setup. The amount of channels has very little to do with the quality of the sound. Power does, unless there are other issues restricting things. Let me ask you this...what kind of AVR or receiver do you have? Is it the Ci version?

Tell you what....you have mentioned more than once that you are having issues with the volume and you have stated that the speakers at the store had much more available volume. I would suggest posting a new thread with the title....."Where's the volume?" and re-post your specifics. I say this because it sounds like we have identified and/or solved your crackling issue and we are on to the next issue. That being the volume, or lack thereof.