Speakers pop when someone screams very loud on certain shows (Not all the time)

Skeeterdamus

If it didn't do this the first 2 months, at 50% volume all the time, why would it magically start doing it on the 3rd month? Unless somehow the tweeters somehow **** the bedpan outa no where. The room is medium sized, I can measure it and get the demensions if you wish but I sit 6 foot from the TV.

I have 4x monitor 40's and a CS2.

Yeah, Only AVR as this was my first HT system. I Do have a HT in a box by onkyo in the other room but it only supports 6 ohm speakers, these are 8.

The speakers are hooked up to the reciever, via 12AWG wire, bananna clips. I dont see what can be set wrong this AVR doesnt have many settings to hook it up. Speaker distance, crossover, channel level. Every DSP setting is turned off even the EQ.

the only thing I recently added to the system was new wire. I went from Crappy RCA 16AWG Unshielded wire to good 14AWG shielded. Unless fatter wire makes more sound go through at lower levels compared to thin, crap wire?

Also, a few months back My girl hooked the sub LFE wire into the unfiltered mode when she moved it to clean (reciever was off) she said speaker or speakers couldnt tell made loud hum, then unplugged it. I asked polk if that could of caused a problem, they never answered. Even E-mailed Pioneer on the matter when it happened, no response from them either.
But thanks to the kind people on this forum I got an answer and the majority said It shouldn't be a problem, if anything it would of only hurt the amp on the sub since the reciever was turned off. So I dropped that as the culprit on this matter, but now since im on my last bit of breath on this situation I'll re-add that to the "Possibilities" sheet.

I just want to figure this out, My last resort would be to waste money to have someone come in and look at it as to I dont have all day, or the willpower to tinker with this darn thing all the time, I like the stuff I buy to "just work" like most of us do.

thanks for all the info. I gladly appreciate it.

halo71

You can hook the speakers (8ohm) to the Onkyo AVR with no problem to test. It will be happy playing 8 ohm speakers. Now if the speakers were 4 ohm that would not be good to try. I am thinking the loud hum that was heard caused your current problem though.

ravaneli

dude, you gota make a swap to isolate the problem. Use the onkyo, although u will have to take off the banana plugs. I know what onkyo u have, i had one of these too. 6 ohm capable means it can drive 8 ohm easy. Not that your particular onkyo is capable of much, but you can use it for the test with 0 problem! Stop going around and driving yourself crazy. swap one thing at a time until u find it and then decide what to do.

Skeeterdamus

I dont see how the LFE that she hooked up to the subwoofer into the "Unfiltered" would of made the speakers hum the sub hummed not the actual speakers as the reciever was turned off. And since it was turned off, how could they power to make the Speakers hum?

Only One channel works on that old POS onkyo it was purchased in 1995 it came with my old big box bigscreen over a decade ago so not even sure if it will help me to be honest. I now just use it for Radio in the bedroom.

It has no HDMI input so I wont be able to watch TV to determine if it pops/cracks during tv viewing it uses an old crappy S-video cable, or Coax cable but here's the thing. I have digital cable, so I can't just plug in the cable line and get a picture, nor sound. just fuzz.

cant believe its been 3 weeks though and polk, and pioneer both wont respond to my e-mails I sent them.

halo71

she said speaker or speakers couldnt tell made loud hum

I was just going off what you said. Good luck to you.

Skeeterdamus

Ok, Im thinking the cable company is at fault now to be honest. I called them and they acted like I was insane.

But I watch "In Time" when it airs on HBO HD and everytime they are in a car chase scene the speakers pop. I then watched the same exact movie on Blu-ray and it didn't pop, or crackle at the same volume level. I then also watched the movie on Demand, since COX has movies on demand, and guess what? Didn't crackle, or pop on it either....

It seems to only pop and crackle when I watch HD TV. I switched out the cable box, with the one from upstairs same problem. Took one back to the Store, same problem with a new one.

Here is my conclusion but the cable company just goes, well we don't know. It looks fine on our end.

So here is what I think may be the culprit. But I DO have 9 cable tvs hooked up in this house(one being for cable internet modem, one for Internet phone modem) fast moving scenes do have alot of pixelated boxes on the HD channels, Iv'e noticed this from the Olympics as of recently. I asked them if I should get a Coaxil cable signal booster, and asked what +DB I should get since im sure there has to be over 500 feet of Cable ran through the house to get in all the rooms and all they said was we dont supply those, so we dont know.

And if my AVR does't have enough power to power it at higher volumes, isn't it smarter to pick 100 hz crossover, over 80? I did read on a few forums that 80HZ makes the speakers work harder than 100? Since -20 more hz goes to the sub instead of the speakers in loud movie events (But can't trust everything you read online, but is that true?)

I now run crossover back at 100HZ, and will wait untill "A-team, In Time" comes on again to see if that fixes the issue.

Just figured I'd throw in the new highlights.

ravaneli

i think you are crazy as well. Did you change the receiver yet? You are going through the exact same stages of insanity that I went through. It is the power source. Not the speakers, not the signal, and certainly not lose cables. Call an audio shop and ask them, why on earth would you ask the cable company. I don't know much about electronics to know what exactly could be the problem but something is causing sudden discharge of power. I have a feeling VR3 would have an idea what could be the culprit. But believe me, if the cable company was at fault they would be in a world of pain already, for your complaints would be one of many.

Skeeterdamus

Then explain to me why watching a blu-rays of the same movies doesnt make the noise at the same volume level? I showed a local stereo company a DVR of the same exact movie the cable box used, then played a blu-ray, followed by netflix. All I know is the sound tech said it was not clipping. As to if it was, it would be doing it across the 360/PC/PS3/Netflix/Blurays. And it only does on Cable. At the same exact volume level. 40%.

And yes, having over 9 splits in coaxil cable over 500 feet has Great loss in video quality so I don't see why it can't effect the sound aswell.

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/3408

so therefore, My signal loss is Massive with 9 splits, and over 500 foot of wire. So thats a whopping -20+ db signal loss.

and no, I can't replace the AVR I told you the other one is so old that it wont even hook up to my cable box. Already tried.

Was just posting up my findings, as to you said Isolate the problem. Spent a month doing it :P

My next step is to try a different wall outlet for power.

Skeeterdamus

Think I may buy a refurb from the site you did show me $400 doesnt seem bad for a 1 year warranty refurb item. That's as long as my current weakling reciever has as a warranty!

But never heard of that site in my life, But it looks promising.

tommyt21

I f you have tried multiple sources and the problem only occurs with one source I would agree that logic dictates that the source is the issue. Poor signal can most definitely cause distortion. We had a similar issue with cable where it would cause visual and audio artifacts only on HD channels.

If it was happening on all sources I would say to take the grill off the speaker and gentle push on the driver to see if you hear any rubbing. I had this happen to a R150 the voice coil was sagging the remendy was simply to rotate the driver and let gravity work. Also has anyone recomended a Power conditioner?

Good Luck

Skeeterdamus

The one I have Is a model from last year Monster power HDP 650. Says it has clean power filtering system stage 1, if thats what you mean and the light is on Green saying it's working (dont know if it actually does anything, but it sure looks neat glowing at night)

Could having a Plasma, Cable box, PS3, 360, PSW505 sub, and the Reciever overload the reciever to cause what raveneli said about a power discharge? (The plasma does use a heafty amount of power, I think 600 watts on its own!)

But yeah, from the looks of it It's not that great of a Power conditioner compared to all the others.

tommyt21

Skeeterdamus wrote: »

Yeah, Already did push in the cones with 4 fingers by the middle of them all, none of them grinded :P Didn't know how to check the tweeters though, as to I cant push in on those. Polk said The only way I can really test those is by a Volt reader which sadly I didn't want to spend $70 on just to use once :P

I think my Surge protector has that built in, im not sure. But i'll find the link for it from bestbuy for ya
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Monster+Power+-+8-Outlet+Blackout+PowerCenter+Surge+Protector/9281635.p?id=1218073534182&skuId=9281635&st=monster power blackout&cp=1&lp=1

the one I have Is a model from last year Monster power HDP 650. Says it has clean power filtering system if thats what you mean and the light is on Green saying it's working (dont know if it actually does anything, but it sure looks neat glowing at night)

In my opinion there is a strong chance its your Cable signal or box being bad. Have you tried asking for a new cable box? We had Comcast and it was horrible really bad compressed digital signals. The cisco box we had was also a piece of crap we exchanged it twice in a year before switching to Direct TV.

tommyt21

I got this on sale for the same price as your monster. It seems to go on sale intermitintley on Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/Belkin-PureAV-Theater-Power-Console/dp/B001541R5W

ravaneli

frankly, if I were you, i would just go get a cheap avr from best buy or somewhere, use it for test, and return it to the store. Don't waste money on power conditioner, that thing does nothing.

As for your question why does it happen only with certain sources, i believe you just haven't tested other sources long enough. I though the same thing, why just tv, why not when I listen music from my iphone. The thing is it does it kind of randomly and it just so happened that it didn't do it for a while, but eventually it popped during playing music from my iphone too.

no friends of yours have receivers? Can't u just borrow one?

Skeeterdamus

nope, got no buds who are into HT. And yeah, I tried the other cable box that was in my house, it sadly did the same thing. Maybe the ones I got, got messed up via a firmware update they force you to download when they release em.

Since my Picture is very pixalated though, Im debating on just going to radio shack, and buy one of those $30 signal boosters that give +20DB gain to see if it cures my pixaleted screen, and never know it may fix the sound issue too.

tommyt21

ravaneli wrote: »

frankly, if I were you, i would just go get a cheap avr from best buy or somewhere, use it for test, and return it to the store. Don't waste money on power conditioner, that thing does nothing.

As for your question why does it happen only with certain sources, i believe you just haven't tested other sources long enough. I though the same thing, why just tv, why not when I listen music from my iphone. The thing is it does it kind of randomly and it just so happened that it didn't do it for a while, but eventually it popped during playing music from my iphone too.

no friends of yours have receivers? Can't u just borrow one?

Ravi, Many here would disagree with your assessment on Power Conditioners. I myself was converted when I saw a side by side demo at my local electronics dealer.

OP if you feel this is related to the AVR instead of borrowing one or switching it why not isolate it by bypassing it all together and use the TV speakers for awhile. If it continues to happen its a source issue, if not test another AVR or switch the inputs on the back of the receiver to check if one is bad. JMHO

tommyt21

Skeeterdamus wrote: »

nope, got no buds who are into home theatre.

Debating on just buying
http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR3310CI/DENON-AVR-3310CI-7.1-Channel-Network-Home-Theater-Receiver/1.html

or

http://www.accessories4less.com/make-a-store/item/DENAVR3312CI/DENON-AVR-3312CI-7.2-Integrated-Network-A/V-Surround-Receiver/1.html

And just use this one as a PC reciever with some nice satellites.

Just doing some reviews on this site first since ive never heard of em.

Is denon the best of the best from that site? If I spend $500 on a refurb I want to get the sweetest one I can snag.

Denon is a great brand good choices!

Skeeterdamus

if it is the source, those pops wont hurt the speakers themselves will it? Or could it cause damage in the same way clipping can? been watching olypics for 7 hours, havn't heard a pop yet so it's not always occuring.


Like sunday I watched True blood on HBO, and only once did the speakers pop, and it was when Sookie had her moms perception of a vampire that killed her parents, and he said "mmmmmhh you smell good" it crackled and never did it again during the whole skit. Then the next day I watched that same Scene on HBO on demand and the sound didn't exist on that same scene. Rewinded it and watched it 8 times, didn't happen again. Then last night I watched it on HBO the channel and it crackled again during that same scene. (WEIRD, to say the least). Thats where im baffled.

Its on again right now on HBO for me, around 20 minutes in i'll see if it makes the noise again with the crossover set to 100, instead of 80 on the other cable box.


But yeah, I think ill whip out my best buy card, and go buy one for laughs just to see. It would be the only option. But kinda always did hate buying stuff just to know I was gonna return it haha.

Skeeterdamus

weird, literally every reciever Iv'e looked at on that site Accessories4less none have reviews on them. Seems odd.

hertz9753

Skeeterdamus wrote: »

weird, literally every reciever Iv'e looked at on that site Accessories4less none have reviews on them. Seems odd.

My Onkyo 808 came from that website.

ravaneli

so did my marantz 5006.

They accept returns too, i had to return a sub not because of defects but i didn't like it. 15% restocking fee though, but what can u do.

Skeeterdamus

well for 4 hours tonight I was jamming out to smooth jazz at 50% volume on Dolby pro logic II music mode, where all 5.1 speakers played some tunes through the PS3, didn't hear one problem.... EXCEPT.... my new love for smooth jazz. (First time ever listening to it) That was some relaxing music as I threw back a few beers and browsed that site for a new reciever.

Im stuck on a high end $600 onkyo, or a good old Denon. /shrug, they both look sweet.

I also seen a POS reciever at bestbuy that supposedly was 975 watts total, 7.1 by sony might of been 5.1 for $249! But it had no by-amp which I want so I can toss an amp on it someday so I can get some wicked Monitor 70's for the fronts. (Yeah, im a broke dreamer)

hertz9753

For $600 the Denon 3212 and the Onkyo 809 are the receivers that I would look at on that website. Both have 7.2 pre outs so you could add a an amp or amps later. The Monitor 70's are pretty good speakers for the money, I have a pair in my bedroom with a Denon 1911.

ravaneli

i am usually not worried about distortion damaging speakers but this pop is I think a sudden discharge of power and as such could be damaging. It certainly sounded scary to me, especially on high volumes. I recommend not pushing the volume up until you figure this out.