RTi28 Crackling

Gretzky
Gretzky Posts: 9
edited February 2004 in Troubleshooting
Hi there! I'm sort of audio challenged, but have tried everything on my own and can't figure this out. My speakers are about two years old (can't find that darn receipt anywhere!) and about a month ago, I noticed one of the speakers was crackling and the sound was distorted. (The other one is fine). I have my tuner connected to my computer, so I first checked that connection and everything seems fine. I disconnected and reconnected all speaker wires and even switched the speakers to see if the good one would crackle connected to the bad one's wires. (Have I lost you yet?) Bottom line, it still crackles no matter what I do. I suspect I somehow blew it? Which is surprising because I never listen to my music THAT loud out of respect for my apartment neighbors.

Anything I can do on my own to fix it? And if not, do you know of any reputable place in New York City I can bring it to get it repaired? I'm loathe to buy a whole new pair, given their tender age. (I had a no-name pair of 3-feet tall speakers for 25 years and never had any trouble!)

Come to think of it, not sure how I would describe the noise. It's not so much a crackling as a distortion? I'm so confused. Thanks for you help.:)
Post edited by Gretzky on
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    Take your fingers, and press evenly around the dust cap of the woofer of the speaker causing problems, if you hear rubbing. It is blown......any questions, ask. We will answer!


    Oh yeah! If it is indeed blown, call Ken up at Polk CS, and make sure you tell him you are a club polk member so you can get a discount.
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Well, I can't hear any rubbing, but if I apply pressure on the right side of the woofer (o.k., you read that I was audio challeneged right? So I'm assuming that big thing that's thumping is the woofer? :D and dust cap?) the distortion goes away! If I apply it on the left side it gets worse. Sort of like the thing is out of balance, if that's possible? Like I need to figure out how to get a little pressure on the right side ALL the time.

    And thanks for helping me!
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited February 2004
    push the woofer in when you arent playing music, and dont push it hard lol if you here a scratching or rubbing sound then its most likely blown.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    The larger round thing is the woofer, the outter rim of that woofer is the surround. The inner circle is the dust cap

    Apply your fingers evenly around that dust cap with music off, and if you hear ANY rubbing at all or any pressure against it moving and not moving freely. It is blown

    Another thing, have you tried different sources, different amps? Have you tried hooking them up to the surround outputs? or to a mini system in your house to see if it follows?
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Sigh. When I push slightly in, I hear a little teeny bit of rubbing that I can hear to a lesser extent on my good speaker. And believe it or not, right this second it sounds fine. :confused:

    Does it mean anything that: 1) I can make it sound fine by holding the right side of woofer with my finger and 2) that the grey soft plastic puffy thing in the top circle (very technical description, I know! :p ) has a pucker in it where the good speaker does not?

    Maybe the dog sitter had a rockin' party last time I was on a business trip! :D
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    May be blown........

    Can you post pics?????? Fluffy? waaaaaaaa
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Well, I've got the pictures and they're on my computer. How do I post them here (didn't pay attention during that part of class :) ). What's the easiest way to do this? Blurgh.

    And if you don't want to play anymore, that's o.k. Who knew I'd ever need to post pics in a forum? Ha!
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    at the bottum of your reply screen, there is an attach picture button -- find your pic, then attach! 1 pic at a time....lol
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Here's the bad one. (can't see it in preview reply screen.) sigh.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    it wont show up if you preview, dont preview and just post....lol
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Sorry to be such a pain...
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  • Airplay355
    Airplay355 Posts: 4,298
    edited February 2004
    thats not the woofer, dont be pushin on that its a tweeter. the woofer is blue. that is just the dust cap of the tweeter i thinnk? try lightly pokin it to get it go come back to shape.

    is that where the crackling is coming from?
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    No.. the crackling is definitely coming from the woofer.

    I couldn't get the tweeter to smooth out.
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  • AsSiMiLaTeD
    AsSiMiLaTeD Posts: 11,727
    edited February 2004
    Here's a really quick test...

    Take your speakers and switch them around...unplug both, take the one on the left and move it to the right, and the one on the rigt and move it to the left, so that they're reversed, now plug them back in...does the sound stay in the same speaker or is it on the other one now...

    What you're going is trying to troubleshoot and see if its your speaker or something else, so you need to start ruling stuff out...
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    The crackling stays with the bad speaker when I switched them out.
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  • VR3
    VR3 Posts: 28,648
    edited February 2004
    Take an allen wrench, undo the baffle and remove the woofer, move the polyfill inside till the crossover becomes visible.

    If there is any lose piece on that crossover, that could be the problem.

    Not back to a blown woofer which it seems to be, call ken, tell him your a club polk member and order up a new one and rock away i say!
    - Not Tom ::::::: Any system can play Diana Krall. Only the best can play Limp Bizkit.
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  • Gretzky
    Gretzky Posts: 9
    edited February 2004
    Learned a lot here! Thanks!
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