weird sound issue - speakers? amp? speaker cables?
pglbook
Posts: 2,222
A short while ago I was playing a CD (Miles Davis Live at Fillmore) and noticed that the sound coming from my right Polk SDA 2B TL speaker was very low. It has never done that before. I moved the balance control from my Yamaha CR 2020 receiver and heard a little crackling sound. I shut everything off (receiver, Rotel CD player) and removed and tightened the speaker cables on the back of the speaker (non-banana plugs, just speaker wire wrapped around the binding posts on back). I also removed and re-plugged the IC cable on that speaker. Well, when I turned everything on again, THAT speaker was fine but the issue migrated over to the OTHER (left) speaker. So I went ahead and did the same to the left speaker - removing and tightening speaker cables and IC cable on the back of that speaker. But it did not work this time and the sound was still very low . I then checked the speaker cable connections on the back of the receiver. They appeared nice and tight so I did not remove and re-install those (just wiggled them), especially since it is a pain to get to the back of the receiver.
I turned everything back on and played a CD and the sound is back to normal. I could only play the music for about 15 minutes as I had to run to work (working afternoon/night shift).
but the speakers played perfectly.
I will have much more time to check it again tomorrow but I was wondering what some first impressions might be about the cause of the issue:
Loose speaker cable? IC cable? receiver?
Why did the issue start on the left speaker and then that speaker was fine but the issue then migrated to the other speaker? That was strange to me.
Thanks.
I turned everything back on and played a CD and the sound is back to normal. I could only play the music for about 15 minutes as I had to run to work (working afternoon/night shift).
but the speakers played perfectly.
I will have much more time to check it again tomorrow but I was wondering what some first impressions might be about the cause of the issue:
Loose speaker cable? IC cable? receiver?
Why did the issue start on the left speaker and then that speaker was fine but the issue then migrated to the other speaker? That was strange to me.
Thanks.
Comments
-
Have another receiver/amp to try?
What about IC cable? try with regular speaker cable instead and see if it's the same issue.
Once the external things are checked, then it's the internals, wiring, crossover etc...
Klipsch RB81, KG3.5, B&W DM602.5, Polk.
Subwoofers: Klipsch RW10, Triad ProSub Bronze. -
I am thinking that that receiver needs some deoxite on the pots.
-
Faustin:
Deoxit is a good idea.
I was also thinking that it could be due to dirty pots. I bought the receiver 2 years ago and it has worked flawlessly for me since I got it. I have never done any maintenance to it and who knows if the original owner ever did so I am sure it can use a good cleaning inside.
What seemed so strange to me though was how tightening the speaker cables on the back of the right speaker fixed the sound on that speaker but then the problem went over to the left speaker. Dirty pots wouldn't cause an issue like that, would they?
But it is probably a good idea to get the receiver cleaned up in any case.
-
Crackle when you move the balance knob? Balance pot needs exercise. Spin it back and forth until it's not noisy any more. Deoxit will help, not absolutely needed.I moved the balance control from my Yamaha CR 2020 receiver and heard a little crackling sound.
Yes, it "could" be that simple.I was also thinking that it could be due to dirty pots...
...What seemed so strange to me though was how tightening the speaker cables on the back of the right speaker fixed the sound on that speaker but then the problem went over to the left speaker. Dirty pots wouldn't cause an issue like that, would they?
-
Thanks but it was not just crackling noise when I moved the balance knob. That just happened once.
The main issue was how low the sound was from the right speaker compared to the left speaker. Removing and tightening the speaker cables on the back of the speaker (and also removing and re-installing the IC cable) fixed it but then that same problem (very low sound) migrated to the other (left) speaker.
-
Do you have a multimeter to check continuity of the IC cable?afterburnt wrote: »They didn't speak a word of English, they were from South Carolina.
Village Idiot of Club Polk -
Solder some good bananas or spades on your speaker cables, bare wire oxidizes. Also, clean the pin on the SDA cable and the hole it goes into with DeOxit.Political Correctness'.........defined
"A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."
President of Club Polk -
Thanks for the good suggestions.
Nightfall: I do not have a multimeter but will have to pick one up.
F1: yes, banana plugs are a good idea, as well as cleaning the pin of the SDA cable with Deoxit.
After getting home from work at midnight last night, I played CDs until 4am (and thanks to a few Negra Modelos) and thankfully everything was perfect and sounded fine. I'll continue to monitor it..
