Continuing AB805 in-wall problem

larrymcg

I'm at wits end with this problem. Quick summary: Left AB805 bottom driver develops a rattle (after a few years use) on medium-loud low frequency sounds; replaced entire AB805 with a brand new one; bottom driver starts distorting (not rattling) after a few hours or days of use (at low listening levels); softly depressing the driver cone and releasing makes the distortion go away for hours or days; replaced bottom driver; distortion returns after hours or days; momentary depression of driver cone makes distortion go away for hours or days. I don't think yet another driver replacement will help!

I've interchanged the left and right connections from the amplifier and the distortion always stays in the left speaker. I've disconnected the MW1000 subwoofer (wired in parallel with the AB805s) - no help.

I've disconnected all the wires from the terminals (at the speaker and at the connection boxes on the wall) and reconnected to make sure they are all tight, etc.

I just don't know what else to try. Suggestions?

--Larry

A note about the wiring: All speaker wires are Monster Standard 14/2 cables; wires go from amp speaker outs to screw connecter box in the wall; then from back side of connector box down thru floor and then up to another screw connector box in the wall next to the subwoofer; and then back down thru floor and up to the speakers.

dorokusai

Are you sure it's not something inside the mounting surface or drywall framing?

larrymcg

At this point I'm not sure what I can be sure about! The part about pushing the speaker cone just a bit to make the distortion go away for hours or days really makes me think it is a driver problem. It's almost like the cone is getting out of alignment and pushing it a bit gets it back in place.
--Larry

ShinAce

Next time, try pushing the baffle around a bit to see if the it's the woofer of the whole enclosure.

dorokusai

Swap the right speaker with the left and see if the problem follows the speaker. I doubt it's the speaker if you've already purchased and installed a new pair.

I would point more towards some wall resonance being the issue and a mounting problem.

larrymcg

Followup: PROBLEM SOLVED! I first posted about rattling and distortion in my left AB-805 in-wall speaker in 2005. I replaced the drivers, more than once, and replaced the entire speaker with an unused new one. Always after a few days or weeks, the left speaker would start sounding bad.

Last September (2010) I bought a new A/V receiver (Pioneer VSX-1020K). I first verified that the current left speaker sounded bad. I replaced the entire speaker with an unused one and it has sounded great ever since!

So, it was the Yamaha receiver that was somehow breaking the left speaker.

By the way, I really like the VSX-1020K. I about bent my brain fiddling with some of the audio and video options. These new receivers (along with the HD TVs and Blu-Ray players) are mighty complex. Of course I just can't let them go with their default settings! That would be too easy!!

--Larry