RT600i Distortion

cadiman26

I have had these speakers for a long time now, I bought them brand new in 2000 I believe it was.. Anyways, my question is in regards to piano music, or just certain tones in particular. These speakers sound great as long as you aren't listening to them at a medium level. When they are turned up, especially when piano notes are played, there are certain notes where it sounds like the drivers are breaking up. I know it's not my reciever, I have recently upgraded to a Denon 2308ci, before I was using a Technics DX930.. I finally decided to upgrade, and the difference with the audyssey eq was amazing.. I didn't know this setup could sound so good - except for that one little area.. Anyone with similar experiences - please let me know! Thanks!

steveinaz

Do they distort when the eq is by-passed?

danger boy

cadiman26 welcome to club Polk.

this is very interesting.. have your RT600i's always done this with certain piano sounds or is this something that has just developed?

Check out the blue drivers and be sure they are fine.. no tears or anything in the surrounds. Maybe the voice coil is going bad? Is this a problem with both speakers?

ShinAce

When you say they are breaking up, do you mean the quality of sound diminshes or there is a distinct buzzing sound on top of the note?

jcaut

I think if it was a problem with a bad driver you'd hear it more on bass notes. Assuming that what you're hearing is a distinct buzz or vibration that happens when certain notes are played- Makes me think something in the cabinet is vibrating that's not supposed to. Perhaps a wire. Another thing to check is the ARC port tube that's located below the 6.5" driver: I'm pretty sure these are cardboard tubes and they've been known to work loose from the bezel. That could cause your problem.

Either way, I'd recommend having a look inside the cabinet. See if you can notice anything that could be making the noise.

adam2434

Is it both speakers? It would seem strange that both speakers would develop the same problem at the same time.

Does this happen without EQ, as Steve already asked?

Does the woofer's voice coil make a scraping sound if you gently push (use your thumb and 1st 2 fingers to make the points of a triangle) on the cone, just outboard of the dust cap? If so, the drivers are bad.

The other thing I would do is make sure all screws are tight.

Hawkeye

I'm just thinking out loud but you said it can't be your AVR. Why is that? If the speaks were fine before you changed the AVR, and now they are acting up, makes me think there is an issue with the AVR. Could the room correction software be over driving certain frequencies causing a clip?

cadiman26

No, they have always done this, regardless of the reciever or age

When they were fairly new, I didn't care too much at the time because I didn't really listen to much music with a lot of piano, but I am getting older now and my musical tastes are changing

It's not just one speaker, it's not the receiver, but something in both speakers, its like a freq that both speakers resonate at, even sometimes women singing can bring it out... It sorta sounds like ringing in the speaker.. Not clipping. I have checked out the drivers, and and nothing seems amiss. I was just wondering if it was something that these speakers were known to do, but no one is willing to admit.. I know we are all proud, and I remember paying 300 a peice for these guys when I bought them years ago >grin<. I truely love these speakers, and they have been great performers over the years, and show now signs of aging (neither do the surrounds or center channel - save maybe a little dust). A good song example would be Evanescence Bring me to life, the beginning piano intro.. You can hear it in the lower piano notes..

I will have to say, I have never pushed these speakers hard for long periods of time (save for NIN's blueray), and none of them have ever broke a sweat..

cadiman26

ShinAce wrote: »

When you say they are breaking up, do you mean the quality of sound diminshes or there is a distinct buzzing sound on top of the note?

Yes, this is exactly what I am talking about.. Has been happening since I got them in 2000.. Never thought about posting about it to the forums until recently. Same thing both receievers, eq or no eq..

danger boy

what is your music source? are you playing music off a CD, IPod, or what? if you usually play CD's say off a CD player.. maybe try playing the same CD off a DVD player... and see if it's the same.

I would think since the RT600i's are an older speaker.. I would have thought that someone would have chimed in by now with something similar to what you describe. I've been on this forum since the RTxxxi line came out.. and I don't recall anyone having your exact problem with the RT600i or any other one.

Is it sibilance you might be hearing.. ssssssssssss sound on some songs.

Thanks for pointing out a song that is a good example of what you are hearing.. I will play that song and see how it sounds too.

greg2350

cadiman26 wrote: »

I was just wondering if it was something that these speakers were known to do, but no one is willing to admit.. I know we are all proud, and I remember paying 300 a peice for these guys when I bought them years ago >grin<

I have 2 pair of RT600i's and 1 pair of RT800i's and have never experienced this problem. I played the song you mentioned and didnt hear any problems. I am running mine using a rotel amp sorry I couldnt be of more assistance but I dont think there is a problem with these speakers.:)

cadiman26

Oh well.. Maybe I just got a bad set.. I will say one thing for the Denon.. It actually isn't as noticable now as it was with the old lower end Technics I had. One thing I can come up with is maybe the old reciever damaged them ever so slightly from the beginning.. I never EVER drove them to where the receiver would clip - though there were a few times I had something playing that caused them to bottom out - ever so slightly though (I immediately turned it down falling over myself to get to the volume knob). But I did press on them to check the coils and there is no noticable scratchy or scraping going on. I will say 95 percent of the material I have played on them over the years has sounded incredible. When I first got my Denon reciever, I inadvertantly turned off the sub and didn't even realize it was off until I was watching a movie!

danger boy

it might be a good idea to also check your speaker wires.. or even the jumpers on the rear of the speakers...

adam2434

How close are they to the wall or corners of the room?

Just as an experiment, could you pull them out further into the room?

How do you have your bass management set up? I would try setting the set the 600i's to small and set crossover to 60 or 80Hz and see if the problem lessens.