Slight static at certain frequencies...

concealer404

Well... i just threw in some of ATB's lower-key "easy listening" stuff or whatever you want to call it.

Lots of black space, single notes, etc...

First impressions:

For the first time ever, i finally have this crap set up correctly. The sub is absolutely seamless, timbre matched perfectly, ALL speakers have completely disappeared, and the imaging is pretty much spot on.


Then:

Uh oh. On a VERY narrow range of frequencies, i have no idea exactly what they would be, but it's high-ish, i'm getting some slight static noise. The sound itself is still there, nothing is cutting out or anything, but just a small range of frequencies is getting me a little bit of static.


I haven't taken the speakers apart or anything yet, and i'm trying to avoid that. All drivers seem to be functioning perfectly otherwise, and everything else sounds impeccable. In my "normal" listening sessions, there is no way i could ever notice the static.


What do i start with to check? I'm about to throw the Polk Monitor 7s on here and see if they do the same thing, then even the Titans if i need to. If all three do it, what should i look at next? I've already ruled out the preamp, both the Adcom and the B&K have the same thing happen. Could an amp even do anything like this?

Is it possible that this static is right on the crossover point and i may need some crossover work?

This is the Esprits, by the way... the Paradigm Monitors fell through.

mmadden28

Is it with any music in the same range or just a particular CD?
Could just be bad engineering--I recall one highly recommended classical SACD I bought, but was dissapointed to find that there was actually something wrong in the recording--sounded almost like compression artifacts.

I would start probably with a bunch of test tones. And/or perhaps touch each driver to see if that makes a difference. I thought I heard some kind of vibrating sound coming from my SDAs and it went away when I lightly touched the driver (it might be on its way out--well that's for another thread anyway).

Could an amp be the source? I'd say its possible--since every speaker has a different impedance curve at different frequencies--you just might be hitting that combination that's bringing out the amps weak point-such as old caps--just a guess though..

Oh could it be resonance from something on the speakers or elsewhere in the room? I know I have this annoyance in my family room where my wife has a ton of knickknacks and such on glass shelves....(that's where the 'HAF' comes into play in the relationship ).

What is ATB?

concealer404

Well.... so far just this particular cd and one other. The other being Alkaline Trio - Crimson. There's a certain track where a lower volume guitar riff brings the track in, and it does it there, too, apparently. It actually seems to be a lower frequency on that cd than the ATB cd... "Trilogy."

Looks like i'm going to have to grab a test tone cd or something. Touching the driver makes no difference, and the static is happening on both speakers, both channels.

I'm hoping it's not the amp. This thing has been a ridiculous performer since i got it, and i've never noticed any weak point with it before, other than it takes a while to "warm" up if i start playing it from a powered off point. It had no problems pushing Polk Monitor 7s to the limit, beating the hell out of some RTA-11TLs, and even ran Nik's big boy SDAs without complaining. And besides.... it just sounds so damn GOOD.

There's nothing on the speakers, and it's definitely coming from the drivers. There's really nothing in the room but my stereo, couch, and me.

Anyways... here's the main track that i'm noticing it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsvtZpTDhbg

The single, echoing hits at the very beginning. Then when the "drums" come in, there's enough other noise coming in that i can't notice it at all.

I don't USUALLY listen to this stuff, but the level of producing on most of his stuff is flat out amazing, and this particular track is a great way for me to figure out if i have everything up to snuff. If your setup isn't imaging well, you'll KNOW it after this track.

mmadden28

How about you FLAC encode some portions of the song(s) (not the whole songs though) where you hear it and I'll give them a listen--you'll just have to let me know how many seconds into the samples I need to listen for it.

mmadden28

Hmmm, do you have the tube buffer in the mix?

concealer404

mmadden28 wrote: »

How about you FLAC encode some portions of the song(s) (not the whole songs though) where you hear it and I'll give them a listen--you'll just have to let me know how many seconds into the samples I need to listen for it.

I don't have them ripped onto this computer... Can i take you up on that offer tomorrow when i have time to go through my software from my old computer and load it on here to do that?

It's right at the beginning of that track.

concealer404

mmadden28 wrote: »

Hmmm, do you have the tube buffer in the mix?

Nah, took it out for the time being. Not sure when it'll make it back in. I'm almost afraid it'll be too warm now. The system warmed up like crazy when it was finally given space to breathe.

What i'm running right now is:

B&K Reference 5 Series 2
Onkyo M5150
Pioneer DV-50A
APC H15
Paradigm Esprits
Klipsch RW-10D
Sidewinders throughout

The same thing happened with both the Titans and the 7Cs, by the way.

I'm 50/50 as to if it's the actually cd or one of my components. Which would be narrowed down to CDP or amp at this point, since swapping the pre did nothing.

concealer404

Keiko wrote: »

I'm quessing it's the source music more than likely. On some of my discs I can detect slight distortions sometimes. Usually it's on CD's that are poorly mastered. Got vinyl?

No vinyl here.... want to bring some over?

I'd love to try vinyl, but that's just another money hole that i can't afford, sadly. This hobby is never "cheap" but i'm trying to keep it that way.

I have less than $1000 in what is currently running today, and yeah, i'm willing to spend more, i'm just unsure where the price/performance thing stops. Unfortunately, vinyl isn't in the budget.

kawizx9r

Keiko wrote: »

I'm quessing it's the source music more than likely. On some of my discs I can detect slight distortions sometimes. Usually it's on CD's that are poorly mastered. Got vinyl?

+1
Just posted a thread regarding CD's themselves, whether or not it could've been my system or not. I heard a hiss in what I'd say is a poorly-made Black Sabbath album of mine, well not hiss but up there in the high frequencies. Kind of upsetting when you try to put together a decent system just to have a cd/sacd/dvd-a/etc sound bad huh :mad:

concealer404

^Yeah, and that's the frustrating part, because for the most part, this is an EXCELLENT sounding cd....

Probably because most of it wasn't "recorded" per se.