Speakers crackling - are they blown?

[AshleyT]

Hey,
So I left my house with my speakers on whilst my flatmates were having a party. Unfortunately I had to move out of the house for a few days and they promised to look after them and not turn them up too high...

Well when I came back a few days later i turned on the AV and saw they'd been playing them at high-volumes. They are Onkyo-5405.

The some of the speakers are crackling a bit when the volume goes up (not too high). They don't crackle at low volumes much...it's quite possible a connection could have been nudged but i've gone through and tried to sort all that...

Are they possible blown?

I'm quite upset tbh, it took me a while to save up for them...but there were go. I've only had them 3 months and i'm also angry because in the store I wanted to get extended warrenty and care but the person told me 'they never break, don't worry about it'! If they are damaged, could I still get it on the warranty?

 

[BlueWizard]

Are the speakers demonstrating a mechanical 'buzz', or an electrical 'crackle'.

The first thing to check is the speaker wiring and make absolutely sure every thing is tightly connected and that there are no stray strands of wire that might be causing a short. Also check that the Jumper Bars on the speaker terminals are making contact; assuming your speakers have jumper bars.

Also, listen carefully and find out if you can isolate the driver the crackling sound is coming from. If it is down to one driver, then they probably blew your speaker. If it is in all drives, then it is likely an electrical problem, and most likely a problem with the speaker wires.

Next, with NO music playing, run the volume control up and down, do you hear the crackling then? If so, the volume control is probably dirty, and simply working it up and down across the area where it crackles may be enough to clean it off.

If you speakers are still under warranty and if the damage isn't too severe, you might be able to collect. However, if you isolate it to one driver or to the tweeters, it is not that hard or expensive to replace them.

That is about the best I can do.

Steve/bluewizard

 

[AshleyT]

Are the speakers demonstrating a mechanical 'buzz', or an electrical 'crackle'.

The first thing to check is the speaker wiring and make absolutely sure every thing is tightly connected and that there are no stray strands of wire that might be causing a short. Also check that the Jumper Bars on the speaker terminals are making contact; assuming your speakers have jumper bars.

Also, listen carefully and find out if you can isolate the drive the sound is coming from. If it is down to one driver, then they probably blew your speaker. If it is in all drives, then it is likely an electrical problem, and most likely a problem with the speaker wires.

Next, with NO music playing, run the volume control up and down, do you hear the crackling then? If so, the volume control is probably dirty, and simply working it up and down across the area where it crackles may be enough to clean it off.

If you speakers are still under warranty and if the damage isn't too severe, you might be able to collect. However, if you isolate it to one driver or to the tweeters, it is not that hard or expensive to replace them.

That is about the best I can do.

Steve/bluewizard

Hey,
I tried changing and getting them playing through the ps3 rather than my computer with no joy, they are still crackling at quite low volumes too...

By driver do you mean the set speakers? The crackling seems to be coming from a few of the speakers (not the subwoofer though) but it almost seems to change...I also swear the sound is getting worse :S

I turned the volume all the way up with no sound and there was no crackling.

Also it seems like 3/5 are crackling...

 

[swiftpete]

I'm amazed the salesman dissuaded you from extended warranty, it's normally the opposite situation with them pushing it. Sounds like they're shafted, you need to tell your housemates they need to buy you a new setup.

 

[AshleyT]

Couldn't I just buy new speakers or get em repaired if worst comes to it? Rather than buying new av receiver etc?
They won't buy me a new setup because they won't own up to it

 

[BlueWizard]

Hey,
.....

By driver do you mean the set speakers? The crackling seems to be coming from a few of the speakers (not the subwoofer though) but it almost seems to change...I also swear the sound is getting worse :S

...

Also it seems like 3/5 are crackling...

A speaker is typically a speaker system, a big box with a lot of round things on the front. A driver is one of the speakers in the speaker box. Like a bass driver, a midrange driver, and a tweeter. These are all driver. Typically speaker means the complete box with all the individual drivers in it.

You change the source, and the sound is still there. That is a step toward narrowing the problem.

If the sound is only in individual drivers, in some but not others, then the speaker is likely blown. If you hear the sound in all the drivers, it is not likely that the problem is the drivers themselves.

However, it could still be the speaker, but to blow all the drivers, woofer and tweeter, front and rear, they would have to be abusing your speakers on a massive scale. Typically the tweeters are the first to go, but a bass driver can still be blown. But as I said, to do that, to blow all the drivers, the speaker would have to be abused on a grand scale; beyond all logic and reason.

Now it could be the amp, try another set of speakers on the amp, if they to demonstrate the problem, then likely the speaker are fine and the amp is blown. Also, if possible try your speakers on another amp, if the speakers sound bad, then likely the speakers, if they sound fine, then likely the amp is the problem.

Is this a package system, and are these still the speakers that came with the original package? -

Google-UK - Image Search - Onkyo 5405 system

Steve/bluewizard

 

[AshleyT]

A speaker is typically a speaker system, a big box with a lot of round things on the front. A driver is one of the speakers in the speaker box. Like a bass driver, a midrange driver, and a tweeter. These are all driver. Typically speaker means the complete box with all the individual drivers in it.

You change the source, and the sound is still there. That is a step toward narrowing the problem.

If the sound is only in individual drivers, in some but not others, then the speaker is likely blown. If you hear the sound in all the drivers, it is not likely that the problem is the drivers themselves.

However, it could still be the speaker, but to blow all the drivers, woofer and tweeter, front and rear, they would have to be abusing your speakers on a massive scale. Typically the tweeters are the first to go, but a bass driver can still be blown. But as I said, to do that, to blow all the drivers, the speaker would have to be abused on a grand scale; beyond all logic and reason.

Now it could be the amp, try another set of speakers on the amp, if they to demonstrate the problem, then likely the speaker are fine and the amp is blown. Also, if possible try your speakers on another amp, if the speakers sound bad, then likely the speakers, if they sound fine, then likely the amp is the problem.

Is this a package system, and are these still the speakers that came with the original package? -

Google-UK - Image Search - Onkyo 5405 system

Steve/bluewizard

Yep, they are the speakers. It's all the same stuff in the system - it's only my first system which is a bit gutting!

The center speaker is fine and when i changed some of the wires it was still fine and the other ones were still crackly. So i'm assuming it's the speakers and not the AV? I'll recheck this though when I get home. The front left and right are crackling as is the back left. The back right is OK, the woofer and central speakers are fine.

The music was being played from the computer from youtube, and i've heard poor quality sound can damage them? (especially if it was played high).

If they are blown would it be possible to get them fixed? Or do i need to buy a whole new set of speakers ?