I've been having a problem with my system that I'm hoping you can help diagnose. My system:
Cambridge Audio 540A amplifier Cambridge Audio 640C CD player Cambridge Audio DVD55 DVD player Monitor Audio Bronze B2 speakers
Just the other day I was playing a movie dvd through the DVD55 player and heard crackling noises coming out of the speaker whenever high notes were being played from the movie. I thought maybe the disc was defective or the movie wasn't recorded well.
Until I turned off the DVD player and decided to listen to a CD on the 640C and heard the same crackling noise when playing music on the CD player! The strange thing was, with a CD, the crackling noise would clear up and things would go back to normal after a few seconds. On the DVD player, the noise would remain for the entire movie. I tried two movies and both exhibited the same crackling noise.
The crackling noise only appears on the CD player immediately after I use the DVD player. So while the problem seems to originate with the DVD player, it's not isolated to just that one machine.
The crackling noise is not subtle at all. It sounds like a badly scratched old record.
Has anyone heard of this before? I'm scratching my head.
Maybe the amp is picking up the scratching of your head :-)
Kidding aside, does the noise come from one or both speakers.
First check all connections for tautness and be sure there are no stray wires that might cause a short. If the noise comes from one speaker, swap left to right etc to see if the noise continues in the same speaker - or not. If it continues in the same speaker then that's more than likely your problem. If not or it comes from the same channel or both channels, then it seems the amp is the likely culprit. From there see your dealer or service agent - unless someone else here can give you more advice.
Thanks for the tip. The noise was coming from only one speaker, and when I switched the speaker cable between the two channels, the noise followed to the other speaker. I can assume, then, that the problem is coming from a faulty cable. Thank goodness it's the cheapest item in the chain.
"I can assume, then, that the problem is coming from a faulty cable."
Not sure how you came to that conclusion when Rantz posted, "If ... it comes from the same channel or both channels, then it seems the amp is the likely culprit." Speaker cables are incapable of making noises. They might cause the amplifier to phart if they have a shorted connection, but that would normally create a situation where the amplifier shuts down by going into protection mode. If a cable is at fault, it is more than likely an interconnect cable.
You have a lot more signal tracing to do but at this point I would suspect either a fault in the DVD player (which is creating the noise in the CD player) or a fault in the DAC of your receiver if you're running digital signals into the receiver. I'd begin by unplugging all the inputs and AC lines from every component except the receiver and the CD player. Listen for the noise. If none occurs, add the DVD player and take out the CD player. If the DVD player is creating noise on the digital inputs, switch to the analog inputs and listen again. Continue narrowing down the possibilities until you're reasonably certain what piece of equipment is at fault.