I discovered a strange problem with one of my speakers: It sounds muted somehow - like the top mid-range is gone and it's playing through a blanket.
I did all the standard tests: switched channels on my receiver, switched cables etc. It's definitely the speaker that is acting up.
Now the really weird part: While rewiring the speaker I noticed that when only one of the cables was connected and I touched the other cable to the receiver (grounded it), I could hear the music!
I'm guessing there's some sort of cable crossing going on inside the speaker and that's what's causing the muting. thought I'd ask some people who know more about this than me before I crack it open and start messing around with the innards.
"Now the really weird part: While rewiring the speaker I noticed that when only one of the cables was connected and I touched the other cable to the receiver (grounded it), I could hear the music!"
What's that mean? Connected to what? The speaker? The receiver? When you touched both legs of a single cable to the receiver? Or just one leg to the receiver and the other was connected to the speaker but not to the receiver? The speaker ground is tied to the receiver chassis. If you touched the receiver chassis and it worked but it didn't work when you connected to the speaker output, you probably have a bad connection at the receiver's speaker output. Are these speakers biwired? A speaker output either works or it doesn't, it's not frequency selective.
I disconnected the speaker wires from the receiver to check if it was the receiver channel that was bust. as I was connecting the red wire to the red output, the black wire touched the chassis and the speaker started playing. However this only happened with the busted speaker: the other one only works when both wires are properly connected to the same outs.
I swapped the cables between the two speakers: no difference I swapped the channels between the two speakers: no difference
the sound coming out of my (now left) speaker is significantly worse than the other one, as if it is being played through a carpet with very heavy compression.
It is a receiver issue. The reference for the speakers should be fully independant from the chassis of the receiver. Open the thing up MR, you might have over tightened the post and shorted the post to the case, which might explain it. You have reference from the good channel, so break out the meter, or visually compare the 2 channels.
The speaker issue is definitely separate from everything else. I ran it through a different receiver with the exact same result. I removed the actual speaker and switched it with the working one and the sound remains muffled on the speaker box which in my mind means it is a problem with some other internal component in the speaker.
now what do I do? I guess I need to get some transistor or something else replaced? I really need some help on this one because the crappy sound is driving me crazy and my extended warranty expired 4 months ago.
I didn't fully read. But by skimming through I would agree with Nuck on the x-over. Either that, or the wire to you negative(-) binding post has just come off and therefore the speaker line is not grounding leaving you with a fraction of the sound. Kinda would sound like throwing the speaker in a pool.
lots of interesting advice here. I'm thinking of ripping out the circuit board in the back (assuming that's what you guys are referring to as the crossover?) and putting it in the other cabinet to see if it makes a difference. that should give a clear indication of where the problem is located.
I don't know about speaker in a pool but the blanket analogy is pretty close. I wish I could record the difference but it only becomes aparent when you pan left to right and back so you have a comparison. I notice it most if I sit directly in front of the stereo because it sounds as if my left ear is busted - it's muffled and weak.
Morten, that board is the crossover, and yes, you can swap it out. If that is the problem, you can compare componant values between the two to find the fault. Remember that each componant will eventually have to be released from it's mount and isolated from the rest of the circuit, so have solder tools handy, as well as a meter for capacitence.
morten, if you find the rest of the people in this thread crapping over me dont do it (i dont have technical knowledge) but if by earthing the speaker it works, why dont you do just that?