Speaker Rattle

[ninetynine]

I have a pair of wharfedale speakers and when I play dance type of music with very low bass frequencies on every "thrump" I can hear a rattle in one speaker. Can anyone help me fix this? I don't want to go through the trouble of bringing it to a shop...any quick fixes?

[markw]

I think you may be trying to get more bass out of them than they are capable of producing. You may want to either turn it down, back off the bass somewhat or get speakers that can put out more bass. ...or any combinbation thereof.

[ninetynine]

weird on my b&w's this doesn't happen and they are rated at 60hz, the wharfedales are rated at 45hz.

[markw]

Don't blindly believe specs, particularly speaker specs. They tend to be incomplete and overly optimistic, and I'm being very charitable here. The Wharfedales ARE handling it, just not very well.

[Woochifer]

Those sounds are probably below the tuned port frequency for your speakers. Once the sounds go below that level, the drivers "unload" because the back pressure that dampens the driver movement for frequencies above the tuned frequency are no longer there. This means that unless the speaker has a rumble filter on the crossover, the low frequency signal content below the tuned frequency will create uncontrolled driver movement.

The rattling that you hear might be the driver bottoming out. It might be more noticeable on your Wharfedales because those low frequencies are probably closer to the lower limits of what those drivers can handle than with your B&Ws (with the B&Ws, they might be far enough from the lower limits of the driver that the low frequency content does not create the kind of uncontrolled movement that you get with the Wharfedales). Rattling can also occur with poorly braced cabinets or manufacturing defects.

[ninetynine]

I just noticed this on one song with very low frequency and it was heard when playing a boomy type of thrump sound. I tried playing some dance music also and it seems fine!

[nightflier]

I have a pair of wharfedale speakers and when I play dance type of music with very low bass frequencies on every "thrump" I can hear a rattle in one speaker. Can anyone help me fix this? I don't want to go through the trouble of bringing it to a shop...any quick fixes?

Maybe it's time to add a sub to the mix?

[bfalls]

The sound may also be something loose inside the speaker which may be worth checking out before taking in for repair. I would check the xover board and the bass port (if applicable). Both may be loose and un-noticable at lower volumes, but rattle when bass levels increase. When I've heard voice coils bottom out before it sounded like more of a "pop" than a rattle. Also press in evenly on the woofer's cone and listen for scratching which is a good indicator of a blown voice coil.

[ninetynine]

nope no sounds heard when pressing on the woofer cone. How do you check the xover board and the bass port ? What about tightening the screws around the woofer with an alan key?

[bfalls]

You can usually get to the xover by removing the woofer. I believe the Warfdales are bass-reflex, so you shouldn't have to worry about replacing a gasket. There may also be some insulating material inside the cabinet. The xover is usually on the back panel connected to the binding posts.

[Florian]

I have had the internal speaker wire hit one of the subwoofers on my other VMPS RM30. Some companys just dont put them away or glue them to the sides. Make sure the wire doesnt hit the cone!

[Lensman]

It's also possible part of the surround on the bass driver of that speaker has come loose or there might be a slight tear in it. Sometimes it can take a flashlight and some careful looking to see.

[pelly3s]

first step pull the driver out and inspect it, check for tinsel leads hitting the cone, check for the spider seperating from the frame and also at the coil. another this to do is shake the driver. some have a shunting ring at the bottom of the center pole and that may have come loose. if none of those are the issue then you are just driving it to hard

[ruadmaa]

I have a pair of wharfedale speakers and when I play dance type of music with very low bass frequencies on every "thrump" I can hear a rattle in one speaker. Can anyone help me fix this? I don't want to go through the trouble of bringing it to a shop...any quick fixes?

A speaker should never rattle. You most likely have something loose in the case that needs reglued or screwed down. The only other possibility is that woofer itself is defective. Your speaker should play every frequency that your amp delivers.

[chickenninja]

i have had 3 speaker rumbling issues, the solution is tightness. when stuff comes loose it will rattle when specific frequencys resonate with the looseness. on one of my woofer's magnets the glue decrepted with age and separated slightly. i first thought to glue them back together but it wasnt feasable so next i jammed some soft pieces of rubber into the cracks to tightly hold them apart and it worked perfectly going on 6 months. my other speaker was a 3 piece system and the mid range would rattle when the woofer hit certain frequencys. pushing firmly on the housing in certain spots stopped the sound . also grabbing and holding the midrange stopped it so what i plan to do is cover the back of the midrange with a super flexible adheasive so it will reduce its vibrations and keep everything tightly together. speakers babble when they are runn too heavilly. but rattles are from looseness. i had another very large speaker that had a free floating piece of wood for resonation. the wood was rattling and i simply tighend the screws and it stopped so tighten the hell out of everything. if screws spin in their holes replace them with screws of greater girth to get a better grip. and if you just touch the speaker housing you can feel where its coming from. and i advise ear plugs when searching for the source. speaker rattleing needs to be covered under waranty because its a failure of the manufacturer using inadequite adhesive and anchoring.

[kexodusc]

Speaker rattles are tricky - hard to diagnose over the internet without hearing it myself. I think Florian might be right, I've seen more speaker wires come loose off their mounting or gluing and become free to rattle around inside over time. I've also seen many woofers "loosen" themselves over time, requiring the screws to be tightened. The latter is an easy test. Reproduce the rattle sound - when it's rattling, push on the frame with your finger a bit to see if it stops the rattle - if it does, your driver is loose a bit, and tightening screws should help. If not, back to the drawing board. I always found loose screws sound more like a "buzz" or vibration than rattle, but that's semantic.

Markw and Woochifer could also be right, could just be the woofer's reaching it's limits of bass production and is thus generating some funny sounds, though "rattle" isn't quite what I'd expect here.

You'll probably need a Torx screwdriver to remove the woofer, but if I had to guess, a loose screw would be the leading candidate here. Just be careful when you lift it, there's usually not a lot of slack on the connected wire.

[N. Abstentia]

weird on my b&w's this doesn't happen and they are rated at 60hz, the wharfedales are rated at 45hz.

Welcome to the world of low end speaker companies making up specs.

But it sounds like a blown speaker to me.

[Kit83]

[QUOTE=ninetynine;112773]I have a pair of wharfedale speakers and when I play dance type of music with very low bass frequencies on every "thrump" I can hear a rattle in one speaker. Can anyone help me fix this? I don't want to go through the trouble of bringing it to a shop...any quick fixes?[/QUOTE
A

[Kit83]

Suspect cone and voice coil have parted company.After replacing surrounds found one bass mid driver was rattling at certain frequencies ,you can see gaps by gently lifting the cone ,I glued the offending area with a contact adhesive and holding the cone with something weighing just enough to move the cone down then leave for 24 hours.My 21 year Morels sound brand new.It may be braded voice coil wire lose on cone back in the 70s I had that prob,Hope I,v helped Kit83' Ps avoid brands in most cases they don't make the driver units they compromise and source from China or wherever they are CHEAPEST. solve the problem by making your own, i,v found peerless tweeters and morel bass mids a great combo that last forever contact your nearest diy studio and listenbefore you buy take your amp and cd make a day of it.