please help! blown speaker(s)? ....PSB

[jsunandmax]

Okay, i had an old NAD T750 driving my PSB 6T fronts and 2B rears for music and home theatre. recently, i upgraded to the Sunfire Ultimate Reciever. No problems initially, but i threw a small party (and music got quite loud), and next morning i noticed the following:

from both DVD and music sources:

- the top mid-range speakr on the left front sounds 'fuzzy' or distorted.
- the tweeters on both fronts do not seem to produce any sound, but 'hiss' slightly
- the tweeters on both rears do not produce any sound, but seem to 'hiss' slightly

I hooked up the old amplifier and all these same issues are present, so i'm pretty sure it's not the Sunfire. My questions are:

1. what does a 'blown' speaker sound like anyway, and does this seem like what happened to my left front?
2. why is there no sound coming from any of the tweeters, just a hiss (regardless of amp)?

3. the issue with the rear tweeters has me especially puzzled because i dont THINK the sunfire was playing on them at all. it's possible it was always there, and i never noticed?

4. what <2500 speakers can anyone recommend to avoid this problem in the future (if indeed the Sunfire was 'too much' for my crappy PSBs. I know a subwoofer is smart because it takes the load off the other speakers (i currently do not have one) but what else?

i should probably mention the CD player is a POS, and my cables are kinda cheap, but i dont THINK that's the issue.

Sorry to sound like such a newbie (i am) but i love my music/theater and i'm lost without it! Thanks in advance to everyone!

-jason

[audio_dude]

yup, very likely blown tweeters...

[basite]

and the midrange might be on the end of his life to, tweeters are definately broken.

[likeitloud]

Sorry, but there toast, the humming is classic crossover melt down. What do all the
cones look like, any torn or pulled away from the surrounds? You probably had distortion
come into play, and that was that. Again sorry to hear that.:(

[The Tahitijack]

Sorry about your speakers, but on the positive you now have the opportunity to upgrade your speakers.

[jsunandmax]

you guys are right, its toast. i did all kinds of tests and stuff. thanks for the support, i feel like a stupid teenage "blowing a speaker", its never happened to me before.

so yeah, its upgrade time. thing is, i need to probably go around to boutiques and listen and see where ~1500 should go. I have a chance to pickup some Infinity Intermezzios 4.1 for $1700, but haven't auditioned them......thoughts on those with the Sunfire?

anyone particularly fanatical about a set of <2k fronts they can recommend? (i know theres probably thousands of threads out there on this, but since you guys responded to my plea, i figured i would ask here too).

thanks in advance, i'll try to see the posative (upgrade) even though i can't really afford it!

-j

[PlumDragon]

i feel like a stupid teenage "blowing a speaker", its never happened to me before.Ya live and ya learn. Dont be too ahrd on yourself, you are already having to deal with the consequences...Isnt that enough?



anyone particularly fanatical about a set of <2k fronts they can recommend?The sme exact question is being discussed concurrently in another thread:

http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=18605

Personally, if I had $2k to spend on speakers, Id probably look hard to find a set of Martin Logan Clarity's, which have dropped a lot in price over the years...and if I couldnt find them for $2k, I'd pay a bit extra for them! =)

[jocko_nc]

Perhaps take this opportunity to learn a little about how speakers are built? Have you considered tearing into them for a repair? There is no magic inside. With a little guidance you can easily fix them, perhaps improving on what they used to be. Rework the crossovers. Replace a couple of drivers. No problem.

Try www.partsexpress.com and/or www.madisound.com. Both sites have speaker forums where you no doubt can find whatever information you need. Both will have whatever parts you need. It will be a cheap solution and you will be ready the next time you go nuts with the volume control.

Maybe you can built them into an impervious pair of "party speakers" with durable drivers and crossovers that won't burn up.

jocko

[jsunandmax]

you know Jocko, thats a great idea! I think i will try to 'repair' them myself. as far as improving them....that may be beyond my skillset, and i wouldn't know where to go to figure out how do to something like that.

definatly sounds like a fun project, and i can spend that chedda on a sub instead :)


thanks for all your suggestions guys!

[jocko_nc]

It's not hard at all...

In my younger days, I built a bunch of garbage speakers out of whatever I could scavenge or perhaps get from Rat Shack. Mostly I collected the magnets.

In college, I had a pair of big old Realistic towers that weren't bad at all. My moron roommates melted down the crossovers a couple of times and destroyed the tweets and mids. I found a local guy who did recones and wound inductors (wire coils) for crossovers that I could use to get my stereo back in business.

At one point, I got sick and tired of the crossovers and decided to build a set of party speakers. Same guy set me up with crossover parts for 2-ways using big Altec (???) horn drivers. This time the crossover parts were HUGE and would not burn up. Still have those horns. Heavy gage wire does not burn.

I built a pair of BR-1's from Parts Express for my son about three years ago and got the bug. Sad to say, I now frequent the Goodwill shops looking for quality speakers in need of repair. My closet is becoming full of such diamonds-in-the-rough.

I am currently listening to a 5.1 system including (3) DIY monitors of Seas and Peerless drivers along with (2) 10.00 subs of Dayton Reference drivers. Total investment is something like $850.00, which is a complete joke if you got the chance to hear what these things do. Parts came from Madisound. Crossover design came from a good guy on the forums who knows about such things.

I need to look up what you have. Post your dilemma on the PartsExpress Speakerbuilding Forum and you can find out anything you might want to know. Those folks are great.

Go for it! You'll be glad you did. Just don't come near any of my Goodwill stores...

jocko