Scratching tweeter...

[nirama]

My speakers make a scratching, or sort of fuzzy sound whenever the sound of a trumpet fizzles out, for example in Miles Davis' song "So What," the tweeter will have some distortion, or fuzzy/scratching, even shaking noise when Davis finishes off some of his notes. This only happens at higher, but often reasonable listening volumes. It only occurs at certain frequencies. How do I fix this? One thing to note is that I am using a 27watt receiver, and my speaker was designed for 100watts. Should I stop using this receiver? I have one coming in the mail for 120w.

[rob_a]

A new receiver is a good place to start since your already going down that road, this will give your a real good idea of where to look.

How long have you been running this combo and when did you first start hearing this fuzz? Have you changed anything around in your setup or in your electronics?Are you running a power conditioner? There could be a number of things! Your tweeter might be at the end of there life, or the sound may have always been there and your just now noticing it??? Good luck and let us know :3:

[nirama]

A new receiver is a good place to start since your already going down that road, this will give your a real good idea of where to look.

How long have you been running this combo and when did you first start hearing this fuzz? Have you changed anything around in your setup or in your electronics?Are you running a power conditioner? There could be a number of things! Your tweeter might be at the end of there life, or the sound may have always been there and your just now noticing it??? Good luck and let us know :3:

These speakers were used before I purchased them. I am not sure how long they were used before I bought them, but I can find out. I started noticing the sound about two weeks ago, and it has gotten worse since then. I got them almost exactly a month ago. I have not changed anything about the setup, and I don't know what a power conditioner is.

Also, it is actually a tearing, fuzzy, staticy noise that occurs. However, it is not too loud. It's actually quite soft, but very annoying when noticed.

[Poultrygeist]

There is recorded distortion in Miles Davis' "So What".

[Mr Peabody]

If you are noticing this in several recordings, not just Miles, I have a couple possibilities. The newer speakers you are using may be more difficult to drive or less sensitive, than the prior set which could be causing a bit of clipping which is a distortion sound. If your receiver has rotary type volume controls that use potentiometers they can actually cause that type of distortion if they become dirty. Even when not being rotated.

You might try isolating where the problem is. Like listen to headphones to see if you still notice the noise. If so, it's not the speakers. Try another set of quality speakers to see if the noise persists. If not, could be the speakers. Try adjusting volume, balance, selector to see if any noise can be heard, scratching through the speakers etc.

[nirama]

It's not only in Davis' album. I hear distortion through my speakers that I do not hear while listening to these same songs on my headphones. It's definitely my speakers. I hear distortion on high quality recordings, on songs both new and old. However, it's not on every song, just whenever the tweeters hit certain frequencies. The scratching fuzzy static will disappear for 5 songs, and then when the speakers have to play an instrument they don't like, the static will show itself whenever that instrument plays. Most noticeably with a trumpet

[Mr Peabody]

Did you receive the new receiver yet? When you do you'll have to hook it up to see if the same problem happens. If so, then you know there's a problem with the speaker. If not, then the problem was with the old receiver.

[rob_a]

Humm, I know that on a few CD I get a fuzz at certain frequencies. Your issue could be your system has a weak area in it sound range and you will hear it more on some CD's then others. Let us know how the new receiver sounds.

[nirama]

Ok, just got it! It seems that the fuzzing is less prominent now, although it's faintly there now. Thoughts? Also, what volume should I turn the Receiver and laptop to? I'm using a macbook turned to about a volume of 4 (4 levels up from muted, I'm not sure how many dbs it is), and my Receiver is at 69dbs now. Is this acceptable for both, or should I have my Receiver playing at more dbs? I am using a harman kardon HK 3490 and boston acoustics T830.

[thekid]

Based on what I have read it does seem like you have isolated the problem to the speakers. A "scratchy tweeter" as you decribe is indicating to me a possible problem with the voice coil or other problem within the drivers. It will appear to vary depending on the music played but the problem is the same. You could remove the the divers and hook each one of them up directly to the receiver at low volume to see how they sound. Whichever one(s) gives you disstortion is the problem.

From what I can tell those speakers run around $75-$100 so it might be cost prohibitve to fix them depending on the problem. If it turns out to be only a single driver then you might be able to buy it off of E-Bay, drop it in and you should be good to go.

[nirama]

Update: Sound was only coming out of the right speaker. Switched the connections, and sound only came out fRom the left speaker. Now it appeaRS that actually sound faintly comes fRom the faulty connection, with the other connection worKing just fine. Is there a pRoblem with the input, or the connections? The speakerS aRe connected thRough the HK's main in input.

[Mr Peabody]

You'll have to trace down the problem. Trying another input if you have one and trying new cables in each path. Does this happen when playing the radio or CD? Something other than your computer.

[nirama]

Ok, so there is no pRoblem with the input. I think that it's something wrong with the wiRe... I took the left speaker wiRe and used it to connect the Right speaker to the Right output, did the same for the Right wiRe, and it appeaRS that the wire that was giving no sound output to the Right speaker would not give any sound output when connected to the left either. I am not using banana plugs, and am just connecting wires directly to the Receiver and speakers. Could this be the pRoblem?
Update: When I tRy to listen to my headphones thRough the Receiver, only the left side woRKs! The left speaker was the only one making sound eaRLier as well - is this a Receiver pRoblem?

[Mr Peabody]

Sounds like a receiver problem but does it do that on both radio and other sources?

[nirama]

It was a Receiver pRoblem. I'm shipping it back to HK tomorRow. Ok, now what to do about the tweeters? Should I tRy to fix them myself, or purchase individual dRivers? What dRiverS would woRK for the speakerS? I found a lot of A40 and A60 tweeterS, but nothing fRom the T series :[

[Mr Peabody]

What did I miss? If it's the receiver why are you replacing tweeters? For direct replacement of tweeter I'd contact the manufacturer.

[nirama]

The tweeters aRe scRAtching. When I put in that new Receiver, I got the one-sided speaker pRoblem. Now that I sent it back foR Replacement, I still have fuzzy tweeters, that is all. SorRy foR the confusion.

[Mr Peabody]

That's a shame, hate to hear speakers and receiver both bad. The tweeters could have blown due to the receiver issue but if you turned the volume up loud to where the sound was starting to distort you may have blown them that way and may want to think about getting a receiver with more power or more sensitive speakers. Either more power or sensitive speakers will allow you additional volume while keeping a clean signal.