Hi Oilbird,
Could be...if you are hearing the distortion more often at louder levels, there may be a crack in the tweeter which means it needs to be replaced. Can you get a pair of bookshelves or anything else you can borrower just to test without going thru the replacement? |
Good idea,
I have a pair of bookshelves I'll use to see if it's the speakers themselves. |
cool...pls let us know. good luck. believe it or not, on my Oppo player, when the volume cranks, the RCA jacks create a crackle in one tweeter...no idea why. but when i use the digital out from my oppo into my DAC and crank it...no tweeter crackle at all, at ridiculous volumes on video. So everyonce in a while, it can be something else you would not normally expect. |
That's interesting. I just split my 15 foot Kimber Kable and terminated them into 2 pairs of 7.5 foot sections to bi-wire my speakers. I don't think that's the problem, but I'll check. |
Hi Oilbird,
Look forward to hearing about your switching speakers experiment. That should be a good place to start for your 'diagnosis'. |
Well- that was interesting1 the uppse distortion was audible in the other speakers!
Now what?
My old CD player is over 15 years old- could it be that? But then again, it seems like it's also there with my turntable? |
Well, that was interesting! The upper distortion was audible on the other speakers as well? What's strange is that I thought it might be my 15 year old CD player, but I seem to have the same problem on my turntable as well? |
may be it was problem caused by cosmic energy:) These days I hear twetter distortion too on both speakers dynaudio c1 and Harbeth shl5 with diffrent amps and diffrent cd palyers:) Interesting opinion abaut rca cables |
As I was reading the replies in this thread, I was thinking that the probability that the speakers are bad was going to be low. It's hard to destroy speaker drivers - you have to try hard quite with destruction on your mind. It's possible to do but not so easy.
So, it could be
* a failing speaker x-over component
* a cold solder joint in the speaker x-over
* dirty RCA contact all around + dirty speaker contacts
* failing power supply electrolytic capacitors in the power amp
There might be other potential causes but these are the ones I can think off immediately....
|
I'm also thinking it could be my aging Conrad Johnson PF-2 preamp?
I'll check the contacts- that's an easy start. |
I did an experiment, and hooked up my trusty old Superphon Dual Mono preamp, and the distortion seemed to disappear. I'm really starting to think the culprit is the Conrad Johnson PF2 preamp.
It's over 20 years old, and it might need to be serviced.
Also, it could be the interconnects. In re-connecting them to the Superphon, it might have cured the problem? |
I would start with swapping the interconnects...a lot easier than swapping preamps or getting your CJ repaired. See if it stays quiet. As discussed, i had a problem with my Oppo...and it appears to be that the RCA jacks are loose and there is crackling in the left tweeter as a result. In your case having both tweeters crackle means it is unlikely it is the RCA connection unless both are faulty.
Good luck...sounds like you are getting there. |
Great idea- will do!
I'll keep you posted |
I'm thinking with starting with purchasing a contact conditioner.
Any suggestions? |
i do not use it though many here do. i somehow feel like crackle should not be helped by contact conditioner. crackle strikes me as an electrical/circuitry/capacitor type issue. i could be wrong...does not hurt. just make sure to dry well before reinserting. |
