What's wrong with my almost new speakers?


I purchased a pair of new speakers less than 2 yrs ago. They sounded just fine to begin with, but within 1 year they became "irratating" after a short listen. I have purchased new speakers since then from Focal and Harbeth, and both of these pairs sound wonderful. What's wrong with the speakers from 2 yrs ago? Bad crossovers? Bad drivers?
We do not listen to music at loud levels.
mc240

Showing 2 responses by almarg

I agree completely with all of those whose responses have been prompted by the uninformative nature of the original post. Nevertheless, I'll describe two possible explanations that occur to me, although neither of them stands much chance of being correct considering that a zillion or so other explanations could also be hypothesized.

Theory 1: Many Focal and Harbeth speakers have considerably higher impedances in much of the treble region compared to much of the bass region. Perhaps the unnamed speakers have a flatter impedance curve. Perhaps you are still using the Rega Elicit solid state integrated amplifier you mentioned in a post 4 years ago that you were using. Or perhaps you are using some other solid state amplifier. Everything else being equal that would result in the treble region being more emphasized by the unnamed speaker than by the others, perhaps resulting in the presentation being more "irritating" (not "irratating") with many recordings. Perhaps the fact that the speakers were not broken in early in that one year period somehow compensated for that.

I know, there are a lot of "perhaps" in that theory, but given the lack of information that is inevitable.

Theory 2: The mounting screws on some of the drivers have worked loose over time, and the resulting vibrations are what is responsible. Be careful not to overtighten them, however.

Regards,
-- Al
OMG, best thread on here in months! LMAO!
Perhaps ever since this one, a little more than a year ago. Arguably the best vague question thread ever.

Regards,
-- Al :-)