What's wrong with my speaker?

Thanks for everyone’s input and advice. I rotated the driver, and it only improved the crackling only marginally if at all. It was worth a try, though.


@bigkidz does Miller Sound sell used Vienna Acoustics parts or is Bill Legall good at fixing these types of issues? I checked Miller Sound's website, and Vienna Acoustics is not on their list of brands that they service. Thanks for the input.

@kenjit No not at all. I was only hoping that it was a stabilization issue and not a problem with the driver itself. I've heard tell of people adding foam etc. It's most likely not a wiring issue. I've checked all directly connected to the driver itself. All seem solid. It appears that you're implying that the driver is completely damaged. If that is the case, I'll write to Vienna Acoustics requesting the purchase of a replacement.

@audiokinesis You're probably right about the overheating hypothesis. I think I may have damaged it via clipping. These are 4 ohm speakers, and I had been driving them with a Marantz PM7000. Marantz says to not drive speakers with impedances less than 8 ohms with the PM7000. I recently upgraded to a Peachtree Nova 300 which seems to be driving them better, although I think I like the sound quality of the class AB amplifier better than the class D which is the Nova.

@steve59 I'm not exactly sure how loud. I don't have a decibel meter on hand. It's not enough to hurt the ears, but I tend to like my music a bit on the loud side. I do know that I do not experience the same thing on the other speaker, so it appears that the midrange composite on that one is definitely able to take the stress. I suppose a replacement purchase is in my future.