Blown-up speaker?

[zeshane]

Hey all,

I got a Yamaha RX-V740 receiver and connected JBL E80 floorstanding towers to it as front speakers. The system is connected to my PC via SPDIF output on a Creative sound blaster audigy value card into receivers coax input.

Today when I turned the volume up to a few notches, the left speaker started buzzing on high bass tracks. The whole speaker box was making noise as if the woofer has blown or something inside the box is vibrating. The receiver is 90 watt per channel and the JBL E80's are 200watts each. Could I have over driven the speakers? I kept the volume constant on the receiver at -16db and mostly controlled the volume from the computer. I use winamp for my music and never really increased the master and wave volume beyond 30%. I wanted to really make my room shake so I increased the master and wave volume upto 40% and lo behold the left speaker started giving me problems. I connected the system via analog output from my soundcard and the problem persisted. I'm afraid I might have blown up the speaker.

I will take the stuff to the store where I got it from and see what they have to say but any suggestions and advice from you guys will be of great help.

Zeeshan

 

[kimsland]

Yes it does sound as though you have blown or hurt the speaker
Just in case though, confirm all connections are secure, or possible replace the connections if needed.

Otherwise replace the speaker

 

[zeshane]

I checked the connections but there's nothing wrong with them. I'm at a loss in this matter. Dunno what must have caused this. I asked one of my colleagues and he said I was running the amp on too high volume (-16db). I tried bringing the volume down and increased the volume from the computer but to no avail. Was I running too highly powered speakers with less powered amp?

 

[turbo1]

I got a Yamaha RX-V740 receiver and connected JBL E80 floorstanding towers to it as front speakers.

assuming your amplifier's front speaker connections is using
the left & right channels:

step 1:

try swapping the speakers,connect the right speaker to the
left channel of the amp and the left speaker to the right channel
of the amp.

by doing so,and the left channel is still distorted,there's something
wrong with your amp.but if the distortion is occurring in the right
channel,then your speaker was "clipped".


step 2:

use a stand alone DVD player and connect it to your amplifier
then check the sound.

if the distortion is still present,then try again swapping the speakers
from right to left.

from there,you can tell that you have a busted speakers or damaged
amp channel.

but if the distortion is gone using a stand alone DVD player,then there's
something wrong with your sound cards audio signal/connections/
configurations or settings.

try it..

 

[zeshane]

@Turbo1

Thanks for the post. I will definitely try the steps tomorrow.

 

[zeshane]

I hooked the receiver to my DVD player and bingo!! the speakers didnt rattle a bit. I went as far ahead as -20db on the receiver and full volume on my DVD player and the room was shaking but no rattle or buzz from the speakers. I then connected the receiver back to my PC and I could hear the rattle from atleast 3 metres away. I think the problem is the sound card. I have a Creative Audigy Value. Which card would you suggest for the setup I have. I listen to music 70% of the time and I'm into almost everything except hip hop/rap and country. I have heard good things about Audigy 4...do you think its worth the investment or should I get an Audigy 2?

 

[turbo1]

try to check the settings first on your sound card,play around
with your sound card's sound manager.

turn off sound effects.(set to default)


next is your A/V receiver unit,while playing a music,check all
the settings/selectors and switches.

turn off sound effects. (equalizers/reverbs)


some A/V receivers are very sensitive with audio frequencies.
like when you use it with an audio source that can also turn
the volume up same as when using your sound card.


you can use your computer to increase the volume likewise
turn the volume up in your amp's knob.if you dont made the proper
adjustment,the result is a distorted sound,sounding like a ripped
piece of metal.

your present sound cards SPDIF connection should be enough,
you just need a connection to transmit the sound to your amp via
digital connection,that's all.you dont need a high end sound card
because your amp will process the sound quality after all.

it's still your option to get another sound card,if you really care for
a digital output,try to see if you can get one (depends on your budget)
preferrably with SPDIF optical fiber connection (must also match the connection into your amp)
and a COAX connection as backup.

 

[zeshane]

I tried what you said. Switched to default setting on my sound card, turned off all effects on my winamp i.e. disabled the equilizer, kept the bass and treble settings to zero on the amp and kept the amp in stereo mode with no DSP effects. Still the speaker rattled. I may have a malfunctioning card I guess. I did connect the amp to SPDIF output from the sound card via coax input.

I'll try and get the card replaced. Lets see it that solves the problem.

 

[turbo1]

alright,just keep us posted please.

 

[zeshane]

Hey,

Been a while I last posted. Well the sound card is alright. I blew up the tweeter on my right speaker. The problem was with the amp. It was sending different current flow to each channel i.e. 15 volts to left and 23 volts to the right. The dealer was nice enough to take the amp and speakers back and give me an entire new setup. Its as follows:

A/V Receiver: Yamaha RX-V463
Fronts: Infinity P250
Surround: Infinity P150
Sub: Infinity PS8
Center: Infinity C25

I'm happy with the setup but I have one query though. When I switch to the PLII Movie mode (prologic II) on the amp to watch DVDs with 5.1 capability, almost all sounds are transferred to the center (C25) including the explosions, gunshots, bass heavy frequencies and etc. I'm not noticing enough sounds coming from the fronts, surround and sub. I have checked it on Snatch, Requiem for a Dream, Once Upon a Time in the West, Exorcist and a few other DVDs. When I switch to 5 channel enhancer mode, the sounds gets richer but the dialogues also output from all the 5 speakers.

Crossover is set to 80Hz on the amp and also on my PS8. All the speakers are set to small and bass output is set to subwoofer.

My question is, how can i get the 5.1 setup for movies to work? Do I need to make any changes in my amp or am I checking the setup with wrong DVDs? Or since my setup is connected to PC, I will have to bear with low 5.1 response?

Zeeshan

 

[zeshane]

Found the solution. Tried using PowerDVD and in the speakers setup, I selected SPDIF. Now I just have to press the surround decoder button on the remote of AMP to decode the format and it selects DTS or Dolby Digital by itself. Checked Hulk with this setting and I'm literally blown away by what these speakers can do. Thanks for bearing with me.

 

[kimsland]

Thanks for the update :grinthumb