Is there a proper geeky hi-fi dweeb in the house?

[swee'pea99]

One of my speakers has started buzzing. Most annoying. Only occasionally, but enough that I can't just ignore it.

The funny thing is, although it's bass that makes it buzz, it doesn't seem to be bass per se. Some bass-heavy tracks at quite high volumes, no problem. But others, even at modest volumes certain notes set it off. It's like it's more a question of resonance than bass itself. I'm just about to try levering out a driver or two to see if I can figure out what's occurrin', but I thought I'd post here first to see if anyone had thoughts to share, experiences to relate, ideas to try, things to lookout for, that sort of thing. Thanks.

Oh, it's a Leema Acoustics Xone, if that makes a difference - a middling floor-stander. Otherwise sound - and sounding good.

 

[All uphill]

If you swap the cables round does the buzz move? That will tell you if it's the speaker or amp.

Sorry if you have already done that and excluded the amp.

 

[All uphill]

My bet would be that a capacitor is failing. If that happens in the amp it can do serious damage to your speakers by feeding them DC.

 

[swee'pea99]

If you swap the cables round does the buzz move? That will tell you if it's the speaker or amp.

Sorry if you have already done that and excluded the amp.

Oh! The thought that it might be an amp thing never occurred to me for an instant. So, a worthwhile first move would probably be to swap the speakers and see if the problem continues? Thanks! I'll give that a go.

 

[bonzobanana]

Stick something heavy on top of the speaker like a kettle weight or vice or something and see if it stops it. If so put some rubber matting below the speaker or a mouse mat or something. Find something non-visible that will stop the resonance.

 

[Roseland triker]

Depends on weather you have drivers in the speakers but normally amp or feed back

 

[T4tomo]

Depends on weather you have drivers in the speakers but normally amp or feed back

if it gets worse tomorrow, its definitely the weather....

 

[swee'pea99]

Stick something heavy on top of the speaker like a kettle weight or vice or something and see if it stops it. If so put some rubber matting below the speaker or a mouse mat or something. Find something non-visible that will stop the resonance.

I probably should have said, you can hear the buzz clearly coming from deep in the belly of the beast - there's a port on the back, from which you can hear the buzz emerging from within. It sounds like a physical thing - like in the old days, when your telly started buzzing when it was turned up a bit, basically because it hadn't been nailed together properly.

 

[Roseland triker]

Jab a screwdriver in it .

 

[sheddy]

If you take the grilles off, can you see screws - are they done up ?

 

[swee'pea99]

If you take the grilles off, can you see screws - are they done up ?

Thanks but...that was my first thought! And yes, all the screws are good & tight. And the sound is definitely internal...somewhere right inside.

 

[ColinJ]

I was getting that from the left hand side of my headphones. It wasn't until I put them on the other way round that I discovered it is actually my left ear that buzzes**!

From what you posted though, I reckon that something is loose inside the speaker cabinet.

** PS A similar test to wiring the speakers up the other way to the amp.

 

[raleighnut]

Deffo swap them side to side to check if it's one channel or one speaker doing it, another thought is do you have a small person who might have thought sticking something in the port was a good idea in the house.

 

[ColinJ]

another thought is do you have a small person who might have thought sticking something in the port was a good idea in the house.

A friend once decided that he preferred to run his expensive new hifi speakers without the grills on. 10 minutes later his 4 year old sister taught him why that was not a great idea!

 

[swee'pea99]

Deffo swap them side to side to check if it's one channel or one speaker doing it, another thought is do you have a small person who might have thought sticking something in the port was a good idea in the house.

No small folk hereabouts for quite a while. Good question though.