Klipsche 2.1 subwoofer crackling noises - is it blown?

rlee

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Jan 30, 2003
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So my roommate decided to crank up some music using my speakers 1 night (subwoofer turned up to maybe 70-80% and main volume turned up to around the same levels 70-80% on the turn knob)

The day after, I noticed crackling noises coming from my subwoofer even on low settings.

2 questions:

1) Is it blown, and was it a direct result of the levels he put my speakers at? He claims he did not max out the subwoofer and thus he did not cause the issue with my subwoofer. The speakers are fine.

2) Anyway to fix this crackling noise?

side note - I've had my Klipsch Promedia 2.1's for about 7-8 years

Thanks!
 
Most likely is a blown speaker.
Although a bad connection can also cause crackling noises.
Does it still give the same level of bass?

If the speaker is blown, you need to replace it.
 
As others said sounds like your woofer got damaged. It can happen that the voice coil contacts with the backplate when you play too loud. The voice coil gets twisted or misaligned and starts to scratch against the magnet - or thermal overload has burned something, either the coil feed or the coil itself. If the coil feed is broken but touching, it will create an interference noise when the connection arcs and breaks. Third option is that your sub amp burned, it can also crate crackling sound.

Real sub drivers have repair sets enabling you to replace the cone and the coil, Klipsch 2.1 most likely is ready for dumpster.

Edit: If you're REAL lucky the overheat + over extension may just have blown your bass drivers dust cap loose. That will produce a nasty sound. The dust cap can be glued back quite easily. So try to play music at moderate level and gently press the dust cap with your finger to see if that stops the crackling sound. Finger pressing can temporarily 'fix' also a misaligned coil but you should be able to tell the difference between plastic resonating and metal scratching.
 
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Most likely is a blown speaker.
Although a bad connection can also cause crackling noises.
Does it still give the same level of bass?

If the speaker is blown, you need to replace it.

yes same level of bass, but the more bass, the more crackling noises coming directly from the woofer. and i assume you mean woofer is blown? the speakers are fine. if i turn the subwoofer knob all the way to min, there will be no bass and no crackling noises. but once i turn up the woofer knob to like 10-20%, i can hear the crackling noise when there is bass
 
As others said sounds like your woofer got damaged. It can happen that the voice coil contacts with the backplate when you play too loud. The voice coil gets twisted or misaligned and starts to scratch against the magnet - or thermal overload has burned something, either the coil feed or the coil itself. If the coil feed is broken but touching, it will create an interference noise when the connection arcs and breaks. Third option is that your sub amp burned, it can also crate crackling sound.

Real sub drivers have repair sets enabling you to replace the cone and the coil, Klipsch 2.1 most likely is ready for dumpster.

Edit: If you're REAL lucky the overheat + over extension may just have blown your bass drivers dust cap loose. That will produce a nasty sound. The dust cap can be glued back quite easily. So try to play music at moderate level and gently press the dust cap with your finger to see if that stops the crackling sound. Finger pressing can temporarily 'fix' also a misaligned coil but you should be able to tell the difference between plastic resonating and metal scratching.

not sure what a dust cap is, but i googled it and it looks like something in the speakers? but it's my woofer that is damaged, is there something similar in my woofer? never opened my woofer before.
 
not sure what a dust cap is, but i googled it and it looks like something in the speakers? but it's my woofer that is damaged, is there something similar in my woofer? never opened my woofer before.

Dust cap is the round thingy in middle of the woofer :)

It can become detached partly which makes it rattle real irritatingly. The dust cap can be carefully removed and reglued but a sharp hobby knife, steady hand and lots of caution is required especially if the cone is made of paper. My father did a lot of these repairs, even replacing voice coils on speakers which had no repair kits.

Screamin-Eagle-Dust-Cap-002.jpg
 
To sort this out, you are going to have to get your hands dirty.
Check out Boonies centre cap issue first.

My next recommendation is to detach the woofer driver (the speaker cone) and connect a normal loud speaker to the terminals.
Also look inside and see if there are any signs of burning, by smell and sight.

With the volume turned right down, play some bassy music and slowly turn the volume up, taking care not to let the loudspeakers bass woofer move too much and see if there is any noise still.
If the noise has gone, it is down to the sub woofer speaker or maybe its connection.

Try connecting the sub woofer again and see if that helps, just in case it was a bad connection.
 
One way to test the voice coil without even removing the speaker is to turn the amp off, then gently pressing the speaker element with your fingers.

The cone should move a few millimeters softly and without any scratching sounds. If you hear scratching sounds while you press the cone then you have a mechanical problem i.e. a dead driver.

If you end up removing the speaker from the enclosure, you can test the amplifier by plugging an another bass driver in the place of the original. If that also produces crackling sound it means that something got broken with your electronics. Cheap bridged amps typically used on cheap 2.1 setups can die very easily when exposed to even momentary abuse.
 
I was going to recommend pushing the driver cone, and why not tbh.
Although it is possible to push the driver to one side, causing contact that wouldnt normally happen, so op must be careful of that.
But often its immediately obvious.
What stopped me was that he said there was no noise at lower volume, yet it worked ok.

It looks like there is physical damage.
Maybe the voice coil partially melted but shorted across some windings which is why it still functions, with a bit of protruding metal causing scratches when the woofer is more active.
Or perhaps something has torn but doesnt become noisy enough until a certain volume level (including the dust cap).
The coil may be partly detached (glue melted or broke) and wobbles when enough power is put through it.
...
 
I was going to recommend pushing the driver cone, and why not tbh.
Although it is possible to push the driver to one side, causing contact that wouldnt normally happen, so op must be careful of that.
But often its immediately obvious.
What stopped me was that he said there was no noise at lower volume, yet it worked ok.

It looks like there is physical damage.
Maybe the voice coil partially melted but shorted across some windings which is why it still functions, with a bit of protruding metal causing scratches when the woofer is more active.
Or perhaps something has torn but doesnt become noisy enough until a certain volume level (including the dust cap).
The coil may be partly detached (glue melted or broke) and wobbles when enough power is put through it.
...

Yep unfortunately there are a 8 million ways to die in L.A. and in P.A. :D
 
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