Speaker problem, might explode

[ekuest]

so i have a set of altec lansing speakers and subwoofer and have always had a little bit of feedback and sometimes popping. i asked about it before and people said it was ok and there wasnt anything i could do about it so i left it alone.

tonight i was reorganizing all the wires behind my desk, and once i got everything back together, the speaker feedback kept increasing. when i plugged in the power, it would give me a little hum like always. but that hum steadily got louder and increased in pitch until i unplugged the power cord. if i hadnt, they probably would have kept going until they fried themselves. any idea whats wrong? i did have the subwoofer upside down for the last year or 2 to make wire routing easier, so that could ave caused the problem. but nothing has changed since an hour ago before i unplugged everything. the problem happens in any outlet i have in the room. the electricity in this house is very old and could also be the culprit.

mostly i want to know if i should plug them in and let the feedback run its course, or if i should throw them away before they explode. or best of all, can i fix this somehow? thanks!

 

[Audiochris]

Were the speakers plugged into your computer at the time? Do you have a mic that is passing through to the speakers? If neither, i'd say the internal amp is probably done for. Don't worry I don't think they'll explode.

 

[astrallite]

Altec Lansing speakers have always been decently designed but built with the lowest quality amps. All the AL speakers I've owned (MX series, ATP series) had this loud, annoying hiss/hum.

If the AL's are the only speakers in the house exhibiting this, either this is a expiration process of the poor things, or you are suffering from a ground loop issue but I've never heard of distortion continuously increasing in real-time.

 

[Thor]

If the AL's are the only speakers in the house exhibiting this, either this is a expiration process of the poor things, or you are suffering from a ground loop issue but I've never heard of distortion continuously increasing in real-time.

the only time i have ever heard of anything like this is with mic's or with an internal wiring fault, usually caused by bugs that get inside, die and short things out...

i would unplug your mic AND make sure it is muted... what happens if you mute the sound via the windows volume control?

 

[ekuest]

yeah its definitely increasing. i guess its time for new speakers. any suggestions, or a link to a thread on current good-value speaker/subwoofer sets?

 

[ekuest]

the only time i have ever heard of anything like this is with mic's or with an internal wiring fault, usually caused by bugs that get inside, die and short things out...

i would unplug your mic AND make sure it is muted... what happens if you mute the sound via the windows volume control?

my computer isnt even turned on. the speakers are plugged into the comp, but its off right now. should i try opening up the sub and cleaning it out or will i electrocute myself?

 

[Thor]

unplug it first if you do, have a look inside, but dont touch anything unless it is something obvious like a fried wire...

sometimes when you open these things up, you will find white goop (hard) on bits and pieces, its usually glue to help things stay in place while it goes thought soldering, dont worry about that stuff.. if you find white or grey-white slimy stuff, it can be thermal grease. usually not a big deal either. if you need help, post pics... other wise any issues should be obvious.

 

[ekuest]

yeah i just plan on blowing it out basically. also i think it might be the connector for the controller speaker, in which case i dont think i can do anything.

so, replacement suggestions? budget is like $50 or so. little higher or lower, but most importantly good price/performance. maybe someone saw something nice in fs/ft recently? im a total speaker system noob. these speakers have served me well for about 3 years for $25, so i dont need anything super loud or fancy. a subwoofer is nice though.

 

[astrallite]

I don't know how good a 2.1 system can seriously be at $50. The Logitech Z-10s are pretty good, they are decent sized satellites with a tweeter and midrange driver, comes in piano black. No sub. You can get it around $50 shipped on ebay. It's $60+shipping with online vendors.

The Gigaworks T-series are decent if you can get a deal on ebay.

 

[ekuest]

well i plugged them in and let them do their thing, and eventually it got to where they sounded like a harley. but then they popped and now theyre ok. we'll see how long that lasts. is there any chance they could mess up my computer with some power feedback or something?

 

[Audiochris]

I guess there's always a chance but highly unlikely.

 

[ekuest]

alright thanks. i guess ill stick with these for now. cant beat these at $25. ill keep those suggestions in mind if they die for good astrallite.

 

[Thor]

well i plugged them in and let them do their thing, and eventually it got to where they sounded like a harley. but then they popped and now theyre ok. we'll see how long that lasts. is there any chance they could mess up my computer with some power feedback or something?

sounds like bad caps now that i've had some sleep, might be fatal... might not.. really doubt it will hurt your pc.. might have just been the caps regaining their charge or something wierd.. old systems do strange stuff some times.. i have a set of logitech x-530's that refuse to turn off.. (figure its a short somewhere... but dont care enough to try and find it..)

 

[Lateralus]

well i plugged them in and let them do their thing, and eventually it got to where they sounded like a harley. but then they popped and now theyre ok. we'll see how long that lasts.

LOL...that's almost sig-worthy right there.

 

[ekuest]

LOL...that's almost sig-worthy right there.

man, you should have heard it. i had to call my roommate over to show him cuz it was just so unbelievable. wish i could have recorded it.