Tweeter Crackling

[Ed bongers]

I have a set of 1999 Scenario speakers and I’m getting a crackling, almost a little pop when the speaker in plugged into 110 volt then goes away when unplugged. Does anyone know why I get this. Still plays great music????

 

[msimanyi]

Have you vacuumed them? I wonder if a build-up of dust could be causing a problem.

 

[ttocs]

Yes, as msimanyi says, it could be dust buildup. Always a first step is to vacuum.

oops, I just re-read as I was writing this, but I'll leave the above since it's always good to clean the panels. But, now I'm thinking it might be capacitors that have reached EOL, End Of Life. If the crackling/pops appear with just being plugged in, then it's gotta be caps.

My Krell amp developed a static sound coming from one speaker when the amp was in standby. Standby wasn't "off", but just that the amp circuitry wasn't "on", or at least not fully, so for amplified noise to be sounding from a speaker was a bit shocking. Krell replaced all the caps, luckily under warranty.

 

[msimanyi]

Good point from ttocs. If there's no signal being sent and it's crackling, you might be looking for some cap replacement instructions...

 

[Stevieg335i]

Hi, it could also be that the pops you hear are arcing where the insulation isn’t as good as it should be within the panel. I had a panel doing exactly the same and when I took it apart there was a small piece of Mylar that was actually melted from the arcing. As a temporary ‘fix’ I cut around the burnt Mylar and no more popping.

Be a bit careful because if it is arcing then when it occurs the amplifier sees it as a short circuit. If it’s currently low level then you should be ok but if it gets worse and starts getting louder when the music is turned up, unless your amp has short circuit protection, then it could be at risk.

incidentally vacuuming the panel periodically did help with arcing initially but gradually got less effective.

HTH

Steve