Fuzzy Speaker? Uh-oh.

[Beakman]

OK, The right channel on my system has some sort of distortion: A "fuzzy sound" on the high middle range that makes itself known on complex and dynamic passages. There is also a high hiss that comes in and out, on both channels but more the right, much like signal drift on a fm station. This all while playing a couple of CD's (Yo Yo Ma and Dvorak's New World Symphony) at high levels. At lower volume levels the distortion is there but not as bad.
Also there were some lightning voltage spikes down the line causing my protection to kick in, twice.
I switched to my old amps - not the problem;
I dropped the Behringer DEQ out of the path - not the problem;
I will be testing with my HD-DVD as a player later and will switch speaker position, but I fear it may be the panel.
Has anyone heard these symptoms on their equipment and if so, what was the culprit?

 

[tonepub]

This is a long shot, but is there any chance you just got an iPhone, or Blackberry, that intermittently connects to the internet wirelessly?

This causes a hateful buzz in my system to the point I have to turn
my phone off in the studio. My Speakers and subs are particularly
sensitive to this interference....

 

[Maniax]

I recently encountered a similar problem. The speakers were producing distortion in the higher frequency ranges as if the lady was singing with a sore throat and piano was extra clangy. After going through the whole investigational oddyssey, it was the input circuit board on my vantages that were the problem. The panels are actually quite hardy, so i doubt they'll be the first ones to be fried. The easiest thing for you to do now is to get another pair of speakers and play at about the same volume and see there's a difference. If there is, then send your speakers in for repair! Hope this helps.

 

[khenegar]

uh-oh

reverse the power supplies for the speakers to see if it problem goes over to the other speaker.

 

[Beakman]

Thanks for some insights. So far I have:
Used the HD-DVD player as a source - That's not the problem.
Went from balanced adapters to unbalanced straight to the amp, physically exchanged speaker position l/r, powered them both through the other, non suspect, power protection, gave them a good vacuuming, set the bass boost to 0 ( one was maxed out for some reason), Double checked position symmetry as an attempt to control or ID reflected waves.
I did hear a greatly improved response but I must make more tests to be sure as there are so many variables.. I will check with various test tones later this week.
One important thing I did discover was through a method I use (and many mechanics) was to physically hard press my ear to various structural components. Compress the small fleshy part in the front of the ear against any convergent structure (like the top corner of the speaker). That's when and where I discovered the bass boost maxed out on the suspect speaker. I also dicsovered that my glass rack shelves ring like a bell at certain frequencies, so much so that I'll have to remove it from the equation during further testing. It is right next to the suspect speaker.
Egad!

 

[Beakman]

This is a long shot, but is there any chance you just got an iPhone, or Blackberry, that intermittently connects to the internet wirelessly?

This causes a hateful buzz in my system to the point I have to turn
my phone off in the studio. My Speakers and subs are particularly
sensitive to this interference....

I disabled the bluetooth also but nope, not the problem. Thanks.

 

[Beakman]

I recently encountered a similar problem. The speakers were producing distortion in the higher frequency ranges as if the lady was singing with a sore throat and piano was extra clangy. After going through the whole investigational oddyssey, it was the input circuit board on my vantages that were the problem. The panels are actually quite hardy, so i doubt they'll be the first ones to be fried. The easiest thing for you to do now is to get another pair of speakers and play at about the same volume and see there's a difference. If there is, then send your speakers in for repair! Hope this helps.

I'll be stopping at the dealer today just to find out what actions under warranty can be done. If I determine that the speaks are the problem it opens a whole can of worms logistically for me.
How was it determined that the boards were bad?

 

[Maniax]

The dealer was nice enough to bring a pair of showroom vantages to my home to try. Once they were powered up with my system, the showroom vantages had no distortion, so my speakers were definitely the problem. Basically then they took my vantages back to the shop and they did some testing, and eventually they found that the circuit board was faulty.

 

[Beakman]

Now What?

Ok, went to the dealer today to listen to the disks on their system and see what's what with any warranty issues.
Sound Advice in Tampa had a pair of vantages with all Anthem head equipment in their top drawer sound room. The weird stuff I was hearing is from the recording itself, but the demo equipment sounded so much clearer, crisper and detailed than at home.
Sure enough, I get home and everything sounds flat and dead. Whatever is going on I don't know? Humidity?
Out of sheer frustration, I rearranged the equipment location in the room and put the DEQ back in line. Using a test tone generator on sweeping sine wave, I took measurements and applied them to the equalizer module (goal was flat response through the mike input on the RTA). Wow! The EQ settings are wide in range and it's not perfect, but it's a major improvement toward the aforementioned demo setup and more like I remembered.
Back at the dealer, they said I have to bring the speakers in, no pick up, no loaners, not like the service a couple of years ago when I bought them.

do I bring the speakers in, or am I just out of my mind?