Is my Center speaker broken?

[UltimateGolden]

Hey guys,
I recently blew up an old Pioneer AV receiver due to cranking it to high i believe (it wouldn't turn on anymore and smelled like a blown up firework).
I then purchased a new Anthem MRX720 and replugged the same speakers i had on the old receiver.
The Center speaker is a CC350 Paradigm. When I play movies, the whole surround sounds works great but the center speaker seem a little off. ( I can't hear voices of characters properly). I decided to try and keeping the Fronts, surround, backs, sub on and turning off the center. Surprisingly, the audio output improved drastically. I'm not sure if the center is broken and if it is responsible for my old pioneer blowing up. Maybe I simply just have the settings wrong ion the Anthem.

Im using a PS3 for playback connected using optical to the anthem.
Anthem Room Calibration has been done:
All speakers reach 20k Hz frequency but for the center speaker, it cuts off at 1k Hz which could explain why the voices can't be heard (higher frequency).

I just spent my whole piggybank on the Anthem so im pretty much out of budget to change the Center. If anyone has a solution or could confirm that my unit is broken, please express yourself in the comments below. I may buy a used cheap center for the time being.
Thank you

PS: My pioneer blew up in the middle of a party I was hosting lol

 

[TLS Guy]

I strongly suspect your center speaker has damaged voice coils. I bet you overheated them at the party and you now have shorted turns in at least one of the woofer VCs. This lowers the output and lowers the impedance of the speaker. This is what probably blew up your pioneer. It will blow up your Anthem if you continue using it. I would bet the tweeter in that speaker is totally blown with an open circuit VC.

Remove all the drivers from that center speaker and measure the DC resistances of all the drivers with an ohm meter and post back here.

In the meantime do not use that center speaker.

 

[UltimateGolden]

I appreciate your quick response. I am currently opening the center speaker and measuring the resistances. Do you think any of the other speakers could we damaged as well? They seemed to have performed correctly ARC but i dont know if theres other precautions I could take.

 

[UltimateGolden]

This Is what I got. The resistance on drivers were all the same but the coil on the tweeter seemed damaged

 

[Pogre]

This Is what I got. The resistance on drivers were all the same but the coil on the tweeter seemed damaged

Yup. That tweeter ain't right. There shouldn't be any loose coils like that. My education stops there. One of the guys will let you know if that blew your last amp.

 

[UltimateGolden]

Yup. That tweeter ain't right. There shouldn't be any loose coils like that. My education stops there. One of the guys will let you know if that blew your last amp.

You think I damaged my new Anthem now?

 

[Pogre]

You think I damaged my new Anthem now?

I highly doubt it. I'm not the pro when it comes to amps and blown up speakers. I was just pointing out that the coil looks bad. Didn't mean to scare you, lol.

 

[TLS Guy]

This Is what I got. The resistance on drivers were all the same but the coil on the tweeter seemed damaged

You need a new tweeter for sure, or have it repaired by Paradigm.

The resistance you show, is that the resistance of the woofer VCs or the tweeter? Whatever it is is it is far too low.

The DC resistance of each woofer should be between 6 and 7 ohms. What is the DC resistance of the woofers?

I doubt you have damaged the Anthem yet. However if you have an amp blow over driving it, then you should always carefully check speakers before connecting to another device.

The next problem is that you may have fried the crossover, especially the cap in the tweeter circuit. You need more than an ohm meter to check a crossover. You should seriously consider sending the tweeter and crossover back to Paradigm. I hope they still have replacement tweeters or parts to repair fix that speaker, other wise it is new center time.

The final take home, is never use nice equipment at parties unless it is super robust and basically pro gear. Stories like yours keep coming across these pages.

 

[Joe B]

TLS Guy's advice is on target. Upi, James, Andrew, and I forgot the other individuals name at Anthem/Paradigm support should be able to help you out. I spent a great deal of time with these guys via email and phone to trouble shoot an issue. They are helpful, follow through, and most of all, they're patient. Good luck. I hope they can repair your center channel for you.
PS: the MRX720 is a really nice receiver, congratulations....I've got the little brother (MRX520)