Another Newbie tech problem

[mtschust]

Okay, I am noticing a noticable sound of distortion in my right speaker when the volume is being turned up, or when the music is being played at moderate levels. It sounds like the sound is brought on by high points of music, or voice, especially when people are talking. I have had my receiver checked and the diagnosis was "sounds like an Onkyo." The technician said he couldnt notice anything wrong with it. There is also some sort of interference or something when the volume is turned off. If you listen closely to the speaker you can hear it in the background. Is this normal?

The sound also is very noticable while the volume levels are being changed. These are brand new Athena AS-B1 speakers being powered by an Onkyo tx-8511. Id like to know if anyone has any suggestions for me. Thanks for reading all of my novice posts. Thank you

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

It could be a ground problem. Do you have a ceiling fan or a reostat (dimmer switch) that could be hooked into the same circuit? If so, turn everything off except for the receiver. If your receiver has a set of "B" speakers, try hooking the speaker wires to them and see if the same distortion appears. Also swap the speaker wires from left to right to see if the distortion follows the speaker or receiver.

Have you had this problem starting with your new Athena's? It could be that the Athena's are more revealing than your last set of speakers. Possibly time to upgrade?

 

[mtschust]

Speaker troubles

HI, and thanks for your reply.

These speakers were an upgrade from speakers that came with a phillips mini system years ago. I tried hooking them up to the receiver and noticed no background noice at all. I do recall a little distortion when watching movies at high volumes but i figured that was just cheap speakers shining through. I am using monster cable that is also new so I dont think it could be the problem but I am no expert. The receiver I have only owned for about six months. It is factory refurbished however. I will try your suggestions, I do have a B speaker selection avaliable and I do run a ceiling fan often. I dont think I can upgrade quite yet, but Hopefullly your suggestions will work. If it is a ground problem, what should I do??

 

[MacManNM]

HI, and thanks for your reply.

These speakers were an upgrade from speakers that came with a phillips mini system years ago. I tried hooking them up to the receiver and noticed no background noice at all. I do recall a little distortion when watching movies at high volumes but i figured that was just cheap speakers shining through. I am using monster cable that is also new so I dont think it could be the problem but I am no expert. The receiver I have only owned for about six months. It is factory refurbished however. I will try your suggestions, I do have a B speaker selection avaliable and I do run a ceiling fan often. I dont think I can upgrade quite yet, but Hopefullly your suggestions will work. If it is a ground problem, what should I do??

The Tech that looked at your amp is incompetent. It sounds to me like you have maybe something wrong in the last output stage of the amplifier section. I’d say maybe a bad coupling capacitor or bias resistor. Switching to the B speaker outputs will get you nothing. If all you want is a decent 2 ch receiver, I’d suggest getting something like an older Marantz or Pioneer off of ebay. You can get something decent for under $100 with shipping. The Performance will far surpass any 2 ch units you can by new for twice that price. It is not cost effective to fix your unit.

 

[mtschust]

new/old receiver

Thats fine but I need something that will play cd's, has cd input connections. Also the receiver is under warranty. Would you reccomend I pay the shipping charges so I can be confident the receiver needs repairs?Help?

Just a note, when I listened to the receiver and speakers with the technician I did not notice the distortion, only a slight sound of interference.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Thats fine but I need something that will play cd's, has cd input connections. Also the receiver is under warranty. Would you reccomend I pay the shipping charges so I can be confident the receiver needs repairs?Help?

Just a note, when I listened to the receiver and speakers with the technician I did not notice the distortion, only a slight sound of interference.

The Aux. on older units accept the reb/blue rca's on a cd player.

If it's under warranty, and you've eliminated the other possibilities in my above post, send it in. Are there no local authorized repair shops? Call Onkyo for a list. They are required to have them in most larger cities. Shipping on that unit with insurance should be about $15 with FedEx. I just shipped a 20lb component. $15 and peace of mind.

 

[mtschust]

Service location

I looked up service centers on Onkyo's web site. Closest one is in Utah. Anyways Today when I come home from work(tonight actually) I'll try your suggestions and let you know how it went. thanks again

 

[mtschust]

Tried

I tried all of the above suggestions just for the hell of it, as I expected it didn't change anything. I guess I'll be shipping my receiver for a repair. Thanks again.

 

[mtschust]

Ground problem

What exactly is a ground, or ground problem?

 

[mulester7]

What exactly is a ground, or ground problem?

.....Mtschust, you said initially your problem was with one channel....we're probably spinning wheels, but try this....with one strand of "unbroken" encased speaker-wire, about 16 ga is plenty, run a ground wire from the receiver's "ground post" out the window, peel and fray the last six inches or so, and bury the end in the ground, and fill the hole with water first....especially try this because you said you didn't hear the distortion with your receiver at the technician's place....

 

[mtschust]

.....Mtschust, you said initially your problem was with one channel....we're probably spinning wheels, but try this....with one strand of "unbroken" encased speaker-wire, about 16 ga is plenty, run a ground wire from the receiver's "ground post" out the window, peel and fray the last six inches or so, and bury the end in the ground, and fill the hole with water first....especially try this because you said you didn't hear the distortion with your receiver at the technician's place....

What exactly would this accomplish?

 

[mulester7]

What exactly would this accomplish?

.....so your receiver is not grounded at all past trusting the third prong to accomplish grounding?.....with the whole wiring-circuit of your house acting as an antennae for radio waves and distortion?....it may not accomplish a thing, Mtschust, but 30 foot of the cheapest and smallest speaker-wire to come up with, should be a quality alternative to mailing the receiver back, and a tech said what you had, was normal for your brand but he didn't hear the distortion you have heard, before and after, whew.....just a suggestion....hey, it's a refurb, do what you gotta'......

.....edit....Mtschust, you've gone and I'm a night-owl, so I'll say this....if you hear the distortion out of either speaker during the day and don't at night, for sure ground your stuff out the winder....(Arkinsaw)......

.....later edit....even whut sound whut comes out of cubes, needs to be grounded out the winder....(now don't all ya'll steal that for your signatures)....(couple wouldn't hurt)......

 

[jcPanny]

KISS Troubleshooting

Before you start burring wires in the ground, try both of these simple troubleshooting steps.

1. Verify that the phase of the problem speaker is correct (red terminal on receiver to red terminal on speaker and black to black). An out of phase speaker can sound distorted and lacking in base.

2. Swap the speakers (and possibly the cables) on the left and right channels. If the distortion problem has changed channels (with the speaker) then it is a problem with your new speaker. If the distortion problem occurs in the same receiver channel, then it is a problem with the receiver.

 

[mulester7]

Before you start burying wires in the ground

.....just the end of one, just the end of one, haha.....