Developed Distortion In Tweeters

[Mido]

Ok here is the DL. I picked up a pair of Fluance SX6's on Cyber Monday for $109 for the pair. I was originally looking at the Pioneer BS-22's originally, but after watching the multiple reviews that Z Reviews did on the Fluance, I was sold on them.

I've been listening to them for a couple of weeks now with no problem with a Yamaha RX-V367BL powering the pair. On Christmas Eve I was listening to some Hi Res jazz music on Youtube at -14db without issue, but come the next day I had buzzing coming from first one speaker, but then eventually both speakers developed distortion at the extreme high frequency range, such as certain cymbals etc. With that being said, it only starts to distort after on after about 5-10 minutes of listening. Z Reviews was able to push the speakers considerably harder than what I could hope to ever get away with in my home.

My question is, would -14db of volume with a 100 watt per channel amp, (set to drive 8 ohm speakers), create enough of a strain on the tweeters to cause them to start to fail?

 

[lovinthehd]

Might help answer your own question by using this http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html.

I wouldn't base much of anything on z reviews.

 

[PENG]

Ok here is the DL. I picked up a pair of Fluance SX6's on Cyber Monday for $109 for the pair. I was originally looking at the Pioneer BS-22's originally, but after watching the multiple reviews that Z Reviews did on the Fluance, I was sold on them.

I've been listening to them for a couple of weeks now with no problem with a Yamaha RX-V367BL powering the pair. On Christmas Eve I was listening to some Hi Res jazz music on Youtube at -14db without issue, but come the next day I had buzzing coming from first one speaker, but then eventually both speakers developed distortion at the extreme high frequency range, such as certain cymbals etc. With that being said, it only starts to distort after on after about 5-10 minutes of listening. Z Reviews was able to push the speakers considerably harder than what I could hope to ever get away with in my home.

My question is, would -14db of volume with a 100 watt per channel amp, (set to drive 8 ohm speakers), create enough of a strain on the tweeters to cause them to start to fail?

It depends, if playing a BR movie, -14 should be safe. If you were playing a music CD using a CD player, -14 could be too much for the RX-V367 and/or the SX6. Some You-tube contents could also be dangerously loud at -14. So we can't always go by the volume position. Obviously it also depends on your level settings, say if you had it adjusted to the max of +10, then -14 would be like -4.

 

[snakeeyes]

How large is the room?

 

[shadyJ]

Loudspeaker distortion doesn't really come and go after the speakers have been playing for a little bit. Are you sure this is not an electronics distortion? It sounds like an amplifier problem.

 

[lovinthehd]

It depends, if playing a BR movie, -14 should be safe. If you were playing a music CD using a CD player, -14 could be too much for the RX-V367 and/or the SX6. Some You-tube contents could also be dangerously loud at -14. So we can't always go by the volume position. Obviously it also depends on your level settings, say if you had it adjusted to the max of +10, then -14 would be like -4.

You mean a cd player via analog connection particularly?

 

[3db]

Does the distortion occur with all sources?

 

[Mido]

How large is the room?

<300 sq ft

 

[Mido]

Loudspeaker distortion doesn't really come and go after the speakers have been playing for a little bit. Are you sure this is not an electronics distortion? It sounds like an amplifier problem.

I was wondering the same thing, so I'm going to bring the speakers to my brothers place and hook them up to his Denon and see if the problem continues to persist there.

 

[Mido]

Does the distortion occur with all sources?

Yeah, unfortunately it does. My desired source choice at the moment is a SONY blu-ray player that's connected via Coaxial and the ROKU T.V. is optical, but it remains regardless of the source.

 

[Mido]

It depends, if playing a BR movie, -14 should be safe. If you were playing a music CD using a CD player, -14 could be too much for the RX-V367 and/or the SX6. Some You-tube contents could also be dangerously loud at -14. So we can't always go by the volume position. Obviously it also depends on your level settings, say if you had it adjusted to the max of +10, then -14 would be like -4.

The treble level was set to 6+ with the Generic HT package speakers I had up before the Fluance's and I forgot to set it back to 0. I don't think that that should have caused an issue, unless that is considered some type of a gain, but even then the Fluance's didn't even sound slightly the least bit strained.

The Yamaha Receiver is almost 10 years old and was gifted to me. It spent time in a garage system setup for a while before changing over to my hands.

 

[Mido]

Might help answer your own question by using this http://myhometheater.homestead.com/splcalculator.html.

I wouldn't base much of anything on z reviews.

SPL CALCULATOR
Speaker Sensitivity:89	dB SPL (1 W/1 M)
Amplifier Power:100	Watts
Distance:12	feet
No. of Speakers:2	usually 2, more for multi-channel
Speaker Placement (Choose 1):	Away from walls (or do not consider placement)
	Near a wall (within 2 to 4 feet)
*YES	In a corner (within 18 to 24 inches)
RESULTS
20​	dB Gain from amplifier
-11.3​	dB Loss due to dispersion (distance)
3​	dB Gain from sonic reinforcement (multi speakers)
6​	db Gain from placement (reinforcement from reflected sound)
106.7​	dB SPL at listening postion

Fun to play with! However, I do not see how that correlates into potentially over driving a speaker. I figure it was playing at about 80db

 

[lovinthehd]

SPL CALCULATOR
Speaker Sensitivity:89	dB SPL (1 W/1 M)
Amplifier Power:100	Watts
Distance:12	feet
No. of Speakers:2	usually 2, more for multi-channel
Speaker Placement (Choose 1):	Away from walls (or do not consider placement)
	Near a wall (within 2 to 4 feet)
*YES	In a corner (within 18 to 24 inches)
RESULTS
20​	dB Gain from amplifier
-11.3​	dB Loss due to dispersion (distance)
3​	dB Gain from sonic reinforcement (multi speakers)
6​	db Gain from placement (reinforcement from reflected sound)
106.7​	dB SPL at listening postion

Fun to play with! However, I do not see how that correlates into potentially over driving a speaker. I figure it was playing at about 80db

Okay, put in 1 watt instead of 100.

 

[lovinthehd]

The treble level was set to 6+ with the Generic HT package speakers I had up before the Fluance's and I forgot to set it back to 0. I don't think that that should have caused an issue, unless that is considered some type of a gain, but even then the Fluance's didn't even sound slightly the least bit strained.

The Yamaha Receiver is almost 10 years old and was gifted to me. It spent time in a garage system setup for a while before changing over to my hands.

Treble plus 6 dB would be 4x the power....but may not explain anything either. Even if your music input level was a significantly higher level than the calibrated movie reference level (which would approximately be 70dB average, 90dB peaks at -14dB on the relative scale), seems a power overload still isn't all that likely. How about using another source other than youtube? You sure you're not freaking out over new speakers?

 

[3db]

Xoe

Yeah, unfortunately it does. My desired source choice at the moment is a SONY blu-ray player that's connected via Coaxial and the ROKU T.V. is optical, but it remains regardless of the source.

Does it only happen at loud volume levels or does it occur at all volume levels...?

 

[Mido]

Treble plus 6 dB would be 4x the power....but may not explain anything either. Even if your music input level was a significantly higher level than the calibrated movie reference level (which would approximately be 70dB average, 90dB peaks at -14dB on the relative scale), seems a power overload still isn't all that likely. How about using another source other than youtube? You sure you're not freaking out over new speakers?

Freaking out over new speakers? Potentially....I can try using my phone through an analog line instead when I get off work.. The Receiver is analog pass through capable, so I could by pass the DAC and eliminate that as a possibility.

Does it only happen at loud volume levels or does it occur at all volume levels...?

Yeah at all volumes, however it intensifies slightly as the volume increases.

 

[3db]

Do you have another amplifier you can test the speakers with?

 

[PENG]

You mean a cd player via analog connection particularly?

 

[PENG]

Yep. Not as bad as some YouTube stuff. I normally watch cable TV and BR movies at -20. For YouTube via app, I have to turn it down to -35 to -40. -14 would blow my speakers, likely not but it felt like it might..

 

[lovinthehd]

Yep. Not as bad as some YouTube stuff. I normally watch cable TV and BR movies at -20. For YouTube via app, I have to turn it down to -35 to -40. -14 would blow my speakers, likely not but it felt like it might..

My experience varies a bit but some of the highest levels I have are from the apps built into the avr rather than external sources....