I should have never even started last night - Did I damage my system

[Adam Kelly]

I was pretty exhausted after a long week of work and for some reason decided to get into it a little bit last night as I put my system back together after adding a few new pieces. This is where I went wrong:

1. I had the jumpers connected to my speakers (don't usually have them set up like this because I usually bi-amp) and proceeded to connect two sets of speaker wire to each speaker with those jumpers in place. Amp played for a couple of seconds or so and then shut down. I scratched my head, turned it on again, and the same thing happen. I realized at that point what I did and made the correction.

2. I plugged in my interconnects from my receiver to my amp while the amp was on and heard a couple of pops. I actually did this twice.

I have played the speakers since doing those numbskull things but can't tell if any damage was done. I don't have everything set up yet and couldn't really play them like I usually do - plus I have a tv sitting in front of one. They seem to be okay but the right one (the one that was connect when the pop sound occurred) seems to sound a little different on the top end (tweeter) but I can't really tell for sure.

My question - what type of damage could occur from these stupid mistakes and what could I do to discern whether everything is okay. What does a blow tweeter sound like?

 

[Seth=L]

I was pretty exhausted after a long week of work and for some reason decided to get into it a little bit last night as I put my system back together after adding a few new pieces. This is where I went wrong:

I will see if I can follow. *deep breath*

1. I had the jumpers connected to my speakers (don't usually have them set up like this because I usually bi-amp) and proceeded to connect two sets of speaker wire to each speaker with those jumpers in place. Amp played for a couple of seconds or so and then shut down. I scratched my head, turned it on again, and the same thing happen. I realized at that point what I did and made the correction.

It's possible that damage could have occurred here. Do you bi-wire or bi-amp (I know sometimes people get these two confused). What kind of amplifier/amplifiers are you using?

2. I plugged in my interconnects from my receiver to my amp while the amp was on and heard a couple of pops. I actually did this twice.

Pops or clicks? Was this from the receiver, speakers, or the amplifier/amplifiers?

I have played the speakers since doing those numbskull things but can't tell if any damage was done. I don't have everything set up yet and couldn't really play them like I usually do - plus I have a tv sitting in front of one. They seem to be okay but the right one (the one that was connect when the pop sound occurred) seems to sound a little different on the top end (tweeter) but I can't really tell for sure.

How's your hearing? If a tweeter is blown it's blown, it would have absolutely no output at all. It's possible that the crossover was damaged and that could account of a imbalance between the two speakers. It could also be that you're hearing a problem that's not there because you think there may be a problem.

My question - what type of damage could occur from these stupid mistakes and what could I do to discern whether everything is okay. What does a blow tweeter sound like?

Could do damage to main output transistors. Depending on the amplifiers if they continue to run without protection kicking in could also do damage to speaker components. It's difficult to say without knowing more.

 

[Adam Kelly]

I will see if I can follow. *deep breath*



It's possible that damage could have occurred here. Do you bi-wire or bi-amp (I know sometimes people get these two confused). What kind of amplifier/amplifiers are you using?



Pops or clicks? Was this from the receiver, speakers, or the amplifier/amplifiers?



How's your hearing? If a tweeter is blown it's blown, it would have absolutely no output at all. It's possible that the crossover was damaged and that could account of a imbalance between the two speakers. It could also be that you're hearing a problem that's not there because you think there may be a problem.



Could do damage to main output transistors. Depending on the amplifiers if they continue to run without protection kicking in could also do damage to speaker components. It's difficult to say without knowing more.

Okay...

1) I bi-amp and have been from my receiver. Added an Emotiva XPA 7 and had left and right line levels out to two channels in the XPA 7. I then had the speaker outputs for each of those channels going out to the speaker - so I guess essentially I had left and right going to the right speaker with the jumpers in place. I realize this is incorrect aside from the jumper issue - just confused in trying to do some different tests and this happened.

Like I said, music played for only a couple seconds and then the amp shut down. But not sure what would have been damaged here - amp, speakers, both, etc...

2) The pops came from the speakers when I plugged the interconnect into the amp from the receiver while the amp was on.

Okay, so the tweeter is still working so it's not blown. The amp is fine because the channels are working and the blue light is reflected for each channel - which would not be the case if something was wrong with it. BUT, I think the one speaker sounds a little different than the other so perhaps it's a crossover issue - or perhaps it's just in my head...

"It's possible that the crossover was damaged and that could account of a imbalance between the two speakers."

Can you elaborate on this a little so that I understand what I could potentially expect this to sound like?

 

[Seth=L]

@Adam Kelly

I'm not an expert on crossovers, but I had an older set of speakers that had failing capacitors that resulted in a reduction in output from the tweeters that eventually went to no output at all.

I'm a little confused about your description of bi-amping. So you're using the receiver and the Emotiva to power your speakers, or you're using 4 channels of the Emotiva for the speakers?

 

[PENG]

1) I bi-amp and have been from my receiver. Added an Emotiva XPA 7 and had left and right line levels out to two channels in the XPA 7. I then had the speaker outputs for each of those channels going out to the speaker - so I guess essentially I had left and right going to the right speaker with the jumpers in place. I realize this is incorrect aside from the jumper issue - just confused in trying to do some different tests and this happened.

Like I said, music played for only a couple seconds and then the amp shut down. But not sure what would have been damaged here - amp, speakers, both, etc...

If you had the amp's left and right channel connected to the speakers with jumpers on, you could have done some damage to the amp but not the speakers, though unlikely.

2) The pops came from the speakers when I plugged the interconnect into the amp from the receiver while the amp was on.

That could have done damage to the speaker but not too likely.
If you had the amp's 2 channels connected to the speaker with jumpers on, plus you have one of the channel's Polarities (+/-) reversed, then you have a greater chance of damaging the amp because you would have essentially created a near short circuit condition.

 

[Seth=L]

If you had the amp's left and right channel connected to the speakers with jumpers on, you could have done some damage to the amp but not the speakers, though unlikely.



That could have done damage to the speaker but not too likely.
If you had the amp's 2 channels connected to the speaker with jumpers on, plus you have one of the channel's Polarities (+/-) reversed, then you have a greater chance of damaging the amp because you would have essentially created a near short circuit condition.

I wouldn't make or break connections on an amplifier with that much power while it is turned on, I'd be afraid of damaging my speakers. Assuming it's at full gain just a few moments of feedback could cause damage I would think.

 

[PENG]

Seth, if the crossed wire resulted in a near short cct condition the speakers wouldn't be getting any current so there would be virtually no chance of them being damaged. It could cause damage to the amp depending on how the protective cct reacts, some are more effective than others. No consumer audio products are designed to endure short cct. conditons so the likelihood of them being damaged depends only of the effectiveness of their protective system, be it fuses, or electronics.

 

[markw]

1. I had the jumpers connected to my speakers (don't usually have them set up like this because I usually bi-amp) and proceeded to connect two sets of speaker wire to each speaker with those jumpers in place. Amp played for a couple of seconds or so and then shut down. I scratched my head, turned it on again, and the same thing happen. I realized at that point what I did and made the correction.

If I read correctly, you essentially connected the outputs of two power amps together. That would be terminal in many systems.

That it only shut down and now you can't hear any damage, you dodged a big bullet.