is my speaker dead/dying??

[millez01]

a few months ago my friend traded me a pair of loudspeakers that he got from the back of a white van (long story) for my monitor. i'm not particularly well-versed in speaker lore, but they sounded great to my ears. but just a few months later and two moves, the left speaker started to act up.

the right speaker sounds fantastic still, but the left is completely devoid of treble and bass, leaving me a dull mid-range sound. it drives me crazy. it didn't suffer any bumps at all since they've been out of the box, and i've ruled out the receiver as the problem since switching L and R speakers still proved the left speaker as the culprit.

what could have happened?? and how might i address this problem?

i have a pair of Dahlton loudspeakers.. and i must admit i'm hard-pressed to find someone that's even heard of this brand. forget about the warranty since there was never a receipt in the first place..

any help would be appreciated.. thanks!!

 

[markw]

Are ya handy with a screwdriver and an ohmmeter?

It almost sounds like the mids and tweets stopped working. If ya can get the back of, or in some way gain access to the wiring inside, you could see if the crossover is intact. From there, if needed, you could check to see if the speakers have continuity (aren't blown).

Short of that, not much else I can suggest. Let us know what you find.

 

[milez01]

actually my friend came over earlier and suggested that something might be wrong with the crossover (whatever that is...). when he unscrewed the back panel he was unable to pull the panel off because the wires weren't giving.. he said he was scared to pull the wires. it's as if the manufacturer didn't want us to get in there!

so the only way in is through the front, unscrewable only by an allen wrench which i don't have at the moment. can we access the crossover from there once i have the wrench?

in what ways can a speaker be blown? these are 500 watts speakers being powered by a 200 watt amp, so i doubt it's due to blasting them too much which i don't do anyway.

 

[zipper]

They could've gotten wet or played in damp conditions.Or maybe they are not the original drivers. Or(gulp) maybe they're junk. No offense.

 

[Rob Babcock]

Ah, it's nice to see the White Van Speaker Scam will never die! Here's the perp, I believe.

The owner & chief speaker designer for GR Research got hit up by the white van, too. Pretty humorous given that Danny helped design the $15,000 speakers of the Epiphany Audio line!

To your question- it's hard to say. Could be as simple as a loose wire or as bad as a blown driver. I'm afraid I'd have to agree you won't have much recourse. The Dahlton speakers are reportedly pretty shoddily made, and many of them don't even appear to have x-overs!

Chalk it up to experience, that's my advice. If the enclosure is reasonable well made you might consider using them to DIY some new speakers. Replace the drivers and you might not have a work of audiophool art, but you'll likely be better off than you were.

 

[annunaki]

Try swapping the left and right speakers at the receiver. try to eliminate all other variables.

 

[rocketman]

Besides the obvious caveat about buying speakers or any equipment out of a van, troubleshoot by first making sure, as just suggested, that there isn't something else wrong in your system. Swap the speakers as suggested.

If you've eliminated all other possibilities, it looks like your speaker's recommended power input rating may have been grossly exaggerated and they can't handle much power at all. No surprise there if you buy out of a van.

 

[milez01]

all good things..

haha i was hoping to elicit a few responses to my speakers' origin but in my brief defense, my friend bought them from The Van and when i hooked the speakers up miles davis sounded more alive than ever before.. then i traded my 3 yr old 19" monitor for them which coudln't have been worth more than $100 at this point.

now he sounds dead in my left ear

anyway, i have already played combinations with my receiver and have concluded without a doubt that the culprit is the left speaker. consistent with many of ur opinions, i believe i prolly got a junk speaker. i'm still waiting for my friend to open it up and see if the crossover is messed up, but what's the next step? i def don't have money to invest in new speakers right now so.. do i take it to a shop or something? i don't have the first clue what to do with bad speakers.

but just to have it floating in my head, what affordable-but-sweet speakers can you guys recommend? wisdom tells me i should anticipate my other speaker's demise.

and now i have to go to my college's surplus to buy a $25 **** monitor which is better than this half-dead 15" i had to 'borrow' from work. Dahlton is causing me a lot of pain.