Question about possibly blown tweeters

idbsi

idbsi

Enthusiast
Alright, so the tweeters on both my speakers (Athena LS-500b) just stopped working. I was wondering if any one might know if it could be a setting on my receiver (Denon AVR-688) that I may have changed while in a drunken stuper :S that could have done this? I did the hard reset for the receiver which did not help, although I am not sure if that reset actually works. I remember spending 30 minutes just to get my subwoofer to work when I first hooked everything up, but after the hard reset the sub worked without me changing anything on the receiver, which I thought was odd. Really hope I dont need to get new speakers already, any help/advice would be great.......
 
MidnightSensi

MidnightSensi

Audioholic Samurai
Did you have them cranked super loud?
 
idbsi

idbsi

Enthusiast
Well it was up 0db (so kinda) which I have done before, it just seems odd that both have quit....
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Have you been in a lot of drunken stupers lately?:D

The tweeters on those Athena's don't have a high tolerance for power. It's likely a new piece of music you where listening to, or a movie had some high frequency material that the tweeter wasn't electrically/mechanically up to. Tweeters are often the most likely to blow from underpowering as well (they don't respond well to clipping).
 
idbsi

idbsi

Enthusiast
Every now and again, but that was a good night in particular :p

Damn, I guess it might be time for new speakers, know of any that could take a good pounding every now and again. I have to say that when the mood strikes I like it loud :D
 
Seth=L

Seth=L

Audioholic Overlord
Every now and again, but that was a good night in particular :p

Damn, I guess it might be time for new speakers, know of any that could take a good pounding every now and again. I have to say that when the mood strikes I like it loud :D
Cerwin Vega?:D
 
H

highfigh

Seriously, I have no life.
The only setting that's usually used when in a drunken stupor is REALLY FREAKIN' LOUD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Cranking a stereo wide open is like starting your car, putting the ledal to the floor and waiting for parts to fly through the hood. Your tweeters are toast. If the tweeters aren't dead, it could be the capacitors that feed them but even in that case, the voice coils/membrane has been damaged. Learn from this experience.
 
WaynePflughaupt

WaynePflughaupt

Audioholic Samurai
What highfigh said. Have you ever seen the LED level meters on an old cassette deck, the way they jump back and forth? Well, that’s a lot like the signal your speakers normally get from the amplifier. The voltage is constantly changing with the musical peaks and dynamics. Turn your receiver volume control all the way up and it’s like what you’d see if those cassette deck meters are pegged, with all the LED elements full-on. Your speakers are now getting a constant voltage. This is what heats up voice coils etc. and fries them.

Back in the days of rotary volume knobs, the rule of thumb was that you really shouldn’t turn the volume up much past half-way. Not sure how that translates to modern digital volume controls, maybe someone better versed in electronics than I am can comment.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt
 
Last edited by a moderator:
gmichael

gmichael

Audioholic Spartan
The rule of thumb I use is, "if it doesn't sound right, turn it down." Too bad that everything sounds perfect when in a drunken stupor. It just should be a little bit louder. No... LOUDER! Come on man, TURN THAT CHIT UP!

Poof....:(
 
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