tweeter/mid damage

[scarecrow]

I don't know why but one of my speakers when I play them at 40% the tweeter and midrange starts playing loud then soft like distorted on certain sounds and then when I turn it down it's fine but I think it's the megabass button on this old sony reciever and that I played it loud for too long and thought it could handle it and the twt/mid got damaged due to the pressure of the levels being high and the pressure broke something. The other 3 work fine. I was wondering if someone knows why at medium volumes the twtr and mid goes crazy and also I think I've damaged the other ones a bit but also what significance is this wear and tear on the other ones, if I take care of them properly from now on would the damage be a non issue or will these speakers just break down over time because I pushed them a bit over the edge (too loud for too long) enough to damage one. Also they are (4 of them) cerwin vega v12f (12 in woofer, 3-way). I wish I didn't damage it but this damaged one was also the only one that was used in showroom, the others were new. So basically I'm asking what's wrong with the twtr/mid and are the other ones going to be alright. Maybe the crossover? thanks.

 

[shokhead]

Hook them up to something else to see if its the speaker or reciever.

 

[scarecrow]

It's the one speaker, the mid is gone and the tweeter is distorting at mid/high volumes, the others sound fine. I know what happened now. The reciever is too powerful at high volumes (170watts), I've been overstressing them, especially with the bass boost button putting too much pressure on the components, also I've never heard the reciever or the speakers distort, but I realize now that I can do damage without distortion. Now I'll just use bass boost button sparingly also treble sparingly and keep the volume levels a bit lower. The speaker just needs repair, just experience I guess for me. I didn't know I'd been pushing them too hard with that bass button and that's been overstressing them all along. I guess I'll just get it fixed and it's live and learn for me. I try to not worry about what worrying can't fix but I don't suceed much, and until the other speakers actually have a problem I shouldn't waste time worrying about them. thanx.

4 cerwin vega v12f 3-way, 1 cerwin v5c ctr chnl
Sony dolby surround strd-590 (no center)

 

[Tex-amp]

The bass boost is intended for when you are listening at lower volumes. Human hearing doesn't pick up bass as well at lower volume hence the loudness/bass boost button. To learn more search, "Munson-Fletcher curve."

I don't see why using the bass boost would effect the tweeters and mid-range though.

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

I would guess your receiver is underpowered and the distortion is causing you to blow the speakers, not the excess power. When playing music loud, flatten out your highs and bass to protect your speakers.

 

[scarecrow]

I don't know why the mids would go and not anything else and am unsure if the bass boost affects the mids and tweeters It's just the mid on one is gone the others are fine, except the mid on one of the other ones is acting strange maybe it's gone too, everything else is fine. Anyways, I think I just got too brave with them one night and did a couple things I should have known better not to do, believing some people who told me that I'd never be able to blow them. I notice the mid on one has already been replaced once before I got them. It seems the bass boost might affect the mids (maybe teeter also) when playing certain songs. Also different songs produce different sounds and stress speakers differently, I was using rap, techno which can hurt speakers at high levels, I notice now the marks on the woofer were after I powered them a lot w/rap/techno. Also maybe it's better to warm them up a bit first, I don't know. I'm glad I found out where they break and I'm impressed that they work fine except for mids still. I'm going to see how they act now and when I figure out generally what's going on with probably 2 of them I'll fix it. I just don't want to get evicted, so I have to keep my speaker testing to a min. The reciever is old, maybe I need a new one but I am borrowing 2 wharfedale 420 8" 2-ways and they've withstood a few fatal blasts from this reciever without being damaged, gotta watch that volume when switching from ht to stereo. Anyways, I'm going to have to use the radio to figure out whats going on, as radio sounds clearer and better and more powerful. Is it bad to play a speaker with a blown mid, will it hurt speaker or is it alright to play blown speaker. Anyways, maybe time's gonna bring clarity for me here. Thanks, also, if someone knows a lot about cerwin vega (especially the v-series, maybe they could tell me about their limits and stuff). Also what would be a good reciever for them. I was looking at yamaha rxv 450 or 650. Or marantz but I hear yamaha is more reliable, with quality and customer service. Thanks

 

[scarecrow]

Sorry for the long messages. It's that I was using 4 (8ohm) speakers on the front at the same time making a 4ohm load and when pushed a bit the amp and/or the speakers were distorting, now I use only 1 set per output. I thought wrong, think this is a good lesson for me and glad I found this out now, it's funny how the stuff you don't care about can be tossed around and totally treated like junk yet will always work awesome and last longer than forever and the stuff you like seems like it's cursed to break into bits if you even look at it the wrong way. If I use them reasonably they won't have anymore issues. Lesson learned. The bass treble and boost buttons are very usable at almost any level and won't blow these things unless I really tried to blow them, even then I don't doubt that they would, what did damage was putting too many speakers on the front output, I notice I can reach higher levels on the volume with ease with one set than with both it would distort at a lot lower volume. Why didn't I listen when I was told not to play 4 spkrs on front!?! Lesson learnt for me now!