HELP... Did I just blow my speakers???!! (1 Viewer)

[Dan_asdf]

I was just listening to some cds when all of a sudden, my two front stopped putting out sound. The only sound I am getting now is from my sub. I checked all the connections and fixed one speaker wire that was loose, but still no sound from the front two. Is it possible that my Denon reciever that only puts out 85 watts per channel could have blown out my 12" cerwin vegas that can take at least 200 watts? Any ideas will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Evan S]

How loud were you playing it?

Just because the CV's can take 200 watts, doesn't mean that you cannot blow them using the 85 watt Denon..in fact, it probably means they are EASIER to blow by using the underpowered receiver. For instance, playing a low powered receiver at high levels induces clipping in the amp and distorted sound. This distortion is what blows the speakers. If you had a 500 watt amp, you would probably have less of a chance of blowing 200 watt speakers than you would driving them with that Denon, especially if you like loud volume levels...

And YES, it sounds as if you blew the speakers. Are you not getting ANY sound at all, or just from the woofers? Seems that blowing both the tweeters and the woofers would be pretty hard to do, but I've seen it done.

 

[Dan_asdf]

Thanks for the reply. I was playing it pretty loud, but it had been at that volume for almost an hour. Then nothing. I am getting zero sound from either one of my cerwins. All I get is the powered sub I had running with it. I've checked my center and surrounds and they are okay. I've also tried plugging in one of the cerwins to the center channel input on the denon, resulting with nothing, so I'm sure it isn't a reciever problem.
Anyone know if Cerwin vegas will replace them for me?

 

[John Royster]

sounds like a blown crossover.

If you've moved the speaker to a known working good amp output on the denon (like center) then the problem is with the speaker.

Playing at loud volumes like that can actually heat and melt components, crossover, tweeters, what have you. At first I suspected problems with the denon, but your test ruled that out.

 

[Dan_asdf]

Here's an update. I just got off the phone with cerwin vega tech support and that guy seems to think is it a blown fuse, since the speakers are fuse protected. I'm on my way to radio shack to buy a couple fuses. I hope he's right!

 

[JeremyFr]

I was gonna say CV's should be fuse protected check the fuse's.

 

[Michael R Price]

Either it's some little thing like a fuse, or you may have damaged your receiver. Was there any sort of popping or static noise, or did the speakers simply go silent?

 

[Chu Gai]

well at least the neighbors are happey

 

[Donnie Eldridge]

I'm sure it is a blown fuse in the speakers. I had CV's a long time ago and had the exact same thing happen.

 

[RichardHOS]

Almost positive that the culprit was the receiver. The chances of both speakers blowing (either the speakers, or the fuses) due to overload at the exact same time are essentially nill (there is a slight chance that some malfunction in the receiver sent a spike through all channels simulataneously, blowing the fuses or speakers simultaneously, but IMO that's still the fault of the receiver and likely that it is damaged as well).

And since you hooked one up to the center channel output, it's likely something in the receiver that is common to all channels (vs. a single amp channel having blown). As in, part of the power supply might have gone kaput, or a crossover network that all channel signals pass through, or some other piece of processing in the receiver that passes all channels.

Try another receiver and you'll find that your speakers are fine.

 

[David Preston]

I have CV also I can't remember blowing both fuses at the same time either. Its been about 7 years since I have blew the fuses though. Guess I'm just not pushing them hard enough. They normally blow one at a time. I'll be upgrading this weekend. I will miss that security feature. Good luck with your problem.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Hook the surrounds to the mains(set to small) to test those channels.

 

[Dan_asdf]

Hey guys,
Thanks again for all the input. I replaced the fuses and everything is working fine again. No problems with the reciever. I guess I'll just hold off cranking it so loud till I get an amp to help power the Denon. By the way, anyone got any suggestions on an inexpensive 2 channel amp for under $300??

 

[RichardHOS]

Weird.

Maybe there just happened to be a transient on the CD you were listening to that, at those levels, was sufficient to blow both speakers at once. If I were a betting man, I'd have lost $100 on that one.