Help me trouble shoot tweeter problems and buy cose effective speaker cable! (1 Viewer)

[james e m]

My last two sets of speakers (Paradigm Monitors and Paradigm Studios) have produced a crackling noise from the tweeter when played at a specific frequency. Prior to buying the Paradigm Studios I upgraded my surge protection to a Brickwall surge protector and my receiver to a Sony 5ES to try to avoid this problem again. But the problem once again occurred. So I was thinking that maybe it could be the speaker cable? Am I crazy? So I was looking to upgrade my speaker cable.

I am currently using Monster XP speaker cable throughout my system right now and that’s what I have been using for a long time. I only have a very, very finite budget to upgrade my cable.
Right now I have
2 Paradigm Studio 100s
4 Studio 20s
1 Studio CC
And a Sony 5ES which will soon be used in conjunction with the Outlaw 770.

These are the cost effective speaker cables I am looking at:

TRIBUTARIES SP2 Loudspeaker Wire
Home Theater Custom Cables Reference 300 and maybe reference 2000
IXOS 6006 11GA GAMMA SPEAKER WIRE

Will any of these be a significant upgrade from what I already have? Am I crazy to think the speaker cable could damage my tweeters? Also could anyone tell me what awg is 3mm?

Thanks!
James

 

[PaulT]

10 AWG has a diameter of 3mm. Not knowing you, I can't judge whether or not you are crazy , but I doubt very much your speaker wire is causing the problem.

Can you borrow another receiver/amp to check if it might be the Sony??

 

[Chu Gai]

Lord no. If your purchasing the Brickwall and Sony was directly related to this crackling noise, then it certainly seems as if you've been cavalier with your finances. What's done is done though.

Rather than purchasing new wire, I'd ensure that my connections were solid to begin with. Recut and reterminate the ends if you have to.

Can you describe this sound that you're hearing? What kind of program source, sound levels, what kind of speakers in what size room? Things like that.

 

[james e m]

I really don't play the speakers that loud at all. I live in an apartment so the volume doesn't reach anywhere near reference level.

Right now I only have a 5.0 set up and I am not even using the Studio 100s because I am afraid of under powering them. My Sony 5ES is only powering 4 Studio 20s and a Studio CC. The noise only seems to happen randomly. When this first happened with my Paradigm Mini Monitors, I took it in and we were able to pinpoint the noise to a specific frequency using a test cd. I can’t think of anything else that would be causing this. Two different speakers with the same problem, what’s the odds?

I know I can take them back to the dealer and have them replaced which is what I plan on doing.

Do you think a loose connection somewhere along the line could of damaged my speaker?

 

[Chu Gai]

Well if know the frequency that was on that test CD, and you've got access to a CD burner, you can download a sine wave with that frequency. That might allow you to do some detective work at home where you're listening.

Apart from that I'm going to assume you've set up your system correctly. I'd look to see if I can reproduce that problem just running stereo. Then I'd turn to eliminating the rear speakers and see if it's still happening. Finally, I'd see about running it without the center channel.

I know that receiver puts out a little over 100 watts, but I've no idea if that's still the case when you're driving all channels.

It certainly is possible that you might've fried a tweeter due to a situation where you drove one or more speakers into clipping but before you start lugging speakers around, a little more detective work on your part is warranted.

 

[james e m]

Does anybody think that going with a different speaker cable would be an up grade from the Monster XP cable?
James

 

[Chu Gai]

define upgrade.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Quality between cables can be nominal. However increased size can demonstrate a wide range of sound differences. Going from 18awg to 10awg will definetly improve or "upgrade" the sound you hear from your speakers. However 12awg to 10awg may not be all together discernable. Differences between manufactures in some cases can prove both ways. Reading the questions and responses here, it appears that the first problem, crackling is a receiver problem and a wire problem. The second issue, well if you feel the need to upgrade your wires by all means do so. But when it comes to speaker wires, if you looking for flat wire in white for example to match your walls or regular looking speaker wire, these are available at you local home centers. I am using 12awg and 14awg wire from Home Depot. I have it running through the drop ceiling so, flat wire wasn't necessary. The 12 awg I am using for my diy subs connected to the big amp, and the 14awg is for all 6 speakers.