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Help My Nautilus B&W 804's 'pop' at loud volumes.

When listening to loud volumes for long periods of time (around 2 hrs), my left speaker has begun to make a loud 'popping' sound during a stressful point on the speakers (example: Explosions near the end of 'The Dark Knight' Batman movie, or a tight bass hit during play of the new music Blu-ray version of Rush's 'Moving Pictures'. There's no evidence of a tear in the speakers dust caps, cone or their surrounds.

It doesn't seem to happen earlier during my listening experience. This leads me to believe it may be Amp or 'heat related'. But I'm still curious why it only happens to the left side speaker.

The speakers are driven by an Anthem AVM-20 pre/pro and MCA-50 amp. I'm using RSC Prime BiWire speaker cables by Tara Labs.

Thoughts?
bw_elite

Showing 1 response by raquel

raquel
841 posts
 
The 804's are not an appropriate speaker for loud listening - they are like a small bookshelf speaker, with an extra small driver. Based upon what you've written, it sounds like you've damaged a driver or the crossover in one speaker.

If I were you, I would have both speakers checked for damage (the speaker that sounds normal has been experiencing the same stresses), get them fixed if they need repair, and sell them. If you want to do loud volumes, you should buy a pair of used WattPuppys or powered speakers like ATC (horns are also excellent for high volume, but they require a fair amount of knowledge to use properly).
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