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help with speaker problem

I have a problem...i notice it only on piano music, it sounds like the tweater of both my speakers is distorting, simmilar in sound to when a speaker clips, only not nearly as loud, but audible from my listening location...it also seems to be frequency dependent..ie. only occures, or occures to a much great level within a certain frequency range judging by the piece of music i was listening to when i really noticed it around the C above middle C on a piano give or take a bit.

when i first noticed the problem in my left speaker returned the speaker and they replaced the tweeter with a new one, but the problem persists and is noticable in both speakers...

my system is

totem arros
nad c350
kimber 8pr cable
eichmann express 4 interconnect
dennon dcd 3520 cd player

any idea what it could be...I wouldn't think three tweeters could all exhibit the same problem unless its a design flaw with that model of speaker (unlikely)... i thought mabey the piano notes happened to fall right around the crossover point of the speakers and that somehow caused the distortion...
im biwiring with kimber 8pr, could low frequency sound somehow leak into the tweater...
you guys are really smart...help me out!!, i dont want to just get the tweater replaced again cause i dont think it'll fix the problem, and i dont think that totem makes such poor quality part that three tweaters would all exhibit the same problem, and i doubt id be able to get my money back from where i bought them, as they're about 8 months old
it definately the tweeters though, ive tried everything, including hooking them up to an entirely different system, so i know its nothing in my system causeing it
mbacinello

Showing 3 responses by gunbei

gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Could it be an odd room node? Maybe something in your listening room got moved and is amplifying this frequency. I sometimes experience this same phenomena on certain recordings and it seems more apparant with different gear in my system.
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
When you say the distortion is emanating from the speaker are you listening with your ear up to the tweeter or are you detecting this from your normal listening position? How loud is it? Did Totem test the speakers for the distortion you're experiencing? What did they say?

It's possible it could be a problem with loose plinth spikes or binding posts. It seems unlikely, but double check both these.

The other system you tried the Arros in, was it at a different location or was it in the room you normally listen in? Would you say it has a similar tonal balance to yours or is it dramatically different in sound?
gunbei
2,327 posts
 
Yes, very strange indeed. Did you try listening to your speakers while they were at your dealer when he did the tweeter swap? A good test would be to compare them to a set of Arros he has there. Maybe you could bring them home a demo pair and compare them to yours in your system. Obviously it's something further than the tweeter, unless he replaced it with another defective tweeter. But it seems like it could be crossover or internal wiring related. Maybe something is loose. It could even be the midrange if the crossover slopes are gradual enough.
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