Help diagnosing intermittent speaker cutout

[JaphyRyder]

I apologize as I’m sure a version of this question has been asked previously. I’m running JBL Jubels through a pioneer sx650 I also have a harman kardon 430. It doesn’t matter which system I have hooked up, I always have intermittent issues with one channel (left). It works fine sometimes but eventually starts to cut out and crackle and then eventually cuts out completely. I’ve got good wire that I just strung and I’ve swapped the speakers left to right on the receiver. What am I doing wrong/missing? My wife is threatening to abandon our analog system if I can’t figure it out so the stakes are high. Thanks in advance.

 

[RTally]

If you swapped the speaker wires at the receiver and the intermittent cutout stayed with the same speaker, try swapping the speakers. That is, swap the speaker wires at the speaker. This will determine if it is a problem with the speaker wire or the speaker.

If the cutout remains with the speaker, identify which driver. Is it the woofer, mid, or the tweeter? Once you isolate the driver, visually inspect the driver, the crossover, and the wiring to the driver. If no apparent visual cause. I would swap the suspect driver between speakers to see if the cutout follows the driver or stays with the crossover.

Doing the above will help to isolate the source of the cutout.

 

[JaphyRyder]

If you swapped the speaker wires at the receiver and the intermittent cutout stayed with the same speaker, try swapping the speakers. That is, swap the speaker wires at the speaker. This will determine if it is a problem with the speaker wire or the speaker.

If the cutout remains with the speaker, identify which driver. Is it the woofer, mid, or the tweeter? Once you isolate the driver, visually inspect the driver, the crossover, and the wiring to the driver. If no apparent visual cause. I would swap the suspect driver between speakers to see if the cutout follows the driver or stays with the crossover.

Doing the above will help to isolate the source of the cutout.

Thanks RTally and in my haste to post I left out two key pieces of info; swapping the wires at the back of the receiver (for at least the Pioneer) the issue does follow the speaker. I’ll do the same for the HK receiver to see if I get the same result. I’m not sure how the same issue could replicate on two different receivers. Faulty wiring or some sort of electrical “interference”? I guess it is possible that the left channel is messed up on both receivers.

 

[RTally]

If you swapped the wires at the receiver and the problem stayed with the same speaker, then the problem is downstream (speaker and connecting wiring) of where you swapped the wires. If the problem stays on the same channel (that is, the problem moves to the other speaker after swapping channels), then the problem is upstream (the receiver or source) of where the swap occurred.

You can try the other receiver, but you eliminated the receiver when the swapped channels and the problem stayed with the same speaker.

 

[JaphyRyder]

Sorry, I wasn’t clear at all-switching the wires at the receiver SWITCHES the problem to the other speaker. Hence my confusing statement about how this same problem could occur on two receivers. Apologies, I don’t know why I’m so dense in explaining this.

 

[Lou G]

From what you stated it seems your problem is with your cables or connectors. Perhaps you have a poor connection between the cables and one of your connectors. I would check all the connections between the cables and connectors.

 

[RTally]

Sorry, I wasn’t clear at all-switching the wires at the receiver SWITCHES the problem to the other speaker. Hence my confusing statement about how this same problem could occur on two receivers. Apologies, I don’t know why I’m so dense in explaining this.

No problem. That is why I am asking questions.

To paraphrase, you switched the speaker connections at the receiver and the problem stayed with the same channel, which was on the other speaker because you switched the wiring. The same thing happened when you used a different receiver. This tells me that the problem is upstream of where you switched the speaker wiring.

Since you swapped receivers, where is your input coming from? If you have the same problem using two different receivers, is there a common piece of equipment that provides a signal to the receivers, such as a turntable, DAC, or streamer?

 

[Lou G]

I missed where he said he switched the cables. So I guess the problem is upstream as RTally stated.

 

[twiiii]

Sounds like a crossover issue to me. Bad connection or solder joint. Thats where I would start.

 

[JaphyRyder]

No problem. That is why I am asking questions.

To paraphrase, you switched the speaker connections at the receiver and the problem stayed with the same channel, which was on the other speaker because you switched the wiring. The same thing happened when you used a different receiver. This tells me that the problem is upstream of where you switched the speaker wiring.

Since you swapped receivers, where is your input coming from? If you have the same problem using two different receivers, is there a common piece of equipment that provides a signal to the receivers, such as a turntable, DAC, or streamer?

Thanks to both of you and yes your description is accurate. I had the same thought. Our main input is an audio engine b1 that we use to stream music through Bluetooth. I’ll check the connections in the morning and maybe buy some better connectors. I’ll also check the turntable to see if it happens there as well. Appreciate the help here folks.

 

[JaphyRyder]

No problem. That is why I am asking questions.

To paraphrase, you switched the speaker connections at the receiver and the problem stayed with the same channel, which was on the other speaker because you switched the wiring. The same thing happened when you used a different receiver. This tells me that the problem is upstream of where you switched the speaker wiring.

Since you swapped receivers, where is your input coming from? If you have the same problem using two different receivers, is there a common piece of equipment that provides a signal to the receivers, such as a turntable, DAC, or streamer?[/QUOTE

 

[RTally]

Thanks to both of you and yes your description is accurate. I had the same thought. Our main input is an audio engine b1 that we use to stream music through Bluetooth. I’ll check the connections in the morning and maybe buy some better connectors. I’ll also check the turntable to see if it happens there as well. Appreciate the help here folks.

A quick test is to swap channels on the input cable at the Audio Engine B1. If the problem stays with the channel then replace the cable. If the problem switches channel (that is, you hear the crackle on the other speaker), then it is the device that has a problem. If the problem stops after switching the channels, then you likely had a dirty connection.

 

[JaphyRyder]

New wrinkle. I had time to hook both receivers up again and test them both. Switched wires at back of each unit. Both speakers work on the right channel only. Also tested this on both phono and aux and problem persisted. Brought my old marantz 27 up from the shed and problem is gone for now; both speakers working on both aux and phono. I don’t love the sound, but it’s better than what we had. It’s still odd that two receivers had same exact failure. I’ll update if something changes. Thanks again.