The Two Channel Advice Thread

My father-in-law has these older set of speakers and had a mishap. On one, the bottom "woofer" was punctured and needs to be replaced. I'm not familiar with this type of "woofer" as he said it's not an actual true woofer or driver but just looks like one -- it does not have a magnet. He said this type of design at the time was to add more bass by using the resonance from the true drivers to move this false driver.

The speaker seems to be made by Philips and I think in the 80s (though I could be wrong). Unfortunately the model number sticker is long gone and only the brand is left on a grill.

IMG_20171105_150549 by msommers00, on Flickr

IMG_20171105_150618 by msommers00, on Flickr

 

Passive radiator? It's still in vogue. Taking a look at google now.

 

@Grahad2 is exactly right. It is a passive radiator and still a common speaker design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_radiator_(speaker)

You may be able to find a replacement of the same size that fits
https://www.parts-express.com/cat/passive-radiators/26
http://www.ebay.com/bhp/passive-radiator
However, post a closeup photo of the puncture. A lightweight, air tight patch may be sufficient.

 

Philips is a dutch brand, if you have a partnr i can help look for it locally.

 

Thanks gents! I'll be over during the holidays and will remove the good one to see. I believe he threw out the damaged part...

 

If it is the foam surround (not the actual cone) that is damaged, there are DIY repair kits available. Foam surrounds age and disintegrate over time. For a speaker from the 80's, the active drivers may need new surrounds as well. There are repair services available if you don't want to do it yourself.

http://www.speakerworks.com/speaker_repair_kits_s/65.htm

 

Anywhere in the EU that does nice speaker cables?

I just need some basic occ cables with spade lugs in a dark colour for a casual listening system, but all the premade ones I found are too long at 2m+ each.

This is for an actual bookshelf, so the less extra cable I have to hide the better.

 

Need some suggestions...

I have a pair of Monitor Audio speakers, and I would like to drive them with an integrated amp. I am looking at the Music Hall 15.3, the Yamaha A-S501, and possibly the Marantz PM6006, although that's getting up there in price.

This system is in my study so I don't need tons of power. I'm more concerned about quality sound and reliability. Any thoughts/suggestions on what would pair nicely? Auditioning is difficult due to geography.

 

i have monitors and i went with a rogue sphinx. if you don't need that much power the nad c326bee was great on these. i was able to audition both.

 

Thank you!

Yes, the NAD is great, but it is a bit too bass-heavy to my taste (auditioned it driving Harbeth monitors).

Just have had a chance to briefly listen to the Yamaha A-S501 side-by-side with the Cambridge Audio CXA60, and it left me wondering if I should go with Cambridge Audio CXA60: fluid, velvety sound, it just has more meat…

Anybody could please comment on Music Hall a15.3?

 

I've been having a problem with a crackling sound coming from one speaker. After some troubleshooting, it seemed like it was my amp, so I took it to a tech. One of the driver tubes was bad, and because they were all relatively old, he replaced them all and ran the unit in for a while with no issues. When I got home, I had the problem recur.

I tried switching the L and R input from the preamp, and the crackle comes from the same speaker. I ran the the speakers with another receiver and another tube amp with no crackle. I tried another preamp with my amp and had the same issue.

Assuming it had to be the amp, I took it back to the tech who ran it for many hours with no issue.

I honestly am at a loss. The only thing I can't swap is the speaker cable, because it has spade connectors that won't work with the other receiver/amp.

Any ideas are greatly appreciated.

 

Are you using JRiver Media Centre by any chance?

Make sure you turn all DSP off. Uncheck all the boxes when you go through options. The mixer can output such crackles. Happened to me just yesterday!

If you are using another program, turn off any digital DSP and see if it disappears.

 

^^^ Have you tried all combinations of left-right swap to see if it moves to the other side? For example, swap the speaker cables where they connect to the amp, or swap the speakers themselves.

 

"I tried switching the L and R input from the preamp, and the crackle comes from the same speaker" would rule out the problem coming from the source, no?

First thing to do is swap chans progressively to see if you can get it "move", as Metro suggests, or maybe swap out each part of the chain progressively, one at a time.

 

Worth checking out anyway as I was surprised DSP processing can crackle the sound in such horrid way.

 

No, you do know. Logically, if you swap channels after the source and the crackle doesn't swap, it's not part of the signal in the chain feeding into the part that you swapped.

It could also be something totally dull like a bad joint on a socket (mechanical wear and tear) or something like that. Progressive diagnostics will make it clear how far along the problem is, even if it doesn't actually identifty the actual cause.

 

haha you missed my edit as I realised my mistake.

Still worth checking IMO

 

Nice ninja edit *crisp salute*

 

Been looking for some changes to my nearfield setup. I need to do a long cable run(8m at least) from Yggdrasil to my preamp, currently i am using saga but obviously rca cables can only be so long.
So i was thinking sell saga and get freya for simplicity sake and also some added tube goodness or keep saga and buy some transformers for some added smoothness of a different flavor.

Price wise it would end up being close but 4 tubes is a bit more pricey in the long run but those tubes last several years most likely. So not a big concern.

What would you guys do? Given the use of transformers i think transparency should be about the same and i like the added flexibility of freya.

 

@Riotvan - the Jensen transformers are pretty damn clean, if you do decide you'd rather keep the Saga, if that helps.

(Actually, I do have one sitting on a shelf, maybe I should try to flog it to you, if you end up going that way.)