This might be an easy question for someone. This involves a Sony STRDE835 and a pair of KLH front floor speakers (tweeter, midrange, 12 in. woofer). (Yes, I know that the equipment is nothing remarkable).
In short, I muted the receiver and left the room for a moment. My wife came into the room, turned the receiver all the way up and then "unmuted" the receiver. Needless to say, there was a loud sound and then sudden silence when the protect feature on the receiver kicked in and shut the receiver off.
After that incident, the receiver would turn back on and "work." However, whenever we played a DVD that had some loud sounds in it (like gunshots or explosions) the protect feature on the receiver would again turn the receiver off when the sound reached a certain volume (which was not really that loud). Needless to say, an annoying development for a home theatre system.
Thinking the receiver was damaged, I bought a new receiver (not that really matters to the question, but upgrading to an Onkyo TXSR703). After I hooked up the new receiver, when we put a DVD in and it got to a place where there was a loud shot or explosion, the Onkyo shut itself off as well. After various checks, I figured out that the Sony may not be the problem. (I say "may" because I am not sure at this point whether the Sony is damaged, just that the speakers are definitely damaged.)
I figured out that the front speakers are causing the problem for the new stereo. They are somehow shutting the receiver off (which I assume is another protect feature that saved me from frying my new Onkyo).
Here is the question. What exactly in the speakers is/are blown? Is it the woofers? (Seems likely.) Is it the tweeter or midrange? (Seems unlikely.) Or, is the the speaker wire terminal, which has a couple of coils (copper wires rapped around a cylindrical rod) and some kind of a black round circuit (for lack of a better word). (Seems very possible.) Or is it some combination of these parts?
I'm interested in knowing because I might want to repair the speakers if it's not the woofers.
Boy, I hope that this isn't that difficult of a question. I surfed this board several hours on Sunday and got alot of helpful info for my new speakers. (I've purchased a pair of Athena F2.2s to replace the blown speakers.) Thanks to all of you who posted your opinions of these Athenas and other like speakers. (It looked like the Athena's would match really well with the Onkyo. Especially since I've got a subwoofer to augment them.)
I also got the impression that quite a few of y'all were quite knowledgeable about speakers and their make-up. I would appreciate any educated guesses or suggestions as to how to ascertain the problem with the KLH's. Anybody have an idea?
Try putting your ear up to each cone/tweeter on both speakers and see if any are not delivering any sound. Also, when off, carefully push (with fingers spread) the woofer cones in and release to feel if there is any rubbing - if there is there would be a problem. Also smell them for burnt odours. If the speakers seem okay, turn the receiver off , unplug it from the main power and turn on again after a half hour or so to reset. If problem persists call your dealer. BTW, I don't know the speakers, but if they are of low impedence the Onkyo may not be able to handle them.
It would be pretty difficult to diagnose what exactly needs to be done to repair them in a web forum. Take advantage of this opportunity, and buy some new speakers
Thanks for the suggestions. Actually the speakers were working "good" until they reached a certain point. At a certain volume the Sony would automatically cut-off. But, you gave me an idea. I took the speakers apart and hooked each part up separately to try and isolate the problem. Bingo. One of the speaker's wire terminals was blown. It was causing the speaker to pull too much power?/feedback?/whatever and blowing the Protect on the Sony. Should be easy to fix if I can find the part. Thanks for the suggestions that got me started in the right direction!
Rush:
Actually, I already did. I bought a pair of Athena F2.2s to replace the KLHs. I should be getting them in a couple of days. I hope they sound as good as everyone says!
Thank goodness the Sony's not blown. I can replace an old Kenwood in my family room with the Sony. Even though it's a Sony, it's still an upgrade over the Kenwood.
Neal, It is possible that because that piece was bad you had a short which could cause the resistance to get wacky and the amp to go from say, a 8 Ohm load to a 2 or 1 Ohm load which would send it into protect.
Thanks to all of you for your comments, as well to all the other posters who commented on speakers. I am very happy with the the f2.2s. They sound great for my purposes.
The comments and info I got on this site was invaluable. Kudos to all to you.
