Screws were plenty tight and the foam pads were fine too. It's definitely STATIC in the speaker itself.
I just finished swapping the static speaker with the one with the small dent (which sounds fine). The static moved with the speaker, which rules out the wiring inside the cabinet. Seems like it's just a bad driver.
Fortunately, I already have one replacement in transit (for the dented cone) and I will use that to replace the driver that is distorting, and I'm going to ask Axiom for a second one to replace the OK-sounding but still dented cone.
Thanks for the tip that they are open today Cam, I didn't check the hours/days and assumed they'd be closed Sunday.
