Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Speaker crackle??? Panic has set in...

Long time no post.

My Axioms have been running fine for over a year now, until this weekend. I was watching Underworld DVD which has a very loud and dynamic 5.1 track, and during some of the shooting scenes I distinctly heard some crackling noise from tweeters on both the left main and center channel (mostly the center).

This is the first time I remember something like this happening. Now I am freaking out. I am hoping someone here can advise me if I have a speaker problem, receiver problem or just a problem in my head. Here are the details:

System -
Receiver: Onkyo 797 (with warranty replaced board for clicking sound)
DVD Player: Toshiba SD4800
Mains: Axiom M22ti
Center: Axiom VP100
Surround: Mission 77DS

I've tried other "sound intensive" movies and cannot recreate the problem. I've also tried to replicate the issue by playing music CDs and I think I hear something, but could all be in my head at this point. Volume levels have always been reasonable (well below reference levels) as I live in an apartment.

Thanks for any advice.

Get an Allen wrench that fits the nuts on the tweeter, then gently tighten them until that horrible noise stops.

I had a similar problem while watching a movie chronocling the history of The Who on IFC. I thought I had fried the speakers, they were distorting horribly. They have never done that again, thankfully. I've yet to try the allen wrench solution.

If you are hearing this sound on more than one speaker, then I would bet that the problem is your source or your amplification. Try the same passage again. If you hear the same thing then swap the left and right fronts and try again. If you hear the distortion from the same directions, then your source is suspect. If you hear distortion coming from the same apeakers, then they are at fault and you should contact Axiom.
Good luck.

Ahh yes, the extremely hot Underworld DD track. A bunch of people have thought this same thing when watching this movie on other systems too, but it is an extremely hot track. On my QS8 surrounds I did notice a slight "buzzing" (kinda sounds like two pieces of metal rubbing together) that seems to be typical of Axioms when the driver screws just aren't tight enough, but a simple tightening with an allen wrench like suggested above will remedy this problem. I would most definitely do this before starting to move stuff around. As for the "crackling" that is something that DD is notorious for, and with the Underworld DVD's hot track it's over emphasized. There are some DVD's where you can here it even at low volumes like on Anger Managment (mostly just the dialogue), but not something to worry about. If you thought your system was broken in, guess again, that Underworld DD track will officially pop your theaters cherry.

Thanks everyone for the tips. Sounds like this is just a really "hot' recording. Appreciate all the help.

This has been a helpful thread.

Can anyone generalize about just how a damaged tweeter / damaged woofer would sound, compared to the normal?

Is tweeter/woofer damage pretty much all-or-nothing? (sort of a repost of this question)

Ugh my gosh that Anger Management DD track is AWFUL. The dialogue has that horrific crackle all throughout. I noticed the same thing on the Identity DVD as well as on Tears of the Sun on several different setups. It appears that Columbia/Tristar had some sort of a problem with these tracks...