Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions Crispiness sound coming from tweeter M80 need help

First off I have to say I am very impressed and happy with these M80's. I bought them second hand from a friend. They are the V2's. Amazing soundstage and these are putting to shame a lot of my poorly recorded music that I have been listening to for awhile not realizing how bad it is.

Now to the issue at hand. I have this crispiness/crackling sound(sorry for the non-technical description) coming from pretty much what seems to be the top tweeter. Its like a slight popping type noise. I went ahead and ordered a couple of new tweeters feeling pretty confident that was the issue, in the meantime I swapped out the tweeters from my vp150 in to the m80 to see if that would fix the problem. Well it was still there.

Other things I have tried was to switch the M80 with the issue to the channel and connections of the M80 without any issue and the problem is still there. It doesn't happen all the time, only some songs trigger it, and for the most part the higher the quality the recording is, the less it is there or not there at all.

My setup is an Emotiva XPA-5 and Marantz SR6005 AVR. I am running some older Audyssey equalizer setting from my previous speakers, but I don't think this would cause an issue in just one speaker, I would think it would cause the issue with them all.

Anyways any input is much appreciated. Overall I am really enjoying these, its just when I hear the noise I go looking for it in every recording I listen to.

It could be the crossover or some connection problem in the internal wiring. I suggest calling tech support during business hours. They're better able to help with this kind of troubleshooting.

Thank you for the reply.

I did explain the issue to them when I ordered the tweeters and they were pretty sure it was the tweeter as well. I was worried it could be the crossover. The gentleman I spoke to seems to think if it was a crossover issue I wouldn't be getting any sound or possibly worse issues.

Is that the same speaker or the same channel? If it is the same channel then the problem is not the speaker but the amp or the pre/pro. If it is the same speaker then I would suspect the problem is in the crossover considering you have already swapped the tweeters out.

You really should rerun Audyssey or stop using it if it is setup for you old speakers, as the previous EQ is most likely not really helping the Axiom's sound the best

Sorry about that, it was the same speaker switched to a different channel. Im going to stop running the old setting as well. Been waiting to run the audyssey setup until I position everything the way I want(just moved)

Do your M80's have dual binding posts for bi-amp. If so check that everything is tight back there.

I do have binding posts, i have verified everything is looking good and tight.

Anybody else have any other suggestions, i have wiped out all the old Audyssey settings I had as well.

For example I am listening to Brothers in Arms by Dire Straits and the entire first minute intro of the song the tweeter makes that crackling noise. My other m80 has no crackling. The recording is pretty good quality as well.

probably an internal connection/crossover issue since you have tried different drivers and can recreate.

Well, it seems like if it was the tweeter, you wouldn't have been able to replicate the problem with the tweeter from the VP150.

I'm baffled. But I'm sure that if you enlist Axiom's help and have some patience, you'll get it fixed.

That is a perfect and technical description of your issue. It would be like saying to a mechanic that your engine is farting, burping, stuttering or even knocking (ekk!).

I pulled the crossover out a bit just to take a look for something obvious(although i really have no idea what I am looking at) It looks like the glue holding the top board is coming off and it is falling down a bit. I have pictures if I could figure out how to post them.

Nothing looked obviously disconnected or anything, then again I'm no expert.

To host a picture you have to upload to something like photobucket and then copy the link into the reply . Look for bulging of the capacitors,they are the brown parts in the pic.Also make sure all connections are tight on the back speaker connector panel where the red and black wires join.

Here is some pictures, not sure anyone can see anything obvious, I can take more too:

Interesting, there must have been a change up in the design of the cross over . The picture I posted is a v2 M80 . It appears your crossover is attached to the terminal cup.? Without any obvious signs of leakage and since I doubt you have any equipment for testing the capacitors or resistors I would say either send that crossover in for diagnosis or see if they will sell you a replacement.

Since you bought these from a friend, I would assume you have listened to music at his place in the past, did this noise ever present itself before?

Thanks for the response.

My buddy bought these from someone else, so I only heard them for a few minutes in his garage. Sounded great in there at minimal volume. He was more or less letting me audition these, as I have heard a few different similarly priced speakers and these sound the best, when the crackling isn't there! I auditioned the heavily praised KEF q900's, liked the Axioms way better!

Any chance the cob webs are effecting the SQ?
I see a single strand in the bottom image.

Well that's a shame really. I know it would drive me bonker's, I am bit OC at time's. Really sound like the best bet is to box up the crossover and overnight it to axiom. Should not cost too much to do that.Axiom is pretty good to deal with from my experience.

It's a shot in the dark but any chance the vp150 shares the same crossover?

Probably going to try switching the crossover from the good speaker in to see if the noise is still there.

I'm sure it doesn't. The drive array is completely different. But I'd definitely try switching the M80 crossovers.

Are the tweeters the same between the 80 and 150? Other than physical size, same voltage and all that?

Hi mrgreg,

No, the VP150 does not use the same crossover. Moreover, each time the tweeter in the M80s has been upgraded or the frequency response tweaked or smoothed out (which occurred with the original M80ti), then the v2 and now the v3, the values of the crossover parts are changed. All the v3 versions of the Axiom lineup use the new tweeter.

It's rare that a crossover has problems, but it can happen. When you contact Axiom, have the serial numbers of your M80s handy so they'll know which crossover is in your M80s.

Regards,
Alan

Any way I could keep the one tweeter in the cabinet and disconnect it as a temporary relief? Would this cause to not be the correct ohm rating? Sorry for the newbie questions.

Call the support line. They should still be open!

You can disconnect one tweeter, just don't crank up the volume, but how does that solve the noise issue? Does the noise not come from both tweeters?

No it is only coming from the very top tweeter. I am wondering if it could be the wiring from the bottom tweeter to the top. Whatever is causing the issue it is getting worse.

Disconnect the top tweeter.

And you tried swapping the top tweeter with a known good one already and the sound was still there, correct? Did you try swapping out the lower tweeter with a known good one?

Yeah, I have swapped both tweeters out with the tweeters from my vp150.

I watched some movie trailers and Skyfall last night, sounds to me like the crossover isn't preventing the lower frequencies from being passed to the tweeters. I went ahead and disconnected them as it is just too bothersome.

So it looks like it really has to be the crossover.

On a side note, watching Skyfall with the EP500 is just crazy, better than in the theaters!

Does anyone else who has the EP500 or above find it to be too much for most music? I have another sub(DEF Tech) that I usually use when listening to music, I feel like I get a better appreciation for M80s with less over the top bass! Just reserve the EP500 for movies!

Hi megreg,
I'm a very lucky guy with four (4) Axiom EP800 subwoofers in my dedicated Axiom home theatre room. My aray of subwwofers delivers a stellar musical performance. It is true that having four subwoofers makes integration with my main Axiom M80s and dual VP180s a breeze. I assure you that you could be able to get a very satisfactory and highly musical performance from your single Axiom EP500 as well. I started my Axiom adventure with a single Axiom EP500 sub. The key is to take the necessary time and action to maximize integration with your main speakers. Your first and most inportant step is to find its optimal location. Axiom offers a video featuring Alan which will facilitates this operation.
Subwoofer crawl

Then the subwoofer volume level should be done using musical material. Depending on your taste for bass content you might feel the need to increase the volume level for movie material. The issue for the right and appropriate bass level for movies is that there is no reference point. Some listeners will find bass lacking while others find it overwhelming and, at the same time for the remaining ones, it is perfect.

I dunno, perhaps, compared to the Def Tech, in the EP500, you are just hearing what is a superior sub that is capable of reproducing the full range of frequencies that the Def Tech is not and in addition, is could be that the "500" is interacting with your room differently. In that case, it is just a matter of making the appropriate volume adjustment on the EP500. Movies or music, a superior sub is going to make it all sound better.

Certainly not complaining haha, it's a great problem to have!

I do need to mess around with placement, more or less just running everything in default!

mrgreg:

When I first ran my new HT, I had set the levels of my twin Velo 10" subs (nowhere near the EP500 in performance) to 4 out of 10. Later on, I mustered up the courage to run Audyssey from my Denon AVR & the results showed that Level 4 was way too high & was outside it's ability to correct it. After several more calibration runs of progressively lowering the subs' volume, Level 2.5 ended up being within Audyssesy's correction range.

My HT is now quite awesome for movies & wonderful for music without being over the top. This exercise proved to me that without a calibration system or an SPL meter, it is quite difficult to set the levels correctly by ear alone. I think that we generally tend to overdo it on bass levels because the sound is so impressive, but in reality it is actually overblown; however, some people like it that way.

For me, I find that too much bass produces annoying buzzes & rattles in my furnace/fireplace ducting inside my walls/ceilings that I would rather not hear...

TAM