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Blew new speakers in record time

Doppel

Doppel

Lifer
I got a ~$200 Sony receiver last week and hooked it up to these 5.1 speakers: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001AVRD62/ref=oh_o01_s00_i00_details

The receiver is good for 8-16 ohms, the speakers rated at 6 ohms (so says Amazon). I suppose I ignored this, since apparently other home audio speakers are 8 ohms and I was like what the hey. I didn't go insanely loud when hooking them up, just loud-party volume to test and noticed today cracking during a movie.

Anyway, the front left and right are now cracking when volumes get loud. The rear, center, and sub are good.

Should I get some standalone fronts (like http://www.amazon.com/Polk-Audio--W...NYVM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1326493403&sr=8-3) with more oomf or trash the whole setup and get something like this: http://www.amazon.com/Onkyo-SKS-HT540-Channel-Theater-Speaker/dp/tech-data/B000GU78Z4/ref=de_a_smtd ? Before you say mixing speakers like this may mess up the finer details of sound, realize I'm hoping to spend a fraction on the entire system of what many would spend on just a center channel, for example 😉

I don't want to throw lots of money at this, which is why I'm going with low end stuff, but I am sure that the sound levels I'm looking for can be achieved at this price range, it's ridiculous the fronts are already cracked.

As I read threads on receiver/speaker ohms, I recall from many lifetimes ago that running low ohm speakers on a receiver not suited for it can damage the receiver--not the speakers. But, with these speakers blowing I think they blew because they suck. I will say at first the subwoofer was NOT hooked up. Is there any chance that running as 5.0 would send more bass to the fronts? I don't think so, since the receiver cuts out the lows anyway, right? I'd like to rest knowing that the speakers failed me not the other way around, as long as it's true.
 
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What do you consider loud enough? Generally speaking more efficient speakers can play louder with less stress on the drivers, generally speaking efficient drivers have larger cones, generally speaking drivers with large cones need large boxes. I'd troll craigslist for some used speakers instead of buying more garbage.
 
kornphlake said:
What do you consider loud enough? Generally speaking more efficient speakers can play louder with less stress on the drivers, generally speaking efficient drivers have larger cones, generally speaking drivers with large cones need large boxes. I'd troll craigslist for some used speakers instead of buying more garbage.
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Good idea on craigslist! I don't know what loud is, enough that it becomes almost uncomfortable. I have for example some older paradigm titan v2s (I know they are more expensive and far better than these things) that still pound like mad (for me) and never have shown even a hint of cracking.
 
You won't regret the Onkyo speakers and it solves one major problem for you. Impedance. Using 6 ohm speakers overloads your amp by making it deliver more power to the speakers then it was designed for. If it is rated at 100W into 8 ohm, it will deliver more then 100W into 6 ohm. If the speakers are rated at 100W they are being overloaded.

There are good reviews on that Onkyo package on the net.
 
are you sure its the L and R speakers that blew not something wrong the receiver's L and R channels? might wanna swap the 2 surrounds to the fronts to make sure.
 
richardycc said:
are you sure its the L and R speakers that blew not something wrong the receiver's L and R channels? might wanna swap the 2 surrounds to the fronts to make sure.
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I'd also be inclined to fault the receiver in this as Sony isn't exactly known for amazing receivers. Then again those speakers are only rated for about 30w continuous and aren't super efficient. If the setup is in a larger room you may be stressing them more than you think at "loud party volume". Those are not "loud party volume" speakers.


I will say at first the subwoofer was NOT hooked up. Is there any chance that running as 5.0 would send more bass to the fronts? I don't think so, since the receiver cuts out the lows anyway, right?
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Did you have the sub turned off in the receiver? Were the speakers set to full range? Was there a crossover frequency set?

If you answer "NO" to any or all of these then there is a chance the speakers were being sent a full range signal and "broke" trying to reproduce sounds they aren't capable of making. Its easier to damage ported speakers this way than it is sealed speakers.
 
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SithSolo1 said:
I'd also be inclined to fault the receiver in this as Sony isn't exactly known for amazing receivers. Then again those speakers are only rated for about 30w continuous and aren't super efficient. If the setup is in a larger room you may be stressing them more than you think at "loud party volume". Those are not "loud party volume" speakers.




Did you have the sub turned off in the receiver? Were the speakers set to full range? Was there a crossover frequency set?

If you answer "NO" to any or all of these then there is a chance the speakers were being sent a full range signal and "broke" trying to reproduce sounds they aren't capable of making. Its easier to damage ported speakers this way than it is sealed speakers.
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I agree with everything above, sending full range sound to glorified tweeters is a good way to cook voice coils or break the driver's suspension, especially at "loud party volume."
 
Matt1970 said:
I have to agree with thinking the amp is at fault since you ran the ampo below the rated ohms.
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The only problem that would occur there is the amp itself would blow, not the speakers. No fault with the amp.

The impedance mismatch would not cause the speakers to blow. Having lower impedance speakers would just cause the amp to crank more current that it may not be designed to handle. If they were speakers of better quality, they would be fine.

In the case of these speakers, I would be willing to bet than they got a full range signal and, since they can't reproduce squat for low frequencies, you never heard them dying a slow (well, in this case quick) death until it was too late.
 
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SithSolo1 said:
Did you have the sub turned off in the receiver? Were the speakers set to full range? Was there a crossover frequency set?

If you answer "NO" to any or all of these then there is a chance the speakers were being sent a full range signal and "broke" trying to reproduce sounds they aren't capable of making. Its easier to damage ported speakers this way than it is sealed speakers.
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Instead of NO I'll say NO IDEA 🙂 The manual is amazingly spartan for this receiver honestly. I've skimmed it, but not in detail, though I've not seen where these things can be set. It may be an option, I've just not gone through enough yet.
 
It doesn't seem implausible that running brand new speakers at loud party levels could damage them. Although it is somewhat contested in the audiophile realm, I generally try to break-in new speakers for a hundred hours or so before really giving them the watts.
 
I hate Sony entry level stuff and always steered anyone I could away from it for exactly this reason. Little things like overdraw protection are not included by Sony at this price range. (granted it most likely would have been fine inside its impedance range)

Even the ES line is crazy over priced for the amps you are getting.
 
If you are sending 100WRMS to speakers you will probably want something with at least 5.25" cones and decent power handling. That 2.5" cone setup you purchased was probably more for a table top setup esp in light of the 6ohm speaker rating.

How much room do you have? Do you want / need a sub? 5 channel or 7 channel?

I'd shoot for a 3 channel with sub at the minimum, although a nice set of towers could make a sub a later addition.
 
When I set it up I used whatever default speaker config it came with (was in a hurry to get going 🙂). I have it now on the 5.1 setup. I will update this thread once/if I get sounds again. If I'm lucky it was only temporary clipping (though I don't think so) and not over-stressed speakers.
How much room do you have? Do you want / need a sub? 5 channel or 7 channel?
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I only got the 7.1 receiver because it frankly looked better than the 5.1 I was considering and was a few bucks cheaper. I'm using only 5.1, though.
 
Thanks for the posts, Alkemyst.

I am finally back to this project. I have some paradigm speakers kicking around and first just going to mount them in place. They won't be "balanced" (some audiophile term I don't need to understand) with the others but they can take a ton of juice threw them and blowing them will not happen! If their huge size ends up being a major turn off I'll have to rethink but don't want to spend money if I don't absolutely have to.

Room is 12X12 or so but totally open to the right of the TV. Ceilings are drywall but maybe only 7-7.5' (basement).
 
It's(or was back in the day, not sure if it still holds true) quite easy to destroy any Speakers simply by causing the Amp to Clip. This can happen even if the Amp in question has a lower rated Wattage than the Speakers. That's not to say that your Speakers experienced this or have been damaged as the Amp can be instantly fried by simply wiring up your Speakers incorrectly(usually by a short).
 
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