Speakers almost dead

[qmou]

Wondering how you know your speakers are nearing the end of their lifespan. My Altec Lansing 251's require a higher volume to hear them now. But I'm also worried whether or not my sound card is to blame for this. I have a philips seismic edge (psc705) 5.1 sound card.

For example, my volume used to be set at 1/4 of the way to listen to music at a comfortable level. Now I need to turn it up to almost 1/2 of the way in order to listen to it at the same comfort level. Also, the speaking aspect in movies/tv shows are starting to get lost behind all the music.

I have overclocked my computer before... so will my sound card be close to busted also?

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks

 

[corkyg]

Speakers are only dumb transducers that produce sound based on signals received from the sound source. They do not "wear out." If the sound is being reduced, your problem is at the sound source, not the speakers -

Except - it could be with connecting cables. Make sure they are all tight and fully connected.

 

[CrispyFried]

You might of burnt the voice coils and some of the coil is shorted. That reduces the efficiency. Usually that gives a ton of distortion though and I cant see all the speakers going at the same time. Or the equalization and/or line out levels has been changed somewhere along the line.

Or youre going deaf

 

[corkyg]

Originally posted by: qmou
For example, my volume used to be set at 1/4 of the way to listen to music at a comfortable level. Now I need to turn it up to almost 1/2 of the way in order to listen to it at the same comfort level. Also, the speaking aspect in movies/tv shows are starting to get lost behind all the music. I have overclocked my computer before... so will my sound card be close to busted also?

When doing this sort of comparison, always use a constant source, i.e., a music CD. Outside sources on-line can all vary on audio signal strength - just like different TV channels can be louder or softer when surfing up and down.

And it is possible to blow out a speaker with too much audio signal, but that is usually all or nothing at all.

You might try disconnecting your 251's and connect a simple pair of stereo speakers to the sound card. Play different audio CDs and check the sound level for a comparison. Then do the same thing with the 251's. Trying to make all on-line sounds equal is not a good comparison.

 

[qmou]

Thanks for all the responses.

I connected my speakers to my onboard sound, and the same thing happens. Requires me to turn up the volume to a level that I normally wouldn't need to turn it up to.

Any other ideas?

Thanks.

 

[qmou]

haha well i ended up buying a new audigy 2 value and there was nearly no difference...(volume wise) so i don't know what's wrong. haha... maybe i AM going deaf.

 

[alcoholbob]

Well I think the dialogue is lost mostly due to having stereo speakers faking a phantom center more than anything. I've got a 450W receiver (amplifier is 120v 4a, so its actually 480W) pumping speakers that can take 200W each, and I'll tell you, even with speakers that can put out SPL levels that puts a "500W RMS" computer speaker to shame, I still have to turn the volume to about 50-65% of max receiver power on most movies, more so on action movies which do drown out the dialogue without a true center channel speaker.

RMS lol...measuring "output" when the room clearly adds to apparent volume, based on room size. Audio is one such thing where output can truly be greater than input. (For example...Logitech Z-680...3A 120hz amp...means 360W input, 505W RMS...output. Of course they measure "RMS", which is output...then I guess my amplifier is "675W RMS" then lol.

 

[PurdueRy]

Originally posted by: Kobe67
Audio is one such thing where output can truly be greater than input. (For example...Logitech Z-680...3A 120hz amp...means 360W input, 505W RMS...output. Of course they measure "RMS", which is output...then I guess my amplifier is "675W RMS" then lol.

Considering speakers are less than 1% efficient I have to disagree with this statement

Anytime you are trying to convert electrical power into mechanical energy we can hear....you are going to be very inefficient.

When Looking at those speakers, it says 505 watts RMS nominal output. That does not mean that the amplifier is capable of actually driving them at that level. I bought some drivers that are 45 watts nominal power. If I hook them up to a 10 watt amp, I guarantee it will be fairly loud, but it doesn't mean I am going to take advantage of the total possible power output.

Power in = Power out theres no way around it.(obviously there could be losses in there but never a gain)

 

[alcoholbob]

I believe output power can be boosted through room shape and acoustics at certain frequencies, just like it can almost be inaudible due to room nulls, and overall volume can increase (although time delayed) from room reflections during continuous output, though my impressions could be incorrect.

The real issue is how meaningless the term RMS is now, since the actual original reference should be average power of a sine wave, which is measurable in the input stage, but a lot of manufacturer's now measure it in reverse. They take the maximum SPL number over a 5 minute period at 0.1% THD and calculate what the output amplifier WOULD be. We have no idea how far (or close) they are measuring these SPL levels, and room acoustics can play a major role in these "reverse" calculations. (You can easily find calculators online that do this, all you need to know are speaker sensitivity, output SPL, location (corner loaded, close to walls, or middle of room for various levels of dB boost--corner loaded gives the impression of twice the power--and listening distance, and you can derive what the input wattage should be). As you can see this is an extremely dubious calculation, since room conditions can significantly increase SPL levels, giving a fake amplifier wattage number.

Edit: change "beliebe" to "believe"