Unshielded speakers: Cause for concern?

[OrangeLike]

I just received a pair of Audyssey Lower Easy Side speakers and, much to my
chagrin learned that they are not shielded.

Doing some hasty web research, I find two camps of people: those hysterical about the damage unshielded speakers can do to storage hardware, and those who think it's really a non-issue.

Could you guys help clear this up for me? The speakers are quite close to my monitor (an LCD) but easily a foot from any storage.

Thanks all!


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[Yuriman]

You can erase a floppy with a magnet but anything but a very powerful neodymium magnet right up against it will probably not affect a hard drive. I wouldn't worry about a couple of weak speaker magnets several feet away.

 

[OrangeLike]

Closest they get it about 17". I'm assuming that's no cause for concern?

 

[Yuriman]

I would bet not, but I'm not an engineer. I'd be more concerned about destroying the drives through vibration (which is also unlikely).

 

[Cerb]

I just received a pair of Audyssey Lower Easy Side speakers and, much to my chagrin learned that they are not shielded.

Doing some hasty web research, I find two camps of people: those hysterical about the damage unshielded speakers can do to storage hardware, and those who think it's really a non-issue.

Could you guys help clear this up for me? The speakers are quite close to my monitor (an LCD) but easily a foot from any storage.

It was a real concern for CRTs, especially if you were unlucky enough to have one with no easy way to degauss. It was also a concern for VHS and Beta tapes, which everybody stored near their TVs and speakers.

Speaker magnets will have no real effect on your storage. The magnetic field exerted by the magnet inside the hard drive is going to be much greater than nearby speakers, and a typical grounded steel case is not going to too shabby at shielding against such minor EMI. The magnetic field is not that strong close up, and decreases with the square of the distance. So, basically, those first few inches are all that matter (there should be a dirty joke there, but I'm having trouble coming up with a punch line).

 

[OrangeLike]

Thanks guys, feeling much better about my setup 🙂

Is the fact that my pc case is aluminum any reason to worry? I don't imagine that it is.


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[PowerYoga]

Only annoying thing about unshielded speakers is if you have some WIFI device or a phone near it it'll buzz like a nest full of hornets.

 

[ZeroRift]

EMF strength drops off with the cube of distance. Unless those are some giant (and I mean REALLY giant) speakers, I wouldn't worry about it.

PC chassis are typically grounded to the PSU chassis via contact, which in turn is grounded to the wall. Thus, most of the field flux would be absorbed by an aluminum chassis and grounded into the wall. Unless you have a really strong static field (again, something like a neodymium magnet) there really shouldn't be much of an EMF entering your case.

In short: Don't panic, and remember where your towel is.

 

[OrangeLike]

Thanks guys - that makes me a lot more comfortable. Got my towel and my electronic thumb right here!


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[Cerb]

Thanks guys, feeling much better about my setup 🙂

Is the fact that my pc case is aluminum any reason to worry? I don't imagine that it is.

No. In theory, steel should be better against EMI, IIRC, but if you have enough EMI that it's causing problems, worrying about PC case materials is like arguing over the best raincoat material while you're being drenched. For anything you're likely to have in your home, a grounded box is a grounded box is a grounded box.