Speaker Problem

[geoffers 0]

Hi All,

 

I seem to have problem with my speakers or do I ?

 

I had all my kit out yesterday as I had problems with my main Amp during a gig on Saturday.

The amp is clipping on the left side at low volume yet on Sat it was the left, so is it the speaker or the amp ?

 

I decided it was the amp and thought I would run a few test with my second amp, What I found confused me.

The amp worked okay but there is a difference between the quality of the left and right side. So I changed the speakers around, I changed the speaker leads, I changed the phone leads and even cut out the mixer and still a found a difference ! the only way I can describe it is one side was dull or woolly ! next I got my other set of speakers and although the difference was not quite as obvious it was still there !

 

I am now very confused, Please help and please keep the answers simple ( as I am !)

 

:thanks:

 

Geoffers

[Andy Westcott 0]

This doesn't sound like an amp fault as such to me. Such faults tend not to affect the frquency response.

 

What amp have you got?

Let us know the gear, and hopefully give you some pointers.

 

Does it have a built-in crossover which might have been inadvertently selected?

 

Is it always the same side of the amp - the left channel?

 

Check the setting of any lo-pass filters you may have on the amp.

[DJ Marky Marc 0]

If the problem is not at the signal side then one of your speakers must be damaged in some way..

 

Clip lights can indercate more than amp clipping they can also indercate a fault, short or impedance problem.

 

its possible that you have a internal crossover in your speakers that's US or the speaker coils are burnt due to DC clipping...

 

DC clipping happens when you use an amp that's too small to drive speakers...

 

but there are some here who think its all hype to make you spend more on amps...

 

but what do I know, I only read the insturctions that came with my speakers and put 2000w RMS up my 1000w RMS cabs with no ill effects.....

[norty303 0]

You say you moved the speakers around along with leads. Did you do this one at a time? It's no good changing lots of things at once as you never know what was the culprit if you 'fix' it.

 

First thing i'd do is swap the speaker leads over at the amp so the boxes are powered off the other side of the amp. Does the problem move? If so, then its a speaker cable or speaker problem. I'd say it was a part blown voice coil or crossover causing a much lower impedance on that side.

[LEENEWSOME 0]

yeahbut no but,

 

i agree on the voice coil or crossover :hurt:

[Bolan-Boogie 0]

As it was stated earlier, it would help if you list the make and model of amps and speakers.

[DJTREV 0]

I had the same problem on a big gig recently.Full volume out of one side,almost nothing out of the other side.I changed and checked as much as I thought I should but it was still there.

I eventually found that I had put one lead in the right output BUT the other lead was in the BRIDGE output.Thats the second time I have done that.

[jeffwall 0]

Speaker problems diagnostic "things to do" advice

 

Unpowered system (seperate amp)

 

See what side is not working left or right?

 

Unplug the side that is working at the speaker not at the amp or mixer!...unplug the "bad" speaker and plug it into the "good side" output from your amp (the working one)

Does the speaker now work?

 

If yes your speaker is ok and likely to be a problem with output from amp or output from mixer or output from the source player

 

If no...........speaker is knackered and you should look at the speaker for repair

 

So going back to "if its now working".....you have established that your speaker is fine, so you need to now look at either your amplifier outputs and input connections from your mixer and players

 

Plug your headphones in to the mixer...are you getting both sides working at the particular channel your using? If yes.....move along to all channels and test all channels on mixer.....if you have a facility to listen to the programme output on your mixer.....do that for each channel

 

If its all working fine.....its probably the amplifier thats down

 

Check all connections from the main output of your mixer to the amplifier........

 

If all seems ok, you need to check your amplifier now...swap the main mixer outputs over ie.....

 

The "good" side is working ok yes?..................swap the input connections from the mixer to the amp over Left into right and right into left for arguements sake........does the "bad side" now work?

 

If yes, this has proved that your amp is ok, as its worked on both sides, you should be looking at the mixer main output for your problem

 

If no, your amplifier has a problem on one side, and you need to get your amp looked at

 

 

If you have a crossover in the circuit....unplug it and join the wires straight through (taking the crossover out of the circuit all together......both sides now working....crossover problem!

 

Still have a side down......back to amp problem!

 

 

hope this helps