series 600 center speaker issues

[newguy987]

Just a couple of questions concerning some issues I have run into my center speaker. It's the htm61 and I understand people have issues with it, however this little problem is different. It's still very new so I beleive it is not broken in yet. I decided to try to break it in a little quicker, so this is what I did. I decided to play some 2 channel music, metallica(black), and cough cough Justin timberlake(good bass on it). The speaker is single wired to my arcam avr300, which is set to 4 ohm. I then selected the mono listening mode so just the center channel and the sub were on. As soon as I turned the volume to 80db's(which I don't think is all that loud), I got that all too familiar crackling noise. It actually sounds more like static and it's not constant-just happens at certain frequencies. To rule out the bass, I turned the crossover on the amp to 130htz, and the bass(tone control) on the amp to -6db. The speaker is set to small. Anyways even with little to no bass, I was still getting the crackling/static noise. The little woofer on the speaker was barely even moving-so that kind of rules out it being a bass problem. The crackle sounds like it's coming from the mid(fst). When I turn the volume down it stops, and when I turn it up it happens more frequently. I also noticed that when I sit right close to the speaker the crackle is less obvious then when I sit about ten feet away. Any Idea's? The next thing I'll try is hooking the center up as a front, bi amped, and in stereo direct mode. As a note when I listen to the same music with the fronts(683) no crackle/static, and I can crank it quite loud. I'm hoping this is just because the speaker is new and still needs to be broken in. Is it common for new speakers to do this when they are new? As a note the fronts are not new, I bought them slightly used and are broken in. I'm not sure what other test I can do to narrow down what my problem could be. The center is wired with 14 gauge monster cable, with monster banana leads, single run, not bi-wired, or bi-amped. The amp is rated for 7x100watts all channels driven. I do admit it sounds better in a vertical position vs horizontal. That's about it, any help/idea's would be appreciated. thanks and happy listening

[emig5m]

I bought mine brand new and it doesn't crackle. When I play the Eagles Hole In The World 5.1 DVD it sounds PERFECTLY clear to me. I also watched Batman Begins HD-DVD with the speaker set to large at a pretty high volume and there where parts in the movie that REALLY made the little woofer move! Still no distortion though... Maybe, just maybe I got the only good HTM61 out there, lol.

Maybe I'll try hooking it up as a main later if I have the time because I wanna try a 685 as a center anyway....

[newguy987]

It could be because I'm running it in mono mode? try that with yours and see what happens. I'll tinker with it again tonight

[ShadowZA]

Hmmmm ... could the crackle be a ground loop problem perhaps?

Here are a few past threads that might be of assistance:

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=30979&highlight=ground+loop

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=31516&highlight=ground+loop

http://www.htguide.com/forum/showthread.php4?t=29665&highlight=ground+loop

A few ideas:

Keep interconnects away from electrical plugs. Current interferences can be picked up and transmitted as a crackling noise.

It's also not a good idea to use double-adaptor plugs. Best is to assign equipment electrical plugs to independent sockets.

Good luck!

[newguy987]

I'm pretty sure it's not a ground loop problem, because it would be present all the time, in all speakers. wires are properly separated and everything is plugged into a powerconditioner, I've also never run into a ground loop problem before. It is only present in the center channel are so far only in mono mode. I'm continuously doing tests, any other idea's would be welcome.

[Briz vegas]

Newguy I think you are on the right track. Test the speaker hooked up to the left or right to ensure it is not the amp,connection or speaker cable on the centre channel. If the problem persists I would be talking to your dealer..

I would also read the 683 thread below as it decribes a similar cracking and points to the smp as the "problem"..................but isee that you have already posted there.

[newguy987]

Well I finally got around to playing with the toys again. I Hooked up the htm61 to the left front speaker-it's bi-amped. I played some of the same material and also disconnected the right front speaker so that the center was the only one hooked up. I used the stereo direct mode(analogue) and no cracks, static or pops....could it be true that 100 watts isn't enough power for the htm61? Now i have to get more power? This is getting expensive!! lol For those of you who have the same center speaker, how much power are you giving it, is it biamped? is it biwired? comments would be welcome.. ty

[merlinus]

I use a Classe CA-5100 100wpc amp to drive my five speakers, including the same center as you and 683 L/R, with zero problems.

No bi-amping or bi-wiring.

And I have yet to even need to reach the zero point in volume!!!

[emig5m]

Well I finally got around to playing with the toys again. I Hooked up the htm61 to the left front speaker-it's bi-amped. I played some of the same material and also disconnected the right front speaker so that the center was the only one hooked up. I used the stereo direct mode(analogue) and no cracks, static or pops....could it be true that 100 watts isn't enough power for the htm61? Now i have to get more power? This is getting expensive!! lol For those of you who have the same center speaker, how much power are you giving it, is it biamped? is it biwired? comments would be welcome.. ty

Was just using a Yamaha RX-663 receiver and had no problems with distortion with the HTM61. I got a Emotiva XPA-5 poweramp mainly because my 2-channel music habits sometimes was too much strain on the receiver driving it into protection mode. Nothing biamped or biwired - everything wired normally with ho-hum 14GA Megacable from RadioShack.