Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

In article , Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

Looks like a closed box and my first thought is an leak. Don't understand"behind woofer"
Inside ?? Outside ?? Or sounds like behind woofer from the front.

I would troubleshoot a woofer with low frequency test tones, without
any high frequencies being generated. I used to do a quick test with AM radio.

Changing frequency will likely change the sound. Get close, feel around.
Can't tell from your description, but could be the woofer itself making
mechanical surround, voice coil, or suspension sounds.

greg

If the AR11 were a ducted-port speaker (I don't think it is), it would
likely be the "port noise complaint" (OUCH!), with air "rushing" or
"whistling" through the port.

It's hard to believe the sound /is/ coming from the speaker when you say "it
isn't related to the music or any movement of the cone or any signal put
through it". Speakers are passive, and do not produce sounds on their own --
other than, perhaps, loud crashing/breaking noises when they're knocked off
a shelf.

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700, Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone or
any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is put
through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals put
through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would imagine
that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty by now

Make sure a snake hasn't crawled behind the speaker.

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 20:57:56 +0000 (UTC), Meat Plow
put finger to keyboard and composed:

Make sure a snake hasn't crawled behind the speaker.

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/58/20...64a75623ae.jpg

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.

On Jul 20, 2:30*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: *It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. *Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). *This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

"Reverend Fuzzy"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.


..... Phil

On Jul 20, 6:46*pm, "Phil Allison" wrote:
"Reverend Fuzzy"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.

.... *Phil

Not half as bizarre as your instant flaming of something I have seen
happen in my personal experience. If you haven't seen it, yourself,
don't just call my answer crap... PROVE it can't happen.

"Reverend Fuzzy"
"Phil Allison"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.


Not half as bizarre as your instant flaming of something I have seen
happen in my personal experience.

** What you wrote here is bizarre crap.

What you might have seen elsewhere at sometime is another matter.


If you haven't seen it, yourself,


** Your post here is bizarre crap.

Electros used in hi-fi speakers like the AR11 do not "over heat" and hence
are not the source of peculiar hissing noises.

Ever worked on an AR11??

I have.


..... Phil

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:38:52 -0700 (PDT), Reverend Fuzzy
wrote:

On Jul 20, 6:46*pm, "Phil Allison" wrote:
"Reverend Fuzzy"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.

.... *Phil

Not half as bizarre as your instant flaming of something I have seen
happen in my personal experience. If you haven't seen it, yourself,
don't just call my answer crap... PROVE it can't happen.

And you've seen electrolitics in cross-overs overheating and hissing?
I'm with Phil on this one...

"PeterD" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 18:38:52 -0700 (PDT), Reverend Fuzzy
wrote:

On Jul 20, 6:46 pm, "Phil Allison" wrote:
"Reverend Fuzzy"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an
electrolytic capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.

.... Phil

Not half as bizarre as your instant flaming of something I have seen
happen in my personal experience. If you haven't seen it, yourself,
don't just call my answer crap... PROVE it can't happen.

And you've seen electrolitics in cross-overs overheating and hissing?
I'm with Phil on this one...

For once, so am I, although oddly enough, just today I had a non-polarised
electro in the crossover of a JVC home cinema speaker, that had bulged so
badly that it had split open. I suppose that when the can actually ruptured,
it might have hissed for a few microseconds ... :-)

Arfa

On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 09:46:59 +1000, Phil Allison wrote:

"Reverend Fuzzy"

If there is a cross-over board in the case, you may have an electrolytic
capacitor going bad.
When they over heat, they'll make those sort of noises.

** That is utterly bizarre crap.

Can't say I've heard an x-over cap his but I've seen them over heat as
evidenced by broken and distored shrink wrap covering .

On Jul 20, 2:30*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: *It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. *Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

My guess is that the suspension for the woofer cone has come unglued.
This can allow the voice coil to rub on the magnet, which makes sounds
that are mechanical and vary with volume.

To check for this, you'll need to remove the grill cloth so you can
get to the speakers. Gently press all five fingers of one hand against
the woofer cone, next to the center dome. Push sideways on the cone;
try several directions. It should not want to move. It may be useful
to do this on both speaker (stereo, right?) so you can be sure of any
differences.

You may see that the "surround" has disintegrated. That would be an
obvious flaw. There is also a lower support called a spider which
centers the cone near its small end. If the spider has come unglued,
it can be reglued while holding the cone centered.

Older AR speakers used wirewound controls for the tone controls. These
corrode and lose contact. The effect of this is to lose the midrange
or tweeter completely. They can be disassembled and cleaned, but they
don't tend to make extra noises. The capacitors in decent speaker
crossovers are never electrolytics, so they don't generally
deteriorate over time.

"Jim Adney"


You may see that the "surround" has disintegrated.

** Happens to ALL speakers made with foam surrounds - like the AR11.


That would be an obvious flaw.

** Obvious only if you look, the OP must be blind.


If the spider has come unglued,

** Very unlikely.


Older AR speakers used wirewound controls for the tone controls.

** Not the AR 11 - it uses a switch.

The capacitors in decent speaker
crossovers are never electrolytics,


** Fraid that is just not true.

Most famous brand name hi-fi speakers use bi-polar electros for the larger
values at least.



..... Phil

The capacitors in decent speaker crossovers are never
electrolytics, so they don't generally deteriorate over time.

Never? I haven't checked "decent" speakers lately, but the AR11 is from an
era when non-polar electrolytics were commonly used. Even inexpensive Mylar
caps cost more than electrolytics.

The tendency toward two-way designs (the AR11 is three-way) has raised the
crossover point to a frequency that makes the use of a film cap
more-practical. But even "the" classic two-way speaker (The Advent Speaker)
used an electrolytic.

The DQ-10 was one of the first speakers to use film caps. The original
version used mostly electrolytics; the changeover occurred several years
into production. In exchange for loaning him a pair of Pearl mics, Jon sent
me a box of cheap Mexican Mylar caps, and I repopulated the crossovers. I
was in such a rush to get it all done, that I didn't leave one of my four
DQ-10s unmodded, and wasn't able to make a valid comparison.

I /was/ going to suggest a mechanical problem with the woofer or midrange,
but the OP /specifically stated/ that the hissing sound had no relationship
with what was playing, or how loud it was, or /any movement of the cone/.

On Jul 20, 9:01*pm, Jim Adney wrote:
On Jul 20, 2:30*pm, Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: *It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. *Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

My guess is that the suspension for the woofer cone has come unglued.
This can allow the voice coil to rub on the magnet, which makes sounds
that are mechanical and vary with volume.

To check for this, you'll need to remove the grill cloth so you can
get to the speakers. Gently press all five fingers of one hand against
the woofer cone, next to the center dome. Push sideways on the cone;
try several directions. It should not want to move. It may be useful
to do this on both speaker (stereo, right?) so you can be sure of any
differences.

You may see that the "surround" has disintegrated. That would be an
obvious flaw. There is also a lower support called a spider which
centers the cone near its small end. If the spider has come unglued,
it can be reglued while holding the cone centered.

Older AR speakers used wirewound controls for the tone controls. These
corrode and lose contact. The effect of this is to lose the midrange
or tweeter completely. They can be disassembled and cleaned, but they
don't tend to make extra noises. The capacitors in decent speaker
crossovers are never electrolytics, so they don't generally
deteriorate over time.

I dont know why but the first thing I tried was pushing the cone in to
see if I could identify that rasping effect when a speaker has blown.
Dont know why I did this as the speaker has obviously not blown (the
bass is still quite good. And for some reason I have never
understood, the surrounds in those old speakers aren't made of rubber
which disintegrates so that isnt a problem) in that way but what I
didnt try was to push eccentrically and see if there was any
resistance.

I suspect I am going to have to get them over to Miller Sound at some
time to rebuild (along with a pair of AR3s I have which have badly
corroded cross-overs) but what I was wondering was whether this sound
was likely to make the speaker terminal.

Incidentally the snake behind the woofer is the best description of
what I can actually hear! (a snake with a volume control, that is)

"Amanda Ripanykhazov"


And for some reason I have never
understood, the surrounds in those old speakers aren't made of rubber
which disintegrates so that isnt a problem

** The AR11 woofer has a FOAM surround - all foam surrounds disintegrate
after about 10 to 20 years.

Most woofers made these days use rubber (aka roll) surrounds which have an
indefinite life excepting the odd case of adhesive failure.



..... Phil

Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either speaker
or amp?)

From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminated the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.

On Jul 24, 7:21*am, bz wrote:
Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: *It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. *Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). *This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either speaker
or amp?)

*From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminated the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, switching one speaker pretty much solved that one.

"Amanda Ripanykhazov" wrote in message
...
On Jul 24, 7:21 am, bz wrote:
Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either speaker
or amp?)

From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminated the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, switching one speaker pretty much solved that one.

What, solved it as in proved that the amplifier *was* the cause, or solved
it as in it wasn't ?

Arfa

On Jul 26, 4:11*am, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Amanda Ripanykhazov" wrote in message

...





On Jul 24, 7:21 am, bz wrote:
Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: *It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. *Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). *This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either speaker
or amp?)

*From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminated the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, switching one speaker pretty much solved that one.

What, solved it as in proved that the amplifier *was* the cause, or solved
it as in it wasn't ?

Arfa- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

When I took out the speaker and put in another one, the hissing sound
stopped? When I put the speaker in again, the hissing sound started
again

"Amanda Ripanykhazov" wrote in message
...
On Jul 26, 4:11 am, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Amanda Ripanykhazov" wrote in message

...





On Jul 24, 7:21 am, bz wrote:
Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound
is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever
is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to
people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly
dirty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either
speaker
or amp?)

From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminated
the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.- Hide quoted
text -

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, switching one speaker pretty much solved that one.

What, solved it as in proved that the amplifier *was* the cause, or
solved
it as in it wasn't ?

Arfa- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

When I took out the speaker and put in another one, the hissing sound
stopped? When I put the speaker in again, the hissing sound started
again

I don't suppose that you are just comparing apples and oranges here, are you
? All amplifiers hiss to some degree - generally, although not always,
semiconductor ones more so than tube ones. It's not unusual for one channel
to be a little noisier than the other, so you might hear it more on one side
than the other. If you swap a different speaker onto the hissy channel, the
one that you are swapping in, might not have as good a frequency response as
the one you are taking off, so you might not hear the hiss, and think that
you've cured a problem that's not really there in the first place. I guess
you could also have a defective tweeter or crossover in the speaker that you
*think* is good, because it doesn't hiss, when in fact it is actually bad,
because it's not managing to reproduce the hiss that is a characteristic of
the amp, whereas the other one that you think is bad *is* reproducing it.

If you see what I mean ...

Can you hear hiss in headphones plugged into it ? If so, is it equal between
channels. Does it change depending on what input you have selected on the
amp ? Have you tried swapping the speakers that are always connected to the
system, between channels, rather than swapping in different speakers of
possibly unknown condition and specification. One thing at a time, is the
way forward with this sort of 'problem'

Arfa

In article , Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
On Jul 26, 4:11=A0am, "Arfa Daily" wrote:
"Amanda Ripanykhazov" wrote in message

...





On Jul 24, 7:21 am, bz wrote:
Amanda Ripanykhazov wrote:
Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: =A0It isnt related to the music or any movement of the co=
ne
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound =
is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever i=
s
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. =A0Andit is louder than most signa=
ls
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to peop=
le
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). =A0This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dir=
ty
by now

I know it is a silly question, but are you SURE that the hiss isn't
coming out of your amplifier?
(have you put a scope on the speaker lines or substituted either speak=
er
or amp?)

=A0From your description, it isn't clear to me that you have eliminate=
d the
'more obvious' possibility that your amplifier is putting out white
noise, perhaps intermittently varying in amplitude.- Hide quoted text =
-

- Show quoted text -

Yeah, switching one speaker pretty much solved that one.

What, solved it as in proved that the amplifier *was* the cause, or solve=
d
it as in it wasn't ?

Arfa- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

When I took out the speaker and put in another one, the hissing sound
stopped? When I put the speaker in again, the hissing sound started
again

I don't know if my question was ever answered. Where is the hissing
comming from ? Behind speakers means behind the box.

If you can't tell from listening, use a piece of tubing to get location.
You can get it down to less than an inch.

greg

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an
apartment building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the
main electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft
noise from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we
discovered that the owner of the building had replaced one of the
cartridge fuses in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of
copper pipe that was arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds
apocryphal but I spent 32 years in the consumer audio field as a
technician, and service and store manager so you can be reasonably
sure, in this case, that I'm not a troll . Chuck

I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an
apartment building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted
by the main electrical entrance for the building. There was sometimes
a soft noise from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on
we discovered that the owner of the building had replaced one of
the cartridge fuses in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of
copper pipe that was arcing at the fuse clips.

What do you think formed the "return path" that allowed current to flow
through the speaker?

For example... In the simplest possible 2-way system, with only a capacitor
in series with the tweeter, * there would be no complete circuit for the
current to flow through the tweeter, unless the unpowered amplifier had a
sufficiently low output impedance.

* The woofer can be designed to mechanically roll off at the crossover
frequency, so no inductor is needed.

On Aug 2, 7:28*am, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:
I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an
apartment building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted
by the main electrical entrance for the building. There was sometimes
a soft noise from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on
we discovered that the owner of the building had replaced one of
the cartridge fuses in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of
copper pipe that was arcing at the fuse clips.

What do you think formed the "return path" that allowed current to flow
through the speaker?

For example... In the simplest possible 2-way system, with only a capacitor
in series with the tweeter, * there would be no complete circuit for the
current to flow through the tweeter, unless the unpowered amplifier had a
sufficiently low output impedance.

* The woofer can be designed to mechanically roll off at the crossover
frequency, so no inductor is needed.

The tweeter, capacitor and woofer are all effectively in series as a
loop in the speaker box, and that loop is large enough to pick up the
high M field spectrum of the arcing 60Hz so close by. Some of that
generated arc noise will fall in the band that the tweeter will
reproduce efficiently.

Neil S.

The tweeter, capacitor and woofer are all effectively
in series as a loop in the speaker box...

Duh. I should surrender my BSEE.

On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone or
any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is put
through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals put
through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would imagine
that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an apartment
building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the main
electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft noise
from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we discovered
that the owner of the building had replaced one of the cartridge fuses
in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of copper pipe that was
arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds apocryphal but I spent 32
years in the consumer audio field as a technician, and service and store
manager so you can be reasonably sure, in this case, that I'm not a
troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station. He
swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from a
filling in one of his molars.

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone or
any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is put
through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals put
through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would imagine
that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an apartment
building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the main
electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft noise
from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we discovered
that the owner of the building had replaced one of the cartridge fuses
in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of copper pipe that was
arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds apocryphal but I spent 32
years in the consumer audio field as a technician, and service and store
manager so you can be reasonably sure, in this case, that I'm not a
troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station. He
swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from a
filling in one of his molars.

This is quite common. The BBC used to operated a long wave transmitter in
the county where I live. It was 200kW during the daylight hours, and 470kW
at night. There were always reports in the local newspaper of people
experiencing oddball reception events, and picking up radio 'in your head'
was a regular one. Apparently, it happens more when fillings are new, and
the oxide layers or what have you, are still building. Supposedly, the
filling acts as a simple diode detector, and if the field strength is high
enough, actually 'rattles' mechanically. The vibration from this passes out
of the tooth and up the jawbone into the skull, where it is picked up
directly by the ears. I have also seen the phenomenon explained as the
detected audio voltage passing out of the tooth, and directly stimulating
nerves that are part of the hearing centre. I suppose that's possible, but
it sounds less likely to me, than the first explanation.

Another few favourites for 'ghost' reception near this transmitter, were
electric cookers, stereo systems that were turned off, and mattress springs
!!

Arfa

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 01:18:22 +0100, Arfa Daily wrote:

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is
put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals
put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would
imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty
by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an
apartment building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the
main electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft
noise from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we
discovered that the owner of the building had replaced one of the
cartridge fuses in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of
copper pipe that was arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds
apocryphal but I spent 32 years in the consumer audio field as a
technician, and service and store manager so you can be reasonably
sure, in this case, that I'm not a troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station. He
swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from a
filling in one of his molars.

This is quite common. The BBC used to operated a long wave transmitter
in the county where I live. It was 200kW during the daylight hours, and
470kW at night. There were always reports in the local newspaper of
people experiencing oddball reception events, and picking up radio 'in
your head' was a regular one. Apparently, it happens more when fillings
are new, and the oxide layers or what have you, are still building.
Supposedly, the filling acts as a simple diode detector, and if the
field strength is high enough, actually 'rattles' mechanically. The
vibration from this passes out of the tooth and up the jawbone into the
skull, where it is picked up directly by the ears. I have also seen the
phenomenon explained as the detected audio voltage passing out of the
tooth, and directly stimulating nerves that are part of the hearing
centre. I suppose that's possible, but it sounds less likely to me, than
the first explanation.

Another few favourites for 'ghost' reception near this transmitter, were
electric cookers, stereo systems that were turned off, and mattress
springs !!

Arfa


So Amanda may live near a 500kw transmitter that plays wildlife sounds.
That would explain the snake hissing behind her speaker.


--
This is a test sig

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone or
any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is put
through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals put
through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would imagine
that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an apartment
building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the main
electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft noise
from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we discovered
that the owner of the building had replaced one of the cartridge fuses
in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of copper pipe that was
arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds apocryphal but I spent 32
years in the consumer audio field as a technician, and service and store
manager so you can be reasonably sure, in this case, that I'm not a
troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station. He
swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from a
filling in one of his molars.

This is quite common. The BBC used to operated a long wave transmitter in
the county where I live. It was 200kW during the daylight hours, and 470kW
at night. There were always reports in the local newspaper of people
experiencing oddball reception events, and picking up radio 'in your head'
was a regular one. Apparently, it happens more when fillings are new, and
the oxide layers or what have you, are still building. Supposedly, the
filling acts as a simple diode detector, and if the field strength is high
enough, actually 'rattles' mechanically. The vibration from this passes out
of the tooth and up the jawbone into the skull, where it is picked up
directly by the ears. I have also seen the phenomenon explained as the
detected audio voltage passing out of the tooth, and directly stimulating
nerves that are part of the hearing centre. I suppose that's possible, but
it sounds less likely to me, than the first explanation.

Another few favourites for 'ghost' reception near this transmitter, were
electric cookers, stereo systems that were turned off, and mattress springs
!!



WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio used to run 500 KW on 700 KHz under an
experimental license. Local farmers reported talking and singing fence
wire or a few miles from their tower.

http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw.shtml has some photos and a description,
along with a simplified schematic of the beast. It also has one of the
few remaining Blaw-Knox diamond towers.

WSM in Nashville has another Blaw-Knox tower. http://www.wsmonline.com

On Tue, 03 Aug 2010 23:34:59 -0400, Michael A. Terrell wrote:

Arfa Daily wrote:

"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone
or any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound
is put through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever
is coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease
with adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most
signals put through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to
people improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls
in the speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I
would imagine that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be
fairly dirty by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an
apartment building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by
the main electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was
a soft noise from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later
on we discovered that the owner of the building had replaced one of
the cartridge fuses in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of
copper pipe that was arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds
apocryphal but I spent 32 years in the consumer audio field as a
technician, and service and store manager so you can be reasonably
sure, in this case, that I'm not a troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station.
He swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from
a filling in one of his molars.

This is quite common. The BBC used to operated a long wave transmitter
in the county where I live. It was 200kW during the daylight hours, and
470kW at night. There were always reports in the local newspaper of
people experiencing oddball reception events, and picking up radio 'in
your head' was a regular one. Apparently, it happens more when fillings
are new, and the oxide layers or what have you, are still building.
Supposedly, the filling acts as a simple diode detector, and if the
field strength is high enough, actually 'rattles' mechanically. The
vibration from this passes out of the tooth and up the jawbone into the
skull, where it is picked up directly by the ears. I have also seen the
phenomenon explained as the detected audio voltage passing out of the
tooth, and directly stimulating nerves that are part of the hearing
centre. I suppose that's possible, but it sounds less likely to me,
than the first explanation.

Another few favourites for 'ghost' reception near this transmitter,
were electric cookers, stereo systems that were turned off, and
mattress springs !!



WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio used to run 500 KW on 700 KHz under an
experimental license. Local farmers reported talking and singing fence
wire or a few miles from their tower.

http://hawkins.pair.com/wlw.shtml has some photos and a description,
along with a simplified schematic of the beast. It also has one of the
few remaining Blaw-Knox diamond towers.

WSM in Nashville has another Blaw-Knox tower. http://www.wsmonline.com


http://www.rfproof.com/WLW/wlw_500kw...mason_ohio.htm



--
This is a test sig

On 03/08/2010 01:18, Arfa Daily wrote:


"Meat Plow" wrote in message
news
On Mon, 02 Aug 2010 09:21:24 -0500, Chuck wrote:

On Tue, 20 Jul 2010 12:30:48 -0700 (PDT), Amanda Ripanykhazov
wrote:

Anyone know what this means? This hissing sound isnt constant, it is
irregular: It isnt related to the music or any movement of the cone or
any signal put through it, though it doesnt happen when no sound is put
through the speaker.

Frankly it sounds more mechancial than electronic (as if there is
something behind there!) but as I say, it isnt related to whatever is
coming through the speaker though it does increase and decrease with
adjustment of the volume control. Andit is louder than most signals put
through the woofer itself??

Is it indicative of some pot in the crossover needing cleaning or is
there something else going on please? (I have seen reference to people
improving the sound of AR11s by bypassing the tone controls in the
speaker completely). This speaker is quite elderly and I would imagine
that if it does use mechanical pots, they must be fairly dirty by now


I once lived in an old mansion that had been converted into an apartment
building where one of my KLH 32 speakers was mounted by the main
electrical entrance for the building. There sometimes was a soft noise
from the tweeter without the amplifier being on. Later on we discovered
that the owner of the building had replaced one of the cartridge fuses
in series with the hot 120 AC in with a piece of copper pipe that was
arcing at the fuse clips. I know this sounds apocryphal but I spent 32
years in the consumer audio field as a technician, and service and store
manager so you can be reasonably sure, in this case, that I'm not a
troll . Chuck

An old friend used to live within a hundred feet of a radio station. He
swears that on one occasion he could hear programming coming from a
filling in one of his molars.

This is quite common. The BBC used to operated a long wave transmitter
in the county where I live. It was 200kW during the daylight hours, and
470kW at night. There were always reports in the local newspaper of
people experiencing oddball reception events, and picking up radio 'in
your head' was a regular one. Apparently, it happens more when fillings
are new, and the oxide layers or what have you, are still building.
Supposedly, the filling acts as a simple diode detector, and if the
field strength is high enough, actually 'rattles' mechanically. The
vibration from this passes out of the tooth and up the jawbone into the
skull, where it is picked up directly by the ears. I have also seen the
phenomenon explained as the detected audio voltage passing out of the
tooth, and directly stimulating nerves that are part of the hearing
centre. I suppose that's possible, but it sounds less likely to me, than
the first explanation.

Another few favourites for 'ghost' reception near this transmitter, were
electric cookers, stereo systems that were turned off, and mattress
springs !!

Arfa

In the house where we lived some years ago, we used to get 'fax machine'
noises from the bedside lamp during the night. Happily it only happened
when it was switched on.

Ron(UK)