ZEUS121996 Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 So I am going out of my mind. I have a pair of 1988 Heresey speakers that I bought new. I was running all Nak (Nakamichi amp, cd player, etc) through it for years. I Klipped it out a couple times, but its always been good. Now, when everything is hooked up, I get a humm and then it goes out. I took it to a couple of competent repair shops, 1 said it was the reciever that was shot, so I bought a new Yamaha. That was $800 that did nothing. Next shop tells me the speakers are shot, they will give me $100 for the pair. I thought the wires from the receiver to the speakers might be crossed, but nada. Is it posssible the wires are old and corroded, and that's making it happen? I thought it might also be a fuse in the Nak deck, which I had changed once before. Any suggestions? Thanks for helping save my sanity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HankC Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Is the Hummm coming from BOTH Speakers or just one ?? Have you switched the Left Speaker with the Right on the Amp ? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Humming comes from 1 speaker, not immediately. As soon as it starts I shut it down. I need to check the amp, maybe one of the channels is bad. You would think that 2 supposed reputable repair shops would check that out. Instead they sell me new equipment( which I returned) and then offer$100 for the pair. I will give it a try, although I think I already did that. Thank you, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moray james Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Is the problem specific to one speaker and does it cause the same problem on either channel of your amp? Might be a good idea to simply upgrade all the caps in both your speakers. Bob Crites will sell you a new and better set of caps. Given the age of your speakers it's not a bad move as the caps are the only thing which will change over time in your speakers. If you have a second set of working speakers try them out on your Nac and see if the problem is with the amp. You need to establish where the problem is before you can fix it. Hope this helps best regards Moray James. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechMan Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 Switch the humming speaker from one channel to the other at the amp, just the speaker. Then...if the humm followed the speaker swap the cables from the pre to the amp and see if it moved. That should tell you if it is the speaker, the amp or the cable/pre. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 swap sources (left to right and right to left) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MechMan Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 swap sources (left to right and right to left) Thats the easy way...My way carries more rewards due to the extra effort put forth. [H] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 I never thought of the caps. I've tried everything I could think of, but after getting frustrated, I forgot everything I've done TY Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 I'm going through everything AGAIN! lol TY Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 11, 2011 Author Share Posted May 11, 2011 Thanks to everyone for the ideas. Time to go through everything AGAIN! Thanks again Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
muel Posted May 11, 2011 Share Posted May 11, 2011 I would consider never taking anything again to the guy who offered you a $100 ! That's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 The problem is not the speakers (or the caps in the speakers). It's not the speaker wire. With only the new receiver hooked up, nothing else, does it hum on FM? Which Nakamichi receiver is the old one? It probably just needs new caps. Sounds like the shop guys are con men. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Yea, I was being polite in here. $100 for the pair? Told him to F*** OFF And the guy who told me I needed all new hifi? He got pretty much the same answer when I returned his unit. These are suppose to be reputable repair shops. Live a while longer and I might start catching on lol Thanks again Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 12, 2011 Share Posted May 12, 2011 I agree with djk, 100 percent. Speakers and wire feeding speakers don't cause hum. Maybe there is some oddball exception if there is some other connection from the speaker wires to ground causing a ground loop. But that doesn't seem to be the case here. I'd say: Disconnect everything (particularly inputs) from the receiver or what ever you're using. Of course you have to connect a.c. power. Then listen with a set of headphones. Flip the selector to different inputs. This will tell you if a channel is somehow bad and causing humm. Then, if it is a receiver (having a tuner) try listening to the radio, too. I suppose this is part of the above. If things are good, then try adding an input, like your CD player, DVD, tape unit, etc. It is best to power down or at least turn the volume down when you insert the RCA connectors. This way you are starting from zero and systematically adding potential troublemakers. So you can see the system I suggesting. I'd keep with the headphones (cheap ones are okay) until you isolate the problem. One of the troublemakers could be the RCA connectors. I've found that the monster type are difficult to seat and the collar can be so snug that they can damage the jack on the amplifier while you seat or unseat them. Let me ask another question. What was the last event / change before this problem started? Wm McD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 The last thing I changed was the Nak CD player. So I dont know how that would have any effect. Switched to a high end Sony against my better judgement, but the con artists told me it was the best match Ideas? Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted May 16, 2011 Author Share Posted May 16, 2011 The Nak deck is a TA2. I took everything down, and started from scratch. The receiver works fine and so do the speakers on FM. In fact, they still sound great after not listening to them for a while. Added the CD player, it starts shutting down. Add the double deck and everything shuts down. Powers off everything. So now what? Am I looking for a short inside? Thanks to everyone for the help, the good news is the speakers are still beautiful. The bad news is the repair shops are thieves, but I will get over that. LOL Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted May 19, 2011 Share Posted May 19, 2011 I didn't get back to you on this because I was waiting for you to experiment. Sort of like self enlighening that you have to do on your own. One thing I would suggest is: Does the tape deck and the CD player have a headphone out? Try listening to them through headphones from that jack if they do. I suspect they will be okay. You'll hear a signal and not a buzz. A good buddy of mine had problems arising from his new purchase of monster type RCA interconnects. (When you bought the new player did you buy new connectors?) The collar is so stiff that they do not totally engage the jack on the receiver end or the player end.. When you force them to engage they are so tight that they can damage the jack when you pull them off. In that case I worked on the collar (the ground connection) with a pair of needle nose pliers so that they don't clamp down as much so that you can them to insert properly. This is to say, you can get full engagement. I suspect that is your problem -- but not being there, it is simply a guess. My buddy is a very smart guy. But you have to eyeball this mechanical issue up close. The stiffness of the collar on the RCA makes you think it has engaged the mating surface on the player or reciever ends, but it has not. This causes a big buzz. WMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
djk Posted May 20, 2011 Share Posted May 20, 2011 WMcD has a good point, the RCA jacks on the Nak receiver may be damaged. I own a TA-2, it's a nice sounding receiver with Klipsch. Mine is at a friend's house driving my RB-75s. He is supposed to be looking for a home theater receiver. Between the two of us he has five RB-75s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZEUS121996 Posted July 24, 2011 Author Share Posted July 24, 2011 Thanks for all your help. Sorry for not replying sooner, it's just been busy, which I won't complain about. The system still isnt getting it done. I think it might be in the deck, when everything is running, the system powers off. Almost like a fuse that is shorting out. Any ideas out there? Thanks again Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groomlakearea51 Posted July 25, 2011 Share Posted July 25, 2011 Sounds like you have narrowed it down to the deck. See if you can borrow another deck just to make sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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