blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Would anyone know of a good testing song/tone series for testing my RF-7 II's? I keep hearing pops and hisses when listenings to music and what sounds like perhaps background recording noise on the tweeters, but I'm concerned the speakers are damaged. It could also just be a problem with grounding my setup perhaps, not sure. Curious what other people do to test, troubleshoot this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 What's your source? Records? CD? Radio? Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Mostly I've been using airplay built into the 2112 to play Pandora/Spotify and the odd flac via vlc. I also have an HTPC I've used spotify on as well. I hear it a lot on several songs. I may be hearing things that are just there in the recording. I'm just not sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Yes, Switch sources first. Plug in a CD Player or Tuner and see if the pops go away first. Then report back your findings.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 I can hear it still a bit using VLC on the htpc. It seems the airplay accentuates it. http://theturtle.org/stairwaytoheaven.mp3 I'm curious if it's just me looking for flaws. Do you hear static throughout and worse at about 6min mark? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cut-Throat Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 I can hear it still a bit using VLC on the htpc Dude, I have no idea what you are talking about. Do you have a CD Player? A Tuner? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 vlc is just an application that I can play flac/mp3 from on my windows htpc that is conected to the receiver via hdmi. I don't have a cd player sorry. I have a built in tuner on the receiver but I don't know that I'd trust it's reception. What I was comparing vlc with was airplay from itunes on my laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 vlc is just an application that I can play flac/mp3 from on my windows htpc that is conected to the receiver via hdmi. I don't have a cd player sorry. I have a built in tuner on the receiver but I don't know that I'd trust it's reception. What I was comparing vlc with was airplay from itunes on my laptop. Do you have a DVD Player and a CD or a Blu-Ray player and a CD? Or a Gaming system that plays CD's or SACD's? OR Blu-Ray and a Concert Blu-Ray music disc? How about an Ipod with a RCA Connecter jack to use with the Denon? Did you buy these Speakers used or new? Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 I have a bluray player but I honestly don't know that I have a cd in the house. Pretty much all digital. The computer is directly connected via HDMI to the receiver. Other sources I have is the airplay connection and an xbox. I bought the 2 speakers open box from vanns. I've had them about a week. I've not had them higher than about -29dB on this Denon 2112. I don't imagine I've blown them but I'm rather worried at the moment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
runninshine Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 Can you use the test tones through your A/V unit? It should play one speaker at a time and you might be able to narrow it down from there. Good luck and keep us posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 Not sure, which test tones do you mean? I can give them a try. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WMcD Posted November 28, 2011 Share Posted November 28, 2011 In my view, you are hearing some artifacts. So the issue is where they are originating. This require some doping out of the problem. You could start at the speaker end, or at least the output of the amplifier. You probably have some earphones. Therefore you could listen to the output of your receiver using the earphones (speakers off) to determine whether the artifacts are indeed being fed to the speakers. I suspect that is the case because speakers can not cause hiss. OTOH,in my experience even very good speakers and amps can develope pops when fed with infra bass. Maybe you can play the recordings using Windows Media Player with the display set to bars. This is an elementry real time analyzer. See if the bass bars are strong. Further, a pop in the recording may show up as a sudden rise in the midrange bars. You can also start at the source end by listening to the audio files with the most basic equipment. Maybe a smart phone with earphones. Or send the file to a buddy and see if his system shows the same distortion in the same places. WMcD Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 28, 2011 Author Share Posted November 28, 2011 I tried watchign some tv and I do hear some more popping as well. I'm going to pick up a 1/4" adapter for my headphones to listen using those tomorrow. I did post an mp3 earlier if you want to double check it on your own setup. http://theturtle.org/stairwaytoheaven.mp3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted November 29, 2011 Author Share Posted November 29, 2011 Thank you all for the help. New receiver showed up today. Re-cut the speaker wire ends and removed the Denon. Issue gone. Cheers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dennie Posted November 29, 2011 Share Posted November 29, 2011 Thank you all for the help. New receiver showed up today. Re-cut the speaker wire ends and removed the Denon. Issue gone. Cheers! Oh, Thank Goodness! I'm glad to hear the issue is gone. Enjoy those beautiful speakers! Dennie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Ugh, so I think I haven't defeated this issue. I was watching a quiet movie tonight and I really hadn't noticed the background noise before but there it was. I put my ear up to the horn/tweeter on the RF-7 and there is an audible hissing/static sound. I thought maybe it was the movie, so I changed sources. A few of them even. All giving the same persistent staticy sound. Like a..... bad stereo reception perhaps but not as violent in changing tone and not much popping. So, I went hunting for ground loops. Started one by one disconnecting and powering off everything. I finally then reached the point where only the receiver was on and I could still hear the hissing noise. If I turn off the receiver it immediately goes away. So I checked my terminations, redid them. Everything looks fine with the cable. It's good quality 12 gauge cable. Having not shipped the Denon 2112 back yet, I decided to hook up 1 speaker to it and just power it on. Sure enough the same staticy sound coming out of the tweeter perhaps a bit more loud even. Is this normal? I'd think for high grade speakers/receivers, it would be dead silent when nothing is being played. Furthermore, does this sound like there is something wrong with these speakers? I haven't contacted the place I bought them from yet(vanns) as I figured it was just something with my setup or I was just going nuts. Unfortunately though at this point I think there may be something wrong with them. Anyone have any thoughts on something I missed? Or something that might be wrong. Argh Frustrated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 Certain combos of high efficiency speakers and high gain amps will produce some hissing noise if you have your ear next to the speaker. This can be normal. The best way to test this, is to strip your system clean and just hook your amp (or receiver) to the speaker and see if the level is the same on all inputs. If you can't hear it at your listening position, you are OK. On some high gain systems, a loud hiss can be clearly audible, but there are some solutions for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Thanks for the response Russ!! "and see if the level is the same on all inputs." Sorry I'm not sure what this means. Perhaps this isn't relevant with the Onkyo 809 AVR and is more of question of analog(pot controlled) amps? Sorry I'm obviously new. I can hear it it at listening position a bit with just the receiver on, but I'm very much listening for it now. When there is something driving the speaker and it's just a quiet scene, I can very much hear it. There are things I can do to reduce this? Giving me just a small peace of mind that I may not have to send these back across country is very much reliving at the moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ69 Posted December 2, 2011 Share Posted December 2, 2011 OK John, First make sure your Onkyo is set without any boost or signal processing. I'm sure you know how to change all the settings but make sure the Onkyo is set to not add any effects or change the frequency response. Next, turn the volume all the way down, and listen with your ear next to the speaker. Then switch through a few source selections (CD, Video, etc) it should all sound the same. If the Onkyo has a two prong plug that can be flipped. Try that. I'm expecting it will be the same as before, perhaps slightly better, if the frequency had been boosted. Anyway, if it's still noisy, you are listening to the inherent noise of the amp most likely. There is probably nothing wrong, it's the combination of the amp and very efficient speakers and perhaps a small room. Some combos can be dead quiet and some can have hiss. If you are hearing the hiss at the listening position, it can be very irritating. P.S. Make sure there is no computer near your system, they put out a lot of noise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blargman Posted December 2, 2011 Author Share Posted December 2, 2011 Would there be any benefit to getting a different amp? Have any suggestions? I'd be willing to try one. As for me knowing how to change all the settings, I'm actually not at all familiar But I'm going through it now to see if there's anything I can turn off, Audyssey, Dynamic Volume, I've both disabled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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