Help! Left speaker appears to be dying!

[Ronan]

For the past month or so, my left iFi satellite has been acting up.

I first noticed that it seemed generally a bit quieter than the right sat. I was annoyed, but figured I'd just deal with it.

But it is wildly inconsistent - it will sometimes get so quiet that I can barely hear any sound output, and during these periods there's also some audible fizzing and crackling. It tends to stay this way for anywhere from 5 to 30 minutes, and then, for no reason, it will just jump back to a closer-to-normal volume level, and the crackling will stop. I have tried everything - playing every kind of sound sample for every kind of duration to try to "warm it up" or just leaving it with no activity - nothing seems to trigger it one way or the other - it just happens at random.

This seems to be happening more and more. It is now in nearly-silent, crackly mode about 30%-40% of the time.

The truly odd thing is that it is definitely capable of normal output that matches the right sat. About 10% of the time, again for no apparent reason, it will jump back to completely normal volume, all the crackling ceases, and it sounds great. If only that could last!

I have tried carefully reinserting the wires at each sattelite and at the subwoofer; swapping the wires used on the left and right side... Nothing changed! Through it all, the right speaker remained rock solid normal and the left remained screwed up.

The speakers have never been knocked or damaged or even moved in any way since they were installed!

Help me, Klipsch and fellow Klipsch-ites! Advice? Things I haven't tried? Is it definitely a satellite issue, or could it be something to do with the terminal on the sub?

I purchased these a little under year ago from Amazon, so I am not sure where I stand in terms of warranty. How much would it cost to send into Klipsch to get this fixed? How much to buy a replacement iFi satellite (or Amp, if that turns out to be the problem)?

Thank you so much.

[Jay481985]

try swapping the satellite from right to left to determine if the sound travels to the same speaker or not. If it does not travel it is an amp problem.

Also make sure to insert the ipod connection into the amp fully. See if there is any bent pins.

[Ronan]

Thank you so much for the response. I tried re-inserting the iPod dock plug and making sure it is secure - no difference.

I swapped the satellites and that seems to have shed some light on the problem - the problem remained on the left side, despite the switch. So it's the amp, then? What can I do about that?

Thank you again - it's much appreciated.

[Jay481985]

Are you using the ipod or a computer???

If it is the ipod make sure it is pushed in all the way, loose connections can cause it.

If it is from the computer, I would try the iPod or plug in another portable music device like say a cd player or another computer. It might be the soundcard.

If that fails, try moving it into a new socket or move it to a new room and test in there with said music device. And I am sorry, I know its a pain to move it into a new room.

[occasional_7]

hi,

I had the same problem: left speaker just died on me: (and i made sure it wasn't the wire, nor the speaker). Today, I was able to fix the problem: (25 mts start to finish). i did make a few mistakes, but am pretty much sure i know what fixed the problem for me. I didn't have to solder anything.

However, I did have to open the subwoofer unit!

Being that this is a moderated forum, and that klipsch (amy?) have been very pro-active and very helpful towards the consumers, just to make sure there's no warranty issue, I would like to put the usual disclaimers, such as "worked for me, may not work for you" etc. Its fine with me, if klipsch wants to edit/modify/remove my posting, after all I neither work for klipsch nor know much about the sub. assembly: I'm just a fan who tinkers around!

Thanks

TK

Just a philips and a flat screwdriver needed[]

Step0: remove the power, disconnect speakers, ipod cable etc etc; keep children/pets away!

Step1: Remove just the 10 screws (marked x below) that are holding the back panel of the subwoofer: these are on the corners. don't mess with the screws marked y or b.

Caution: back panel is HEAVY and holds all the circuitry; be gentle in pulling it out

Step2:slide the back panel out (use a dull flat screwdriver to dislodge it from the side) while holding it from bottom. Don't pull it out too far, and be prepared to hold the weight on the fingers of one hand! You'll see a wire coming back from the front of the subwoofer with a white termination clip onto the circuitboard: just disconnect it: you can easily squeeze the clip and pull down: due to the weight, its better though to have the spouse do it: you can always blame her/him if that part got messed up! Now, you can easily move the back panel all the way out and take a look at everything that was manufactured and assembled elsewhere!

Step3: Adjust the speaker wire clips on the back of the back panel (easier if you push from the inside of the back panel) as you remove the screws marked

"a": these are the screws just outside the "+ - - +" markers. This is key!

Step 4: Inside the back panel there is a 7 or 8 wire terminating in a white plastic clip (nowhere near the "a" screws) which is loose: push it back in! Hint: this is the wire that is easy to get to!

TEST

Test the speaker connections: by re-connecting whatever you disconnected in step 2; then powering on the system (yes the back is open and you can just prop it against the hole which it came out of: read the disclaimers above). I chose to test on a pair of self made floor standing speakers (circa 1989) because i didn't want to mess my 2 klipsch speakers, and boy did those OLD speakers sound real good with the ifi subwoofer unit.

If it works, good, else also try to unscrew "c" below (this should be near the "line input") and repeat 3. If this works, great, put it back together else i apologise for wasting your time!

ONLY SCREWS on the back panel of the ifi sub/ are shown below.

You should only mess with those markex x, a and c, nothing else!

x x x

y y

a a

b c

x x

x x

x x x