Speaker crackling at low volume but not high volume

[Hurkyl]

My speakers have done an odd thing for as long as I can remember. Sometimes, they'll play music perfectly fine, but sometimes, unless the volume level is sufficiently high, one or both speakers will crackle, and often play the music at a much reduced volume.

When the volume gets loud enough, they both start playing perfectly again, and usually continue to play perfectly for quite a while when the volume gets soft. (Though sometimes the static comes back immediately)

Often times, moving the speakers around, jiggling the cables, et cetera can cure the static for a little while, but it comes back again.

I'm pretty sure it's not my stereo, despite the fact it has an 8-track player! My speakers had the same problem with my previous system. (They could plug directly into the CD player I had at the time)

Today, I was getting fed up and started fiddling with them again... in the end I simply swapped the connections into the stereo, and voila! No static.

Well, basically my question is this... do I need new speakers, or is there something else that could be causing this problem? Maybe it's the cables? The input on my speakers requires bare wire -- we had to strip the ends off of ordinary cables to hook them up.

 

[Loren Booda]

My experience is that the volume control (potentiometer) commonly causes problems similar to those you mention.

 

[dduardo]

I had a pair of headphones that needed a little jiggling to remove the static. It was definitely a wiring problem, not the speakers themselves or the input jack.

 

[Hurkyl]

Is there a way to tell if it's the cables connecting the speakers to the stereo, or the speakers' internal wiring? In either case, is there a reliable way to fix it?

 

[Loren Booda]

In some cases an ohmmeter can trace down unstable circuits while one "wiggles" their various components.

 

[chroot]

Your speakers could be plugged directly into a CD player? Does this mean the speakers are internally amplified?

- Warren

 

[Hurkyl]

I don't think so. It's been a long time since I used my previous CD player, but I guess it did its own amplification.

 

[abercrombiems02]

Sounds like you just have a loose connection, although any exposed wire is not good. The more exposed a wire is, the more subject it is to static interference. Where is the volume control, on the speakers or CD changer? If its on the changer then that's not good, somehom ur changer is getting a signal to decrease the resistance which causes boosts in the volume. If the volume control is on the speakers is most likel a connection issue. If its all on the speakers I'd just open them up, blow any dust out, wipe off any spills or if anything like that occurred, and just make sure nothing looks burn out and that all the connections are securely soldered. If none of that fixes it, then the problem is probably in the circuitry in the speakers in which case you'll most likely want to replace them unless you know of a handy EET with a few hours of spare time.