Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with repair and audio

Distortion spins me right round

thecaddy — Mon, 30 Jul 2012 10:54:50 -0800

Recently I received an old hifi (stereo receiver with aux and phono inputs) and two EPI speakers from a family member. The system is quite old, but headphones sound great, as does one of the two speakers. The other sounds blown. What are my options in New York City? So: I know very little about audio equipment. To me, though, it sounds like the woofer on the speaker (currently connected to the right channel) is heavily distorted. If I turn down the bass it definitely reduces the distortion, so that's what I've been doing in the short term.

I still need to double check that it's the speaker, not the receiver's output, that's the problem; when I get home tonight I plan on switching them.

I'd prefer to get the speaker repaired versus just going out and buying new ones--after all, there's a reason I grabbed this from my aunt instead of buying a new system.

Assuming it is the speaker, my questions are these.
--If I had the woofer repaired/replaced, would I also need to have the woofer in the other speaker fixed as well to ensure tone matching?
--What sort of price can I expect to pay per speaker?
--Do you have any recommendations for where to have this done in New York City? (I'd rather not ship them anywhere if possible.)

Thanks in advance. If you need more info I'll check in later today.

Polarity unclarity

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 12:23:50 -0800

How to I tackle replacing (rear) car speakers when there's a special connector? The rear speakers on my car blew out. Took the bass too low. Ah well. So I bought new ones, and I am taking the old ones out:

Original rear speaker

It looks like I need to clip off the white connector from the original speaker, and solder it to the new speakers. The white connector plugs into a special audio wire from the car electronics.

My question is, simply: Which side of the connector goes to which connection on the speaker?

There are no markings on or around the connector port to mark which is which. Should I just follow the orientation of the wiring on the original speaker?

Where can I get my turntable fixed in NYC?

ooklala — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 14:20:53 -0800

My turntable has broken. Recommend me a good repair shop in NYC. It's a Stanton STR8.150, if it matters. On another note, if the electronics are shot like I think they are, is it even worth it to repair it?

Help me replace a blown woofer for a Spica TC-60

jcrcarter — Wed, 03 Aug 2011 12:07:02 -0800

How do I replace a blown woofer in a Spica TC-60 loudspeaker? The datasheet is here. I am generally capable, but don't know anything about building/repairing speakers. Can I get away with replacing just the one? Is there any danger of damaging the crossover (whatever that is)? The very nice guy from Madisound recommended a ScanSpeak replacement but how do I know if it will fit and/or work properly? If I'm reading the datasheet correctly, the original seems to be 180mm in diameter, and the replacement he recommended 170mm - is this a good idea? How can I tell if there's anything else I should try? What, if anything, do I seem to be overlooking? Thank you!

O dear sub, hast thou woofed thy last?

Mr. Anthropomorphism — Sat, 17 Apr 2010 09:37:21 -0800

Is my subwoofer toast? I have a large Klipsch subwoofer, not quite 3 years old, that no longer powers on.

It was constantly plugged directly in to the wall (I know...), so I fear it may have suffered a power surge.

It does have a replaceable fuse, but when I tried a fresh one, it powered on once and then instantly went off, blowing the new fuse in the process.

It is still under Klipsch's five year warranty, but they require the original receipt, which is long gone. I'm going to attempt to get a copy from the retailer, but even with proof of purchase I worry about this clause of the warranty:

This Warranty does not cover cosmetic damage or damage due to misuse, abuse, negligence, acts of God, accident, commercial use or modification of, or to any part of, the product. This Warranty does not cover damage due to improper operation, maintenance or installation, or attempted repair by anyone other than KLIPSCH or a KLIPSCH dealer which is authorized to do KLIPSCH warranty work.

For the record, the sub cost about $500 new. I know that home audio products have ridiculous markup, so I'm assuming that repairing components may be worthwhile compared to replacement.

I suppose, then, that my questions are:

Has anyone had a surged-out Klipsch product replaced under warranty?

If warranty repair is not an option, is there anything I can do myself (someone who knows their way around a computer, but doesn't know how to precision solder or anything)?

Is 3rd party repair likely to be worthwhile? Where should I take it (near Chicago)?

What should I do with my broken Tascam FW1082?

JZig — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 12:20:18 -0800

I have a Tascam FW1082 midi/audio interface board. Over the last few months, there's been a more consistent and very loud high-pitched whine in the audio output, making it fairly useless for what I need. What should I do to get this fixed? The whine appears to be some sort of artifact of power, because when I connect it to my UPS instead of my wall jack (so it's a noise-free power supply) the whine gets louder and higher pitched. It also seems to change based on features I turn off or on. So, it seems that somehow the power is bleeding through to the D/A converter or something. I'm not an expert on complicated audio hardware.

It's out of warranty and it's $600 new, so it's in the weird zone where I don't know if I should try to send it in for repair (where do you send complicated audio equipment for repair?), buy a new one, or try and fix it myself somehow.

Busted Tweeter

aladfar — Sun, 12 Feb 2006 14:26:11 -0800

Speaker Filter: I've just received a pair of M-Audio monitors that I'd sent back for repair. The right side, which was causing me problems previously, has been repaired and works great. But the left side appears to have been damaged during shipping. I'm not very happy with the company and don't really want to send them back again. Can I fix the problem myself? The "tweeter" element appears to be compressed [image]. As a result the speaker sounds muddy and the treble is indistinct. When I isolate one monitor against the other, the difference in quality is remarkable.

It doesn't seem like it'd be too difficult to replace this part on my own. Where can I order a new one?

Or should I just suck it up and send it back to M-Audio again along with a sternly worded letter of complaint? The only reason I hesitate is because I have to pay shipping to send it back and would rather not be without speakers for another few weeks.

MXL 990

ludwig_van — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 08:41:43 -0800

I dropped my MXL 990 condenser mic. The grill is slightly dented and the capsule inside has come loose. Can I repair it myself? Can I get it repaired in London? I'm a clumsy idiot, and I shouldn't have left my mic out on the stand, and I shouldn't have left the cable where I could trip over it. That said, can anyone tell me how to fix it, or recommend a repair shop in London? I don't have a soldering iron or any specialized tools, and I'm located in New Cross.

Left too much tip!

Eater — Mon, 23 Jan 2006 07:51:53 -0800

The very tip of my 3/32" headphone adapter plug just came off in my Treo's headset jack. Any tips for how to extract it? I've tried: sucking it out (too much airflow coming from behind it); impaling it with a needle (won't impale); grabbing it with makeshift bobby-pin tweezers (no grip); and a toothpick tipped with Krazy Glue (didn't stick). I'd like to avoid spending $50 on a pair of fine surgical tweezers, and I'd rather not take the whole device apart, even if I had a Torx set, which I don't. The Treo isn't under any warranty, and I sort of doubt that Radio Shack, from whom I bought the shoddy adapter, will foot the bill for a third-party repair.

Prudent repair or giddy consumerism?

Vervain — Fri, 16 Dec 2005 12:01:53 -0800

Repair or replace the car stereo? I've had a Clarion source unit and 6-disc changer since...probably '97 or '98, and they have been mostly trouble-free up until recently. Back in April or May the faceplate started to have problems powering up (though wiggling it would usually fix that) and eventually quit doing that entirely. The changer unit's fine, though one of the magazine's disc slots broke, so it's effectively a 5-disc player.

Of course, I bought the damn thing at Good Guys, which apparently went under or was bought out. The nearest listed Clarion dealers/repair shops are all about 30 miles away. Given all of that plus the fact that I don't do much long-distance driving these days, I'm tempted to just replace it with a single-disc player and supplement with an Ipod.

Thoughts? Suggestions? I'm thinking ahead to the hours of driving to visit the extended family for Christmas, and a battery-powered boombox on the passenger seat just isn't cutting it anymore.

TV repair

stopgap — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 21:40:20 -0800

Television repair question: My TV displays everything in fuzzy black and white, and the audio is just static. [MI] The TV was bought new in January, and it was in storage (at college) for the summer. A DVD player is hooked up through an RF switch because the RCA inputs on the back of the TV don't seem to work. The VHF/UHF antenna is also hooked up through the RF switch right now, but the reception is no different when plugged directly into the TV. Both the antenna and DVD player work fine when connected to another TV, and there is no reason to think the RF switch is at fault because the reception doesn't improve when the antenna is plugged directly into the TV. The TV can display colors just fine, and does so in its on-screen menu and when showing a blue screen for a channel that doesn't come in.

Does anyone have any idea what could be wrong? Is it something related to the RCA inputs not working? Could the TV have been damaged somehow in storage (by moisture, perhaps)? Most importantly, can it be fixed? Thanks.