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Topic: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume (Read 2337 times) previous topic - next topic
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Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

I have a pair of speakers where recently, and fairly frequently following long periods of no playback, the left speaker will either a) not output any sound for a period following playback before suddenly producing sound, or b) be lower in volume than the right speaker before regaining equal volume (occasionally during playback).

Any ideas as to what could be causing this? The speakers act as their own DAC and are connected to the computer via USB, with inter-speaker cables connecting the pair.

Could it be interference from some other cabling around? Didn't experience this issue previously, but I didn't have cabling running along the wall then. Tried moving the inter-speaker cables around a bit but will have to see how that fares. It's an annoying issue to have, so any suggestions would be appreciated.

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'popping' back to equal volume

Reply #1 –
I take it the inter speaker cable is an analog connection and the DAC resides in the right speaker, yes?

I suspect a bad/loose connection or a bad/ cold solder joint on a level/balance control.

What are the speakers [brand, model]? Are they bi-amped?

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #2 –
Quote from: mzil on
I take it the inter speaker cable is an analog connection and the DAC resides in the right speaker, yes?

I believe so, yes.

Quote from: mzil on
I suspect a bad/loose connection or a bad/ cold solder joint on a level/balance control.

What are the speakers [brand, model]? Are they bi-amped?

Polk Hampden. According to the specs they have a 4-channel amplifier, so it seems so. It's worth noting the inter-speaker cables are proprietary, rather than generic. Apart from the first setup late last year, and the re-setup this year they haven't moved around all that much, so if something was loose internally it would be unfortunate.

Trying to get in touch with their support, but no reply yet.

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #3 –
From the manual:

"Note: Euro-style connectors
enable you to run longer or shorter
cable lengths. To lengthen or
shorten your cable, pull back the
cable boot, then loosen the four
conductor retaining screws.
Remove the existing
cable and replace
with cable of an
appropriate length.
Tighten the
retaining screws"

 I suspect you have a screw loose.  ;)

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #4 –
So I pulled back the cable boot and checked each end. The screws on each were already tight except for two on the right speaker's end which weren't as tight but only by a minute amount.

I'll report back in the coming days if there's any improvement ;)

Would be great to get my hands on some shorter cable lengths, too. Since I see they're just four cables inside and the plugs are merely to hold them in place (in an attractive way, if I must say) it's a bit easier for long-term compatibility.

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #5 –
Mini update.

Not really any major change in behavior. The right speaker can still be the only speaker outputting sound for minutes at a time after beginning playback until I raise the volume. Also the occasional imbalance in volume with, again, the left speaker affected.

One thing I did notice is the issue is (far) more frequent when playing audio through Firefox and using HTML5 volume controls than foobar2000's volume control. Not sure what the difference technically is, but did experience the problems more while playing music from Bandcamp through the week at low volume (with a userscript that adds a volume control) than with foobar2000.

Still nothing from Polk support. They've answered questions before, so hopefully it's just that they're busy at the moment and will get back to me about it.

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #6 –
Next time the sound cuts out on the one channel, try running the rotary volume knob on the side edge of the cabinet up and down. [I assume that's the only physical volume knob in the whole chain.]  If that makes the music pop back to life then that's probably the culprit. It could be that the wipers on the potentiometer are oxidized, slightly, and simply moving the volume knob scrapes them clean, bringing them back to life, at least temporarily.

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #7 –
Quote from: mzil on
Next time the sound cuts out on the one channel, try running the rotary volume knob on the side edge of the cabinet up and down. [I assume that's the only physical volume knob in the whole chain.]  If that makes the music pop back to life then that's probably the culprit. It could be that the wipers on the potentiometer are oxidized, slightly, and simply moving the volume knob scrapes them clean, bringing them back to life, at least temporarily.

Interesting, will see it that helps. The dial is a bit 'slow' to turn (intentionally I think to give it a premium feel), so I'm wondering if turning it up and down too quickly will affect it at all.

I don't doubt you've provided more tips than Polk will if they get back to me :)
 

Re: Speakers take time before left/right 'pop' back to equal volume

Reply #8 –
Found a Metafilter Q&A thread which detailed what seems like a similar issue, expanding on what mzil though could be the issue above. If it's a cracked solder joint raising the volume apparently strengthens the electrons passing to bridge a connection, at least for a time.

First tried swapping the L/R audio cables, but no luck. The left speaker still had problems being ouputting sound at times. So potentially it's a potentiometer problem (that alliteration wasn't intentional :p), or a bad solder joint.

If that's the case for the price it's really quite unacceptable how quickly the speakers started having issues with the first six months. Most threads I've found about similar issues have all been about older receivers, rather than close to new.

And still no reply from Polk. Will try calling them when I can.

Edit: should also mention I tried the volume knob raising up/down suggested, but hasn't seemed to make a difference unfortunately.