Well… The worst has happened (okay, one of the worst things for an audiophile). The PWD/Bridge wasn’t responding and I was getting some “scratchy” static sounds (“electrical hash”) emitting from my left channel speaker. When I went to turn the PWD volume down I heard a loud static pop from the same speaker. Well, the tweeter is fried. Wasn’t there an earlier thread about this (it seems to me that something similar happened to someone else).
Anyway, we’re talking about a TAD Concentric Drive Unit (midrange and tweeter) - I fear it is going to really set me back. I sure as hell don’t want this to ever happen again. Is this a known issue or a fluke…!! Is there anything I need to know so I can properly address the matter (i.e.: make sure it won’t happen again)?
Note: Near the time this occurred, we had experienced some nasty thunder storms in the area. I have the PWD plugged into a Quintet… @-)
Ben that is NASTY!
You’ll need to get everything checked out to find out how far up the chain the problem is.
This is dreadful.
I bet it is a fluke.
I also doubt the storms had any impact, unless they were on top of you and there were other electrical anomalies in the house at the time.
Start with the amp, of course. Does anything smell a bit fried?
Ben what a nightmare!
Not sure if there was a thread about this, but I also had static pops when using the PWD direct on a poweramp. Sometimes loud enough to worry. With the latest firmware 2.2.0 it was better but not solved. Once or twice I had a situation where the PWD didn’t respond immidiately followed by a loud pop. I almost forgot but it also happened once that my poweramp tripped into protected mode. My amp can do 300W into 8 Ohm easely so pops can be very powerful.
@wijnand: "…Once or twice I had a situation where the PWD didn’t respond immediately followed by a loud pop."
Same thing happened on my end last night. The PWD (or Bridge) wasn’t responding, but when I adjusted the volume I was getting some minor static sounds. Now that I have thought about it, I believe what I did was turn the volume all the way down and then I turned the PWD off via the rear panel switch. That’s when the loud pop occurred.
The damn concentric drive unit consists of a beryllium tweeter housed in a magnesium midrange driver. I’ve heard the whole unit is pretty costly to replace, but I have yet to be told the bad news. I don’t know if the tweeter can be replaced, or if the entire concentric unit (mid & tweet) has to be replaced. I am crossing my fingers… :-((
@timequest that is very sad 
To prevent this in future (and it may not be PWD, but any device feeding power amp) I would suggest to turn off the AMP 1st and only then the source.
Yes agree it is a very good practice to perform in any situation where components are not responding normally.
I see it like this assume you were to yank out any electrical cable while all your components are powered up - never do this the energy has to go somewhere and by design it will in most cases be out your speaker.
in an unknown situation where its difficult to determine what has happened-
As maniac said turn the power off to the amp excellent course of action for prevention. Should work in most situations.
And Ben really sorry to hear, I hope its not costly to repair and is managed quickly for you, best of luck
Regards
John
Thanks guys. Just one of those things! I wish I would have turned the amp off first ~X(
Ben, let me know which TAD speaker that you have and it’s vintage. I may be able to get that driver for you at a friendly cost. No promises, though. Often times speaker manufacturers exchange your unit for one that is already repaired so they may not just fix yours and send it back. If necessary, are you comfortable removing the driver yourself?
Dorky question. Is the tweeter fused internally? Just had to ask.
timequest said: I wish I would have turned the amp off first
Of course, but do not beat yourself up; few of us would have immediately thought of it at the time.
Ben, sorry to hear about this. I hope you can find an equitable solution.
I am the most paranoid person on the planet when it comes to speaker protection and the above advice is high on my “turn off” sequence list too.
I wonder why ticks or pops could cause a speaker to blow unless the volume was extremely loud?
It might be a good idea to dbl check the output “upstream” while the speaker issue is being dealt with, just to be sure that no DC or other gremlin is involved.
Also heed the Warning about turning off your amp when installing firmware. NOT just reducing volume level.
could easily be something in the amp that took out the speaker driver and anything attributed to the PWD is spurious. Time for it to go to the doctor.
Thanks guys. I think it’s the PWD/Bridge. I did have the volume all the way off (mute) when I turned off the switch. I have been playing around with the JRiver MC18, which entails switching between EMM and MC18 for comparisons. In doing this, I have noticed some instances when the Bridge acts strangely (as in being confused as to which server it is trying to communicate with). It is during a switch to the JR server that I suddenly lost music via the Bridge. That is when I heard some static “hash” emanating from the left channel; at which point I muted, then turned off the DAC and experienced the loud pop. The Krell amp is relatively new and has been working flawlessly. I can’t help but suspect the Bridge (PWD?) - especially since others have reported similar issues…
wglenn: Mine are the EX series - specifically, the S-1EX series (serial number: JJMN000038UC) - fortunately, less expensive than the Evolution Series. But a beryllium/magnesium concentric driver just the same - which I fear will set me back. I would certainly appreciate a “friendly cost” if you have the resources…
NOTE: Is there any additional harm that I could cause by listening to the damaged speaker; I can still enjoy music, since the midrange is intact (the soundstage is a bit skewed to the right and the overall presentation is considerably warmer, but not terrible).
Maybe some or all pops are direct current. Something speakers can't handle.
I wonder why ticks or pops could cause a speaker to blow unless the volume was extremely loud?
Oooooh, what an ugly thought!
Can this even be possible?
Now I’m paranoid…
When it is a capacity unloading it must be direct current. But I’m not sure it is!
No harm in further listening except disappointment I’m afraid.