Speaker Working/Not Working: Gah!

[Headhunter]

I got an old Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Theatre speaker system, a 5.1 from back in the day that's been servicable for almost a decade. Recently, one of the speakers started crapping out; it'll switch from working (and a bit too loud) to dead without rhyme or reason.

These speakers have clamps at the back, with a pair of wires (exposed at the ends) going in. I've tried retwisting and repositioning them, repositioning the speaker itself, smacking it out of frustration; does anyone have different/better suggestions?

[skanji]

slightly thread-jacking, but my tv seems to have intermident lines on it. I have digital cable with a receiver and 5 speakers. Can cheap speaker wire add to the problem?? When I bang my foot, the problem goes away...

Anyone?

[skanji]

I got an old Cambridge Soundworks Desktop Theatre speaker system, a 5.1 from back in the day that's been servicable for almost a decade. Recently, one of the speakers started crapping out; it'll switch from working (and a bit too loud) to dead without rhyme or reason.

These speakers have clamps at the back, with a pair of wires (exposed at the ends) going in. I've tried retwisting and repositioning them, repositioning the speaker itself, smacking it out of frustration; does anyone have different/better suggestions?

take a pic and post...i think i know what you are talking about...

[Headhunter]

slightly thread-jacking, but my tv seems to have intermident lines on it. I have digital cable with a receiver and 5 speakers. Can cheap speaker wire add to the problem?? When I bang my foot, the problem goes away...

Anyone?

Sounds like the speaker wire isn't properly shielded...

take a pic and post...i think i know what you are talking about...

Was just about to, but it started working 80% of the time without any change. Should I still snap a pic, or accept those odds?

[terrybear]

have you tried that speaker on 1 of the other channels to see if it is doing the same thing on them as well ... if it is then I would say it is the speaker or the wires to it are going .... if it isn't that then it is inside ur main unit & would be looking like the amp is failing in it ..

[pestilenc]

Yeah, looks to be like a wire thats broken and when both parts touch just right, you'll get sound, otherwise its noise or nothing.

If you feeling brave, you could always put some new wire on it.

For the guy with the TV: I've seen that from an unshielded speaker wire and also from the cable vision input. I had to run my cable through my vcr and then into my tv because directly into my tv caused huge lines of interference all over it.

[bug]

I used to have a set of those speakers and can tell you that the speaker wires are not shielded whatsoever. They act like an antenna and can pick up radio frequencies. I had trouble with the volume control on my set. Sometimes one speaker would cut out completely. Tapping or jiggling the dial usually solved the problem. If that doesn't work try unplugging and reconnecting the speaker wires from the subwoofer a few times to see if that helps.

[Headhunter]

have you tried that speaker on 1 of the other channels to see if it is doing the same thing on them as well ... if it is then I would say it is the speaker or the wires to it are going .... if it isn't that then it is inside ur main unit & would be looking like the amp is failing in it ..

Yeah, it's definitely this speaker/wire.

Yeah, looks to be like a wire thats broken and when both parts touch just right, you'll get sound, otherwise its noise or nothing.

That's it, unfortunately.

I used to have a set of those speakers and can tell you that the speaker wires are not shielded whatsoever. They act like an antenna and can pick up radio frequencies. I had trouble with the volume control on my set. Sometimes one speaker would cut out completely. Tapping or jiggling the dial usually solved the problem.

Yeah, turning the power off/on also does it.

If that doesn't work try unplugging and reconnecting the speaker wires from the subwoofer a few times to see if that helps.

Will try that, next time it cuts out on me.