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Speakercraft stuff Junk? Help!

post #1 of 33
4/12/10 at 7:43am
Thread Starter 
I recently moved in to a newer built house(2 years old). It has 2 Speakercraft (http://www.speakercraft.com/#Products:85:Products: AIM7 MT Three) in the ceiling as rear surround speakers. For some reason one of them is causing my Amp to trip and shut down when I play sound through it and it is very quiet compared to the other one. I've swapped channels and the problem follows the speaker.

I called speakercraft and I don't think I've ever spoken with a ruder company. They advertise lifetime warranty but were absolutely not willing to help me because I was not the original purchaser. They don't offer repair options and apparently they also only sell these in pairs so they want me to buy another full set for $350 bucks...

Is this stuff junk? Anyone know where I can just buy a single speaker replacement instead of a whole new pair? Anyone else have experiences with Speakercraft?
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post #2 of 33
4/12/10 at 8:01am
SpeakerCraft does make good quality products, but that's no gaurantee that there won't be problems with something down the road, unfortunately. Those speakers are available individually with part #'s: ASM81730L and (R). I don't know if anyone stocks them like that, though. In my experience, they have always been great with tech support and warranty work. I'd try calling them back and see if they'll work with you on either a repair or replacement of that speaker.

Good Luck.
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post #3 of 33
4/12/10 at 8:07am
There is no guarantee that the problem lies with the speaker. It sounds more like a short of some sort in the wiring between the amp and the speaker. Have you checked that?
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post #4 of 33
4/12/10 at 8:15am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwkshift View Post

SpeakerCraft does make good quality products, but that's no gaurantee that there won't be problems with something down the road, unfortunately. Those speakers are available individually with part #'s: ASM81730L and (R). I don't know if anyone stocks them like that, though. In my experience, they have always been great with tech support and warranty work. I'd try calling them back and see if they'll work with you on either a repair or replacement of that speaker.

Good Luck.

I tried my hardest. I was as nice as possible and it was like they were purposefully trying to be rude. NO repairs. No single replacements. They told me to go find a dealer and I MIGHT be able to get a single speaker. I did a dealer check and there aren't any within hundreds of miles of me....

I just don't feel like throwing my money at a company who is rude to their customers.....
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post #5 of 33
4/12/10 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by quadriverfalls View Post

There is no guarantee that the problem lies with the speaker. It sounds more like a short of some sort in the wiring between the amp and the speaker. Have you checked that?

We'll they've worked fine for the last 9 months since I moved in. The wire is good quality CL2 rated in the wall. The wall plate looks good both in front and behind and the wire to my amp is using good quality banana plugs. I don't see what could be shorting.... it just stopped working. I'm probably going to remove the speaker from the ceiling and possible swap with the other one and see what happens.

Whenever I run a channel level setup on my prepro as soon as it gets to that speaker I can here the test tons although it is much quieter than the other speaker. Once the test tons are almost done it just trips my AMP and shuts it down. I swapped cables and the problem is definately not the AMP channel but rather the speaker.
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post #6 of 33
4/12/10 at 8:47am
Ok.... didn't know that it had been working for nine months. You said you had just moved in recently so I thought it was a just discovered problem. Sorry about that. As for them not honoring the warranty, that's pretty standard if you're not the original owner. I would sugest you do a search for a dealer on line and see if you can find a single replacement. Or, in ceiling speakers can be found quite innexpensively from this forums advertisers like Monoprice, AV House, HTD or others. Maybe just buy a couple new ones and replace the old ones. In short order and very little $$$ the problem could be solved and behind you without all of the aggrivation.
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post #7 of 33
4/12/10 at 12:04pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sethhobrin View Post

I recently moved in to a newer built house(2 years old). It has 2 Speakercraft (http://www.speakercraft.com/#Products:85:Products: AIM7 MT Three) in the ceiling as rear surround speakers. For some reason one of them is causing my Amp to trip and shut down when I play sound through it and it is very quiet compared to the other one. I've swapped channels and the problem follows the speaker.

I called speakercraft and I don't think I've ever spoken with a ruder company. They advertise lifetime warranty but were absolutely not willing to help me because I was not the original purchaser. They don't offer repair options and apparently they also only sell these in pairs so they want me to buy another full set for $350 bucks...

Is this stuff junk? Anyone know where I can just buy a single speaker replacement instead of a whole new pair? Anyone else have experiences with Speakercraft?

Speakercraft deals with dealers, I don't have any experience with them as Joe Public. They are a good company and do honor the lifetime warranty.

If the house came with the speakers installed, then most likely a dealer put them in. Was this a spec house or track housing? If so, then the builder would know who did the work. Contact them or find the dealer that did the installation. If the previous homeowner did the install, ask him where he got the speakers from and talk to them.

It does almost sound like the wire is shorted though. Take the speaker down and plug it directly to the receiver not using the existing wire.

Or, if you have one, test the ohm reading with a multi-tester and see if it's reading 8 ohms or about. If not, then take down and test the speaker directly.
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post #8 of 33
4/12/10 at 1:12pm
This is so unlike Speakercraft. We compete with them, but they're a class outfit, and we're close with them. They're very, very customer-oriented. I just spoke with Jeremy Burkhardt, the company president, and he gave me some info to pass onto you, which I'd prefer to do through PM. Send me a message, and I'll give you an e-mail address for someone at Speakercraft who will get you a free replacement speaker...even though you aren't the original owner, and even though you most likely damaged them.

BTW, if I were still doing custom audio video for a living at the dealer level, I would carry only three speaker lines; Triad, Speakercraft, and another one I really don't feel like mentioning...

PM me...
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post #9 of 33
4/12/10 at 1:35pm
Paul Scarpelli,

Kudos to you for helping out even when its a competitor.

btw, I want to know that 3rd line
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post #10 of 33
4/12/10 at 1:56pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

BTW, if I were still doing custom audio video for a living at the dealer level, I would carry only three speaker lines; Triad, Speakercraft, and another one I really don't feel like mentioning...

I know.... Bose, right?

It's what they put in the Corvette ZR-1!

Craig
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post #11 of 33
4/12/10 at 2:39pm
I know...it's Totem
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post #12 of 33
4/12/10 at 3:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by craig john View Post

I know.... Bose, right?

It's what they put in the Corvette ZR-1!

Yes, and it's "ZR1," not "ZR-1," Mr. Wiseguy. And anyway, mine's only a Z06. The Bose system sounds decent, but the LS7 under the hood sounds better.

I won't cop to the 3rd speaker brand I'd carry, because my 3rd choice changed a few months ago.
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post #13 of 33
4/13/10 at 6:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

This is so unlike Speakercraft. We compete with them, but they're a class outfit, and we're close with them. They're very, very customer-oriented. I just spoke with Jeremy Burkhardt, the company president, and he gave me some info to pass onto you, which I'd prefer to do through PM. Send me a message, and I'll give you an e-mail address for someone at Speakercraft who will get you a free replacement speaker...even though you aren't the original owner, and even though you most likely damaged them.

BTW, if I were still doing custom audio video for a living at the dealer level, I would carry only three speaker lines; Triad, Speakercraft, and another one I really don't feel like mentioning...

PM me...

And that right there folks shows PS exudes class and if I ever had the $$$.... I wouldn't hesitate to send it TRIAD's way. Way to go Paul....
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post #14 of 33
4/13/10 at 11:10am
Well, I haven't heard from the OP yet. Hullo?? Jeremy Burkhardt, one of the best guys in this industry, gave me some contact info for you, Seth, so you can get a free replacement speaker. Again...PM me and I'll give you the information.
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post #15 of 33
4/14/10 at 6:40am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

Well, I haven't heard from the OP yet. Hullo?? Jeremy Burkhardt, one of the best guys in this industry, gave me some contact info for you, Seth, so you can get a free replacement speaker. Again...PM me and I'll give you the information.

I guess the OP decided he wasn't interested in the reply's he got in his thread. Too bad, that was an awfully nice gesture Paul.
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post #16 of 33
4/14/10 at 7:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by quadriverfalls View Post

I guess the OP decided he wasn't interested in the reply's he got in his thread. Too bad, that was an awfully nice gesture Paul.

Maybe he discovered it's his amp that's bad
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post #17 of 33
4/14/10 at 8:18am
It would have been nice if the OP had at least shared the resolution of his problem instead of just letting it hang. Speakercraft is a great company, and although I am not denying what happened to him, it's pretty easy to throw a great company under the bus on the interwebby-thingie.
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post #18 of 33
4/14/10 at 10:47am
What I don't understand is why he would be blaming the speaker and company if it's worked fine for 9 months?

Most likely something happened to the speaker line causing it to short or the amp just crapped out.

I've seen rats chew through all sorts of electrical lines and speaker wires casuing all sorts of problems, one instance we were immediately blamed but found out later that they had rats in thier attic and chewed through everything.
Or some work happened and a screw or nial hit the line casuing the similair short.

I wish he would let us know what happened and see what caused the problem.

It's rarely the speakers fault though.
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post #19 of 33
4/14/10 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by ifor View Post

What I don't understand is why he would be blaming the speaker and company if it's worked fine for 9 months?

Most likely something happened to the speaker line causing it to short or the amp just crapped out.

I've seen rats chew through all sorts of electrical lines and speaker wires casuing all sorts of problems, one instance we were immediately blamed but found out later that they had rats in thier attic and chewed through everything.
Or some work happened and a screw or nial hit the line casuing the similair short.

I wish he would let us know what happened and see what caused the problem.

It's rarely the speakers fault though.

That was why my first thought went to a short in the wire. Something as silly as hanging a new picture and the nail pierces the insulation on the speaker wire causing a problem. I did this once in my own home with some in wall CL-3 rated 14-4 wire. It only pierced the outer insulation and barely nicked ONE of the 14 AWG wires, but caused a short and I had to pull new wire. What a PITA it was. I spent a week though checking everything else because it didn't even occur to me at the time that it was the wire.
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post #20 of 33
4/16/10 at 6:12am
I PM'd the OP.... maybe he's got it set up so that he receives an email and will re-visit this thread. Possibly he got his problem worked out and now doesn't need the speaker replaced. Either way, it would be nice to let Paul know one way or the other.
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post #21 of 33
4/16/10 at 8:22am
Thread Starter 
Work has been killing me this past week. I had the grills off the speakers and I was planning on removing them from the celing mounts and seeing if i could find and repair the short myself(having no experience doing this) this weekend when I got the PM.

I don't have my account configured to email me with thread responses unfortuantely. Thanks for the heads up so I could return to the thread. I sent PM.

THANK YOU GUYS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOUR HELP! I really appreciate it.
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post #22 of 33
4/16/10 at 8:25am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by quadriverfalls View Post

That was why my first thought went to a short in the wire. Something as silly as hanging a new picture and the nail pierces the insulation on the speaker wire causing a problem. I did this once in my own home with some in wall CL-3 rated 14-4 wire. It only pierced the outer insulation and barely nicked ONE of the 14 AWG wires, but caused a short and I had to pull new wire. What a PITA it was. I spent a week though checking everything else because it didn't even occur to me at the time that it was the wire.

I have the grills off and I am planning on swapping the speakers this weekend to see if it is the cable run or the speaker itself. I have already ruled out the channel on my amp. The problem follows the speaker on the AMP channels.

I have a 2 year old home and have not disturbed the walls in that room which is why i originally leaned to speakercraft as the source of the issue.

EDIT: Once I rule out the speaker/wire I'll come back and let everyone know how things went with speakercraft or what I find out. Thanks again.
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post #23 of 33
4/16/10 at 8:36am
Thanks for the update. You disappeared, so we were looking for your face on a milk carton.

Let us know what you find out by doing some more troubleshooting. Jeremy Burkhardt, Speakercraft's president, was really concerned that you had not been provided with their usual level of service, which I might add is exemplary. He was disappointed, and wanted to make it right, if in fact the speaker is the issue.

In the most credible industry dealer survey, the Inside Track Supplier Loyalty Test, Speakercraft and Triad tied for 1st place in the latest survey in the custom products division. We both did well in the category of "prompt resolution of problems." Triad has won or tied for 1st for five years, and Speakercraft has been the one that's tied us. They're fanatics about service, and if you've ever met Jeremy, he's just flat-out a fanatic about most everything. In a good way...
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post #24 of 33
4/16/10 at 8:57am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

Thanks for the update. You disappeared, so we were looking for your face on a milk carton.

Let us know what you find out by doing some more troubleshooting. Jeremy Burkhardt, Speakercraft's president, was really concerned that you had not been provided with their usual level of service, which I might add is exemplary. He was disappointed, and wanted to make it right, if in fact the speaker is the issue.

In the most credible industry dealer survey, the Inside Track Supplier Loyalty Test, Speakercraft and Triad tied for 1st place in the latest survey in the custom products division. We both did well in the category of "prompt resolution of problems." Triad has won or tied for 1st for five years, and Speakercraft has been the one that's tied us. They're fanatics about service, and if you've ever met Jeremy, he's just flat-out a fanatic about most everything. In a good way...

Thank you for pointing this out. Sometimes when we call a company we just end up with a bad apple. The fact that the president is willing to get involved speaks volumes.

I will definately spend some time ruling out the cabling this weekend and report back my findings.

PS your involvement here has definately peaked my interest in Triad and I will look at them in the future. Until now I had not really heard of them much.
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post #25 of 33
4/16/10 at 1:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

They're fanatics about service, and if you've ever met Jeremy, he's just flat-out a fanatic about most everything. In a good way...


That's the truth. He is a fanatic and strives for perfection in all aspects.
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post #26 of 33
4/18/10 at 8:36am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sethhobrin View Post

Thank you for pointing this out. Sometimes when we call a company we just end up with a bad apple. The fact that the president is willing to get involved speaks volumes.

I will definately spend some time ruling out the cabling this weekend and report back my findings.

PS your involvement here has definately peaked my interest in Triad and I will look at them in the future. Until now I had not really heard of them much.

FWIW Triad is one of those speaker CO.'s that once you do get a chance to hear them you will not forget them. It only takes one time and you'll know that they are in it to win it. My first experiance is still etched in memory and I have yet to experiance something that could better them.

Dave
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post #27 of 33
4/18/10 at 4:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by ram4x4 View Post

FWIW Triad is one of those speaker CO.'s that once you do get a chance to hear them you will not forget them. It only takes one time and you'll know that they are in it to win it. My first experiance is still etched in memory and I have yet to experiance something that could better them.

Dave

Wow, thanks, Dave. Where do I send the check? (I mean the tee shirt...)
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post #28 of 33
4/19/10 at 5:51am
Thread Starter 
Just wanted to stop back and let everyone know that I did speak with Mike Bartko at speakercraft and he was very nice and offered to replace the speaker.

My testing this weekend concluded that there was a short in wall where a metal plate touches the banana plug. I am working on resolving the issue.

The problem turned out NOT to be the speaker.
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post #29 of 33
4/19/10 at 5:57am
Great news. As a friend of mine used to say, "Solution solved!" Thanks for coming back and posting what happened, and I hope you feel good about Speakercraft again. Great company with great products.
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post #30 of 33
4/19/10 at 6:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul Scarpelli View Post

Wow, thanks, Dave. Where do I send the check? (I mean the tee shirt...)

OO OOOO do I get one too? Tee shirt that is.
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