[Thundercleise]

I've been noticing a static noise in my center channel. It's usually during dialog and not so much during sound effects. A good example is in the game Gears of War, when Marcus is speaking sometimes it's scratchy. The sound the game makes at a checkpoint is also sometimes scratchy. And I was watching the movie Bad Boys and near the end the dialog was drowned out somewhat with a scratchy noise. At first I thought it was the source, but it's happening in other stuff as well.


It's really hard to describe since it doesn't happen all the time. I'm worried that the reciever caused this and I don't want to damage my other speakers. I did plug the center into the right channel and the same thing happened.


I'm at a loss since it doesn't happen all the time. It is a JBL S-Center. And my reciever is a Sony STR-DE945. I've owned this stuff since around 2001 so I can accept that it might be wear.

 

[ABSiNTH]

Try plugging a left or right channel into your center. If it does it, then it is either the receiver or the interconnect. If it is doing it out of all channels with all speakers, then its the receiver. However, you could have purchased a spool of bad speaker wire...how long has this been going on? Are you running a line conditioner? Bad power can cause problems...so if you do not have one, I suggest you purchase one. However, because you have just noticed it, and you have owned the equipment since '01, I would consider an upgrade

.

 

[Thundercleise]

I did plug it into the right channel and had the same effect. I do not notice it at all in the other speakers. It has started only recently, maybe in the past month it started to become really noticeable and affect performance. I think maybe the center might be dying as everything else is fine. I would like to upgrade the reciever at some point but new speakers at this time is out of the question as I'm broke. I'm going to try another speaker as a center and see what I get.

 

[ABSiNTH]

Sure thing. Hell if all else fails, try running a "phantom center" until you can replace and upgrade.

 

[Thundercleise]

Ok, I plugged a different speaker in and I'm getting the same deal, just not as pronounced. Is this some kind of distortion that has ruined my stuff or is there hope with a power conditioner or reciever upgrade? And can you recommend some good gear?

 

[ABSiNTH]

It may be too late if it was a power problem for a line conditioner to do you any good...sounds like your center speaker and center channel on the receiver is wack. I would just run a phantom center (4.1) for the time being until you can afford to upgrade. I can provide gear recommendations but would need a budget estimate...

 

[Thundercleise]

I guess I could do 800 for a reciever. And I guess 500 for the line conditioner. Roughly, but I could always go over by some.

 

[ABSiNTH]

$800 for a receiver puts you in a decent level for receiver performance. I would consider: Marantz, Denon, Rotel, NAD, Outlaw, etc. The 3 latter you may have to look for used on Audiogon as they are above your budget point NIB. You do not need to spend $500 for a line conditioner. Just something that cleans and regulates teh power as well as protects against surges, brown outs, etc. Simple monster power center or something just to get the job done is fine. Throw as much dough as you can into your speakers and receiver...preferably the speakers.

 

[Thundercleise]

Thanks for the help. Are Pioneer Elite recievers good? I really like the looks of them. But I'm not going to buy something because of its looks if it doesn't preform. One more question, If some of the speakers are trash would it be ok to buy replacement drivers and tweeters if needed? My other speakers are JBL Studio and have served me well. Just looking for the least exspensive way.

 

[ABSiNTH]

Yes i almost bought the 74txvi, but decided on my rotel...

. Yea parts express is a great place to get diy components. Nothing wrong with that!

 

[craig john]

If you've isloated the problem to the receiver, you could have it checked for a loose connection or a bad solder joint. Or it could be something as simple as cleaning the volume control. It could be a lot cheaper to fix the old one than to buy a new one.


Of course, if you *want* a new receiver anyway, don't bother with trying to fix the old one.

Craig

 

[Avliner]

I agree with you Craig john,


and I'd say that you might have a " bad connection issue" at center channel, which can be fixed by using a special spray cleaner (you can get this at Radio Shack). It's a special lubricant/dust remover, specially designed for circuit boards, connections, wires, etc...

Try that out; maybe it should work and you'll save a ton of $$.


Good luck & keep us posted.

Cheers.

 

[ABSiNTH]

...or upgrade...UPGRADITIS...lol...

 

[Thundercleise]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Avliner /forum/post/0


I agree with you Craig john,


and I'd say that you might have a " bad connection issue" at center channel, which can be fixed by using a special spray cleaner (you can get this at Radio Shack). It's a special lubricant/dust remover, specially designed for circuit boards, connections, wires, etc...

Try that out; maybe it should work and you'll save a ton of $$.


Good luck & keep us posted.

Cheers.

Good idea on that spray cleaner. I had this stuff that was non-conductive and worked really well. It was made by IBM I think. Worth a try though. I'm probably going to upgrade the reciever this year sometime. Maybe get something with a little more power. I also ordered a Monster Power line filter like ABSiNTH suggested. It definately won't hurt to try.


Thanks all and I'll definately keep you posted.

 

[Thundercleise]

I recently opened up my reciever to clean it out. While I was doing this I noticed that the power supply, or part of it, had an orange coating. It was on the box with the two coils on either end near the two big capacitors. The only way I can describe it is it looked like when an apple is candy coated. I'm guessing it's some kind of chemical reaction so I left it alone. That leads me to believe it is in fact the reciever causing my problem. So it looks like an upgrade is in order. I'll post in the reciever forum when I start shopping