Electric/Audio , need help with speaker problem

I have a set of Klipsch Pro Media 5.1 speakers. They have worked very well for the last few years and really never abused except a few times. These speakers for whatever reason seemed to have a lot of complaints about blown subs but I really think its because of the people using them. I know Best Buy had them and they were expensive and then they dropped the price to some ridiculous amount to clear them out. A blown sub is not problem..

Anyhow I'm getting a crackling sound occasionally. I think I tracked it down to this: http://forums.klipsch.com/forums/t/96150.aspx

I've taken the back panel off the sub and powered it up. You can actually here the crackling coming right from that chip or very close to it. The crackling is transferred to the output of the speakers, raising or lowering the volume doesn't raise or lower the crackling/buzz It comes and it goes but it seems the electricity has something to do with it too. For example if I power them on this crackling/buzzing is pretty loud and then it fades out. I have an air conditioner near by and if it powers off to fan mode they'll start crackling then it will fade away. It did this before air conditioner was there so its not the cause of it.

I've heard of line conditioners before and I'm wondering if that might help.

I can send them to get it fixed but its like $60 +S&H, plus its a 4 to 6 week wait. At least that is what they said.

I would try them in another outlet or move them, you may have noise from a source in your house (Coal stove, etc..) if a motor or something has a bad ground or something, Dimmer switches also cause buzzing or humming is certain circuits.It may cause line noise in the AC. I can hear things kicking on/off (hot water tank, dehumidifer, etc...) in my computer speakers subwoofer, I hear small thump every now and then.....

If you have had a power surge or simliar, you could have blown a capacitor or the filter circuit in your amp to your speaker. Maybe a bad solder joint too, something could have some loose on the circuit board from the vibration....? good luck with it.

I tried that, actually had the sub apart in my cellar with just the amp hooked up and no speakers and you could hear it coming from that chip or by that chip. I had them with me at the get together because they are that loud and it was even present there . It's just strange that it gets worse when the A/C kick off then fades away again.

Think I'm going to just have to bite the bullet and send them in.

In my Jeep there is a subwoofer in the center console between the two front seats. One day I was playing some tunes and I heard this rattle coming from the dashboard. I started smacking the dashboard where I heard the rattle coming from. I then proceeded to push and pull different parts of the dashboard to narrow down the location of the rattle. This went on for a few days and it was becoming very annoying. I lifted out the top part of the dashboard that snaps out without tools. I started feeling around in there for a pen or something that was rattling. I was contemplating taking more of the dashboard apart and was going to do it too.

As I was driving the down the road, I stuck my hand between the driver seat and the subwoofer grille and pulled out a crumbled up paper receipt... Instantly the rattle was gone.

It seems like you are 100% sure that the chip is the culprit, but I was 100% sure that my rattle was coming from the dashboard.

Ever consider something like this? http://www.monstercable.com/power/productPagePower.asp?pin=591&LastPage=Home%20Theater%20Power

Is this chip pushed into a socket or is it soldered in? If it's a push in chip, pull it out gently by using two small screwdrivers on either side of the chip. Pay attention to the orientation of the chip. It can go in backwards but it'll blow if you do that. Look at the legs, there may just be some oxidation causing poor contact. Use an eraser to clean off the oxidation and replace the chip. The whole procedure requires a delicate touch, those legs are fragile. Oh, one more thing if you're going to do that ground yourself first by touching a pipe or something. If it's a CMOS chip static electricity could fry it.

Have you tried spraying the circuit board with electronic parts cleaner? I'd start there before I pulled the chip.

Well Hollyfield as there is other posts on Klipsch's forum regarding it and considering it's present no matter what I do I think that's the problem. It's $60 +S&H so I think I'm just going to do it. It's not huge expense. What does suck is they said 4 to 6 weeks. I'll probably just go get a cheap set while its getting fixed. They are awesome speakers, I don't want to get rid of them .

It's soldered, Actually there is two of them. I tried pushing it one way or the other as that was suggested in one of the posts on Klipsch's and worked for one guy but t didn't work for me. I believe one is for the sub and the other is for the satellite's. Here's a picture from the link above:

The part is for sale ($33) at:

http://www.vancebaldwin.com/products/?HC1011

It's a hybrid thick film circuit which means it's unlike what we call IC's today. Thick film hybrid circuits are manufactured by depositing resistive films on flat sheets of ceramic, the film make resistors of various values and connections. The abnormal noises you hear is likely due to internal physical stress on one or more of the components. Thick film IC's can operate at much higher power levels than regular ICs. Todays IC's are monolithic planer integrated circuits, tiny compared to thick film parts.

If you have electronic soldering skills it should not be to difficult to change it yourself. Buy some solder wick at Radio Shack to wick out the old solder. Be sure to use electronic flux solder, not acid core.

My neighbors were throwing away an old BOSE wave radio, I grabbed it for the garage, had a constant buzzing sound, but still sounded great if turned up a bit loud. I found a cracked pc board on the bottom (probably dropped it, since the corner was slightly broken) and re-soldered everything, works great now, especially for a garage radio.

Well there is no physical damage to it that i saw when I had it apart and there is no reason there should be unless the chip could be damaged by vibration of the sub itself.

@Yanche, I have a little experience soldering but none on electronics. I've seen people do it before so I have an idea but I think I'm just going to send it in to the factory. My luck will be that isn't the problem, the $60 is flat fee.

I agree send it out to the factory.

This is an excellent speaker system on sale @ dell. $179 + free shipping.

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/prod ... lid=566643

I always felt that Bose was way overpriced. I like the sound & quality of Cambridge Soundworks equipment.
http://www.cambridgesoundworks.com/stor ... WGOCSWSWA5

I'll be getting the 20 dollar set at Wal-Mart for the interim as they are getting fixed. No sense buying something expensive.

My 8 year old set of Altec Lansing computer speakers are finally starting to die, they occasionally crackle and pop. Just for fun I connected the computer to my Marantz receiver and let the vintage 12" Technic floorstanding speakers shake the office I'm considering trashing the computer speakers and letting the Marantz serve computer duty.

Well these will rattle the front door on the house and it's about 50 feet away. The subwoofer and amp are 33 pounds, it's not your typical computer speakers. I've used them at parties a few times because they are independent of the computer and there wasn't a lack of volume.

The Crate rack mixer in my little shop system gave up the left house channel this weekend while I was flaming a pick up truck.

Never fails - some little bit will fail and take out the business.. Paraphrase: Scottie to Captain Kirk "The more complicated they build them - the easier they are to break"