Vintage speakers problems?

Question

i have a set of kenwood speakers that are at least 25 years old. they have always put out wonderful sound. recently tho, since i connected them to a new receiver/amplifier and new tv, they have been crackling and it's getting worse. i've even recut the speaker wire to expose fresh wire for the connections to the back of the speakers and the new receiver.

any idea what's going on and what i should do?

Answer 1

Just a thought since these have been around for awhile and its possible they are worn out.

Remove the grill covering the speakers and visually look at the cones. There should not be any cracks in them or the rubber seal surrounding them. Play something through them and listen close to see if its an individual cone that may be damaged.

Answer 2

First of all, the wire that's connected to the red from the speaker should be matching the red to the amplifier/reciever, hte same with the black (they shouldn't criss cross). #2, no exposed wires should be touching each other. Speaking of wires, you probably are usung wires that are old and/or worn out. Or it is possible that the speakers were to weak to handle this Amp/reciever. Can't think of anything else unless you provide more info..... good luck.

Answer 3

When do they crackle? At high volumes or pretty much all the time? I had an old pair of kenwood speakers once too. The foam surrounds on the outside of the speaker cone deteriorated over time and caused the speakers to crackle and buzz. Look closely, if the surrounds are rubber they can just sometimes come off the face of the cone where you can't really see the damage that well. You have to look all the way around and make sure the surround is attached 100%. If the surrounds are foam it will be easier, as the foam will most likely be falling apart. If this is the case you can have them repaired. Having the speaker wires crossed is not going to make it crackle. It will really only effect sound quality and dynamics.  If the wires are crossed, Pos to Neg (red to black)as opposed to NEG to NEG (Black to black) your speakers will sound strange .

They will actually have a great stereo seperation but will have little to no bass. It is important the wires are connected properly to acheive the best possible sound and bass quality. Touching bare wires together can fry your amp.

Answer 4

the if they are 25 years old the 2 most likely causes are the electrolytic capacitors in the crossover network are starting to breakdown/leak or the foam that connects the woofers cone to the frame has deteriorated  these are common problem in loudspeakers of this age. i have a pair of 35 year old jbl L100's that i rebuilt the crossover and re-foamed the woofers and they sound great.