Veganfloyd
Member
- Joined
- Dec 17, 2020
- Messages
- 38
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- 6
Hi all,
I'm a long time lurker here. Many thanks to Amir and others running this place and other contributors to audio science.
I recently bought a class D amplifier from one of the highly-regarded companies in this forum for a desktop setup. I will not disclose the make and model for now as I'm not sure if the amplifier is at fault, so I would rather avoid bad publicity.
I went ahead with Dali Menuets as my first choice of speakers, but it was immediately apparent that they were damaged with soundstage skewed to the left. Playing test tones with known frequencies confirmed that the tweeter in the right speakers was dead. In the process of figuring out what was wrong, I switched the channels between the speakers multiple times and played some mono test songs with Dali Mentor 1s using the amplifier in question. I assumed that the pre-owned Dali Menuets were sent to me damaged and I sent them back for a refund.
While keeping an eye out for a good deal on a second pair of Menuets, I came across a good deal for used Dali Rubicon 2s which I went ahead with. I used them for a couple of hours in total across short listening sessions. No unpleasant surprises there, but I realised that they were too big for my listening distance and I had to keep them too close to the rear wall, resulting in a boomy bass.
I went ahead with another pair of pre-owned Dali Menuets, only to find out that the woofer in the right speaker was blown. I did not notice this during my first 1-2 minutes listen, which I carried out only for a quick check to see if the bass boom was gone. Having started my proper listening session a few hours later, I quickly noticed that the sound was asymmetrical, though not as much as previously with the blown tweeter. Playing test tones with ascending frequency again, I realised that the right speaker was not producing any sound up to the crossover.
So, I am either extremely unlucky with buying used Dali Menuets or the amplifier keeps damaging them merely by being turned on. Can you please advise if the latter is even hypothetically possible for an otherwise seemingly well-functioning class D amplifier? Just in case, the amplifier turns on with a quiet 'pop' from the speakers, possibly louder on the right side, and louder with the Menuets than the Rubicons. That said, I get a much louder pop from my Nord One MP NC502 via Dali Mentor 6s in my main rig.
Factors against the scenario that the amplifier is faulty include no damage to other speaker models after brief or moderate use, and no damage to the second Menuet from the first pair when switching them back and forth between channels for testing. However, I am worried by the fact that I did not identify the imbalance caused by the blown woofer immediately on the first short listen, so I cannot rule out that it briefly played fine before getting blown whilst in my posession. The memory of these initial impressions is too vague for me to make an educated guess either way. I would appreciate any advice on whether the amplifier could be at fault and how it could be tested for safety, without which I would feel uneasy about hooking it up with any speakers in my posession.
I'm a long time lurker here. Many thanks to Amir and others running this place and other contributors to audio science.
I recently bought a class D amplifier from one of the highly-regarded companies in this forum for a desktop setup. I will not disclose the make and model for now as I'm not sure if the amplifier is at fault, so I would rather avoid bad publicity.
I went ahead with Dali Menuets as my first choice of speakers, but it was immediately apparent that they were damaged with soundstage skewed to the left. Playing test tones with known frequencies confirmed that the tweeter in the right speakers was dead. In the process of figuring out what was wrong, I switched the channels between the speakers multiple times and played some mono test songs with Dali Mentor 1s using the amplifier in question. I assumed that the pre-owned Dali Menuets were sent to me damaged and I sent them back for a refund.
While keeping an eye out for a good deal on a second pair of Menuets, I came across a good deal for used Dali Rubicon 2s which I went ahead with. I used them for a couple of hours in total across short listening sessions. No unpleasant surprises there, but I realised that they were too big for my listening distance and I had to keep them too close to the rear wall, resulting in a boomy bass.
I went ahead with another pair of pre-owned Dali Menuets, only to find out that the woofer in the right speaker was blown. I did not notice this during my first 1-2 minutes listen, which I carried out only for a quick check to see if the bass boom was gone. Having started my proper listening session a few hours later, I quickly noticed that the sound was asymmetrical, though not as much as previously with the blown tweeter. Playing test tones with ascending frequency again, I realised that the right speaker was not producing any sound up to the crossover.
So, I am either extremely unlucky with buying used Dali Menuets or the amplifier keeps damaging them merely by being turned on. Can you please advise if the latter is even hypothetically possible for an otherwise seemingly well-functioning class D amplifier? Just in case, the amplifier turns on with a quiet 'pop' from the speakers, possibly louder on the right side, and louder with the Menuets than the Rubicons. That said, I get a much louder pop from my Nord One MP NC502 via Dali Mentor 6s in my main rig.
Factors against the scenario that the amplifier is faulty include no damage to other speaker models after brief or moderate use, and no damage to the second Menuet from the first pair when switching them back and forth between channels for testing. However, I am worried by the fact that I did not identify the imbalance caused by the blown woofer immediately on the first short listen, so I cannot rule out that it briefly played fine before getting blown whilst in my posession. The memory of these initial impressions is too vague for me to make an educated guess either way. I would appreciate any advice on whether the amplifier could be at fault and how it could be tested for safety, without which I would feel uneasy about hooking it up with any speakers in my posession.
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