Speaker buzz

[Phil_S]

I don't know enough about speakers. If you recall, I bought 2 of those Celestion 5" neo speakers from Parts Express for $10 each. It was an excuse to have some fun. I built a cab and two baffles. I thought the baffle was responsible for the buzz. Finally, in desperation. I took the speakers off the baffle and put them on the carpet. Then they still buzz when playing a guitar through them. They are rated 25W each. I have two in series, plugged into my 5B6. Not cranked, they buzz, no doubt about it. Are they defective? These speakers wouldn't be half bad except for the buzz.

[Scumback Speakers]

If you've taken them out of a cab, and they're still buzzing, you probably have your answer.

[Phil_S]

Crap. That's what I thought you'd say. I think I bought them too long ago to return them. I'm going to contact PE anyway and see if they will exchange them. I've got nothing to lose and everything to gain. If you don't ask, you don't get, that's what I say.

Thanks for the verification.

[Scumback Speakers]

Sorry. When we test speakers here before they ship, it's done with a 25-30w amp using a waveform generator signal with the speaker in hand. It gets rotated, up, down and sideways to make sure there's no buzzes, or weird vibration noises outside of a cab.

If you've just laid them down and they buzz...well, that's pretty conclusive.

[xtian]

Sorry. When we test speakers here before they ship, it's done with a 25-30w amp using a waveform generator signal with the speaker in hand. It gets rotated, up, down and sideways to make sure there's no buzzes, or weird vibration noises outside of a cab.

If you've just laid them down and they buzz...well, that's pretty conclusive.

I like this tip, Jim! What signal do you use? Fixed Q or sweep?

[Phil_S]

It's bad news, but nothing catastrophic. It's $20 worth...as someone once said to me, I've paid more for less of an education.

[Scumback Speakers]

I like this tip, Jim! What signal do you use? Fixed Q or sweep?

I have a frequency generator that goes from 20hz to 20khz. The sweep is manually applied via a dial on the unit. I run them from lowest to highest. Generally you can't hear hardly anything below 40hz and past 10-12khz it's dog ears time, but a guitar range is well within those frequencies.

I've got an old Randall RG-80 amp I've setup to do just the testing. Typically it's set for 2-3 on the volume, so it's getting 25-30w (approximately) through the speaker. You can buy one of these for under $75 I think. You need to make some cables to attach the raw speakers to the amp output, but other than that it's a 1/4" instrument cable from the frequency generator to the amp, then a speaker cable with spade terminals or alligator clips on the other end to attach to the speaker.

It's bad news, but nothing catastrophic. It's $20 worth...as someone once said to me, I've paid more for less of an education.

I know, but it sucks that you paid for a product to use only to learn a lesson. Don't get me wrong, I've wasted thousands on old bad speakers so I'm probably way ahead of you in the "paid to learn a lesson" department. LOL

[Phil_S]

Jim, thanks for sharing that.

For the record, I wrote to PE and was completely forthcoming about what I did, including not testing the speakers before installation, mounting them (making marks on the frame), and soldering leads to the terminals. If they had been willing to accept a return or exchange, these things would have been obvious. Their reply was what I expected, and, under the circumstances, I can't cast blame at them. I bought the speakers in November 2013. This is what they said:

Thank you for contacting PE ( it isn't right to give the company's proper name).

I'm so sorry to hear the product are defective. Regretfully, due to the time that has passed, the products are outside of the 45 day return policy, as well as the manufacturer warranty: http <snipped url>

Please feel free to re-order new woofers, at your convenience. We would be glad to offer you a $5 off promo code for you to use on your purchase. The promo is SAVE5.

Again, please accept our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.

We appreciate your understanding. Please let us know if we may be of additional assistance.

I hardly think there are grounds to hold it against them. It doesn't seem like that's justified given the elapsed time.

So, I'm SOL. I can move on from this. I'll separate the speakers. It is possible one is good and one is bad. Maybe I'll get lucky and save one!

[Scumback Speakers]

Wait a minute. I thought the warranty on Celestion speakers was five years? These are different?

[Phil_S]

Jim,
Thanks for that info. Here is what I found at the url that I snipped.

Factory Buyout Warranty
WARRANTY:
All products are warranted free from defects in material and workmanship for 90 days from date of purchase. Warranty does not apply to misuse, abuse, neglect, accident, improper use, etc

It seems these were not covered under the 5 year plan. I suppose I can try Celestion directly, but I think they will figure this out and tell me no. I'll think about it. Honestly, I would not have sat on these for so many months if I had paid real money for them. I still had some fun building a box for them. <shrug> This is a hobby for me.

[Phil_S]

Jim,
Your posts here convinced me to push gently a little bit further. I responded to the email telling me the warranty period was expired. I was very polite, and also very direct. I told them, if owned a business that had shipped defective merchandise, I'd want to know about it and make it right if I could, rather than risk the reputation of my business. I also pointed out that the item is still in stock, so I wasn't asking them to bend over backwards. (I didn't say it that way, but made the implication.)

Today they replied that the team leader would allow an exchange if I paid the freight both ways. Given the amount of time that passed, almost 9 months, I think that's reasonable and I'll try one more time. I've gone this far and I've got the box built. What the heck!

Thank you for your wisdom and encouragement!

Best regards,
Phil

[Scumback Speakers]

Today they replied that the team leader would allow an exchange if I paid the freight both ways. Given the amount of time that passed, almost 9 months, I think that's reasonable and I'll try one more time. I've gone this far and I've got the box built. What the heck!

Thank you for your wisdom and encouragement!

Best regards,
Phil

Phil, ok great...but...make them test them before they ship them out. And make sure you ask them to use YOUR packing for sending them back. I've seen UPS kill so many speakers now it's not funny any more. So I'd probably bubble wrap them at good 2-3 inches then put them in a box before I shipped them back.

Keep in mind, at this point, I think shipping will cost you as much as the speakers themselves at $25 each, but you can alway try something like a USPS Priority Mail medium size flat rate box...that's only $12 each way, and it takes only two days from coast to coast.

Wisdom? LOL Please...I don't think I deserve that. But I do think you should get a working product when you pay for it. So go get those packed and out of here so you get your replacement speakers.

Good luck!

[Phil_S]

They list these speakers at $9.90 each. This fact makes the whole business sort of silly from a dollar and cents perspective. I can ship USPS to them for $8. They will charge me ~$10 to ship to me. It isn't a great deal from a monetary perspective, but for another $20 I can get replacements. I will, at least get mental satisfaction, but then I'll be $50 into a $20 purchase. I get no applause for being savvy about business on this one. I would quit the project, except I've built the box and baffle. It seems I should finish it.

I seriously doubt I can influence them to ship in my box, but they arrived well packed the first time. I think this place sells a lot of speakers and they know how to do it. I can also plead with them or even demand to test before shipping, but how can one know they really did?

Surely, if it doesn't work out this time, I'll quit.

[Scumback Speakers]

Well, you can only ask. I know how you feel though. I'd get new speakers shipped to me and they'd have voice coil rub right out of the box, and all I'd get is "Sorry!"

But I had to do as you are, pay for their mistake and eat the shipping. Sucks, doesn't it?

[Phil_S]

I just got off the phone with the sales person. She said she'd try to get a tech to pull and test, then put a sales order number on them for my order. Apparently, they don't want the old ones back. So it will be $8.47 for s/h when my order comes through. We'll see. I think that makes it totally palatable. Yes, it still sucks for pay 2x for anything, but, you know what PITA I've been to them on this over a very small transaction. I'm mindful that I've probably worn through the welcome mat and they are still being very nice about it.

Curious, when I asked about testing, she said they don't normally as it is the distributor's responsibility. LOL, they bought a lot of closeouts. If they sell 'em for $10, they paid maybe $3 each? Maybe not that much. No one tested them. That's why they were practically giving them away!

BTW, I saw this very speaker on eBait for $30 plus shipping! Can you imagine? <picture: man shaking head>