[steve468]

Hi there. Head-fi has been so helpful with all my other audio problems, and so I turn to you once more. Today I picked up off the curb a nice looking set of speakers. Turns out I found a pair of Clements Audio 108di. I hooked them up to my el-cheapo home theater amp (Yamaha HTR-5640) and...they work, but the midrange is very muffled. Guitar sounds like it's being played behind an extremely thick wool curtain. The thing that makes me think they are salvageable is the bass sounds absolutely wonderful. In other words, just the midrange, and to some extent the treble, is wonky. Could this be due to being underpowered? The website says the speaker's little brother 107di (couldn't find info for 108 directly) are rated for 80w, but the receiver only puts out 75w. Could this be the problem? Something else? Or are they indeed garbage? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Brian_the_King]

Well "power handling" is the 'maximum' amount of power they can 'handle' before you run into 'problems', so them being underpowered isn't the issue, especially since they're both 8 ohms impedance and have a high sensitivity. And all the other specifications make it look like a normal speaker [I'm not familiar at all with this brand]. All I can say is try them on another amp, and see how it goes.

 

[infinitesymphony]

Could you post a picture?

It sounds to me like the previous owner blew the tweeters. This is quite easy to do with an underpowered amp, playing loud white noise, ground loops, short circuiting, etc., etc. Basically, if they're not driven properly, they can overheat and fry due to the friction/vibration translating into heat.

 

[steve468]

I guess I'm not really sure what brand they are. They are marked made in Canada, and Clements Audio is in Arizona

The point about blown tweeters reminds me that when I used the extremely limited EQ on the amp and turned up the treble, the sound seemed to get better.
Hm, posting pics would be a good idea, eh? Unfortunately, the girlfriend decided to take the camera to Cuba with her instead of me

So perhaps I'll report back in a few days time? Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Fitz]

I'd look into the tweeters as well. With them playing at a moderate volume, put your ear right up by the tweeter and you should be able to hear whether it's working properly or not. Most of the "clarity" of the midrange actually occurs in the treble.

 

[steve468]

Fitz, you may indeed be correct sir. With my ear right against the tweeter, I can't hear anything, on either speaker. That would explain a lot about what I'm hearing. Wouldn't have thought of that, thanks. If that is the only problem, it would be an easy enough problem to fix, eh? Simply replace the tweeters? I'd be quite happy with my find if that's all that needs to be done - they seem to be nice speakers otherwise. Thanks guys.