Terrible ribbon sound (problem resolved)

Open letter to DaveS:
(Open because many may benefit from the solution)

Enjoyed your hospitality and much appreciated your appraisal of the ribbon the other day. Love your Mrs. and her fabulous quilting. And Max, he’s still the same old whore – anybody can pet him.

Got home rather late (too long a story), but reassembled the speaker and cranked her up, and it sounded…terrible!!! Not just the ribbon in question, but all four of them, some worse than others. As soon as I turned her up good and loud (that never takes me long) I heard buzzes, pops, distortion – enough to make anybody think the whole rig had gone belly-up. Really awful. Turned her down for a while and it sounded fine there. Later, when cranking it up again, everything OK, normal, just peachy-dandy, and no problem since. So what goes here?

I have to figure it’s humidity – we’d had cool drizzle for about 4-5 days, no heating, no A/C, house just staying about 70 degrees and relative humidity higher than 70%. So, running them cooks out the moisture? Is that a reasonable theory? Can dampness do that? Or loose screws? Or have I got a screw loose?

Rob

Humidity is one of the ribbons worst enemies...
Then there's under powering them,
then over powering them.

Yes, it's possible the humidity had allot to do with it.
Kapton CAN absorb moisture, and when it does, it's like a wet paper towel, just flopping around.
Turn on the AC if it does it again, and watch it stop in front of you.

Thanks James, I figured as much, but a little reassurance is great and much appreciated.
This really was a case where a warm-up was noticeable, and how.
"Flopping around" describes what I heard pretty well, and it wasn't pretty.

You poor guys in Florida wouldn't understand, but it's now too cold here to turn on the A/C again, until late next May. It was 42 this morning, and by now I'm running the woodstove, on low, and the silvers are again their old, wonderful selves, all three pairs of 'em.

That week when I ran nothing to heat or cool the house was what we around here (Rochester, NY) call late summer. Now it's Fall, and in a few weeks the first snow showers will debut.

You don't even want to know what happens after that...

Robert R

Yes, I forgot about you not have A/C on to take out the humidity.

[DaveS]

I don`t think it`s the Kapton(it`s plastic) I think it`s the wood (MDF) core that abosrbs the moisture and makes the ribbons go crazy. In either case AC or dry heat( keeping the house warm in winter) should take care of it. Had the reverse happen in FL summertime hot humid they buzzed, turned on the AC all was better. Fine the buzz and snug up the screws around it

Thanks Dave,

Sorry about the way I titled this thread; I just wanted to be sure you noticed it, but now it looks a bit inflammatory. I'll see if I can edit it.

I'll print and save your sage advice to test the next time there is some wet weather between the heating and cooling seasons. Could still happen this year, but I doubt it. Tomorrow supposed to have high of 55, with 39 at night. And it doesn't get better as we slide toward the dismalness that is November.

Rob

I don`t think it`s the Kapton(it`s plastic) I think it`s the wood(turepan) core that abosrbs the moisture and makes the ribbons go crazy. In either case AC or dry heat( keeping the house warm in winter) should take care of it. Had the reverse happen in FL summertime hot humid they buzzed, turned on the AC all was better. Fine the buzz and snug up the screws around it

U'r wrong... it IS the Kapton... plastics can and DO absorb liquids/moisture... Try cleaning some acrylic with some Windex, and see what happens to it. ( I'm not paying to replace it by the way if you do )
If it's NOT the Kapton, why do you tell them to try the hairdryer trick ??? The heat evaporates the moisture, and the Kapton tightens just like a drum.

Another good reason to live in the Sonoran Desert - keeps my ribbons dry!

And the one good thing about leaving Mesa after living there for 11 years...McCain....

There's a lot more wrong with Mesa than one of our senators

Agreed Bill , but I have to start with the people who DO NOT hold up our federal laws....Joe cannot do every thing...

Well, I found that I couldn't edit the title of thread, but someone kindly did it for me.

Meanwhile it went all political, somehow, so I guess its over anyhow.
RobertR

I realize I'm beating a dead horse but no one mentioned a good old dehumidifier. Set it and forget it. Had exactly the same problem. Ran the humidifier flat out for three days . Problem solved. I just leave it on all the time. Once the heat comes on in the winter time it will hardly come in at all. In the summer it is on and off pretty well all the time. Art

Glad it worked for you... It doesn't always, but it is the easiest starting point for ribbon problems, and the cheapest.
Down here in SW FL the waether changes 2-3 times a day... and if the AC's not on, the ribbons work in the morning, buzz in the afternoon, and work fine again at night. Kinda crazy !!!

Humidity is one of the ribbons worst enemies...
Then there's under powering them,
then over powering them.

How much power is to much power, aren't these speakers rated like 1000 Watts