Crackling Sound

[Anonymous]

Indeed, electrostatic speakers are sensitive to humidity. Greater levels of humidity require setting a higher bias setting for optimum results. Should the humidity level fall, it will likely now be too high and you’ll hear the crackling. Just dial them back enough to eliminate the sound.

I maintain a small dehumidifier in the listening room and try to keep the level below 55% so that I don’t have to set the bias particularly high.

As for me, I leave them powered up 24/7 unless I’m on vacation or anticipate nasty storms approaching.

[BelleMusique]

Hello King

I have a pair of A3. At one moment I’ve had this kind of problem on one speaker. It turned out to be a moisture issue. The speaker was close to the open window on rainy days and picked up some moisture from the outside. After exposing it to the heat of the sunlight for all day long the problem disappeared by itself. It may not be the same issue on your speaker. Dr. West will certainly know the best.

[kingdeezie]

Hello SL owners members! I have an issue that I hope I could get some guidance on. I have emailed Dr. West about the issue and am awaiting a response.

I have a pair of Majestic 645s that I bought new in November 2018. I have enjoyed them very much.

Usually, since there doesn’t seem to be a consensus on power to the speakers, I switch them on and off via switched outlets.

Last night after a listening session, when I bent down to turn off the outlet switch, I heard a faint crackling. The crackling is similar to the bias noise. This is the first time I heard it having not changed the bias.

To really hear the noise, I had to place my ear almost on top of the speaker.

I turned the bias down, and it didn’t seem to have a large affect on the noise.

Being that it was late, I returned the bias to where it was before, and powered everything down.

I couldn’t hear the noise at any serious distance from the speaker, like I mentioned, I had to be very close to it.

Has anyone experienced anything like this?

I use a Pass Labs 350.8, and I don’t listen very loud. In fact, most times, the amp meter stays static. So, I’m not overdriving the panels, or clipping the amp.

The speakers sound fine. I haven’t noticed any decrease in performance.

Is this something anyone else has had happen? I know the crackling is static discharge. Could it be something is on the panel? Like dust or, heaven forbid, a bug of some variety?

Does this indicate the panel is going bad? Arching? I would hope for the cost, that after only 17 months, these are not going bad already.

Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks!

[Author]

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