I own the scariest pc speakers ever made. help. - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

sandeep · 12-14-2003, 02:56 AM

Well maybe not scariest, but they seem to have the ability to make me jump.

Here's the problem. I used to have the computer in the basement of my family's house, and whenever the furnace turned on, the speakers would crack (or pop, whatever you wanted to call it).

I'm now living in a dorm room, and I have a mini fridge on the desk beside the computer. Whenever the fridge starts up, the speakers crack the exact same way.

I'm guessing it has something to do with the power drawn by the fridge. We also have a strobe light mounted up in the room (gotta love university life

) and when it's plugged in, (even when it's turned off) it'll go off at the same time as the speakers when the fridge turns on. I'm not too worried about the strobe, because it's easy enough to unplug that, but the speakers are a different story, because when they're on, it's even louder. If i'm in the middle of a song or a movie with the volume up, it scares the hell out of me.

my roommate has a rather nice setup of speakers and whatnot, and does not have the same problem. have any of you all heard about this type of thing before?

The speakers are rather old Altec Lansing PC speakers with a subwoofer. I can't find them on the Altec website, so i can only assume they're discontinued. They still sound pretty good, so it's not a matter of them sounding poor, its just the cracking.

I'd appreciate any help you all could conjure up. this one's been driving me nuts for some time now. it's just very annoying. thanks.

flamingpeach · 12-14-2003, 04:50 AM

my altec lansings do the same thing when i turn on my desklamp. Sometime's they'll even shut off on thier own.

Its something i eventually got use to. :/

oberon · 12-14-2003, 05:50 AM

Speakers are strange things.

Mine will shut off by themselves. And they'll pop sometimes, but not in any discernable pattern that I notice.

The power issue on my speakers, I think, is due to the plug not conducting as well as it used to and not holding the power input as well as it used to.

My speakers are about 5 years old. Perhaps it's time I got new ones. Then again, they still work pretty well, and I'm not exactly a music fan.

Anyway, regarding your speakers... I think the issue is mainly that they might not be designed to handle fluctuating electrical conditions well.

BTW, why would you turn your fridge on/off very often? Mine stays on all year round.

ninjaz0r · 12-14-2003, 11:00 AM

I think he means the refrigeration unit thingy in the fridge turning on and off.

cheerios · 12-14-2003, 03:27 PM

It has to do with the magnetic fields that are caused by the flow of electricty. <insert horrible physics flashback here> Try MOVING your speakers and subwoofer (or the fridge). I'm assuming they're pretty close. alternatively, get some newer speakers that are hopefully better shielded against the fields in your room.

charliex · 12-14-2003, 03:42 PM

well if its a power surge, overcurrent or undercurrent you could plug them into a small ups that protects against that, it'll probably only minimize it, unless its as cheers says and its EMF

they probably arent shielded.

split lickety · 12-14-2003, 05:10 PM

i used to have a pair of computer speakers that played a local talkradio station quietly in the background. annoying as hell and occasionally freaky at night when i couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from.

sandeep · 12-14-2003, 08:16 PM

cherrios, i thought it could be something like that, but it sounded silly when i thought about it

to be honest, they're too old to be buying anything new to fix the problem. i'll just put up with it until i can get my hands on new ones.

just thought i'd ask to see if it was just me, or if this was a normal problem.

thanks folks.

Lasereth · 12-14-2003, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by split lickety
i used to have a pair of computer speakers that played a local talkradio station quietly in the background. annoying as hell and occasionally freaky at night when i couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from.

My Altec Lansings did that too, even when they weren't turned on. That scared the living shit outta me the first time they did it.

-Lasereth

sandeep · 12-14-2003, 10:16 PM

well these ones still crack and pop when they're off, but still plugged in.

the worst was one night while sleeping, both the strobe and speakers went off in the pitch dark. i thought i was being attacked.

bodypainter · 12-15-2003, 01:32 AM

My speakers react to my cell phone. I can tell if I'm getting a phone call before the phone rings because the speakers will make this "ka ka ka" noise first.

Ashton · 12-15-2003, 03:59 AM

Sounds like you need a Current Conditioner, All of my electronics are pluged into power strips that are pluged into current conditioners....... my altecs never pop.

but I have a custom setup, all my computers are on their own circut..... hooked to a subpanel off the main box.

I suppose that may make a difference.

Xirax · 12-15-2003, 08:52 AM

At work we have sorta the same thing. The junky speakers we have there will startle to crackle and hum whenever a cabbie drives by. Radio waves. That's my bet.

ninjaz0r · 12-15-2003, 10:10 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by sandeep
the worst was one night while sleeping, both the strobe and speakers went off in the pitch dark. i thought i was being attacked.

Thanks for the laugh man, it's been a tough day.

sandeep · 12-15-2003, 05:39 PM

Ashton, I haven't got the money or access to do something like that here. Looks like i'm going to have to live with the popping.

ninjazor, i'm glad someone could benefit from it

MSD · 12-15-2003, 09:24 PM

Wow, I have to dig out my old Altecs and see if i can get any freaky shit to happen.

wakelagger · 12-20-2003, 08:37 PM

my guitar amp sometimes picks up a news station. I just pretend its all my adoring fans remarking about my excellent skill and soloing techniques.
Or not.

tritium · 12-20-2003, 10:04 PM

Sounds like either unshielded wires or a slight shortcircuit.

Here's a funny story from my own experience. I attended college in Macon, GA -- the middle of the Bible belt, for those that don't know -- with some of the most religious, Christian roomates in the world. About 3 months into my freshman year, I realized that there were noises coming out of my speakers even though they were turned off. With my roommates also listening in, we determined that there was, honest to God, PRAISE music coming out of my speakers.

Come to find out, the cord for my speakers had come lose from the back of my PC and was contacting the metal frame of the case. Somehow, this interference was enabling a local AM Gospel station to come through (quietly) on my speakers. How? I'm not sure, but it was pretty scary.

punx1325 · 12-22-2003, 08:47 PM

Altec's are wierd. I have some ancient ones (the pentium 1 days) and the speakers will pick up my cell phone convos occasionally when I am near the speakers. Gotta love that AT&T GSM service...

12-14-2003, 02:56 AM	#1 (permalink)
sandeep Insane	I own the scariest pc speakers ever made. help. Well maybe not scariest, but they seem to have the ability to make me jump. Here's the problem. I used to have the computer in the basement of my family's house, and whenever the furnace turned on, the speakers would crack (or pop, whatever you wanted to call it). I'm now living in a dorm room, and I have a mini fridge on the desk beside the computer. Whenever the fridge starts up, the speakers crack the exact same way. I'm guessing it has something to do with the power drawn by the fridge. We also have a strobe light mounted up in the room (gotta love university life ) and when it's plugged in, (even when it's turned off) it'll go off at the same time as the speakers when the fridge turns on. I'm not too worried about the strobe, because it's easy enough to unplug that, but the speakers are a different story, because when they're on, it's even louder. If i'm in the middle of a song or a movie with the volume up, it scares the hell out of me. my roommate has a rather nice setup of speakers and whatnot, and does not have the same problem. have any of you all heard about this type of thing before? The speakers are rather old Altec Lansing PC speakers with a subwoofer. I can't find them on the Altec website, so i can only assume they're discontinued. They still sound pretty good, so it's not a matter of them sounding poor, its just the cracking. I'd appreciate any help you all could conjure up. this one's been driving me nuts for some time now. it's just very annoying. thanks.

12-14-2003, 04:50 AM	#2 (permalink)
flamingpeach hip mama Location: redmond, washington	my altec lansings do the same thing when i turn on my desklamp. Sometime's they'll even shut off on thier own. Its something i eventually got use to. :/ __________________ I've eaten my veggies all my life so bring it on, I am educated and strong for the revolution.

12-14-2003, 05:50 AM	#3 (permalink)
oberon Quadrature Amplitude Modulator Location: Denver	Speakers are strange things. Mine will shut off by themselves. And they'll pop sometimes, but not in any discernable pattern that I notice. The power issue on my speakers, I think, is due to the plug not conducting as well as it used to and not holding the power input as well as it used to. My speakers are about 5 years old. Perhaps it's time I got new ones. Then again, they still work pretty well, and I'm not exactly a music fan. Anyway, regarding your speakers... I think the issue is mainly that they might not be designed to handle fluctuating electrical conditions well. BTW, why would you turn your fridge on/off very often? Mine stays on all year round. __________________ "There are finer fish in the sea than have ever been caught." -- Irish proverb

12-14-2003, 11:00 AM	#4 (permalink)
ninjaz0r Upright Location: Milwaukee, WI	I think he means the refrigeration unit thingy in the fridge turning on and off. __________________ If you lived in the Dark Ages, and you were a catapult operator, I bet the most common question people would ask is, "Can't you make it shoot farther?" No. I'm sorry. That's as far as it shoots.

12-15-2003, 08:52 AM	#13 (permalink)
Xirax Psycho Location: Toronto	At work we have sorta the same thing. The junky speakers we have there will startle to crackle and hum whenever a cabbie drives by. Radio waves. That's my bet. __________________ perl -e 'print $i=pack(c5,(41*2),sqrt(7056),(unpack(c,H)-2),oct(115),10);'

12-14-2003, 03:27 PM	#5 (permalink)
cheerios Banned Location: 'bout 2 feet from my iMac	It has to do with the magnetic fields that are caused by the flow of electricty. <insert horrible physics flashback here> Try MOVING your speakers and subwoofer (or the fridge). I'm assuming they're pretty close. alternatively, get some newer speakers that are hopefully better shielded against the fields in your room.

12-14-2003, 03:42 PM	#6 (permalink)
charliex Junkie Location: North Hollywood	well if its a power surge, overcurrent or undercurrent you could plug them into a small ups that protects against that, it'll probably only minimize it, unless its as cheers says and its EMF they probably arent shielded.

12-14-2003, 05:10 PM	#7 (permalink)
split lickety Banned Location: eugene, OR	i used to have a pair of computer speakers that played a local talkradio station quietly in the background. annoying as hell and occasionally freaky at night when i couldn't figure out where the voices were coming from.

12-14-2003, 08:16 PM	#8 (permalink)
sandeep Insane	cherrios, i thought it could be something like that, but it sounded silly when i thought about it to be honest, they're too old to be buying anything new to fix the problem. i'll just put up with it until i can get my hands on new ones. just thought i'd ask to see if it was just me, or if this was a normal problem. thanks folks.

12-14-2003, 10:16 PM	#10 (permalink)
sandeep Insane	well these ones still crack and pop when they're off, but still plugged in. the worst was one night while sleeping, both the strobe and speakers went off in the pitch dark. i thought i was being attacked.

12-15-2003, 01:32 AM	#11 (permalink)
bodypainter Psycho Location: Sarasota	My speakers react to my cell phone. I can tell if I'm getting a phone call before the phone rings because the speakers will make this "ka ka ka" noise first.

12-15-2003, 03:59 AM	#12 (permalink)
Ashton PORNHOUND Location: California	Sounds like you need a Current Conditioner, All of my electronics are pluged into power strips that are pluged into current conditioners....... my altecs never pop. but I have a custom setup, all my computers are on their own circut..... hooked to a subpanel off the main box. I suppose that may make a difference.

12-15-2003, 05:39 PM	#15 (permalink)
sandeep Insane	Ashton, I haven't got the money or access to do something like that here. Looks like i'm going to have to live with the popping. ninjazor, i'm glad someone could benefit from it

12-15-2003, 09:24 PM	#16 (permalink)
MSD The sky calls to us ... Super Moderator Location: CT	Wow, I have to dig out my old Altecs and see if i can get any freaky shit to happen.

12-20-2003, 08:37 PM	#17 (permalink)
wakelagger Insane Location: Toronto	my guitar amp sometimes picks up a news station. I just pretend its all my adoring fans remarking about my excellent skill and soloing techniques. Or not.

12-20-2003, 10:04 PM	#18 (permalink)
tritium Professor of Drinkology	Sounds like either unshielded wires or a slight shortcircuit. Here's a funny story from my own experience. I attended college in Macon, GA -- the middle of the Bible belt, for those that don't know -- with some of the most religious, Christian roomates in the world. About 3 months into my freshman year, I realized that there were noises coming out of my speakers even though they were turned off. With my roommates also listening in, we determined that there was, honest to God, PRAISE music coming out of my speakers. Come to find out, the cord for my speakers had come lose from the back of my PC and was contacting the metal frame of the case. Somehow, this interference was enabling a local AM Gospel station to come through (quietly) on my speakers. How? I'm not sure, but it was pretty scary. __________________ Blah.

12-22-2003, 08:47 PM	#19 (permalink)
punx1325 Junkie Location: San Diego	Altec's are wierd. I have some ancient ones (the pentium 1 days) and the speakers will pick up my cell phone convos occasionally when I am near the speakers. Gotta love that AT&T GSM service... __________________ If something seems too good to be true, then it probably is....