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I have a pair of stereo speakers, one of which has a rattle in it. I've had the speakers for many years, and would like to fix the problem if possible. Unfortunately, these aren't studio or PA gear.

While I could easily make the argument that I use these as one of several places to check mixes, it would essentially be asking about home stereo equipment, and against the point of this board--you could say the same thing about a car stereo, or an iPod. I don't want this site filled with questions about earbuds and home stereos.

On the other hand, fixing speakers is a good general topic to explore here.

What do people think about questions like this?

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  • Neil, the rattle could be a loose component on the internal crossover board, a loose connector plate, something that worked its way in a port, or a problem with a driver rubbing. Anything not the drivers rubbing is an easy fix. The chances of recone kits being available for your old home drivers, however, is slim.
    – phasetransitions
    Jun 15, 2011 at 13:52
  • @phasetransitions - Thanks, I'm hoping it's something simple like a loose component. Have posted a question to get this started while keeping it firmly on topic: Can opening closed speaker cabinets for service affect the sound? (I really do have two sets of speakers with issues.)
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    Jun 15, 2011 at 14:14
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    Neil, answered for you on the main forum.
    – phasetransitions
    Jun 15, 2011 at 14:30

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I'm inclined to think that yes this kind of question would be appropriate here - so long as you aren't asking about how to get the best kind of home theater sound out of it, just how to fix a rattle in a generic speaker.

The key distinction I make is in whether the purpose of the question will affect the answers. In this case, you're trying to fix your home stereo, and it's logical to think that the same principles would apply to studio speakers, so asking a recording community makes sense. At worst, they disagree and close/move your question, and add it to the FAQ, at best they can and do answer it.

If it were about, say, a car sound system, I'd say it's safe to bet that the solutions would involve more automotive knowledge than sound-hardware knowledge, and therefore it would not be appropriate here. The experts here would be speculating outside of their area of expertise.

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This seems to be a very subjective area, but if you include in the question how the equipment is used for studio purposes it should still fit on the site.

For instance, I am using an old Kenwood amp and Fisher speakers (a basic home stereo system) for my main studio monitors because that is what I already have and it is not in the budget to upgrade to some fancy studio monitors. Even though it is not a common studio setup, I would hope that this would be a good place to get insight on how to fix my equipment if it broke.

I think the main problem with this type of question is that the person asking has a tendency to not include enough information in the question and the relevant details end up in the comments and not in the question itself.

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I haven't visited it as yet, but would this type of question be appropriate in the electronics.SE?

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  • Possibly. but does that preclude it from being on-topic here as well? Would they be able to say how, say, opening the cabinet might affect the sound?
    – Goodbye Stack Exchange
    May 31, 2011 at 13:45
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    It could well be on-topic here for those reasons for sure. I'm keen to see what others have to say.
    – boehj
    May 31, 2011 at 14:17
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I don't see a problem with it as it will be of general interest to those into recording. However, the answers you get to that type of question here are likely to be along the lines of "send it to the repair shop" (at least until this site gets a bit more popular which increases the chances of someone who really knows how to fix speakers being around to answer).

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