Home / Audio / Speakers / What Does a Blown Speaker Sound Like? [Buzzing & Scrapping]

What Does a Blown Speaker Sound Like? [Buzzing & Scrapping]

573 Views

It’s a terrible feeling to discover that a speaker that once played brilliantly has already been blown and rendered inoperable.

Knowing the causes of speaker blow-out, why and how a speaker is blown, and proposed solutions will help us better understand why it happens and what we can do about it.

We will go over what does a blown speaker sound like, how you can identify a blown speaker, and when you actually need a new speaker.

Table of Contents Show

Blown Speakers: A Simple Answer

How does a speaker system blow out or a blown speaker, and how would we prevent and/or repair this?

When too much circuit voltage is provided to a speaker, it will usually blow out. A speaker is blown as a result of physical destruction or aging/deterioration.

Keep speakers at protected listening tiers and also in safe areas to avoid blown speakers. Replacing blown components is usually the only way to answer when a speaker is blown.

What Exactly Does the Phrase “Blown Out Speaker” Mean?

A “blown speaker or speakers” is one that does not work properly or at all.

It’s an umbrella term for a variety of issues that can cause a speaker in the car or other speakers to seem unpleasant or just go silent, although rest assured that blown influences directly either bad or no sound.

What is the sound of a blown-out speaker, and how would I recognize it if I had one?

Oh, you’ll figure it out. If you listen closely, the most prevalent aural sign of a blown speaker seems to be an irritating tapping or even a scratching or buzzing sound.

There may even be a scratching sound or popping sound either alone or approximately at the pitch of something like the note being attempted to be reproduced by the speaker.

Basically, the entire speaker may sound unpleasant, and there is audible distortion.

There could also be no audio at all from the speaker. Such indications may be sounds of a faulty speaker or a completely blown and bad speaker.

How Do Speakers Blow Out?

Speaker blow-out or a blown speaker usually takes place whenever the speaker is subjected to an excessive amount of signal for an extended period of time.

The sound waves that push the speakers are alternating current waves with amplitudes assessed in alternating current voltage.

The voice coil of a speaker, and the amplifier are intended to be a component of its circuit that transmits the audio signal.

Moreover, the electrical current’s path and amplitude have all been transcribed into speaker motion, which produces sound.

The discharge of high temperatures out from the voice coil is a byproduct of such an electrical current caused by higher volumes. Thus, the result is speaker blow or blown.

What Causes a Speaker (or Speakers) to Blow?

The basic cause of a blown speaker is to blast it with plenty of power for a long time, blasting at high frequencies, at high volumes leading to infinite impedance.

It’s important to remember here that speakers, when perfectly aligned, are built to manage whatever one’s amps could indeed dish out at excessive levels as well as for far extended periods of time than is probable to occur in daily use.

Amp manufacturers use extremely stringent diagnostics processes to ensure one such degree of performance and suitability, making blown device amp speakers (blown speaker) extremely unlikely.

Nonetheless, it would be in the essence of just about any new tech to have occasional issues, and speakers do blow; speakers are blown, every now and then, amidst the amplification industry’s best initiatives to maintain otherwise. It’s unlikely, but not impossible.

Aggrieved Equalization and Volume Are The Most Likely Reasons

Most of the time, especially with car speakers or surround sound system speakers, the balance system is flawed prior to putting up the sound extremely loud, an overpowered speaker which is blasting with too much power.

For example, if you’ve been to the subwoofer or car speaker option to turn everything all the right up while somehow increasing the bass and decreasing the mid frequencies and treble.

Afterward, turn the sound up very much high; wanting more guitar amp or even bass response, you might break the cone easily on the subwoofer or car speaker, then speakers are blown.

Misaligned Speakers & Amps Power Are The Less Prevalent

If you do not pay close attention to the standards when setting up your audio speakers system, you may underpower and perhaps overwhelm the sound systems at the amplification.

Both of these situations result in clipping, which causes unusual motion of the cone as well as coils, but each one has its own set of risks.

Both underpowered and overwhelmed, a car speaker or audio system could indeed disrupt due to amplifier clipping.

This implies that the sound now is ejected as an input waveform rather than a streamlined sine wave, which would be exceedingly unsettling to the cone to replicate and greatly reduces speaker existence.

Symptoms of a Blown Speaker

Here’s a rundown of the problems you’ll face if you’ve had a blown-out speaker. It all depends on how badly compromised your unit is.

Distortion (Distorted sound) at Regular Volumes

If you notice screech, static, as well as fuzz at even medium volumes, individuals have one of 2 factors.

You either have weak, completely broken, or slightly damaged voice coils or a single voice coil (speaker’s voice coil) or perhaps a broken speaker cone.

Whenever you increase the range, the issue should worsen. This should then affect soundvwave quality.

Cone Vibration

A cone of a speaker, the speaker cone, goes fast to push air around enough to create sound. If it’s not pulsating (irrespective of volume), it’s not getting power.

This indicates that perhaps a wire has come undone, or perhaps a component inside the speaker arrangement is starting to fail. This is a clear indication that the speaker is blown.

Inaccurate and unreliable frequency response

The inaccurate and unreliable resonant frequency is a dead giveaway of a blown woofer or blown car speakers.

Plus, this implies you’re going to hear less rhythm guitar or high wavelengths from such a car speaker than from those others within its set, which then affects sound quality.

It is always best to listen at low volume (volume low) or moderate volumes rather than blasted full volume at all times.

Distortion of the sound wave

You ought to be able to tell if a speaker (or speakers) or car speakers are malfunctioning based on the audio it generates.

Turn the volume up on the radio or audio speaker system and try to hear and identify possible sound quality distortions, such as hissing.

When you turn it up on a blown speaker or speakers, this same speaker distortion appears to rise. Remember that the amplifier power rating needs to match the speaker’s rating.

Speaker Experiment

If there is no sound or some type of distortion, especially from the head unit, you may have an unconnected wire, a sheared wire among lead wires, or perhaps a fried voice coil or over-driven voice coils.

To quickly determine if a car speaker (or speakers) is broken:

TEST #1 – INSPECT THE CONE VISUALLY

To visually inspect the cone, first, detach the grill or anything else that is blocking your view of the cone and unplug the speaker from any electrical power, power source, or fuse box.

You shouldn’t have to evaluate anything regarding the speaker cone assembly when the cone is torn or has detached out from foam more around the external diameter.

That foam instinctually degrades with use; perhaps, no dust cap is used; sometimes, it starts with a small tear and is frequently the guilty party if you don’t misuse your active speaker or audio system.

A torn cone or no cone movement is an evident sign of blow in the speakers, even in other components.

You could simply have an old speaker who already is at the end of life expectancy or sound system (speakers are blown) which has died due to a most probable natural process (old age).

With this, it is likely that if you don’t want to suffer from bad sound, you have to get a new speaker.

TEST #2 – LISTEN CAREFULLY FOR DISTORTION

Back to deliberate distortion. It’s presently accomplished by sending an overly hot signal through into the speaker, either electronically or analogy, as with a vacuum tube, when you have one.

This may be what really was occurring to you and caused the blown speakers, which would be a boost staging issue.

If somehow the music you’re listening to isn’t from an authoritative source, such as a Blu-ray disk drive, a music CD, or a formally recognized available for download audio file, repeat this experiment with one.

This will ensure that nothing has been tampered with regarding speaker assembly and that there is no evident physical damage. In the edition you have, the gain you hear may be too high.

TEST #3 – CHECK OUT THE LISTENING ENVIRONMENT

Room acoustics play a critical role in how we perceive sound. It’s crucial to perform this speaker check in an environment that won’t give you a false positive due to reflections, standing waves, or another sound-related phenomenon.

You will need to have the speaker design knowledge and a special microphone to check for reverberations to do this. Ensure that what you hear comes from the speaker and not the environment.

Frequently Asked Question:

What to Do If Your Speaker Is Blown Out?

There are two options: repair or replace. Almost all of the moment, you’ll really like to replace the existing set.

The possible explanation for this is that the speakers must be costly enough just to necessitate a repair, which means re-coning.

Re-coning entails substituting not only the cone but also the full assembly, including that of the voice coils or a single voice coil.

When it comes to delicate, flat frequency response monitors, you do not have such a stereo pair. You may use a multi-meter to inspect your speaker.

Final Thoughts

If we’re actually speaking about one of ten speakers in a hall, then repair the single cone assembly.

Perhaps we’re actually speaking concerning your $30 earpieces or pc speakers or a single speaker; simply replace them.

In most cases, a recommendation is to pay heed to distortion at average levels and inspect the cone itself.

If there were any obvious signs that your speaker is blown or that you have a blown speaker, simply replace the amplifier that blew or the speakers.

You’ll be pleased than you’d get from a sloppy DIY repair and buy parts from a hardware store. When testing, use full range sounds and check all the moving parts of the speakers.

It is most likely that you still hear fade settings, experience thermal failure, audible distortion, and sense a complete lack of power you hear from your speaker, speakers, or sound system.

Last Updated on: July 27, 2022

Hi, my name is John Snow and I am a car lover. With two decades under my belt fixing and driving cars, I'm always on the hunt for fresh, cutting-edge methods to give my ride a performance boost. Driven by my zeal to decode car problems, I'm on a mission to equip vehicle owners with accurate and handy tips. By doing so, they can fix their rides while saving both time and cash.

By John Snow