Help with strange speaker clicking

[jhp168]

Hi there

I'm a new member of these forums, and I was hoping to get some views on a strange issue. Apologies for the long email.

I auditioned the Marantz PM/CD6005 the other day with four sets of speakers - Q300, Zensor 3 & 5 and the Monitor BX5. I brouhgt along my own CDs to test, including one of my favourites, the Carlos Kleiber recording of Beethoven's Fifth. I stuck it in with the two standmounters for an A/B test and both me and the sales guy were immediately surprised to hear the speakers clicking when the first, famous loud choppy chords come on from the first movement - you know, the "da-da-da-daaa".

So we tried the other connected speakers, and yep, same clicking. But this time out of the other side. Then we swapped to the floorstanders, and again, the same clicking. It didn't repeat as the music went on, but every time we skipped back, without fail there was a click at the end of those chords.

We tried another CD of another recording, and again the clicking, in the same place with all the speakers but not necessarily coming out the same side each time. No other piece of music I tried - jazz, rock, metal, folk, electronic and dance had the issue.

I brought the CDs home and played them on my Mac book internal speakers and the Bose lifestyle speakers I have attached to my TV. Same clicking. So I bought another copy of the same CD, just played it through the Mac book, and again, same clicking in the same, and only in that, place.

Does anyone have any ideas about what might be causing this, and how I can avoid it? Does it sound like a CD issue (although it occurs to two different versions of the same recording, and three different recordings of the same piece) or does it sound like its showing a weakness in the amp or speakers? It's a moment of extreme contrast between quiet and soft - with short, loud choppy sounds being played. Would that be the reason?

Any help would be appreciated because it is a favourite piece and I am thinking of buying a hifi specifically to enjoy recordings like this.

 

[Covenanter]

Weird! I will be interested to hear any explanation.

Chris

 

[Gazzip]

How loud was the amp turned up? Did this happen at all volumes?

Was the "different" CD you tried from the same master recording I wonder?

Possibly the original clipped during recording/mastering or the power of that particular transient is pushing the amp in to clipping? These are complete guesses.

 

[jhp168]

Thank you for replying. Appreciate it. Amp was about 9-10 o'clock, so not even close to half way.

In terms of whether they are from the same master, one of the two sets of recordings might be. Both my copies of Kleiber conducting Beethoven's Fifth are releases on the same collection from the same label. What's odd, if it's an issue with the source for the CD, is that the same problem happened when I played a CD of the Fifth conducted by a completely different conductor (Szell), recorded ten years earlier and released on a different label.

The clicking happens at points in the music where things are going from silent to very loud, or from very soft to very loud, immediately. The opening chords are slightly different in that they are being played from silence, whereas only the Kleiber also has the same problem when playing the chords with some sound of previous notes still lingering. The Kleiber recording is known for the contrast between the transitions from soft to loud, and his louds are very loud.

If it is the amp struggling to deal with that shift, what is needed - more wattage or is it more complicated than that? It happens on other speakers too - like my Bose companions coming out of my TV headphone socket, and when playing on my mac book? Is clipping audible? Is "clicking" the sound of "clipping"?

 

[Covenanter]

If it's the DG recording (which I suspect it is) there is one review on Amazon that reports "clicking" albeit that is one amongst many, many more that don't.

Chris

 

[jhp168]

Yes, the Kleiber is the DG Originals recording. I bought a second copy of that one. Same clicking issue. I'd conclude that it was a CD issue (of astonishing improbability given its two separate CDs and its a reference recording) but...

Same clicking happened (although to a lesser extent) on the Szell fifth from his complete symphonies on Sony. Less dramatic high and low on that version but still clicks on the first chord.

As does the mono Toscanini set. Again, only on the first chord.

I'm beginning to think it's to do with the sudden increase in volume in the piece itself defeating the amp/speaker combo I tested the other day plus the budget stuff I have at home. Thing is, if that is the case, what variables can I look at to select a system to test? Amp power? Speaker sensitivity? Speaker recommended amp range?

 

[Covenanter]

It's incomprehensible to me! I can't believe it's the recordings and as you say it's more than one recording anyway. Also the transitions in these pieces of music are not SO dramatic that any piece of kit shouldn't be able to handle them without blinking let alone clicking!

Chris

 

[jhp168]

To anyone interested in this topic, it turns out the phenomenon was "bow clicks", the percussive sound caused by particualrly energetic and aggressive bowing by string players. Some recordings more closely mic the strings in an orchestra, and combined with energetic playing, this causes a clicking sound to be captured from the strings, particularly the cellos apparently. You can hear it on some recordings and not others. I suspect the swapping from left to right speakers was because the agent in the store had wired the a and b sets up differently.

Anyway, mystery apparently solved.

 

[Gazzip]

Sounds like a load of Bow Locks to me.

Only kidding. Glad you got to the bottom of the mystery.