Before I begin to rip it open...

[ubersku]

any literal guesses to why my Ampeg 410HLF buzzes and crackles?

Took off the grill. No cone damage. Must be further down, deep in the bowels of the cab. Nothing huge, just an occasional buzz and crackle (insert sample audio file here - or make your own in your head).

I guess I am also asking if there is any history with odd issues with these.
Any positive input would be appreciated. And no, I don’t want to buy another brand.

 

[stiles72]

It's possible one of the port tubes has come loose and is either floating around inside the cab, or is up against the hole causing a buzz. Had that happen on my SVT 215 a couple of times and my B100R. I ended up using duct tape to secure the tube to the port flange to keep them from coming off.

 

[lowendblues]

Bad cable? loose jack?

 

[will33]

Bad cable? loose jack?

This, intermittent connection, maybe in the tweeter circuit, assuming you've ruled out all the other components. A shoddy instrument cable, speaker cable, low battery/bad connection on the bass or other amp problems could all do the same thing.

 

[BassmanPaul]

It's possible one of the port tubes has come loose and is either floating around inside the cab, or is up against the hole causing a buzz. Had that happen on my SVT 215 a couple of times and my B100R. I ended up using duct tape to secure the tube to the port flange to keep them from coming off.

While duct tape solves myriad problems holding in a port is not one of them. They should be glued in place though many are just pushed into the hole in the baffle.

 

[scottfeldstein]

Ok, this is dumb, but.. you're sure its not environmental?

The other day I fired up my 212 cab and was immediately shocked: I had a blown speaker! Fart city, even at the lowest of volumes! I wondered how I'd done it. I wondered if it was both of them or just one! I was breaking out in a panicked sweat, trying to think how I'd pay for the repair.

Then I reached my hand over and held the door of a nearby wooden DVD cabinet tightly closed--the bad sound went away. I'd moved it in the vicinity of my rig a couple days prior. The 212 has enough balls to rattle the heck out of it even at low volumes. And I'll be darned if the thing didn't sound just like a flapping cone.

Ok, though, for real? It's a stray wire inside the cab. Probably.

 

[slaphappychappy]

^^^^ Yup. I used to have a 410 and 115 together and it used to rattle the inside of the walls. I spent ages trying to identify the problem, and while having the stereo loud noticed the same rattle. Found out that the old house rattled and creaked like buggery from the low frequency.

 

[jacostilllives]

Magnet on one of your speakers could be loose. That would explain why it's only happening at certain frequencies. Had this happen to me before. Easy fix.

 

[juggernaut1]

I have a loose magnet on an Eminence Delta, how do you fix it?

 

[will33]

If it's riveted, not much you can do with just "around the house" type tools, equipment. If it's just glued, you can reglue it making sure everything is clean and centered properly.

 

[juggernaut1]

Thanks. Ill give it a go.

 

[will33]

Thanks. Ill give it a go.

Check the voice coil for little scrape marks. If the magnet is hanging crooked it can do that. If that's the case, just replace the speaker. If it looks ok hell, try re-attching the magnet. It's broke now, not like you could make it worse.

 

[ubersku]

Hey, all, thanks for all the great ideas on where to look. I tried a couple more cabs and discovered it was the amp. I had just never heard the sound before in my other cabs. Swapped out some tubes and problem solved. No more crackle. Go figure!

Now I have CAT PISS to clean off the grills. GGGGRRRRRRR...