Hey Guys! Back in 2011, I purchased a wonderful set of Creative GigaWorks T40 Series II from Scan which were working perfectly up until last week. They have suddenly started emitting a strange static sound (very similar to the sound of a constant wind down a phone line) whenever they are turned on. The sound is only emitted from the right speaker, it gets louder when the volume is turned up and it even happens when only the power cable is plugged in (not the left speaker or line in.) If it helps, here is a video of the problem. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Cheers David
Maybe it's picking up on something nearby that is interfering and then being amplified by the amp. It does sound to me like the sound you get if you turn a guitar amp up loud, but with the distortion button on or the pre gain (input gain as opposed to output gain which is controlled via the volume knob) is set high. What happens if you plug it into various sources or move it around the house? Could be a loose connection between the pre and post gain sections of the circuit board?
Thanks for the reply, Deders I've tried plugging it into different power sockets in my apartment and connected different devices and, unfortunately, the sound prevails. Would you recommend opening it up and having a look at the circuit board? Thanks again David
Firstly to rule out any noise I would first think about what has changed since the issue first started? Have you added any powerline adaptors, changed power strip etc? As these could be a possible cause? Also as the issue only affects 1 speaker it would be an indication of an issue with just that speaker, it is possible that the cable for it has a break somewhere or the electronics have become damaged some how (maybe a blown capacitor or a dry joint somewhere).
Might be worth opening up if you are handy with a multimeter, or like Andy says it could be an obviously blown component.
I've recently got rid of a set of creative speakers (not sure on the model, but it wasn't your ones) that started exhibiting the same symptoms. I worked out it was heat related, as the noise got quieter when the components were cooler, and louder as the control box warmed up. It eventually got worse and worse, to the point where I couldn't use them any more. Nothing obvious was blown when I opened it up, so I assume it was one of the amplifier ICs.
I have an old set of Creative Inspire T6060 speakers for the rare occasions where I'm not wearing headphones. I have very similar symptoms when I switch them on, although it appears to come out of all the speakers. The main difference is that my noise is not affected by the input or output volumes. The interesting thing is that after an indeterminate amount of time, they give a loud pop and the sound goes away, whereupon thy function normally. Usually I can accelerate this by turning the subwoofer output to max which causes the pop then turn it back down to sensible levels. It's drive me nuts if I used them all the time, but I don't so I can live with it. I have seen a few similar threads over the years so it's clearly not unheard of. I assume you're just out of the 24 month warranty?
