CBM-170 - hear only tweeter

When trying to calibrate my 13 y.o AA 5.1 speakers with Audyssey, all sounded similar except one surround. Test tones in the others sounded a little like a goose quacking, but one surround sounded like a mouse.

The speaker has only been sitting on a high shelf all these years, so I don't know if it could have been damaged. It was never used at high volume. I rechecked the speaker wires to make sure they were tightly connected at both ends and in phase.

Is there something I should check in or on the speaker? Do I need to replace it?

Swap it with another location/like speaker and see if the sound follows it.

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Originally Posted by powerdog

When trying to calibrate my 13 y.o AA 5.1 speakers with Audyssey, all sounded similar except one surround. Test tones in the others sounded a little like a goose quacking, but one surround sounded like a mouse.

The speaker has only been sitting on a high shelf all these years, so I don't know if it could have been damaged. It was never used at high volume. I rechecked the speaker wires to make sure they were tightly connected at both ends and in phase.

Is there something I should check in or on the speaker? Do I need to replace it?

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Hi Powerdog,

Curtis is correct. Swapping the suspect speaker with a different speaker is the first step. If the problem then follows the speaker you might have a problem and it would be best to give us a call or send us an email.

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Originally Posted by davef

Hi Powerdog,

Curtis is correct. Swapping the suspect speaker with a different speaker is the first step. If the problem then follows the speaker you might have a problem and it would be best to give us a call or send us an email.

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I removed the speaker and saw the problem immediately. A mouse had probably got into the speaker throught the port in back, and chewed through one of the woofer wires. (We live in the country, sometimes mice invade.) I'm going to try to patch the connection together with an extra length of wire and alligator clips.

If that doesn't work, is it possible to buy just a new woofer for the CBM-170?

Thanks for your help!

Be sure to remove any black rice you may find in there while you're at it!

LOL. Excellent advice, Ed!

Fixed as planned, for under $5! And if I stuff a little steel wool into the rear port, the next mouse will have to look for another home.

Glad to hear, powerdog, that it was an easy repair. Not sure if the steel wool will stop a mouse (or impact the speaker performance if it impacts air flow too much) -- maybe a little screen or a mouse trap would work better.

In Vermont, where many of us live in wildlife habitat, steel wool is the standard mouseproofer for small gaps. They can bite through many things, but they can't deal with that stuff.