Did I damage my speakers?

80dB should not be challenging at all, and should not be harmful to practically any HiFi floor standing speaker in the world. It is also doubtful that both speakers have failed in precisely the same way at the same time. Far more likely we are looking at an electronics issue.

I suspect your problem lies in the battery unit. I wonder if the charge from the battery supply is failing/weak, and thus would cause distortion when playing. I presume it would not simply fail like a light switch, but would falter and cause the distortion. If you have a software package for digital streaming that allows volume control through the software, then you could hook it up using the software volume control, bypassing the battery preamp and going direct to the mono amps. BUT, you MUST have software attenuation! Do NOT hook up the amps directly without some attenuation/level adjustment. With a more direct setup you can determine whether the preamp/battery supply is the culprit.

Or, you can buy an inexpensive attenuator and put it in line. You may actually prefer the sound of one of these alternative setups to the preamp in the system. You cannot know unless they are tried. So, you could turn it into an exploratory time for the system, too. Why not try to push for a big improvement while hassling with it? I use problems to spur me to move the rig to a much better sound quality. :)

Have you had power outages that could cause the battery supply to fail to charge properly?

If you still have problems, even after removal of the preamp, then you likely can zero in on the amps as the culprit. But, again, not very likel that both would fail identically. Perhaps you should isolate your speakers L/R and see if only one is acting up, or both. That would tell you something, too.

Recheck your connections.

Good suggestion with the preamp. Before you swap out the pre,check all connections. Speaker,red to red,black to black. I always try to trouble shoot the simplest things first. 

J, keep in mind a more powerful amp is LESS likely to damage your speakers (by making clipping less likely).  So when you "pushed" the speakers into the 80db range you were only drawing one watt or so of power, regardless of which amp was used.  So as the others have stated, the problem is not the speakers.  Let us know what you find.

Leave those amps on 24/7.  If you are listening cold, that would be a lot but it could be why.  Certain Class D amps really sound like crap until they've been left to warm up for 2-4 days.

@arcamguy ,
Check connections and volume switches in case they’re getting glitchy.


I’d check all the connections and especially the volume switches.

Rotary ones can certainly get glitchy and affect the sound.

If all else fails, how about getting back to an Arcam amp.

My listening level is typically between 60-75db. I don't push these speakers hard,

The understatement of the year. 60dB is not listening level, that is elevator background level. Tom Petty last night, now that was listening level! And guess what? No damage! You got other problems.

Tweeters are rarely "damaged."
If they are injured at all it’s usually a burn out.
NO SOUND AT ALL. Not "distorted."
As corelli noted much less likely with more power. If you did not hurt your tweet before you did not now. It IS something else. Do the work.

It's definitely not the speakers, but all suggestions are good. Check speaker connections first, both ends. I'm willing to bet it has to do with the preamp, battery problem, plug it directly into the wall outlet.

I have the exactly described issue on vocals sounding “hazy and sometimes distorted”. This happens on fuller tones. Playing only vinyl, I think the issue is a mismatch between my cartridge and arm.
Your problem may be due to dirty power. Maybe...

Hello all,
Thanks for your responses.

@millercarbon I always enjoy your posts. Sounds like you listen at louder levels; I will take your advice and check other issues. 

@erik_squires  thanks for the advice; I will leave them on 24/7. 

@douglas_schroeder thanks for that; I'm going to live with this for the week, keeping the amps on; I'll see if the issue improves. Didn't sound bad this morning, but still the occasional brightness/etch to the upper end. If this doesn't improve over the week, I'll swap out the preamp and see how that goes.

I am relieved to hear you all think it's not the speakers; what a pain this would/will be if those things have to get serviced. So, I am more relaxed about that. I checked all the connections: everything's good.

Any more thoughts, keep 'em coming.
Thanks all...
J

That doesn't sound like a situation of overdriving at all.

Have you had those speakers that 'loud' in your listening room before?  Reason I ask is that if not, perhaps the higher listening volume is reacting more with your room and you're hearing limitations of the room's ability to accurately present the sound.

My last acreage had a room that sounded reasonable at low levels but anything even close to moderate levels of the past (the past being in a large 50 ft x 35 ft or so living/listening room) it sounded like sh*t.  Some weird low level slapback echo, other odd issues.   Down with the volume a bit, and back reasonable.

I do not think the problem is in the speakers because you have not played them loud at all it is some kind of electronics issue somewhere in the system i would say a bad connection somewhere check every connection closely.

You just put new amp in, can you put the old amp back in to see if the distortion goes away? Eliminate the last change 1st

I agree with rocray I've just had a similar problem after a cartridge change on my lp12. It was great to begin with but then I noticed a very slight hiss on the right hand channel and slight distortion during loud passages I didn't think it was the brand new cartridge so I thought back to what I had done when the problem started and I had moved the phono stage, so I checked the connections, the leads are quite short, and The black cable had come loose and wasn't fully attached so I swapped it out for a pair that I wasn't using and made sure both cables were secure now the problem appears to be solved. Hope you solve your issue as easily.

Do some trouble isolation. Is it both speakers? If no, begin swapping leads to isolate.  If not, can you replace any components with something you have int he closet? It matters not if its all that good - just that its in working order.
I concur that this sounds to me much more like a dying power supply (early onset clipping) than a damaged speaker.  I would immediately suspect that battery pack -- but dont know much about your specific components (except that I own a pair of Viennas -- and love them)

I have those amps, but don’t have anything helpful to say except to leave them on all the time. I turn mine off when I go out of town, and they definitely sound the most ’natural’ the second day after powering up. But it doesn't sound like the problem you are having.  I notice it as an improvement, rather than a massive change.

300 hours to make a PS Audio class D smooth out. I’ve been listening today and found a familiar set of tracks to have some strange sounds. We’ll see...

Hello,
The one thing that is bothering me is you said it is mostly happening when playing CDs. This leads me to believe it’s not the speakers. If you or a friend has another set of speakers I would try them out or even better put your speakers on another system. This way you can eliminate the variables. It sounds like a connection problem or maybe the input you use for your CD player is messed up. You can try another input and see if it still happens. Get the individual components tested on another system or systematically test each component separately. In the Chicagoland area I use this repair shop. https://www.deltronics.com/
Sometimes when I purchase used amps I have them check it out so I don’t damage my other components. I also had them install a better tweeter on my speakers. It made a big difference!

I think they damage you...

No, speakers pushed to hard blow their woofers, tweeters blow when the amp starts clipping because it, the amp, is being pushed to hard.  Your speaker crossovers may of heated up, 90db is not a hard load to drive, if they were being pushed real hard for long periods of time, this can make the sound coming out as you described as a little grainy or slightly distorted on top.  But this usually reverts itself back to normal after letting speakers sit unused for couple of hours. OP please post if you come to a conclusion of what you are experiencing.

Hi, since it's been like 2 weeks from your last post I was wondering if you found the problem?

Tweeters may be toast.

Hello group,
Apologies for the delay in communicating; I sent the Bel Canto preamp and battery unit off to get checked at Bel Canto and they returned with a clean bill of health yesterday.

Put it back in the system and it sounds the same: not quite the "body" to the sound I'm used to; highs are still a bit etched. However, the system has been off for a couple weeks so I'm letting it run in. 

Next option is to get the REF600M's checked. Again, as those of you with much more experience have said, speaker damage, given my listening levels would be unlikely. However, I'm not ruling that out.

I will be switching out components this weekend: I will slide in another pair of speakers to see if the sound is different.  

I appreciate your feedback, folks. Thanks much.