Tweeter Distortion


I have an old pair of Merlin 2B plus speakers which I love. I know- they are ancient, but great!
Anyway, recently, I begun to hear distortion in the tweeters. It's coming through from all sources. I don't remember blasting music, or even listening to loud music. It is most apparent in vocals, and in some string instruments.
They are biwired with Kimber Kable, and my amp and preamp are all working fine.
Is it possible that both tweeters need to be replaced, or could it be something else?
128x128oilbird
may be it was problem caused by cosmic energy:) These days I hear twetter distortion too on both speakers dynaudio c1 and Harbeth shl5 with diffrent amps and diffrent cd palyers:) Interesting opinion abaut rca cables
As I was reading the replies in this thread, I was thinking that the probability that the speakers are bad was going to be low. It's hard to destroy speaker drivers - you have to try hard quite with destruction on your mind. It's possible to do but not so easy.

So, it could be
* a failing speaker x-over component
* a cold solder joint in the speaker x-over
* dirty RCA contact all around + dirty speaker contacts
* failing power supply electrolytic capacitors in the power amp

There might be other potential causes but these are the ones I can think off immediately....
I'm also thinking it could be my aging Conrad Johnson PF-2 preamp?
I'll check the contacts- that's an easy start.
I did an experiment, and hooked up my trusty old Superphon Dual Mono preamp, and the distortion seemed to disappear. I'm really starting to think the culprit is the Conrad Johnson PF2 preamp.
It's over 20 years old, and it might need to be serviced.
Also, it could be the interconnects. In re-connecting them to the Superphon, it might have cured the problem?
I would start with swapping the interconnects...a lot easier than swapping preamps or getting your CJ repaired. See if it stays quiet. As discussed, i had a problem with my Oppo...and it appears to be that the RCA jacks are loose and there is crackling in the left tweeter as a result. In your case having both tweeters crackle means it is unlikely it is the RCA connection unless both are faulty.

Good luck...sounds like you are getting there.