How do you test a speaker wire?

teamkirk · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

Hi,
We learned that our outdoor speakers are fried... which in turn apparently burned out one or two of our receivers. The question now is whether something in the receivers fried the speakers, or vice versa, or if there's a problem with the wiring. The wires visibly look okay and we tested for continuity and seem to have a clear line. Any suggestions on anything else to check with the wires before we attach -- and possibly blow up -- another receiver to the new speakers?
Lkirk

fongs · Guest

Hi there,

So u got any luck in your 2 dead receivers?

As for speaker wires, u can test with a multi-meter. Attach a load (your new speaker or a small resistor) at one end & use your mult-meter to test for ohm readings.

You will hear some static noise (DC) if you have used your speaker as load. Your meter would read 8 or 4ohms depending on speaker type.

A shorted pair of wires would read close to or = 0 ohm.

Smile

teamkirk · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

Nah.. there both dead... But we've now confirmed that the woofers in the outdoor speakers are fried, and my buddy who used to work at Boston Acoustics explained to me what could have happened. He suggested that my old receiver -- the one we've used for a year -- may have just crapped out and shorted the speakers -- that, or one of my four kid could have blasted the stereo at top level (unlikely in this neighborhood without cops coming!) He said that once the speakers died, the second receiver likely overheated while TRYING to produce sound out of the burned-out speakers.
Thankfully, the speakers should be under warranty. Unfortunately, neither receiver was. I just want to make sure there's no problem with the wiring that caused either end to short out. I used a multi-tester to check for continuity and to see if perhaps my puppy had chewed the wires, causing a short. They seem okay. I'm wondering if the gauge of the wire has an impact -- I used one type of wire for one speaker, then ran out and used another gauge to connect the last of the speakers. But they all worked fine for more than a year before these problems began.

fongs · Guest

Nah, the gauge will affect the sound quality, not to the extend of frying your amps.

P.S. it's strange tat your amps' Protect mode didn't kick in... Confused

teamkirk · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

Yeah, we're bummed that neither amp was protected.
Tks for the advice on the gauge... I'm just trying to cover every base to make sure we don't fry another receiver or speaker if we hook this system up again.

Guest · Posted: Sun Aug 20, 2006 5:53 am Post subject: How do you test a speaker wire?

Seen faulty amps producing a d.c output resulting in fried speakers.

teamkirk · Joined: 10 Aug 2006 Posts: 6

Yeah, that's what my techie friend suggested... that my older amp fried the speakers, which in turn fried the second amp we hooked up.
The speakers are now off for repair, with the second amp. We're assuming the old receiver is the culprit, and it's off to the dump, but want to cover all bases before we hook things up again.