Speakers generating odd noise

Jasconius

Since I got home from vacation my speakers emmit a loud pulse noise, every 15-20 minutes. It is medium pitched and rapid.. like morse code, when it happens, the monitor distorts slightly.

The pulse only happens for 3-4 seconds.

I can't find anything visually wrong with the wires. I have had difficulties in the past with my volume control being hair-trigger sensitive.

To the garbage with them? Or could it be external factors causing the noise.

Zifnab

As strange as this may sound, I think it might have something to do with cell phone usage in the area and poorly shielded speakers. I have the same problem with my shitty computer speakers at school but not my good ones at home, and it usually corresponds to someone in the area getting/making a call.

If anyone knows how to fix this, please speak up--it's annoying as hell.

DrFrylock

A cordless phone pointed at my speakers will cause a similar effect, but it has to be in close proximity (a foot?)

urchin

I bet it's your cell phone. It took me forever to realize it was what was setting off my speakers. It gets really bad when you actually get a call, but sometimes it will just cause minor buzzing. 15-20 minutes sounds a lot more frequent than the rate it happens to me. Anyway, just try moving the cell phone 10-20 feet away from the speakers and see if it stops.

lordswing

I'll go with what everyone else says, it's probably your speakers not being shielded. A cell phone doesn't even need to be nearby for mine to go off, if I hit a certain light switch in the room, it will make a short buzz.

Throwing this out there as well, it might be your computer's hard drive if it's nearby. This happened at work, my speakers were placed right next to the computer, and I went ballistic trying to figure out how the speakers could be making that awful screeching noise without any power, turned out to be my hard drive killing itself slowly.

Kadith

Yeah, it sounds like shielding, if it is, you can buy chokes like these at most dedicated electronics stores.

You'll take and put it on the power plug, as close to where it goes into the speakers as possible, which should fix it, if not then try the input cable, if not that then it's something else.

dlinfiniti

do you own a gsm phone? its an effect of the TDMA signal. It basically sends your information in discrete time time spearated packets. While the signal itself is too high the spacing between the packets is at the right frequency for your speakers to pick up which it does. Nothing you can really do about it other than getting a CDMA phone or something

Jasconius

Yeah, it was the cell phone.