# Speakers on MacBookPro



## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

Ok, this is probably going to make me sound like an idiot, but I think the speakers are blown out on my MacBookPro.  

1) How do you tell for sure if they are blown??
2) How do you fix them if they are??

I think they are blown because they make a strange reverberation(?) whenever they play certain songs. Also, everything is really quiet through them, so if you want to be able to hear the audio the sound has to be turned almost completely up...


----------



## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

1. What happened to create this thought? Did they sound ok for awhile, but then due to some Led Zeppelin cranked to 11, they just frazzled out, like Jimmy's hairdo? Seriously, did they use to work just fine, but then out of left field they just sounded blown? Has anyone messed w/ any of the equilizer settings, for example?

2. Do you have Apple Care? Imagine that one alternative is to have Apple themselves review the issue and then potentially replace/repair them.

You say that there is this reverb, but only via "certain songs" - such as? Maybe your MBP has an attitude, and doesn't like those "certain songs"... hmmmmmm... 

Ok, give some feedback and we'll go from there.


----------



## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

Uh oh. You've mistakenly strayed into one of my areas of expertise.

I think rather than "reverb" what you might have meant was "vibration."

"Reverb", short for reverberation, is the remainder of sound that exists in a room after the source of the sound has stopped. We've all heard it when doing something like clapping our hands (or bouncing a basketball) in a large enclosed space (like a gym). All rooms have some reverberation, even though we may not always notice it as such. The characteristics of the reverberation are a big part of the subjective quality of the sound of any room in which we are located.

"Vibration" might not be exactly the right word, either, but I think it is better suited to what happens when a speaker is blown (that is to say, the speaker cone has torn or ripped). The effect of such a thing can be a sound like when you purse your lips and blow hard through them (like if you were blowing on a trumpet mouthpiece).

Does this correlate to your experience with your speakers?

The above question regarding the EQ (equalizer) in iTunes is one worth looking at, as the speakers built into an MBP are not meant to be pushed as hard as the software is capable of driving them.

The "certain songs" comment piques my curiosity, as blown speakers are, generally, blown speakers, and will sound as such no matter what sort of sound is pumped through them. Of course, if these "certain songs" all share a unique characteristic, such as lots of low frequency (hip hop, rap, etc.), it could be that whatever the nature of the tear in the cone is exacerbated by this characteristic. Make sense? The EQ settings could contribute to this problem.

The above question about Apple Care is another good one to answer. But if the speakers _are_ blown it will likely be found to be because of, for lack of a better term, abuse on the part of the end user. Worth looking into, though.


----------



## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

OK, yes, they DO have a select few songs that the sound is worse on...Led Zepplin has a couple of them, but so do Orgy and Norah Jones (songs with more bass maybe???)...I have set the equalizer, BUT ONLY after Blue Monday sounded so distorted, and I changed it to the pre-set "small speakers" setting. That seemed to make things better (but not perfect).

However, the speakers have always been "set(?)" so that they didn't play loudly enough to be audible (distinguishable) even, unless it was set on about 3-4 levels down from the highest setting (under that setting, it just was random beats, little--no actual music could be distinguished). This has unfortunately gotten worse progressively as I have owned the system.

Yes, I do have the Apple Care plan, but I figured that they would probably say that it was my own fault, which it partly was, so no arguement there, and would refuse to fix it.

Hopefully this clears up some of the confusion, so that you can give me a better idea of what to do. Thanks again!!


----------



## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

My main recommendation is to contact Apple Care - do not be afraid of them. Worse they can say [depending on the rep you contact], is that it is your fault, etc. However, they may take a look and decide to replace. There have been numerous other ppl w/ similar issues of 'blown speakers' in the MBP, so that could be to your advantage. Again,,, call Apple 

rant/ No offense at all to you, seriously  but this reminds me of all the goofy stuff I've read over the past year or so about the speakers in the MB [which I have] and the MBP [which my mom has] - how ppl complain about the sound quality and/or volume. Seems that some of these ppl expect monitor surround sound quality out of these tiny little speakers.  I know this is not your dilemma, but,,, just made me think of such. /rant


----------



## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Oh,, Vegas,,, you do realize that there are probably quite a few goobers  that after reading your post above are now sitting at their desks, pursing their lips together, and going pppppppffffffffffffffffffttttttttttttt and/or bbbbbbbbbbbbrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...


----------



## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

That was my intent. I get a perverse joy out of making people do stupid things.


----------



## Farmgirl22 (Jun 12, 2006)

Alright, I called Apple, and they said they would fix it. So I am to expect a box to pick it up in the next couple of days. We messed with it for nearly an hour playing with the system and whatnot, only to discover that it had a problem that fiddling with it couldn't fix.

The woman I got was very nice, said "Aye" a lot, so Canadian??? Anyway, all I had to do was tell the truth, and she didn't once mention it being my fault...so is that being tactful, or do you suppose it wasn't enough my fault to not fix it on the warranty??


----------



## MSM Hobbes (Apr 23, 2004)

Apple, for the most part, has a very good reputation for repairing, taking care of customers. As w/ anything tho', there will be some negative/bad stories/experiences... I'd just be glad that while its a bummer to not have your machine in your hands for a bit, you are tho' on your way to getting this particular situation taken care of. 


/Hobbes says this, unwilling to part w/ his MB for even a day, even tho' Apple will repair the faulty logic board...


----------



## VegasACF (May 27, 2005)

Farmgirl22 said:


> The woman I got was very nice, said "Aye" a lot, so Canadian???


Sounds more like a sailor than a Canadian, eh.


----------



## Cal UK (Jan 10, 2007)

VegasACF said:


> Sounds more like a sailor than a Canadian, eh.


Or a geordie (for the English users here * tumble weed blows across*) also just out of interest have you been using the line in port? E.g. playing your guitar through the laptop? As I've heard this is a very easy way to blow the speakers.


----------

