Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems 3200 loud constant buzz

Both my 3200s had a periodical buzz/hum clearly originating from the backplate, reported the issue to my dealer, he contacted Meridian who promptly agreed a replacement of the full backplate - both speakers are now fine, no buzz, no hum - thanks Meridian, great service…

Hi

Good to hear you were sorted by Meridian.
My problem was different in that only one of my speakers suddenly produced this very very loud/ buzz noise.
What was interesting is that Meridian wanted both speakers back. Also very recently l have heard of another 3200 producing a buzz and then giving up after being switched on after not being used for sometime.

l had mine for over 2 years after being bought second hand from a reputable Meridian dealer suggesting at least 3 years old.

An excellent speaker especially as rears but not without its problems?

Best

Colin
Relham

Well I can officially add to this thread with the same issue as Relham

Loud buzzing from 1 speaker when out of standby. Luckily these were very recently bought from a local PP who will be speaking to Meridian on the issue. Also luckily they have a warranty period with them!

My serial number is

DSP3200-201404

The suspicious thing is that it is less than 400 away from the OP serial..

Will update in due course. Has anyone else had this issue?

Regards
David

I just experienced this [loud buzz] issue I have sent for repairs.
I have had these White DSP’s for almost 10 years with zero issue.

Loud is relative I guess but how loud are we talking about? I now have 11 DSP3200s all purchased from new and they have all buzzed from day one. The buzz is noticeable in a quiet room, constant and doesn't vary in volume so is masked when anything is being played. I have always been annoyed with them as you can't really just sit and relax in the room without being aware of the speakers but I just accepted this as a characteristic of them.

Good clarification and I should have been more clear. The noise is loud, no matter how I try to lower the volume, it’s a constant ~ 90+ decibels, mid frequency and constant until
I shut off the speaker and/or zone. I have several Meridian zones and I believe I am familiar with the ever so slight ‘white noise’ hum from Meridian DSP’s. I was able to solve that in separate zones and with different Meridian speakers 100% with isolation transformers (i.e. Furman), but this is different and I will keep this group informed as to what the root cause was for this noise, and how it goes post remediation. It will take a few weeks possibly longer. I will say that having used these speakers extensively for ~ 10 years with zero issues until now, is very impressive these speakers have been terrific.

I had the same issue with a DSP5200HC. It was the capacitors in that case as well.
Since it's an enclosed cabinet it does get warm in there and some of the capacitors used don't age well.
It seems to affect the smaller capacitors close to the driver transistors the most. (The smaller ones in the center of the board).
They originally have a gold color and turn dark brown/black due to overheating. You can see the larger ones on the edge have partly turned brown as well.

Pictures of board with capacitors turned brown/black.

I also noticed a slight buzz primarily from the left hand driver on the DSP5200HC that I recently acquired. However, as part of my normal maintenance procedure, I removed the fibre grill (after some research) as it was not the usual removal with fingernails but identifying the recesses behind the fibre grill, I used a hex screwdriver to tighten all the screws surrounding the driver and hey presto! the buzz is no longer there (or noticeable).

That is a first for me to hear of a driver loose enough to create an audible buzz.

Thanks Bruce, at the risk of contradiction, the source material where I noticed the buzz, was a Netflix stream on an episode of S.W.A.T which have now finished. I also had my ear directly in front of the driver at the time. Happy to say that I haven't noticed any distortion since, from Blu-ray, Netflix, CD or streaming via WiiM. However, only Netflix & Blu-ray utilise the centre. My 808 plays directly to DI1 bypassing the 861 completely. Not sure if any of this is of any interest to anybody at all but it has delayed my lunchtime walk on a very cold July day only 48 hours away from the greatest political disaster the UK may ever see!

The disaster you envisage will have to be catastrophic compared to the last 14 years of.......

That's the transformers humming. they all do it, but some are louder than others. My DSW made an intolerable hum from the backplate, but a DC blocker, some judicious tightening of the transformer bolt and a bit of compliance in the mounting of the backplate has reduced it to inaudible except when the room is "middle of the night" quiet. Nothing else I own has an issue with my mains supply, so I'll need to investigate further, but the transformer in the DSW is pretty marginal for the power rating, so it could be just more susceptible to an issue that everything else ignores.

My 3200s and 3300 are mechanically silent unless you press your ear to them. The results, as others have noted can be dependent on how the backplate is placed in the cabinet and the tightness of the retaining bolts. It's worth doing a bit of non - invasive trial and error to see if you can reduce it.