Well. Its definately not from reconnecting to the network. First of all, its a different sound. And if it did come from reconnecting it would show up in the event log. And theres nothing to see there. Plus, i dont have any network issues. B&O hasnt offered an explanation as of yet.
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A9 makes plastic sounding pops and clicks.
68 replies
I'm sad to report that this does indeed confirm that it is a design flaw with the A9.
I have an A9 and never heard or experienced this issue? I do get the occasional wireless drop, often for a few seconds, sometimes requiring a manual reconnect, but never any pops and clicks!
I have a friend with a MK2 A9 and he doesn't experience the issue either. Anyone else?
You don't think it's cold -> warm issue where the plastic is just expanding?
It is quite possible that this is only an issue when the A9 is wall mounted.
Is your A9 wall mounted?
Thanks!
I'm sad to report that this does indeed confirm that it is a design flaw with the A9.
I have an A9 and never heard or experienced this issue? I do get the occasional wireless drop, often for a few seconds, sometimes requiring a manual reconnect, but never any pops and clicks!
I have a friend with a MK2 A9 and he doesn't experience the issue either. Anyone else?
You don't think it's cold -> warm issue where the plastic is just expanding?
Yes, that's what I think it is. Warping of plastic due to temperature changes. In which case I would agree with Skywalker that it is a design flaw.
But maybe it only happens when wall mounted. If there's someone around who has an A9 mounted to a wall who hasn't had this issue; than there's still hope.
I have this issue as well. My A9 2nd gen is about 3 years old and started making these popping noises about a year and half ago. It will happen every 30min-2hours while the speaker is in use and maybe once or twice per day when its not in use. With the exception of these loud pops the speaker works perfectly and sounds wonderful. I looked for quite a while online for others with this same issue but only found an old comment on another forum with just a few responses, so I always assumed it to be very rare. A few things... -My A9 is free standing on its legs, not wall mounted. -Many replies I have seen reference notification sounds or the source. To reiterate.. the sound is a LOUD pop coming from the plastic housing, more so from the back and not the front speaker. I am very familiar with the notification sounds and this is completely different. It also occurs on various sources;streaming internet radio, AirPlay from iPhone/iPad/AppleTV, or when not playing at all. -As another reply correctly identified, the noise is being caused by plastic expanding and contracting due to temperature changes. It sounds like it is coming from within the unit itself. I think it is the power supply but cannot say for sure. -I did open a ticket with B&O support but found them to be very unsatisfactory. After a bit of back-and-forth getting canned answers to my issues that made it very clear they were not even reading the detailed problem description they suggested I take it to an Apple Store for repairs which sounded strange since they do not sell the A9. Unfortunately my local B&O store went out of business a couple years ago. -The firmware is set to update automatically and is current. -There are no entries in the system log that correlate with the popping sounds, just the occasional software update or loss of WiFi when I may be updating my router(few times per year). At this point I am tempted to take the unit apart and look for the issue but I do not have any service manuals to know where to start. I assume that it is out of warranty so that wouldn’t be an issue. I am inserting photos of my setup and attaching video that I recorded of the popping noise. I put my iPhone in a stand and left it recording while the A9 was playing my local classical station via internet stream(see photo for volume level too). It was just under 2 hours of recording before the first pop occurred. I’m sorry for the background noise but of course it made the sound right as I was opening a package. The speaker has been in standby for 2 hours now and has popped 3 more times... I guess its cooling down. I’m happy to answer any questions about my setup or take any suggestions. Login to view image Login to view image
Trying the video attachment again..
Ever notice that all around the country (US) NPR clusters around 90 on the FM dial? 90.1 above, 90.7 in Orlando Florida, 89.9 for the Atlanta station I barely get out here in Podunk Georgia (aka The Sticks).At least I think that's where it is here, been so long since I've listened to radio I forget.
By the way, Jason, welcome fellow Georgia brother! B&O in the South y'all!
Hey Jeff, thanks for the welcome!
Regarding those similar frequencies. If memory serves, the FCC’s plan has designated the lower portion of the band for use by non-commercial broadcasters. So even though they can request a channel in some other part of the band, the approval process might be quicker and easier by sticking to the limited use range. For the older broadcasters it’s possible that the FCC assigned them their stations in this range as part of the band plan when it was last reorganized. But I’m not sure of the exact history.
FWIW, I have lived in homes within the Atlanta city limits and not been able to reliably receive WABE.. certainly not the HD2 broadcast. Thank goodness for internet streaming which eliminates our reception issues while giving us higher fidelity and a world(literally) of selection.
Hi Jason, that makes sense, and thanks for the info! I've never followed the FCC much, last thing I remember being mandated is the old AM 640-1240 CONELRAD stations for civil defense (no, I'm not quite that old but Cold War history is an interest of mine). Remember them, I have several recordings of the jingle "640 1240 CONELRAD...640 1240 CONELRAD" The idea was that there were two reserved frequencies in the AM band that would be used in case of an attack. All other radio would be shut down, and these stations were setup so that they were broadcast in a way that the signal couldn't be used for navigation for enemy bombers.
Interesting about barely being able to get the local NPR station up there in Hotlanta. In Orlando, where I used to live, 89.9 was WUCF, the college station, affiliated with NPR but programmed locally by the university. They did have NPR news and such and played classic jazz. 90.7 was the "official" NPR station, weak enough it was hard to get the HD2 signal as well. Orlando was also the only town I knew of that lost its PBS station years ago.
By the way, we have another member here, Tucker, who is in Atlanta area.
I’m the original creator of this thread with an update.
It seems that the sound is absolutely the plastic expanding from heat and making a loud sound. It is not the Wifi, power converters etc. I know this as I unplugged the unit and it still make the sound hours later.
I have gone through 3 units from the first generation to the second. I also heard the store unit do it while I was standing right next to it. In other words 100% or the A9’s I have been around have this problem.
B&O support are totally useless. The stores just offer to replace or repair it. They said they have no idea what to repair though.
It is not the wall mount. Mine has been floor standing from day 1.
This is absolutely a design flaw. Other than that the unit is amazing but the pop sounds are a bit of a blemish on it and B&O’s support team.
Location: Toronto, Canada
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