A9 makes plastic sounding pops and clicks.

I got the original A9 the second it first came out. Shortly afterwards I noticed it would make a distracting POP sound randomly when both in standby and in use. It was not a sound coming from the actual speakers but from somewhere within the unit itself. Meaning it is not a pop in the actual audio or sound source.

After about 9 months of the sound becoming more and more frequent B&O replced it with new unit. At first this new unit worked fine but after a few months it also started making the same pop sounds. Again, after almost another year B&O replaced it with a Gen 2 model last February. 

After about 6 months this unit ALSO starred making these horrible popping sounds and I am about to snap.

Some notes:

The sound it makes sounds like plastic popping or creaking from a temperature change.  My Sony tv does it from time to time but not half as bad as the A9.

The A9 was plugged into different power outlets and is on a surge protector.

The source material is not the issue as it still makes the sound when in standby.

The temperature in my place is consistent.

I unplugged the A9 and it still did the odd pop for the next 24 hours.

The sound becomes more and more frequent as time goes on.

I was in a B&O store and I swore I heard their demo unit on the floor make the same sound.

Anyone else experience this or know the possible cause?

 

Me too from time to time.-

How often?

Is it maybe the severed hand of Skywalker?

 

If unplugged from the mains and re-plugged, do you hear the same plop?

the A6 and the Essences make also a plop sound with start-up or after reconnected to the network.

 

What if you switch off the "notification sounds" in the setup of the Beoplay A9 (app Beosetup; Settings; Notifications)

 

Carolpa:

What if you switch off the "notification sounds" in the setup of the Beoplay A9 (app Beosetup; Settings; Notifications)

 

I think it has nothing to do with the notification sounds... He told that even unplugged the plop sound still occur ('I unplugged the A9 and it still did the odd pop for the next 24 hours.'). I guess it has to do with plastic dilatation.

Bought mine when they first came out and yes mine makes the same noise, sometime its extremely loud and very random, I'm very used to it now but probably happens every day.  I'm sure they all do it and I'm surprised it hadn't been brought up before.  I'll ask my brother if his does the same thing.  I can't say i'm upset enought to want replacements though, Airplay is it's biggest downfall for me.

benoit:

Carolpa:

What if you switch off the "notification sounds" in the setup of the Beoplay A9 (app Beosetup; Settings; Notifications)

 

I think it has nothing to do with the notification sounds... He told that even unplugged the plop sound still occur ('I unplugged the A9 and it still did the odd pop for the next 24 hours.'). I guess it has to do with plastic dilatation.

Exactly. It is not a sound made from the speaker. It is a plastic click/pop that is very distracting coming from such a high end product.

Maybe it's worth to try to unscrew a bit and then screw again some screws from the case and maybe from the speakers as well... 

In the YouTube bang olufsen global training channel there is a video showing  how to open the A9 and how to replace speakers. This my help you. The links are in an other post I made about this channel.

Just an update. The popping sounds seems to be getting more and more frequent as time goes on. It happens about 3-5 times an HOUR now even when the unit is only in standby and not playing music.

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

Just an update. The popping sounds seems to be getting more and more frequent as time goes on. It happens about 3-5 times an HOUR now even when the unit is only in standby and not playing music.

--

BeoLab 18's. Beolab 3's. A8. A9. A2. H7.

That's very strange and unsettling. I haven't heard any such noises coming out of mine yet and I hope it remains that way...

Just a note. I brought my A9 to B&O for repair on this issue AGAIN. They had it for 3 weeks in repair with their private contractor.

It came back the other day with the note that it was opened and "the dust cleaned and the screws tightened". Naturally I rolled my eyes at the thought that this would fix it.

Needless to say when I got it home within 10 minutes I heard the usual POP sound coming from it. I called the store and they ask me to try connecting it over Ethernet vs Wifi to see if that helps. SIGH.

I told them they can send me a new unit instead. It will be my 4th. Hopefully this isn't a design flaw and I have to go through this again.

B&O has horrible tech support.

Like it be your power point?

Have you tried another ? (Just a thought)

Aussie Michael:

Like it be your power point?

Have you tried another ? (Just a thought)

100% not as I moved houses and the problem is still there. Not to mention it actually made the sound when it wasn't even plugged in. Im still betting on faulty power supply as it can hold a charge even when unplugged.

I did extensive materials studies at uni, so this is just my guess. 

The popping you're hearing is most likely warping of the plastic panels that make up the shape of the unit - similar to when you have a large tray, and you can flex it in your hand somewhat. And because it's connected to another part, the rubbing of two pieces causes the "pop". Another way to think of it is similar to why earthquakes happen... only on a very small scale. 

The reason the plastic flexes enough to cause this is probably a design flaw, in that there is a lack of 'ribs' on the inside, to keep the panel rigid.

You mentioned that the temperature in your room is constant. However, I might point out that the temperature of the A9 is not, and will warm up to a temperature higher than the room. This might cause one panel to expand, while another does not. IF that is the case, then I can see the slight expansion of one panel causing the seams to rub together, resulting in a pop. Keep in mind, this could ALSO result from the unit slightly cooling down, as panels then contract to the slight drop in temperature. 

My suggestion would have been to re-tighten the screws as well, but I probably would have dabbed some silicone spray in between the parts before re-assembly.

I totally agree with you on that one. I'm expecting my new unit to do the same thing as it sounds like a design flaw for sure.  Sadly they did tighten the screws and it didn't help much if at all.

Guess I have to try to live with a $3000 popping stereo.

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

I totally agree with you on that one. I'm expecting my new unit to do the same thing as it sounds like a design flaw for sure. 

I'm not entirely sure about that - mine doesn't do it, at all. Not once. And I've had it years! Mine is a MK1 if it helps at all.

moxxey:

I'm not entirely sure about that - mine doesn't do it, at all. Not once. And I've had it years! Mine is a MK1 if it helps at all.

Mine is completely silent as well and it's a Mk II (90 edition)

Daughter has a Mk II (90 edition) . No unwanted sounds from it.

 

 

 

moxxey:

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

I totally agree with you on that one. I'm expecting my new unit to do the same thing as it sounds like a design flaw for sure. 

I'm not entirely sure about that - mine doesn't do it, at all. Not once. And I've had it years! Mine is a MK1 if it helps at all.

 

I want to believe that. I really do. The fact is I had 2 MK1's that both did it. Then my MK2 did it. It went to B&O support and was tested again in the store where they heard nothing. 10 min after taking it out of the box post "repair" mine was popping away.

Any chance of a video? Might be a tall order, but I'm honestly really curious about what's going on.

The pops are so random, sometimes it is 4x an hour sometimes it is once in 24 hours so it is really hard to catch on film.

Got my A9 replaced today. We'll see how it goes with this one.

4th time a charm?

Well I got my FOURTH A9 unit a couple weeks ago and have been using it lightly since.

I'm sad to report that this does indeed confirm that it is a design flaw with the A9. This new unit is already making the same pops but at a much less frequent and softer level than the previous. My second unit did the same thing were for the first 6 months it was fine and started making the same sounds.

Either I am the unluckiest person in the world to get 4 units over 4 years where every A9 pops or this is a widespread issue.

For anyone who isn't hearing these sounds I can only assume you are not aware of the pops it makes or you aren't around the A9 long enough to catch it.

Mine sits next to my office desk so since I sit next to it for 8-10 hours a day I hear every pop it makes.

Now I just have to decide if it is worth living with this flaw. Very disappointed in B&O that such a high end speaker has such a silly design flaw.

A personal experience : I had a BV10 that made huge crackling sounds when heating or, even louder, when cooling. Like I was in bed and I could here a big "pop" in the living room with two doors shut.

They change the panel, installed foam...it was better but still there.

Then got my BV11. No sound at all hurray. Rock solid...for a year and it started to make little cracking sounds when heating or cooling.

Oh gosh, not again.

I decided to do nothing at all, just to live with it and wait and see.

After maybe six months, no crackling sounds at all. My BV11 is now three years old and totally SILENT.

So maybe it takes some time for some components to "run in" ?

I had no hope for my BV10 it was really bad from the beginning, regular big "pops" all the time, but I had hope in my BV11 (small pops only now and then) and it worked.

Fingers crossed for your A9 !

BeoGreg:

A personal experience : I had a BV10 that made huge crackling sounds when heating or, even louder, when cooling. Like I was in bed and I could here a big "pop" in the living room with two doors shut.

They change the panel, installed foam...it was better but still there.

Then got my BV11. No sound at all hurray. Rock solid...for a year and it started to make little cracking sounds when heating or cooling.

Oh gosh, not again.

I decided to do nothing at all, just to live with it and wait and see.

After maybe six months, no crackling sounds at all. My BV11 is now three years old and totally SILENT.

So maybe it takes some time for some components to "run in" ?

I had no hope for my BV10 it was really bad from the beginning, regular big "pops" all the time, but I had hope in my BV11 (small pops only now and then) and it worked.

Fingers crossed for your A9 !

Had exactly the same story with my BV10. A lot of retrofit work. Eventually changed to BV11 and had no problems with that set.

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

Got my A9 replaced today. We'll see how it goes with this one.

4th time a charm?

 

I am having the same issue. Not a sound in the first few months. After that it started with a few pops, maybe once a month.

Now, after a bit more than a year it happens randomly, up to 10 times a day. Depending on use. When the unit heats up (and when it cools down) it starts making those sounds. When it has been off for a few days it stops. I think it is indeed caused by changes in temperature, as someone in this thread suggested.

I am curious if it gets worse over time (worse than it already is)

My dealer has not heard of this issue. He'll contact B&O and gets back to me in a few days.

Am I (are we) just unlucky? What should I do? Ask for a new unit? How did you get on with yours, Skywalker?

I have mine hanging on the wall, maybe that makes a difference because of the pressure applied by the wall bracket? Anyone having this issue when it's not wall mounted?

I hope somebody can shed some light on this.

Thanks!

 

 

 

I have been having this issue. I recently commented about it in a thread. It’s exactly as described, a plastic pop/hollow crack sort of sound. Mine occurs late at night, around 1am or 2am.

Sorry to hear about your woes.

Typically, this sort of thing doesn’t bother me too much, since it occurs when I’m not particularly paying attention to the A9, but I have to admit, the amount of popping and how loud it is is rather disconcerting.

Thanks for you reply. 

It doesn’t bother me too much either, but i am worried that it gets even worse than 10 x a day. Or that it causes an other defect. 

Is your A9 wall mounted?

Yes, mounted on a wall.

Someone mentioned that it might pop when reconnecting or refreshing the wireless network. I’m not sure what the correlation is in regards to network connection; that would mean the pops are from the speaker. To me however, the pop seem to be the actual physical unit, sort of a heat contraction sort of sound.

I’m not sure what you have been told in regards to where the sound comes from, or for what reason?

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. 

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

 

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!

moxxey:

Severed_Hand_of_Skywalker:

 

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.

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.