MacBook – getting bad distortion on the MacBook Pro 15, mid 2015 right speaker

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My MacBook Pro 15, mid 2015, has bad distortion on the right speaker. Headphones and bluetooth are fine, and when I use the Audio MIDI utility to swap channels it stays on the right speaker. I installed another right speaker I bought online, but the problem persists. Neither speaker had a broken cone, and the distortion sounds more electronic anyway.

Either:

  1. I got a replacement speaker with the same problem. Since it was used, this is possible but seems unlikely given that my searches online don't suggest that this is a common problem.
  2. I somehow managed to get the old one I removed mixed up with the new one, and put the old one back in. Possible as I'm a old fart, but I labeled the old one as "bad" to avoid this, and the one in my junk box is labeled "bad". Tho still possible that it was the labeling where I spaced out, but would require me to have been even more of a screw up than I usually am.
  3. There is some sort of preamp on the sound/mother/other board that has blown.
  4. There is some sort of software issue that is overdriving some amp somewhere.

I can solve #2 by doing the swap again, but it required more futzing inside the case than I like to do, always worried my fat fingers are going to break something else when I have to go that deep. Maybe it's possible to just plug the bad-labeled speaker in to test it, but I hate actually booting the thing with the back off.

It was pretty cheap, tho I don't recall where I got it, so if I could eliminate #2, #3, and 4, I'll just buy a new one.

Can any of you help me eliminate #3 and #4?

Best Answer

I impatiently decided to check the other speaker and managed to bust the plug (Doh!) trying to pull it off so I could test the "bad" one. That left me having to actually install the "bad" one anyway, which I did, and lo and behold, it seems to be working.

Looks like I was indeed more of a screw up than usual, in that I somehow managed to label the new one "bad."

So anyway, never mind.