From: William Park via Talk <talk@lists.gtalug.org>
I've been smelling "burnt plastics" for long long time. Main suspect was LED bulbs that weren't rated for "enclosed fixture", even though most fixtures are open. I think it's just the quality of plastics. Anyways, I replaced them with ones specifically rated for "enclosed fixture" (Home Depot's Ecosmart brand). Smell is gone a lot. But, there is still faint smell.
Ordinary bulbs fit in speakers? I would guess that gas emmissions from plastic decay exponentially. So I wouldn't worrry. But if you smell it, you might find it irritating. Perhaps 25 years ago, I bought a set of inexpensive powered PC speakers. They emitted a puff of white smoke the minute I blugged them in. I exchanged them at the store and the second set worked fine.
I've found out that PC speakers is drawing around 200mA even if the volume dial is set to OFF. It's warm'ish, but can't smell directly though. So, I'm thinking to replace it.
At 110V AC? That's a lot of Watts! More than 20 W. That's more than an ordinary household LED bulb. If the bulbs are easy to remove, you could test the current without them.