On Linux there are weird audio issues that lead to speaker pop, and sometimes opening a new tab can make the audio running from other tabs permanently distorted and static-y until you reboot. (Not a complaint. I've always wondered if it was a browser or audio system issue.)
When I had this issue, it was fixed by disabling and removing the speech-dispatcher. Something to do with text to speech (I never use it but is sure to be a pain if you do need it) automatically doing things that corrupt the audio stream globally.
