Eseries / Communicators :: E71x - Speaker Is Static-y When Using Phone?

my nokia e71x recently started giving me a very static-y signal when making or receiving calls. my voice apparently sounds fine to whoever i'm talking to but what i hear in the earpiece is full of static, as if the signal is very weak. this is happening no matter where i am (even in places where i know the signal is strong). i'm in new york city. the speaker appears to be ok when doing other things, e.g. watching video clips on Internet. it's just phone calls that sound **bleep**.this just started in the last few days. it's possible the phone was exposed to heat, sand and (maybe) water as we were recently on vacation, but other than the bad sound everything works and looks fine.my contract is about up so i may just replace it anyway, but i'd like to know if this is fixable. i tried removing the battery and sim card, making sure all were clean and dry and putting them back.