tweeter out

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tweeter out

Postby nyazzip » Fri Feb 04, 2011 9:54 pm

so....i just noticed a tweeter is out. 100watt RMS rated speakers, and i'm using an st-35, so i can't see how i hurt it.
anyway i took the box apart and measured the tweeter and i'm getting 5-6ohm....so, does this mean the speaker is necessarily ok? is there a safe way to test it? IPod?
so now i have to get at and unbury the crossover i guess. looks like a major project. what should i look for in the crossover circuit, when i arrive there?
also, it can't be the amp itself right? is there any way all the high end could disappear in one channel on an st-35? the mids and bass sound normal
for the record these are klipsch rf-52 speakers, bought new and probably manufactured circa 2005 or so
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Postby TomMcNally » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:01 pm

Look for a bad solder connection. You can test the tweeter by applying audio to it directly and listening. Just don't crank it up loud.
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Re: tweeter out

Postby Ty_Bower » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:14 pm

nyazzip wrote:also, it can't be the amp itself right? is there any way all the high end could disappear in one channel?


Swap the left and right speakers, and you will know if it is the amp. Use some "junk" speakers if you're worried about a naughty amp that might fry tweeters.
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Postby nyazzip » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:14 pm

yeah just tested the tweeter and it works. so must be the crossover right? i'd almost rather it was the amp. looks like a nightmare. i never did try swapping channels on the amp, maybe i will try that before i do speaker surgery
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Postby EWBrown » Fri Feb 04, 2011 10:28 pm

If your speakers have tweeter "level" pots, they one of them could be bad, this was a very common problem with AR speakers from the 50s, 60s, and 70s, the wirewound pots would corrode and get beyond any simple remedies. Also look for loose connections between the crossover and the tweeter. THe crossovers are simple, usually just a cap or two and a coil or two, and maybe a resistor or two thrown into the mix. Nothing that could go bad, except for the aforementioned WW level pots.


An easy tweeter test is to take the headphone output from a small AM/FM radio and connect it to the tweeter directly. It will sound thin, tinny and "tizzy" but it will tell you if the tweeter is still good or not.

A tweeter could get its VC blown if the amp is cranked up into serious distortion, then the unwanted HF contant could get very high and kill the tweeter;s voice coil.

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Postby TomMcNally » Fri Feb 04, 2011 11:17 pm

My big-ass Cerwin-Vega! speakers have resettable push button circuit
breakers on the tweeters. My 100 WPC Velleman PPP EL-34 amp is
good at popping 'em.
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Postby nyazzip » Sat Feb 05, 2011 2:12 am

yep these speakers have no tweaker adjustments whatsoever. i was/am impressed by their construction though, whether they function or not !
the damping is thorough; all the screws are hardened and precisely made; the interior of the cabs are well braced, even though they are narrow; the wire is all heavy duty; there are external damping gaskets everywhere(kinda tough to explain); and the crossovers look bomb proof. my only guess is that the push-on speaker connectors failed; easy remedy with solder, but i need to retry. in summary: disassembly revealed nothing
also i have been running the suspect amp all night with '80s Realistic(Minimus-7) bookshelf speakers, and an Aiwa(TS-WI50) powered sub....sound just doesn't stack up to the klipsches, but the lows are impressive (albeit muddy) at times :|

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Postby nyazzip » Sat Feb 05, 2011 4:19 pm

all i did is reassemble, and it works. annoying. makes one question one's sanity
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Postby EWBrown » Sat Feb 05, 2011 7:36 pm

There was a flakey connection, your disassembly and reassembly fixed it for now, probably will be good for anothe rdecade or two... . Been there, done that, it can get frustrating >:o :'( =:o

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