Problem with Adire Speaker.....Muffled Sound (1 Viewer)

[Matthew Will]

Hello,
I recently moved back into my dorm room for another semester. At home I have an Onkyo 601 surround sound receiver running everything. I built the Adire Audio HE10.1 kit for the surrounds. Everything was fine. I brought the HE10's to school for my listening pleasure but brought my cheaper Sony DE135 for a nice easy system.
After hooking everything up I realize that the sound isn't right. One of my speakers sounds very muffled. I listened to ZZ Tops "La Grange" and I couldn't even hear the ride cymbal through the one speaker. The other speaker sounded fine. I switched the speaker wiring to see if it was the receiver but the same problem happened.
So I ask you all; what happened to my speaker and how do I fix it? It sounds like its playing through several walls. I tried turning up the treble and turning down the bass but nothing helped. Please HELP! Thanks. Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

There is no output from the tweeter. Either it’s fried, or a wire has slipped off of it (internally), or the crossover is damaged. The former and latter can happen if it has been driven very hard for long periods, especially with a lower powered receiver. Had any parties lately?

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Matthew Will]

Nope no parties lately....worked fine before I came to school. Am I gonna have to pop this sucker open? I soldered the wires pretty good I thought and this isn't the first time I've brought them to school. Blah. Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Soldered the wires to the tweeter? And "pretty good?" Uh-oh, not good. You may have burned out the voice coil when you did that. Tweeter voice coils are pretty fragile and won’t take much heat. Holding a soldering iron on one isn't much different than feeding it a high-powered, full-range signal.

Yes, open it up, cut the tweeter wire and put an ohm meter across it. If you don’t get a reading, it’s toast.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Matthew Will]

Would that be a gradual degrading problem? I played the speaker for months and it was fine. Perhaps it is just a slipped wire? Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

What could have happened is the soldering damaged or weakened the voice coil, thus insuring it would have a relatively brief life span.

You'll know for sure when you put the meter on it.

 

[Matthew Will]

Hello,
I read that wrong. I soldered the wires when building the crossover. The wires to the tweeter are connected with clamp on connectors. Still think I fried the voice coil? This is starting to get interesting. I didn't really push the speaker hard/notice a difference in sound when I was at home. What should I do? Matt

 

[Brian Bunge]

If you used the quick disconnect connectors it's quite possible that one came loose from the tweeter. Open it up and double check. It's happened to me more than once before I started crimping them so that they would not slide off without deliberately trying to remove them.

 

[Matthew Will]

I just opened it up and the connections seemed fine. I don't have an ohm meter either so what can I do? Matt

 

[Brian Fellmeth]

Hook up speaker wire just to the tweeter. Put the volume on the amp very low. See if it will play.

 

[Matthew Will]

Just did that and nothing came from the tweeter. Busted tweeter then? Which would I rather have...busted tweeter or busted crossover? Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Which would you rather have? Kinda moot isn't?

 

[John Garcia]

Voice coil is fried for sure, you need a replacement tweeter. I can almost guarantee the problem is the receiver not being able to supply enough power for the volume have been driven to.

Tweeter vs x-over is a tough one - depends on which cost more. Some of the caps in my GR A/V-2s cost more than the tweeters they are filtering

 

[Matthew Will]

I don't see how that is what caused the coils to fry. They were driven by an Onkyo 601 receiver all summer which is a decent receiver I'd say. Immediately when I hooked the speaker to the Sony receiver I noticed the difference in sound. Maybe I didn't notice it when I had 5 other speakers running at the same time at home?

But how does underpowering the tweeter fry the coils? I understand clipping and all but I would imagine that even a 50X2 stereo receiver could push tweeters. Matt

 

[John Garcia]

Looking at those speakers, I'd have to say it would be tought to clip them, as they are VERY efficient. I didn't see a nominal impedance, but unless it is lower (6 or 4 Ohm), this speaker should be quite easy to drive. IMO, I would not expect the 601 to damage these speakers either, unless pushed to ridiculous levels, but the Sony could do it instantly. Older Sony DE line, particularly the time period of the 135, are not known to be capable of delivering their rated power.

My friend has KEF speakers, which also use coaxial drivers oddly enough, and he never noticed that one of his tweeters had blown either. I sat down and noticed it immediately, probably because I had never heard this setup before and he was used to it. When we pulled the tweeter out, it smelled burnt and you could see where the coil was damaged. KEF sent him a new tweeter and a bit of silver solder - worked like a charm, just make sure you have a hot enough soldering iron that can get the solder on there quick.

I'd contact Adire and see if they have seen a problem like this before, it could just be a bad driver that took a while to die. Judging by the website, you should be able to replace just the tweeter, and hopefully it won't cost too much.

 

[Matthew Will]

Yea I contacted Adire. They sell replacement tweeters for $50. I never smelled any burning. Also, when I ran the speakers the first time at school, beginning of january, I ran them on the Sony for about 3-4 months and they were fine. When I came home for summer I put them on the Onkyo. I just find it weird that you think it would be the Sonys fault. Besides, the other tweeter sounds fine right now and shows no sign of slowing down. I guess $50 for a new tweeter isn't too too bad. Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

An easy way to visualize it: Ever play with the record level of a cassette deck? Turn the record level knob up and the meter starts hitting the top. Imagine that as what an amplifier can put up at max without clipping. Keep turning the knob up, and eventuallythe meter quits deflecting, it’s full-on and constant.

That’s what happens when you overdrive an amplifier: At some point you no longer have dynamic peaks, you only have an output of steady-state voltage. Make sense?

I really doubt this is what happened to your tweeter, since you say you haven’t abused the speakers. Most likely it was the soldering. I’m surprised there isn’t a strict warning about that in the Adire instructions. I’ve disassembled my fair share of speakers, and I’ve never seen one with soldered speaker terminals.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[John Garcia]

Wayne, I had never seen a tweeter that was soldered in either, until we repaired my friends KEF, which is a coaxial speakers, just as these are. I guess there is not enough room for the leads.

 

[Matthew Will]

No I didn't solder the tweeter in. I was talking about my soldering of the crossover assembly when I was thinking about possible wires slipping. I don't think any of the crossover assembly has disconnected. Matt

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Well, it could always be nothing more than a defective driver. It does happen. It has to me before. A pair of speakers I bought about 8 years ago, one tweeter would go bonkers with a distorted buzz with certain signals like dynamic high notes on a piano. Got it replaced, end of problem.