Help Please! Damaged tweeter!

[admin_exported]

Hello

I have a pair of B&W's 685 and to my deep sadness when I got home today I had a tweeter damaged, I don't really know how to say it in english, it's put in, like a ball that lost the air...

My question is, will it be too expensive to fix it? I will take the speaker to the shop where I bought it, but I'm sure it will have to go to the manufacturer to fix (I'm in portugal). Has anyone had this problem?

 

[ear]

got fingered..before you fixe it try identifying the cause before it happens again

 

[Andrew Everard]

Well, someone or something has pushed it in - kids, maybe?

You can try to pull it out by smoothing some sticky tape gently onto it and pulling, but if it's creased it will be less than satisfactory.

Replacement tweeters are the answer: speaker manufacturers are quite used to replacing them, as they seem to have a fascination for kids...

 

[chebby]

Another reason I would really like those Harbeth P3ESR speakers one day.

 

[Anonymous]

You can remove the tweeter housing, and then push the tweeter back out into shape from behind, rather than the sticky tape solution.

Tried and succeeded

 

[Anonymous]

ScottH:

You can remove the tweeter housing, and then push the tweeter back out into shape from behind, rather than the sticky tape solution.

Tried and succeeded

Thanks guys for all the replies. I'm sorry I am not in a good mood, this drove me crazy. What drives me more crazy is that it couldn't have been my kids. They were at school all day and didn't return untill I was already home. I am not sure the dent wasn't there yesterday, so it could have been the maid... Damn!

Could anything from my setup have done this?? I have an Exposure XX integrated and at the back it says "don't use cables except from exposure or you can damage the amplifier". Could something like impedance difference possibly have caused this?

To ScottH: how do I remove the tweeter housing?

Can anyone estimate how much will I spend to send the speakers to the manufacture to have it fixed?

 

[Sliced Bread]

Pets are another possibility. My cat loves to 'bop' my tweeters for some reason, so I have to keep the grills on when I'm not using them.

 

[Anonymous]

you could try the hoover trick too

 

[Anonymous]

You could also try using a drinking straw, place it on the tweeter and suck the other side untill it latches on, then pull gently, ive done this a few times and it tends to be 80% successful

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the suggestions guys. The drinking straws didn't work, the dent is deep and the tweeter is creased. The vacuum I confess I didn't try it. What I did was contact B&W by email with prompt response from the manager to Portugal and Spain. He's telling me tomorrow how much this nerve wracking happening will cost me. Oh, and the tweeters in the new 600 series have to be replaced completely, it's not possible to replace the membrane alone. And I have to take the speaker to a dealer to replace the tweeter. I would never be in peace if I thought the speakers were performing under par... Oh, I shall tell you that the sound was affected! After listening more carefully, there is a hiss on the treble that wasn't there before and sometimes the hi-hats in some songs sound like someone is drumming on a pan... What a nightmare.

Well, what remains is the excellent response from B&W and the lesson to never, EVER, have the speakers without the grilles again.

 

[Anonymous]

good luck! ... hope that it does not cost much ... read somewhere that when one replaces a driver in a speaker, it is adviseable to replace the other driver of the other speaker aswell? ... i.e in you case, tweeters on both speakers should be replaced simultaneously

not sure if this is true?

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:

good luck! ... hope that it does not cost much ... read somewhere that when one replaces a driver in a speaker, it is adviseable to replace the other driver of the other speaker aswell? ... i.e in you case, tweeters on both speakers should be replaced simultaneously

not sure if this is true?

Please! Let that not be true!

Maybe it's due to burn-in... They are relatively new, from past July, I guess I won't even consider that possibility. Hope I won't!

 

[Anonymous]

JazzDevill:ScottH:

What drives me more crazy is that it couldn't have been my kids. They were at school all day and didn't return untill I was already home. I am not sure the dent wasn't there yesterday, so it could have been the maid... Damn!

 

[Anonymous]

dim_span:JazzDevill:ScottH:

What drives me more crazy is that it couldn't have been my kids. They were at school all day and didn't return untill I was already home. I am not sure the dent wasn't there yesterday, so it could have been the maid... Damn!

HEHEHEHEHE! Calm down... She's not that good looking... or else I would be tempted to blame her!

 

[JoelSim]

If the tweeters are going to need replacing then you should try the vacuum cleaner.

Or you could unscrew the tweeters and see if there's a way of poking the thing out from the back, sometimes there are small holes that you could push a cotton bud or something through. I did this on my drivers when my little treasure did it. 100% perfect now.

 

[Anonymous]

JoelSim:

If the tweeters are going to need replacing then you should try the vacuum cleaner.

Or you could unscrew the tweeters and see if there's a way of poking the thing out from the back, sometimes there are small holes that you could push a cotton bud or something through. I did this on my drivers when my little treasure did it. 100% perfect now.

There are no screws! Unless they are behind the B&W logo that surrounds the tweeter which is glued or something. I don't want to destroy them... The tweeter is really creased, I don't think the vaccum would do it, I don't even have a vaccum that fits the shape of the tweeter... But thanks for the suggestion anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Well, just to be sure I there was absolutely no chance of saving my money I tried the vacuum. The tube is perfect and fitted around the tweeter just fine. But it didn't work. It's creased, nothing will do it except from the back and even so I don't thing the membrane will go back to it's original shape anymore. New tweeter it is.

 

[Anonymous]

Sorry for late reply, i forgot the 685s have no screws, and are seamless...best take them back for the tweeter replacement. I had a dented tweeter cone when i bought my CM7's.

I unscrewed the housing and pushed it back out. Saying that though, there was a faint circular line where the tweeter had been bent out of shape. So even if you managed to reform its shape, your best bet would be to replace it (purely for asthetics...if you are as mad about them as I am

) But remember a dented or creased tweeter will not lose any sonic performance.

Should not be too expensive to replace.

 

[Anonymous]

ScottH:

But remember a dented or creased tweeter will not lose any sonic performance.

Should not be too expensive to replace.

I beg to differ. I notice abnormal treble sound, like banging on a pan, a slight hiss on metal percussion. I unplugged the good speaker and left the affected one on, the sound is undoubtley compromised.

But it's close to be resolved, I contacted B&W, they swiftly responded trough their representative to Portugal and Spain, the tweeter is about 50 euros, I'm only waiting for them to tell me which shop will do the replacing cost free. Great service, had already read good things about B&W support, so far I am very satisfied.

 

[theadmans]

I sympathize with you on this - last month my 6 year old son pushed in the mid/bass cones on my AVI Neutrons. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them !

Anyway I got the vacuum nozzle up against them on full power and to my relief after a few minutes pulled both of them out with no creasing.

 

[Anonymous]

theadmans:I sympathize with you on this - last month my 6 year old son pushed in the mid/bass cones on my AVI Neutrons. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them !Anyway I got the vacuum nozzle up against them on full power and to my relief after a few minutes pulled both of them out with no creasing.
The domes at the centre of mid/bass drivers are usually made from a flexible fabric and are there to protect the voice-coil from dust. It's very unlikely to cause any ill effects (sound-wise) when that happens.

Treble unit domes made from metals, such as aluminium, once dented will never perform as they should.

 

[Anonymous]

Quenzer:theadmans:I sympathize with you on this - last month my 6 year old son pushed in the mid/bass cones on my AVI Neutrons. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them !
Anyway I got the vacuum nozzle up against them on full power and to my relief after a few minutes pulled both of them out with no creasing.
The domes at the centre of mid/bass drivers are usually made from a flexible fabric and are there to protect the voice-coil from dust. It's very unlikely to cause any ill effects (sound-wise) when that happens.

Treble unit domes made from metals, such as aluminium, once dented will never perform as they should.

maybe - but maybe not - I have a pair of Tannoy Eyris's - and one of the metal tweeters was pushed in by one of our kids. I pulled it out with sellotope, but as metal its left creases.

I phoned up Tannoy for replacement cost, and they suggested the creases would not really make any difference to SQ.

I've tested them as a stereo pair (they are normally used as surrounds) and I have to say there is no apparent difference that I can hear anyway

 

[Anonymous]

Quenzer:theadmans:I sympathize with you on this - last month my 6 year old son pushed in the mid/bass cones on my AVI Neutrons. I nearly had a heart attack when I saw them !
Anyway I got the vacuum nozzle up against them on full power and to my relief after a few minutes pulled both of them out with no creasing.
The domes at the centre of mid/bass drivers are usually made from a flexible fabric and are there to protect the voice-coil from dust. It's very unlikely to cause any ill effects (sound-wise) when that happens.

Treble unit domes made from metals, such as aluminium, once dented will never perform as they should.

maybe - but maybe not - I have a pair of Tannoy Eyris's - and one of the metal tweeters was pushed in by one of our kids. I pulled it out with sellotope, but as metal its left creases.

I phoned up Tannoy for replacement cost, and they suggested the creases would not really make any difference to SQ.

I've tested them as a stereo pair (they are normally used as surrounds) and I have to say there is no apparent difference that I can hear anyway

 

[Anonymous]

i presume the tweeter is the dome type?

is it made of metal? if it is then you will have to replace the unit.

if it's the soft dome (cloth type), then it is possible to slowly massage it back to shape with your fingers and also use cellophane tape to pull it back to shape. i tried this on the cloth dome tweeter on my mission 782s (it was the kiddo who poked it in) and it worked. initially it looked creased, but after a while things got smoothened out. sound was not affected.

as to whether you have to change tweeters on both speakers, it depends on the quality control of the manufacturer. good manufacturers have high standards and use components that have more or less the same (plus minus perhaps 5%) specs. Speaker units that don't pass its quality control are rejected.

b & w is known for quality control and i presume the replacement tweeter should be more or less of the same specs as the undamaged tweeter.

 

[Tonestar1]

Hi,

The tweeter in your 685s is sealed there is no way to push it out from behind. Trey some really sticky selotape, masking tape or blu-tac. The tweeter unit is easy enough to replace though. You need to do the following:-

1. Pop off the plastic from around the bass driver.

2. Remove all of the bolts holding the bass driver in place. Be careful as the driver will fall out when last bolt is removed. Probably best to lie the speaker on its back whilst doing this.

3. Put your hand up inside the cavity to the back of the tweeter and loosen large nut that holds the tweeter in place. Remove this, try not to drop it in the cavity 🙂

4. Push the tweeter unit out and pull the crimp connection off. Slide onto new tweeter unit and reverse the process.

Hope this helps.