Jump Starting My Forte's

[Sybaris]

I have a pair of Forte's from the 80's. In order to get one of them working I have to crank the volume and then turn it back down. It's kinda like giving the speaker a jump start.

Bad cap?

[WMcD]

I sort of doubt it.

Did the unit ever work correctly? Tell us the history.

Did you just change anything in the system?

Is this a matter that the entire speaker system does not work? If so, it is probably a bad connection someplace including a) connection to the amp, connection to the terminals in the back of the box. Or c) someplace inside the crossover just before the connections to the filters to the three drivers.

Is is a matter that that one driver does not work. Then it may be something inside the crossover.

The "blast it to make it work" is a classic loose connection situation. Some oxidation is acting as an insulator. Then you can supply a lot of voltage which cuts through the oxidation and things are okay for a while.

Wm McD

[Sybaris]

I've had them since '87 and the one speaker has acted like this for at least 10 years regardless of the configuration/components used.

[djk]

Have you tried a different amp?

If so, it's probably a bad connection from the input binding posts to the crossover (internal). With some tight work you can pull it loose from the back and work on it. You may have to remove the whole thing, this involves removing the drivers one at a time and marking the wires and polarity as you go.