pe3046v2 Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 Looks like I need a new woofer, but want to confirm that the -k woofers that my speakers came with can be replaced with -e woofers. Are the later woofers built by eminence to klipsch specs the same as the original -k woofers? Just bought a used pair of klipsch klf speakers off ebay, and one of the woofers sounds funny (crackling noise at times). Does this look like a blown woofer, if so do you think it can be repaired or should I look for a replacement speaker. The speakers themselves are in great shape, cabinets are perfect and the rest of the woofers seem to be fine (at least from what I can tell in the limited time I listened to them). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elviszappa Posted January 1, 2011 Share Posted January 1, 2011 I haven't had a blown one in a long time, but I remember it had a kind of "raspy" sound. I don't think you can tell by looking at it because the damage is to the voice coil. You could check for lose connection or bad internal wire.Or maybe a bad/lose solder joint on the crossover. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pe3046v2 Posted January 1, 2011 Author Share Posted January 1, 2011 Still have not heard back from the seller yet, but when I get time I will swap the drivers from the other side to rule out crossover issues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrfish Posted January 12, 2011 Share Posted January 12, 2011 Initially swap the speaker leads around to see if it's one channel or the other of the electronics/signal chain you are using...if the noise moves to the other side it's not your speakers, and you do not have to tear them apart and move drivers around. If you swap speaker leads and the problem stays in the same speaker cabinet, then it's not the electronics, it's confined to that speaker box. Now you have to troubleshoot everything in the speaker box in question from the terminals where you connect the speaker wires all the way down to the individual drivers, including the crossovers. The test first mentioned will tell you whether it is even in the speaker. When you have isolated the problem to a speaker enclosure, it is then time to check out the components in that box. First you have to find out if each of the drivers is working at all....one way to do that is to remove the most logical access to the drivers and disconnect the leads from the crossovers that go out to the individual drivers, marking HF and LF, + or positive and - or negative, etc. before going further. Take the wires loose from the back of the enclosure on the one side that is causing the problem, say the Lt channel speaker enclosure/box. Turn the volumes all down first, then switch your amp to MONO or pan the balance all the way to the same side as you have taken the wires loose from(in this example the left channel). MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT LET THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TOUCH ONE ANOTHER whenever the rig is playing music. That could present a short-circuit to the output of your amp and make more problems. With the speaker leads literally in hand and not touching, turn up the volume on the electronics just a little bit, and actually touch the wires to the corresponding positive and negative contacts on the drivers(which have been disconnected from the crossover network) to see if they are working at all or not, one driver at the time...the volume has to be just right for this, not too loud, not too soft. If the drivers pass this gross test, next listen to the quality of the sound. Without a dividing network or crossover it will sound rough, but you can still compare the sound quality of an individual driver with or without the crossover network in the signal path...and if your eggs frying or whatever the artefact is has significantly diminished, then your suspicion should turn away from the driver and more toward the crossover...literally your consideration would be everything from the external terminals on the outside of the box all the way through the crossover, including the conductors that run from the crossover to the drivers. If the anomaly is still there, and your music signal is not going through the crossover network, then it is more likely a speaker or more properly a driver issue. NOW you can swap out either a crossover or a woofer from another unit to finally isolate the problem, and replace or repair whatever it is that needs fixing. You do not necessarily have to replace a whole assembly like a woofer or a crossover network. Several of the forum members here work on these kinds of things, among them a Mr Bob Crites. Google his name and you will get 70,500 results. Good luck with it, and don't worry...it's just a logical methodical and maybe somewhat plodding process you have to go through. Many times, just poking around inside and starting to look at things critically will reveal what the problem is. I learned a good lesson about this kind of thing recently...had me some $15.00 yard sale nearfield Tannoy studio monitor speakers that I wanted to use with a $75.00 craigslist Sony receiver for music in the bedroom. Hooked it up, one side would not play. I just knew the speaks were good and the electronics bad...or at least the speakers worked OK the last time I had played them...so I got ahold of the CL guy and told him I wanted my money back, he said no problemo...and I ordered a new rcvr from Amazon, a Sherwood for about 100 bucks. When the new rcvr came, I hooked it up, and guess what???same channel did not work....so, with a new rcvr, did the Rt and Lt swap of the speakers and guess what?? the problem moved to the other side, which meant I had a bad speaker AND it also meant that both channels of the new Sherwood(and probably the Sony too) were working. I took the access off the back of the speaker that was not working and found a big old loose wire in there, soldered it back, and we are still making music fine over a year later....and I have this extra receiver and a lesson in hi-fi that cost me $100.00 or so and some self-embarrassment. I hope you have better luck. I knew better but I just didn't do better.....such is frequently the achilles heel of man... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HudsonValleyNoah Posted January 14, 2011 Share Posted January 14, 2011 Initially swap the speaker leads around to see if it's one channel or the other of the electronics/signal chain you are using... if the noise moves to the other side it's not your speakers, and you do not have to tear them apart and move drivers around. If you swap speaker leads and the problem stays in the same speaker cabinet, then it's not the electronics, it's confined to that speaker box. Now you have to troubleshoot everything in the speaker box in question from the terminals where you connect the speaker wires all the way down to the individual drivers, including the crossovers. The test first mentioned will tell you whether it is even in the speaker. When you have isolated the problem to a speaker enclosure, it is then time to check out the components in that box. First you have to find out if each of the drivers is working at all.... one way to do that is to remove the most logical access to the drivers and disconnect the leads from the crossovers that go out to the individual drivers, marking HF and LF, + or positive and - or negative, etc. before going further. Take the wires loose from the back of the enclosure on the one side that is causing the problem, say the Lt channel speaker enclosure/box. Turn the volumes all down first, then switch your amp to MONO or pan the balance all the way to the same side as you have taken the wires loose from (in this example the left channel). MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT LET THE ENDS OF THE WIRES TOUCH ONE ANOTHER whenever the rig is playing music. That could present a short-circuit to the output of your amp and make more problems. With the speaker leads literally in hand and not touching, turn up the volume on the electronics just a little bit, and actually touch the wires to the corresponding positive and negative contacts on the drivers(which have been disconnected from the crossover network) to see if they are working at all or not, one driver at the time... the volume has to be just right for this, not too loud, not too soft. If the drivers pass this gross test, next listen to the quality of the sound. Without a dividing network or crossover it will sound rough, but you can still compare the sound quality of an individual driver with or without the crossover network in the signal path... and if your eggs frying or whatever the artefact is has significantly diminished, then your suspicion should turn away from the driver and more toward the crossover... literally your consideration would be everything from the external terminals on the outside of the box all the way through the crossover, including the conductors that run from the crossover to the drivers. If the anomaly is still there, and your music signal is not going through the crossover network, then it is more likely a speaker or more properly a driver issue. NOW you can swap out either a crossover or a woofer from another unit to finally isolate the problem, and replace or repair whatever it is that needs fixing. You do not necessarily have to replace a whole assembly like a woofer or a crossover network. Several of the forum members here work on these kinds of things, among them a Mr Bob Crites. Google his name and you will get 70,500 results. Good luck with it, and don't worry... it's just a logical methodical and maybe somewhat plodding process you have to go through. Many times, just poking around inside and starting to look at things critically will reveal what the problem is. I learned a good lesson about this kind of thing recently... had me some $15.00 yard sale nearfield Tannoy studio monitor speakers that I wanted to use with a $75.00 craigslist Sony receiver for music in the bedroom. Hooked it up, one side would not play. I just knew the speaks were good and the electronics bad... or at least the speakers worked OK the last time I had played them... so I got ahold of the CL guy and told him I wanted my money back, he said no problemo... and I ordered a new rcvr from Amazon, a Sherwood for about 100 bucks. When the new rcvr came, I hooked it up, and guess what??? same channel did not work....so, with a new rcvr, did the Rt and Lt swap of the speakers and guess what?? the problem moved to the other side, which meant I had a bad speaker AND it also meant that both channels of the new Sherwood (and probably the Sony too) were working. I took the access off the back of the speaker that was not working and found a big old loose wire in there, soldered it back, and we are still making music fine over a year later.... and I have this extra receiver and a lesson in hi-fi that cost me $100.00 or so and some self-embarrassment. I hope you have better luck. I knew better but I just didn't do better..... such is frequently the achilles heel of man... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pe3046v2 Posted January 17, 2011 Author Share Posted January 17, 2011 New driver showed up yesterday and all is well. Was able to trace it to that driver, swapped from side to side and the noise followed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigrfish Posted January 17, 2011 Share Posted January 17, 2011 New driver showed up yesterday and all is well. Was able to trace it to that driver, swapped from side to side and the noise followed Congrats on a job well-done. Hope it was easy to do...happy listening, Chuck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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