EDA Posted May 23, 2011 Share Posted May 23, 2011 Hello, After searching for over a year, I finally have my Academy center. I introduced it to my home theater; only to notice (grill was off) that the right side driver wasnt moving on its own. It had more of a "response" movement only when the left side driver was working. Before I pull the drivers out to inspect for loose wires, is this a common occurance? Only one side playing the lower tones, while the other side plays midranges? Any help would be greatly appreciated! P.S. I payed 250 for it, local pickup! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danzo Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Congrats on Your purchase. Manual only mentions one crossover point so You might want to geti it looked at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 Congrats on your score; it took me several months and many disappointing near-catches to finally nab mine for my Forte mains HT... and the previous poster is correct about the drivers. The same signal is sent to both woofers, so their response should be roughly the same. When you check for loose wires, I would start by removing the tweeter first. You will have to angle it slightly to get it through the opening. If you can't see the woofer terminals through the tweeter hole, and have to remove one of the woofers, you might have to reach in and push up on the woofer magnets to dislodge them - mine were sealed in pretty tight by pressure or adhesive... The crossover is screwed to the top of inside of the cabinet, towards the rear and above the terminal cup. Hope it's an easy fix! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDA Posted May 24, 2011 Author Share Posted May 24, 2011 The info you both gave sounds good but the tweeter looks like if I attempt to remove it, the corners will break off; there are hairline cracks in each corner where the screw goes through it. Should I attempt to just finagle out the "bad" driver or should I remove the main connection area on the back of the box? I haven’t done much digging on the issue because everyone on here seems so helpful/knowledgeable, but is there a manual on-line somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I had a single crack at one of the screw-holes in my tweeter, as well; it seems it was overtightened either at the factory, or by the previous owner messing around with it. You could remove the terminal cup in the back, but you would have to have a small wrench handy to disconnect the internal wires that go from the terminals to the crossover network; if memory serves, there is not much "play" in the length of these wires, which is why you would have to loosen them up. The next obstacle is going to be the foam pad that is most likely double-folded, and fills that interior of the cabinet between the drivers and the back of the box... if your hand is small enough, you might be able to scrunch it down a bit and access the back of the driver you need to check the connections on... it is pretty tight in there, so take it slow and patiently. And you might need a flashlight. Or, you could try using your fingertips to "finagle" the offending driver out, but be careful... you would want to have the front of the speaker facing up, to prevent the weight of the magnet from dropping the driver forward and down. I was not able to perform this procedure on mine, due to how well the driver was sealed/stuck in place. I am not aware of an online manual that would describe the inner workings of the Academy... I'm guessing that speakers are too simple to warrant an actual service manual, compared to other components with many circuits and moving parts... Hope this info helps... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vnzbd Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 The woofers are easy to remove also. I removed all of the drivers from my academy and started with the woofers first. Unscrew one, turn it driver down over a soft surface like a couch cushion say 1-2 inches above and tap on the back of the cabinet. If that does not loosen it up then turn it back over and carefully pry evenly around the woofer frame with a plastic putty knife. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators dtel Posted May 24, 2011 Moderators Share Posted May 24, 2011 I don't know, but let me ask a question, how is the speaker designed ? Is one woofer just bass and the other maby more midrange ? Just because both woofers are the same does not make them get the same signal from the crossover, just asking ? I have heard some center channels are designed like that but I have know idea if the Academy or any Klipsch is like that ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckears Posted May 24, 2011 Share Posted May 24, 2011 I don't know, but let me ask a question, how is the speaker designed ? Is one woofer just bass and the other maby more midrange ? Just because both woofers are the same does not make them get the same signal from the crossover, just asking ? I have heard some center channels are designed like that but I have know idea if the Academy or any Klipsch is like that ? The Academy crossover sends the same signal to both woofers; I built an outboard crossover a few months ago, working off of the original crossover schematic that many upgraders here on the forum have used, including Bob Crites. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EDA Posted May 27, 2011 Author Share Posted May 27, 2011 Well apparently I have been schnuckered! After removing the driver, I happend to notice that the driver itself is frozen. It will not move. Any suggestions on how to unfreeze, besides the most realistic one (buy a new driver). I remember seeing in a different post that the replacement drivers are no longer available? Yet there is a speaker that fits into the same opening on the Academy box. <------ Something along those lines. CORRECTION!!!!!! With a herculean attempt and a bit of luck, I was able to seperate the magnetic half of the coil away from the actual cone of the speaker! Uploaded with ImageShack.us Going to attempt to remove the magnet from the rear half, and scrape away the adhesive/resin that was supposed to hold it secure, and re-assemble this beast. I'm 99% sure the middle aluminum piece is off center, providing a holding point for the voice coil cylinder? I do not know the proper terms to use, hopefully my pictures will help. Uploaded with ImageShack.us Any suggestions on what adhesive to use between the magnet and the " proper " way to seperate the two sandwich magnets would be awsome. I was thinking about putting them into the oven to soften up the adhesive/resin, but heat kills magnets. I know the magnetic property comes back, just unsure if it comes back as strong. There should be an album with 5 pictures total in it of what I have taken apart thus far. Again, any information you guys have would be appreciated! (Please note, pretty psyched that I was able to get this thing pulled apart, pardon my typos!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.