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My cornwall is sounding a bit dull (HELP!)


BigBusa

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Hey Guys, I have a question. My 1980 cornwall 1's have performed flawlessly all their life until recently.

I noticed one of the speakers sounded really lifeless ...barely any highs. Upon closer inspection I think the tweeter may be either bad or going bad. If I put my ear right on it I think I can hear faint highs. It's certainly not what it used to sound like though! cwm10.gif

I'm wondering if this is a common occurance with these older tweeters and what do you think I should do now? Buy new or used from ebay? Heck, maybe it's the crossover or my receiver!? But, I doubt that.

Does anyone here have a tweeter for sale?

Thanks!

This message has been edited by BigBusa on 09-06-2002 at 05:49 PM

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It's probably the diaphragm (that needs replacing) in the tweeter. You can DIY (I screwed mine up when I tried), supposedly an easy job (do a search here), or most any speaker repair shop can do it.

fini

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Hello Dere BigBusa

It certainly looks as if you have diagnosed the problem accurately. Contact Klipsch and order new diaphragms for both tweeters. They are about $28.00 each and installation is easy. You could get away with replacing only the damaged diaphragm but buying a pair guarantees a proper match and you would have a spare in the event of another failure.

Tweeter failure is not a function of aging. I suspect that that tweeter is probably the unhappy victim of clipping which can happen when an amp or receiver is pushed beyond its safe limits.

If you would like more detail on Clipping and how it destroys tweeters do a search in this forum and on the internet and you will find a lot of useful info.

Over and above clipping tweters can also be blown by the application of excessive treble boost at high output levels. I have seen amplifiers that allow the application of +/- 18 db gain. At +18 db. the tweeters are being subjected to bursts of power up to 64 times greater magnitude than when set to flat.

None of the above is to suggest that you were abusing your CW's BTW as overly liberal use of the gain control is not the only possible source of tweeter eating voltages.

Hopefully you will have your Cornwalls singing in key soon.

------------------

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca.1900)

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Oops!

fini

Your post obviously landed while I was typing mine. I do not wish to leave the impression that I was arguing with you about the ease of diaphragm replacement.

------------------

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca.1900)

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No prob, lynnm! The magnets were misalligned on my tweets, too (something an expert with the right tools needs to attempt). They were like that when I bought 'em.

fini

p.s. A. Brown Soun in San Rafael, CA did a great job on them.

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Thanks guys n gals.

It seems the darned tweeter is working fine again! I don't understand it. It was definetly not working or working at about 20% capacity when I originally posted this thread. Now it sounds fine again.cwm25.gif

Do the diaphrams go partially bad and then work better for a time or are they either bad or good with no in between?

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I would say check all your connections first. You would be surprised how this happens to be the culprit. Both inside and outside the unit as well. Also check hookups to your Amp too.

That aside, you can also hook the bad speaker up to the other side and see if it in fact it "sings" again.

I agree with many others on this board. For the most part, Klipsch components do not go bad and in a say a house environment and should not have any problems for you too.

Rest assured, if you need a replacement you can contact Klipsch here, or get info from the BB through Bob G and he can help you too. I might also suggest doing BOTH tweeters too at the same time so they are, in fact, matched. Your local Klipsch dealer can do all of this for you too.

Good luck.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Look at where the wire from the network connects to the tweeter. The silver male disconnect on the tweeter is loose. You will find that it rotates slightly to the left and right. The disconnect has a rivit in the center of it that secures it to the tweeter body, the rivit is loose. The diaphragm wire is soldered to this rivit. The stock diaphragm wire is no thicker then your hair and very fragile.

Rotate the disconnect in one direction and you will find that the tweeter won't work. Rotate it in the opposite direction and the tweeter will work. Put a drop of supper glue between the disconnect and the tweeter body while it is in the working position. I find this to be a problem with most all K-77's. If you don't secure the disconnect you will have an intermittent tweeter, because the vibrations of the speaker cabinet will constantly cause the disconnect to rotate back and forth. This will eventually cause the thin diaphragm wire to break. Then you will be replacing diaphragms.

I would bet you a pair of tweeters that this is your problem.

I recommend that everyone check their K-77 tweeters.

Q.

------------------

Q-Man

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  • 21 years later...

Honestly, I would not be too fast to  spend any money on this. Swap the tweeters and see if the problem moves with tweeter. If not, swap the caps. Does it move with the cap? This might seem like a lot of trouble. But the alternative is that you really don't know what had gone marginal. I have the exact same problem. And will be doing this when I have time.

 

Oh, by the way, sometimes simply by playing the speakers (as long as the tweeters do not sound distorted like they are being damaged by excessive low frequency) the caps will fix themselves and stay fixed unless you leave then idle a long time. Did you go on vacation just before the problem started?

 

None-the-less even though just a few hours of play fixed mine I am still going to replace the caps when I have time. I think it highly unlikely that the tweeters are bad. But if you think so, then swap them and find out.

 

Much like batteries, some capacitors will go bad from lack of use. No, you will not find this is any book on electronics. But most electronics really do not like to be run at their limits or nor run at all. I have fixed several dozen receivers by simply cleaning the pots, contacts, fuses, and then simply putting Black Dog on repeat for a week!

 

Good luck!

 

Mitch

 

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5 hours ago, Mitch Lee said:

Honestly, I would not be too fast to  spend any money on this. Swap the tweeters and see if the problem moves with tweeter. If not, swap the caps. Does it move with the cap? This might seem like a lot of trouble. But the alternative is that you really don't know what had gone marginal. I have the exact same problem. And will be doing this when I have time.

 

Oh, by the way, sometimes simply by playing the speakers (as long as the tweeters do not sound distorted like they are being damaged by excessive low frequency) the caps will fix themselves and stay fixed unless you leave then idle a long time. Did you go on vacation just before the problem started?

 

None-the-less even though just a few hours of play fixed mine I am still going to replace the caps when I have time. I think it highly unlikely that the tweeters are bad. But if you think so, then swap them and find out.

 

Much like batteries, some capacitors will go bad from lack of use. No, you will not find this is any book on electronics. But most electronics really do not like to be run at their limits or nor run at all. I have fixed several dozen receivers by simply cleaning the pots, contacts, fuses, and then simply putting Black Dog on repeat for a week!

 

Good luck!

 

Mitch

 


Eh, and why exactly are you responding to a thread that’s old enough to legally drink??

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