Tweeter shutdown

[johnm483]

HELP! I have a pair of Klipsch Tangents,

when you crank up the volume the horns seem to shut down. They will come back on if you turn down the volume just a second. They act like there is some type of thermal protection built in or something. When I First bought these they did not do this. Is there something in the crossovers that could be overheating?

any help appreciated.

John,

[lynnm]

Is it possible that your amp's protection circuit is kicking in ? Check your connections to ensure that you don't have a stray strand of wire shorting across the terminals at either the speaker or amplifier end.

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

It is meet to recall that the Great Green Heron rarely flies upside down in the moonlight - (Foo Ling ca. 1304 BCE)

[WMcD]

There is a tweeter protection circuit some K-Horns. The big ones.

I don't know about your speakers.

I am not aware of any protection for all the drivers in any speaker. But I'm ignorant of many things.

So here are some thoughts to isolate the problem.

Are you saying that only the high frequency drivers shut down, and not the bass?

If so, it is probably something in the speaker.

On the other hand, perhaps all the audio shuts down.

As pointed out by Lynn, it could be the amp shutting down. If your amp allows headphone listening while the speakers are on, you might see whether the headphone output shuts down too; or has the same problem as the speakers. That would be a good indication that the amp itself is shutting down.

Of course, if you're really pushing the amp at high levels, you might burn out the headphones in this, so be careful.

Gil

[johnm483]

Lets see if I can explain this a little better.

my right speakers high frequency horn shuts down after a few minuits of high level volume. If you get up close to the horn it is still producing sound at a lower level. Then if you turn the volume down for a second it will work correctly. But it will not take as long the second time to cut out. the two low frequency drivers continue to work correctly. I know that usually when a horn is blown you get a popping sound or no sound at all. This one sounds fine it just drops out at high volume. I checked all of my speaker cables they are ok. Is there maybe a bad capacitor or something in the crossover that could do this?

This message has been edited by johnm483 on 10-06-2001 at 08:46 AM

[JohnA]

It sounds like you're turning up the volume too loud and activating the tweeter protection. One side of the amp may be a bit louder than the other, or one tweeter protector may be more sensitive than the other. I'd say what you're doing is bordering on abuse and you should not turn the volume up that loud any more.

John

[dougdrake2]

Also, feel free to call Klipsch Tech Support at 1-800-KLIPSCH...

DD2

[djk]

In case you haven't figured it out by now you are activating the protection circuit in the crossover.The fact that it is cycling on and off tells me that your system can't play loud enough for you.You need to buy a bigger amp and bigger speakers too.Repeated cycling of the protecion circuit will lead to diaphragm failure.Of course if you don't mind spending $40+ every now and then just keep on as you are.Maybe you will take out a woofer too.The protection circuit only covers the horn.

[KGeist]

The Tangent series all have a tweeter protection device called a Polyswitch. The Polyswitch is placed in series with the tweeter and the resistance goes high, essentially shutting down the tweeter, when the average current reaches a certain level.

This is a thermally activated device, therefore it resets itself once it has had a chance to cool-off.

This would also explain why it is easier to activate the second time.

I can't explain why it appears to be shutting down prematurely. I'm guessing, but it may be that the polyswitch is simply wearing out from multliple use.

The best bet is to contact Klipsch Technical Support.

Kerry

[dougdrake2]

Kerry - Just curious. Is there a Polyswitch-like device in other Klipsch models?

DD2

[KGeist]

Yes. The Polyswitch was used in many Klipsch designs starting in the mid 80's (I believe the Kg 4 was the first). It was used primarily with our standard one inch tweeter driver, but only in applications were more power demands would be placed on the tweeter. For example, the tweeter in the Kg 5.5 (with two 10" woofers) has to work harder than the tweeter in a Kg 1.5. Therefore some amount of tweeter protection is probably necessary on the 5.5, while the 1.5 gets along fine without it.

The transition into ferrofluid in the early 90's lessoned the risk of tweeter damage, therefore, almost all our current consumer products (but probably not all) do not use it.

Kerry

[dougdrake2]

Kerry - I guess I'll ask about mine, specifically, 'cause of course "It's all about me"

Seriously, how about '89 Chorus I, '86 KG4, KG3, '89 Forte I?

DD2

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

Denon AVR-3300

Acurus A200x3

NAD 7155 Receiver

Pioneer PD-F19 CD Changer

Sony CDP-C8ESD CD Changer

Denon 3000 DVD

Toshiba M784 VCR

B&O Beogram 1800 TT

Klipsch Chorus

Klipsch KV-3 Center

Klipsch SS-1 Surround

Klipsch KG4

Klipsch KG3

Klipsch Forte (2pr)

Velodyne CT120 Sub

Sony KP-43T75 RPTV

Monster HTS2000

AudioQuest Copperhead Interconnects

AudioQuest Slate Speaker Wire

Various other interconnects/cables

[johnm483]

Thanks for all the good info. My guess was there was a protection device of some kind, I wasn't sure. I am pushing them with a Yamaha M-85 Outboard amp 260 watts per channel. I listen at somewhat loud levels but try not to overpush my speakers. I will contact Klipsch and see what component needs to be replaced.

Thanks again,

JOHN

[KGeist]

The Kg3, Chorus and Forte do not have the Polyswitch. The Kg4 does, but I'm not sure if it had been added by 1986, or not.

Kerry

[johnm483]

I removed my crossover and found a polyswitch. i jumped it with a piece of copper wire. presto i have sound. thanks for the info.

John,

[EvilMinion]

That polyswitch is there for a reason, though, so be careful.. If the tweeter stops now it's not gonna come back.

[Guest BobG]

Defeating the polyswitch protection means you will blow the tweeters up at the levels you are playing. Because Klispch speakers are low in distortion, you do not get the normal "sonic warning" that you are playing too loud. You will simply overdrive the tweeters and lose them. Put the polyswitch back in the circuit and turn down the level.

I sold a guy four La Scalas and a pair of Adcom 555 amps which he ran as monoblocks. That's 600 watts to each pair of La Scalas. He started having problems...with his hearing! Went to the doctor who told him he had permanent hearing loss. Sold one of the amps and backed off to 200 wpc. Lesson? A big amp and efficient speakers must be respected. Get a Radio Shack sound level meter and be sure you aren't listening at dangerous levels. The hearing you save may be your own.

[EvilMinion]

Ugh, I can only imagine how loud that was.. I've got a pair of Altec 1233s sitting in my living room hooked up to a 200w/ch receiver, when I do crank it up, the most it ever sees is 10 watts average (at least, on the meters anyway).. Cranking a pair of La Scalas per side, on 600W monoblocks, that's just nutty. No wonder he damaged his hearing.

My neighbor's about the same way. He's got a pair of JBL L300s, hooked them up to a 200w/ch Dynaco and was trying to find the amp's limits. Couldn't for fear of torching something in the JBLs. Way louder than I can stand over more than a few seconds. That amp's a pretty hefty item..

[johnm483]

I plan on buying a new Polyswitch. The whole deal was there was apparently something wrong with one of them. The right horn was prematurely shutting down. I figured if I were to overdrive the horns my left one will still shutdown as designed. thanks for the replys.

John,