wuzzzer Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 On Saturday I picked up the RF-7s that I had originally posted that I had found on craigslist. Listened to them at the guy's house. Wow! I got them home and hooked them up to my HK 730. Listened to the music for a while, then I decided to put my ear by each speaker...something I should have done at the guy's house before I brought them home. Well turns out the upper woofer on one of the speakers is not working at all. It isn't distorting or buzzing or anything, it simply isn't putting any sound out. I just emailed the guy that I bought the speakers from. I'm not sure if he's going to do anything about it. I know, I know, I feel really stupid. He just cranked them up at his place and they sounded soooo good that I didn't even think of checking each driver to make sure they work. Is there anything I should check to see if its loose? Am I going to need to buy a replacement woofer? How much do they cost? He said he'd only had them for a year. If they are still under warranty, how do I go about getting it fixed? Thanks. My elation at getting the speakers has fizzled a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3dzapper Posted January 9, 2006 Share Posted January 9, 2006 Mark, Check the wire connections at the back of the woofer. It wouldn't be the first to have loosened during transportation. Rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted January 9, 2006 Author Share Posted January 9, 2006 Mark, Check the wire connections at the back of the woofer. It wouldn't be the first to have loosened during transportation. Rick Do you unscrew the 'torqx' or 'whatever they're called' screws that are around the woofer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fish Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 If you got real skinny long arms you may be able to reach through the rear ports.Otherwise just take out the screws carefully holding the speaker(these are very heavy and you don't want to dent it) as you remove the final top and bottom ones.You may get lucky and find the loose wire,its happened before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 Set the speakers on their back when you undo the drivers...that way when all the screws are loosened the driver won't move anywhere. Then try to get your fingers in on one of the sides and tilt the speaker up - holding it by the basket. If you have to, rotate the cabinet so that the driver falls out, but go ahead and put it back on its back for when you put the driver back in. And yes, just unscrew the torx bolts. And don't be afraid to pry on the woofer to get it out - the gasketing material somtimes acts like an adhesive which can make it difficult to get the woofer out. As always, patience is a virtue. Take your time and don't get frustrated (and step away if you do). Them woofers are extra fragile. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 Thanks for everyone's help. The guy I bought them from said he is positive they were working 100% when I picked them up. I'll have to track down a torx screwdriver and let you know what I found. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 For the price of a torx driver you might as well get yourself one of those fancy 10-in-1 screwdrivers. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to get a fancy toy I mean tool [] All the ones I've worked with have had the correct sizes - and they also come with square head bits too, which is another common type you'll run across in the audio scene. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wuzzzer Posted January 10, 2006 Author Share Posted January 10, 2006 For the price of a torx driver you might as well get yourself one of those fancy 10-in-1 screwdrivers. If nothing else, it's a great excuse to get a fancy toy I mean tool [] All the ones I've worked with have had the correct sizes - and they also come with square head bits too, which is another common type you'll run across in the audio scene. Done and done! Went to Sears tonight after work and bought a 20 in 1 Craftsman getup. Got the woofer out...loose wire! Hooked it back up and buttoned her back up. WE'RE ROCKIN IN MINNESOTA NOW BABY! Thank you everyone for your help! [<)] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkot Posted January 10, 2006 Share Posted January 10, 2006 if you had one loose wire it might be worth your time to check all of them. a loose but still touching wire can have some effect on the sound quality. as an after thought i wonder why the wires arnt soldered to the drivers?? jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 as an after thought i wonder why the wires arnt soldered to the drivers?? I can think of lots of reasons: 1. applying the necessary heat runs the risk of damaing the voice coils - not as large of a conern with woofers, but why spend the extra money on tooling costs when you must use non-soldered connections for the MF/HF drivers? (yes i know, heat sinks could be used). 2. repairs - products get damaged for all sorts of reasons, even if there are no visible clues. It would be such a hassle for klipsch to test a speaker, find out it needs a woofer swap, and then have to go through the entire desolder/soldering process. Heck, it simply takes a lot longer to solder than it does to clip on a cable. It is also easy for a casual customer to be walked through on how to reconnect the clip, rather than requiring them to know how to solder 3. cost - but really, everything I'm mentioning comes down to cost 4. reliability - ever had a piece of equipment with a cold solder joint? talk about a most annoying problem to have, and it's something that might not show up during intial testing too. Also, a solder joint is actually weaker than a mechanical connection like the clip - the only problem is sometimes a lot of the clips aren't manufactured perfectly (which is a fault of the clip supplier, not klipsch). Speaking of which, I forgot to mention that you should reactivate (for lack of a better verb) the spring part on the clip. There is a part in the middle that protrudes and sorta latches into the hole of the speaker terminal. If you got her all closed up I probably wouldn't worry about it - but there is a possibility that it might come loose again. Worst case scenario you could create a short circuit from the dangling cable and end up blowing your amp. I've seen it happen once and I suppose once is enough to put up a warning flag. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkot Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 ok...not to steal the thread first of all doc, im not an engineer... but i do build race and show cars and because of vibration issues i solder ALL wire connections! i cant see a vibration issue inside a speaker ? also all the drivers in my cornwalls/heresys are soldered, with a screw type mechanical connection at the crossover/input board? jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DrWho Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I should have mentioned that I have seen many speakers that have been soldered as well. I also believe the airline industry uses clip plugs and doesn't solder anything. I forget, but I'm pretty sure it's plains. There have been all sorts of studies on which is the better way to go and there really is no decisive answer. My comment regarding reliability was in reference to cold solder joints - which are more prone to occur when you have humans building the speakers. Or you can simply pay more for the product to fund the extra time it takes for the workers to make sure they have a very good solder joint (which was more feasible back in the old days when less speakers were being built). I know the RF7 is supposed to be flagship, but there is nothing wrong with sharing parts with the rest of the lineup - especially when it saves a ton of money and simplifies the manufacturing process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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