my tweeter just stopped working....

[david Wilson]

Hello all,

I am on my second pair of GS401As - I stupidly sold my original pair when severely cash strapped many years ago and bought this pair of US-built ones (although I am in the UK) about 18months ago.

However , I am turning to you for a bit of advice as the tweeter on one speaker (they are all original drivers and look in perfect condition) just stopped working yesterday. Can anyone advise me as to the most likely causes and where to start looking? I am reasonably adept with tools, soldering iron etc. Thanks for any help.

David Wilson

[Mike]

Hi David, first of all DO NOT THROW IT AWAY!
:o) I'm sure you were not going to, but for the sake of any other
readers, I thought I'd mention it. While you have it there is always a
good chance of a repair, but when it's gone....
Anyway, If this had happened to one of mine I would first Check that it
was the tweeter at fault by swapping channels to be certain. Assuming
then that the speaker has been determined to be the problem: Check the
fuses. My 401's have two fuses each, one for low and one for high
frequency, if you can't check the fuse with a multimeter change it for a
known good one. (If you don't have a spare fuse to check use one from
your other speaker, pro tem)
There is always a small chance that the fuse connections have oxidised
so take a close look at them while you're examining the fuses.
OK, having checked all that and still have no "Tweet" remove the tweeter
from the cabinet and examine it carefully, you'll be looking for a
mechanical fault, it could be that you have a broken wire that will be
visible (And repairable) If everything looks ok, consider sending the
unit to a suitable repair person.
It may be worth checking that the tweeter is getting a signal (In case
of a crossover fault - although I've never come across one of these
myself) you can do this by substituting the tweeter from your working unit.
I hope that helps.

Mike

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[david Wilson]

Hi Mike,

Many thanks - I shall try all those checks tonight. I will be re-foaming the woofers in the Spring as it happens (the foams are looking very thin and crumbly!) so if the crossover needs attention, I shall do it then. I will be back for more advice at that point!

Cheers,

David

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From: Mike <nightin...@gmail.com>
To: gale-...@googlegroups.com
Sent: Friday, 1 March 2013, 0:44
Subject: Re: my tweeter just stopped working....

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[timhum]

If you have a meter you can check the tweeter on the ohms range, it should read in the region of 4 ohms (its nominal impedance).  If the tweeter is blown it show an open circuit. A very brave pink fish forum member, Mr Tibbs, mended one of his tweeters by removing a turn of wire from the voice coil and soldering it back on to the terminal which sticks out of the front of the unit!
 I was unaware that the HF2000 is repairable by a reputable loudspeaker repairer but I hope it can be done as I have a couple of duff ones which I can't bear to throw away.
Re-foaming the units in the 401 is a time consuming but not difficult task, one of our members has posted a very useful guide and David Smith offers a full restoration service if you decide not to DIY. I would do the mid units too once you have the front off the speaker, then you are good for another 25 years...
The USA made 401s are somewhat shoddy inside with chipboard screws holding in the bass units and a rats nest constructed crossover but I have a "C" model and it sounds fine, actually, now I think of it, you will do well to check the crossover for broken resistors, it has been recommended to change them because they can become fractured where the tags enter the resistor body. Worth a fiddle around because you will not want to remove that grille and associated gubbins more than necessary.

Good luck with your checks and do get back with the cause of the fault and/or any further issues.

[david Wilson]

Many thanks for all that info - I will be getting into the re-foaming soon (incidentally I got my As and Cs wrong - I have the walnut Cs) but I have had an astonishing result. After Mike's suggestion, my first port of call was to simply swap the HT fuses of the two speakers round. The difference was the most startling I have ever heard in 30 years of HiFi listening!! Not only was the tweeter problem fixed, but the sound was as if a thick blanket had been removed from the grilles!  Fabulous sounds of tinkling percussion, pin-sharp stereo placement of players etc - I can only assume the fuses had never been moved in all their lives (I only bought these speakers a few months ago) and contact was degraded and degrading the treble response, so I must thank you guys and settle down to a whole new aural experience!

Cheers,

David

---

From: timhum <timh...@gmail.com>
To: gale-...@googlegroups.com
Cc: david Wilson <artogr...@yahoo.co.uk>
Sent: Friday, 1 March 2013, 20:15

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[Toby Carter]

Tim,

I've performed the same trick on a few occasions and it works a treat, removing one coil to resolder isn't going to cause an issue and is relatively simple to do. 

Given the age of the speakers its worth checking all connections inside the cabinet, components on the crossover may need renewing.

Corroded connection points like speaker binding posts and fuse connections as you have found are all worth looking at. Its amazing what distorts the signal path! 

Sent from my iPhone 4

Tel  Toby - 07767 205205

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[Mike]

Excellent news! I obtained my 401's from a friend who knew I was an hifi
engineer, he had bought new speakers (I don't know what the replacements
were) and offered me the 401's as "Broken."
They had the same symptoms as yours, and a new fuse solved the problem.
When I had fixed the problem I offered them back to him, but he didn't
want them!
I'm so pleased that yours have also been resurrected.
As a possible extra point of possible problems for others, it is worth
mentioning the potentiometers, they could also cause a problem if they
have poor contacts. Usually such problems can be alleviated by the
simple act of "Twiddling" the pot (Knob) back and forth.

Mike

On 02/03/2013 11:37, david Wilson wrote:
> Many thanks for all that info - I will be getting into the re-foaming
> soon (incidentally I got my As and Cs wrong - I have the walnut Cs)
> but I have had an astonishing result. After Mike's suggestion, my
> first port of call was to simply swap the HT fuses of the two speakers
> round. The difference was the most startling I have ever heard in 30
> years of HiFi listening!! Not only was the tweeter problem fixed, but
> the sound was as if a thick blanket had been removed from the
> grilles! Fabulous sounds of tinkling percussion, pin-sharp stereo
> placement of players etc - I can only assume the fuses had never been
> moved in all their lives (I only bought these speakers a few months
> ago) and contact was degraded and degrading the treble response, so I
> must thank you guys and settle down to a whole new aural experience!
>
> Cheers,
>
> David
>
>

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* timhum <timh...@gmail.com>
> *To:* gale-...@googlegroups.com
> *Cc:* david Wilson <artogr...@yahoo.co.uk>
> *Sent:* Friday, 1 March 2013, 20:15
> *Subject:* Re: my tweeter just stopped working....

> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> *From:* Mike <nightin...@gmail.com>
> *To:* gale-...@googlegroups.com
> *Sent:* Friday, 1 March 2013, 0:44
> *Subject:* Re: my tweeter just stopped working....

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[John Mayberry]

Good group, eh?

[Clyde.]

Great group….wouldn’t have possible pre-internet!

 

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