HELP!! Blown Sonus Faber Extrema Drivers
Kerry & Denise Legeard
stock or proprietary? Sumiko is telling me that both the tweeter and
the woofer are proprietary. The tweeter is marked as an Esotar T330D,
but has a different face than the Esotars in the catalogs. The woofer
is not marked but I believe it is a Skannings. The outside mounting
flange of the woofer is decorated and has Sonus Faber imprinted on the
top, but it could be just a replacement for the standard mounting
flange. I want my speakers to be as they were, but the cost from
Sumiko is prohibitive.
François Yves Le Gal
Legeard) wrotE:
>If anyone out there knows FOR SURE, are the drivers in the Extremas
>stock or proprietary?
The Extrema does use OEM drivers. Even if they do look like stock
versions of quite easily accesible drivers, they've been
designed/modified as per Sonus Faber specs...
Short of going with Sumiko, I don't see how your SF Extremas can be put
back to spec.
Oh, BTW, the drivers used in the Extermas are some of the most expensive
ever. This could justify the high repair price quoted.
François Yves Le Gal
fle...@allaban.fr
Dave Brown
contradicts "modified as per Sonus Faber specs."
François Yves Le Gal <fle...@allaban.fr> wrote in message
news:Z1EQOGHsAmAyka...@4ax.com...
Richard D Pierce
Dave Brown <yd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>François Yves Le Gal <fle...@allaban.fr> wrote in message
>news:Z1EQOGHsAmAyka...@4ax.com...
>> On Fri, 22 Oct 1999 00:39:17 GMT, kleg...@idirect.com (Kerry & Denise
>> Legeard) wrotE:
>
>> The Extrema does use OEM drivers. Even if they do look like stock
>> versions of quite easily accesible drivers, they've been
>> designed/modified as per Sonus Faber specs...
>
>Be careful with your wording -- OEM implies "off the shelf,"
>which contradicts "modified as per Sonus Faber specs."
No, "OEM" implies no such thing. "OEM" means exactly "original
equipment manufacturer," and can mean stock items supplied to a
manufacturer or it can mean custom items supplied to a
manufacturer, both equally well.
Having, in fact, been directly involved in the OEM loudspeaker
driver business, I can say that OEM in that context has no such
implications as you suggest. One organization I was involved
with was an OEM driver manufacturer. Approximately 40% of their
sales were off-the-shelf, standard units to manufacturers of
loudspeaker systems, another 50% were drivers modified for a
specific OEM customer's needs, and the remaineder were standard,
off-the-shelf units sold to distributors and retailers. Such is
not at all uncommon, especially among the smaller driver
manufacturers.
Among the larger driver manufacturers (most of them Far East
companies), nearly 100% of their output is custom manufacturer
for specific loudspeaker system manufacturers. NONE of these
large companies (supplying hundreds of thousands of units per
year and more) have standard, off-the-shelf units.
--
| Dick Pierce |
| Professional Audio Development |
| 1-781/826-4953 Voice and FAX |
| DPi...@world.std.com |
Dave Brown
My Coincident Conquests use Vifa drivers, but they're not "off the shelf"
drivers. Coincident wants $80 for a tweeter that sells, unmodified, for
$25. Any suggestions?
Richard D Pierce <DPi...@world.std.com> wrote in message
news:FK0BA...@world.std.com...
> In article <7upo17$ouu$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net>,
> Dave Brown <yd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >François Yves Le Gal <fle...@allaban.fr> wrote in message
> >news:Z1EQOGHsAmAyka...@4ax.com...
> >> On Fri, 22 Oct 1999 00:39:17 GMT, kleg...@idirect.com (Kerry & Denise
> >> Legeard) wrotE:
> Having, in fact, been directly involved in the OEM loudspeaker
> driver business, I can say that OEM in that context has no such
> implications as you suggest.
Richard D Pierce
Dave Brown <yd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Can I purchase a custom manufactured version of a driver directly from Vifa?
>My Coincident Conquests use Vifa drivers, but they're not "off the shelf"
>drivers. Coincident wants $80 for a tweeter that sells, unmodified, for
>$25. Any suggestions?
Well, I have NO idea what the modifications entail, nor what the
effective differences in the performance of the driver are.
Thus, despite the price, if you want to be assured of correct
performance, you're stuck buying the exact replacement. If, on
the other hand, the "modification" is cosmetic or something that
does not affect performance (like different terminal types),
then you can use an off-the-shelf version.
It's all going to depend upon what the difference in the drivers
are, and, for your situation, I can not help you.
On the other hand, you can take the risk: buy the unmodified
one, put it in, and listen. If it sounds fine, great, you're
almost done. Now, send me $25.00 and rejoice in the fact that I
just saved you $30.00. :-)
--
Dave Brown
Francois Yves Le Gal
écrit :
>Be careful with your wording -- OEM implies "off the shelf," which
>contradicts "modified as per Sonus Faber specs."
Sorry, but OEM means Original Equipment Manufacturer, not off the
shelf. It means that a manufactuer does supply to another one the
components according to specs (standard or custom).
François Yves Le Gal
Allaban WebSystems
fle...@allaban.fr
Peter Larsen
Richard D Pierce wrote:
> It's all going to depend upon what the difference in the drivers
> are, and, for your situation, I can not help you.
Membrane coating with "something" comes to mind as an optional
modification they could have done, 10 cent for the coating, and the rest
of the price for the knowhow. I am guessing, but it is not an improbable
guess, I will stress that I do not know the actual speaker discussed,
nor the actual units.
> On the other hand, you can take the risk: buy the unmodified
> one, put it in, and listen. If it sounds fine, great, you're
> almost done. Now, send me $25.00 and rejoice in the fact that I
> just saved you $30.00. :-)
>
> --
> | Dick Pierce |
> | Professional Audio Development |
> | 1-781/826-4953 Voice and FAX |
> | DPi...@world.std.com |
--
******************************************************************
* This posting handcrafted by Peter Larsen, pla...@teliamail.dk *
* My homepage is at: http://w1.1358.telia.com/~u135801844/ *
******************************************************************
Dave Brown
something to do with the driver impedance because Coincident claims the
speakers impedance stays between 7 and 10 ohms. Yet, both "off the shelf"
Vifa units have impedances that drop as low as 4 or 5 ohms. The P21WO-20
does not have any sort of coating on it. I can't imagine the tweeter being
coated ;-)
Peter Larsen <pl...@get2net.dk> wrote in message
news:3810840A...@get2net.dk...
Gordon Waters
Dave Brown <yd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Can I purchase a custom manufactured version of a driver directly from Vifa?
>My Coincident Conquests use Vifa drivers, but they're not "off the shelf"
>drivers. Coincident wants $80 for a tweeter that sells, unmodified, for
>$25. Any suggestions?
Anyone know if Coincident modifies the dome elements themselves?
If not, then a standard Vifa replacement element, might just get things
back in order... Vifa makes replacement dome elements for most of their
tweeters... and the elements are generally $15 or less...
However, if they do anything to them (coatings on the dome, etc), then
you're completely at the mercy of the OEM...
Regards,
Gordon.
--
GALAXY convention --------- Anime Weekend Atlanta 5- October 8-10,1999
/| || //| // /| ,, //~// //~// //~// ----- Marriott Gwinnett Hotel
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Peter Larsen
Dave Brown wrote:
>
> The drivers in question are a Vifa D27TG-45 and a P21WO-20. I think it has
> something to do with the driver impedance because Coincident claims the
> speakers impedance stays between 7 and 10 ohms. Yet, both "off the shelf"
> Vifa units have impedances that drop as low as 4 or 5 ohms.
This is about the cross-over rather than about the driver, a passive
cross-over is a major factor in determining system impedance, but it
might not have that much influence at 200 Hz where the bass unit
impedance is likely to be lowest.
> The P21WO-20
> does not have any sort of coating on it. I can't imagine the tweeter being
> coated ;-)
I said I didn't know those units. It may also be that the units only are
different by being sensitivity matched to a closer than average spread.
But as for imagining the tweeter being coated, I can, and coating if
there is one added doesn't have to be on the front side of the membrane.
Dave Brown
Gordon Waters <gwa...@crl2.crl.com> wrote in message
news:7ur9st$6...@crl2.crl.com...
> In article <7ups1o$h5v$1...@autumn.news.rcn.net>,
> Dave Brown <yd...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >Can I purchase a custom manufactured version of a driver directly from
Vifa?
> >My Coincident Conquests use Vifa drivers, but they're not "off the shelf"
> >drivers. Coincident wants $80 for a tweeter that sells, unmodified, for
> >$25. Any suggestions?
>
> Anyone know if Coincident modifies the dome elements themselves?
>
> If not, then a standard Vifa replacement element, might just get things
> back in order... Vifa makes replacement dome elements for most of their
> tweeters... and the elements are generally $15 or less...
>
> However, if they do anything to them (coatings on the dome, etc), then
> you're completely at the mercy of the OEM...
>
> Regards,
> Gordon.
>
> --
> GALAXY convention --------- Anime Weekend Atlanta 5- October 8-10,1999
> /| || file://| // /| ,, file://~// file://~// file://~// -----
Marriott Gwinnett Hotel
> file://|| ||//||// file://|| ./ file://_// file://_// file://_// ---
http://www.anime.net/~awa
> file://~~|| |/ |/ file://~~|| / ,,_// ,,_// ,,_// Gordon
Waters-...@crl.com
François Yves Le Gal
>Do you know how involved replacing the dome unit might be?
Replacing a dome/voice coil is usually quite simple. Juste remove the
holding screws, unsolder the wires, remove very gently the assy, remove
the Ferrofluid or similar (if any). Then put back Ferrofluid (if
needed), center the new assy, insert it straight and very gently, the
resolder the wires and put back the holding screws...
Gordon Waters
No, not specifically for your unit... it depends on how it's mounted.
But, for a generic Vifa tweeter, the dome element replacement is a very
simple bolt-in operation. The only potential difficulty in the generic
case, would be un-soldering the wires off of the old element, and
soldering them onto the new one, once it's installed...
>Gordon Waters <gwa...@crl2.crl.com> wrote in message
>news:7ur9st$6...@crl2.crl.com...
>> If not, then a standard Vifa replacement element, might just get things
>> back in order... Vifa makes replacement dome elements for most of their
>> tweeters... and the elements are generally $15 or less...
Regards,
Gordon.
--
GALAXY convention --------- Anime Weekend Atlanta 5- October 8-10,1999
/| || //| // /| ,, //~// //~// //~// ----- Marriott Gwinnett Hotel
//|| ||//||// //|| ./ //_// //_// //_// --- http://www.anime.net/~awa
//~~|| |/ |/ //~~|| / ,,_// ,,_// ,,_// Gordon Waters-...@crl.com
Dave Brown
Gordon Waters <gwa...@crl2.crl.com> wrote in message
news:7v36l6$i...@crl2.crl.com...