Trouble replacing blown tweeters

[dependabledjs]

Hi all,

I was doing sound for a fashion show last week, and during the sound checks a "model" dropped one of the radio mics onto a monitor. I had the feedback killer bi-passed for the sound checks.

By the time I made it back to the amps to kill the sound, one of my tweeters was totally destroyed and the other one sounds awful.

The tweeters are piezo's in a horn, and paired with 15" eminenence in a custom cab. There is a basic crossover in the cabs, with a big bar resistor and some capacitors wired in line with the tweeter.

The problem is the shape of the horns. They measure 9" by 5" (230x127mm). There are NO replacements that I can find online that match the measurements. The original tweeters are "LeSon TLC-6" which seem to be currently only available in Brazil.

I want to sell the system and upgrade ASAP so I am looking for something cheap and cheerful to replace them with. I don't want to leave gaps in the speaker when I fit the new horn. The cutout measurement is 7" x 3.5" (180x90mm).

I don't think it is possible to replace the piezo without the horn, the piezo was screwed to the back of the horn. I have removed the blown piezo, and there are 4 screw holes in the enclosure. The distance between the screw holes diagonally is 45mm.


Does anybody have any suggestions how I can fix this problem without spending a fortune?

Thanks,

Ken

[deltic]

Hi all,

I was doing sound for a fashion show last week, and during the sound checks a "model" dropped one of the radio mics onto a monitor. I had the feedback killer bi-passed for the sound checks.

By the time I made it back to the amps to kill the sound, one of my tweeters was totally destroyed and the other one sounds awful.

The tweeters are piezo's in a horn, and paired with 15" eminenence in a custom cab. There is a basic crossover in the cabs, with a big bar resistor and some capacitors wired in line with the tweeter.

The problem is the shape of the horns. They measure 9" by 5" (230x127mm). There are NO replacements that I can find online that match the measurements. The original tweeters are "LeSon TLC-6" which seem to be currently only available in Brazil.

I want to sell the system and upgrade ASAP so I am looking for something cheap and cheerful to replace them with. I don't want to leave gaps in the speaker when I fit the new horn. The cutout measurement is 7" x 3.5" (180x90mm).

I don't think it is possible to replace the piezo without the horn, the piezo was screwed to the back of the horn. I have removed the blown piezo, and there are 4 screw holes in the enclosure. The distance between the screw holes diagonally is 45mm.


Does anybody have any suggestions how I can fix this problem without spending a fortune?

Thanks,

Ken

just have a hunch that because you were able to screw the unit from the flair that you actually have compression drivers and not piezo, which will be easy to replace.

[dependabledjs]

Thanks for the reply!

I have actually had this discussion before, because i thought they were compression drivers too!

Just to clarify first, the unit was screwed down onto the horn(with 4 little screws), not screwed into the horn!

I have taken the speaker apart, and there IS a coil inside. There is then a plastic dome with a square piece of metal glued in the centre. A wire is soldered to each side of this little piece of metal. The metal is no thicker than a PCB, and looks like a metal sandwich!

I attached a picture for you to have a look.

15033

My guess is that the coil is being used as some sort of ballast for the amplifier and has no impact on the sound, and the driver is still a piezo.

I'm no expert though, so correct me if I am wrong!

[Excalibur]

Closest I can find at the moment is an Eminenmce H290S.

And I remember this Le Son blighter, took much googling.

[SoundONE]

Are you sure it does not unscrew from the horn, do you have a pic of the horn?

[deltic]

closest i can find is probably this, for going in the existing cut out.

http://cpc.farnell.com/eminence/apt150/eminence-apt150-pro-tweeter/dp/LS00196


or there is a whole raft here but not sure if anything suitable.

http://cpc.farnell.com/jsp/search/browse.jsp?N=411+2005+208175&No=50&Ntk=gensearch&Ntt=peizo&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&locale=en_CC&appliedparametrics=true&getResults=true&originalQueryURL=/jsp/search/browse.jsp%3FN%3D411%2B2005%2B208175%26Ntk%3Dgense arch%26Ntt%3Dpeizo%26Ntx%3Dmode%2Bmatchallpartial% 26No%3D0%26getResults%3Dtrue%26appliedparametrics% 3Dtrue%26locale%3Den_CC%26divisionLocale%3Den_CC%2 6catalogId%3D%26skipManufacturer%3Dfalse%26skipPar ametricAttributeId%3D%26prevNValues%3D411%2B2005%2 B208175


or as a totally random suggestion could you not blank the existing cutout off and cut a new whole to suit something readily available.

a picture of the horn flair may help shed a bit of light.

[Excalibur]

or as a totally random suggestion could you not blank the existing cutout off and cut a new hole to suit something readily available.

a picture of the horn flare may help shed a bit of light.

A piece of chipboard cut to size, and a tube of wood glue could be very helpful to you. Not a daft idea.

[deltic]

A piece of chipboard cut to size, and a tube of wood glue could be very helpful to you. Not a daft idea.

quite often there is more than one solution to a problem

[Excalibur]

quite often there is more than one solution to a problem

Indeed. And hopefully one not requiring the expenditure of vast sums of money. When I have a minute, I'll see if I can find the original post about these accursed tweeters. :D

Edit: Aha!! (http://www.forum.mobilediscodirectory.co.uk/showthread.php?37082-Worries-about-my-new-pa-(tweeters)) Looks like they are Piezos, so quickest and cheapest course of action could be a converter from bolt on to standard screw thread, and the insertion of a pair of fiver a pop Ebay specials.

[dependabledjs]

Hi all,

Thanks for all the suggestions, they were very much appreciated!

I decided to go down the route of getting the smaller horns from farnell cpc and filling the gap with some chipboard. I got the horns and tweeters delivered for 11 pounds!

When I was looking at the new tweeter/horn assembly before I fitted them, the collar of the new horn seemed to be the same diameter as the old one. In a moment of madness I ran it across my jigsaw, and low and behold, the diameters were the same!

Half a tube of superglue later and the tweeters are good as new. New tweeters in old horns so a perfect fit!

The new tweeters don't sound as good as the old ones though. The processor's real time analysis really has to up the EQ on the treble range above 12kHz. Still, I suppose thats what the processor is for!

At least I learned a new lesson...NEVER over-ride the feedback eliminator when i'm not at the sound desk, and NEVER trust a model with a radio mic that isn't attached to a stand or at least 10ft from a monitor speaker!

Thanks for the help,

Ken

[spin mobile disco]

I think you want these WF56L maplin part number. They did 2 versions the 75w and the 50w version my guess is that if your speakers are lower than previouslt you may have the wrong one.

[CRAZY K]

I think you want these WF56L maplin part number. They did 2 versions the 75w and the 50w version my guess is that if your speakers are lower than previouslt you may have the wrong one.

Bit worrying that these apparently dont need any filtering, although the tech spec then says fit a filter just in case:daft:

My original Skytecs had hf tweeters but never sounded right--later I discovered no filter--so fitted Maplins Tweeters with my own filters---huge improvement.

I have used screw in Maplins Tweeters as above in the past working in Skytec Units( before I became a Peavey convert) and they are surprisingly good for the price--however if you paid £11 for a pair of replacement tweeters dont expect them to sound like a top product---I found this price range sounded ok for Barn Dance and lower volume gigs until I started back on DJ work and then found at high volume being pushed very hard---not good enough.

If not satisfied with replacements all you can do is experiment using different ratings/makes as Matt suggests--often the original unit is the only answer--but thats not possible here. :daft:

[Excalibur]

I think you want these WF56L maplin part number. They did 2 versions the 75w and the 50w version my guess is that if your speakers are lower than previously you may have the wrong one.

It all depends on the relative sensitivities of the HF drivers. I recently planned to replace some in a pair of cabs I have, and considered for a long while what to put in. I found some which seemed to be suitable, but weren't cheap. I had resigned myself to parting with lots of my hard earned for them, until I found a retailer on Ebay. He had a wide range of units, at various specs and prices. One pair were dirt cheap, but nowhere as senstive as some considerably more expensive ones. After due consideration, I decided to go for the lower cost option, as if I got it wrong with the cheap ones, it would be easier to cope with than getting it wrong with the expensive ones.

Guess what, I got it ( partly) wrong. The cheap ones, were indeed a touch quiet, although having a very nice tone. They're an improvement on the original piezos, but they will have to be replaced with something more expensive before they offer the performance I want.

To a very great extent, replacing the drivers in cabs with different ones is really a suck-it-and-see process.

[CRAZY K]

It all depends on the relative sensitivities of the HF drivers. I recently planned to replace some in a pair of cabs I have, and considered for a long while what to put in. I found some which seemed to be suitable, but weren't cheap. I had resigned myself to parting with lots of my hard earned for them, until I found a retailer on Ebay. He had a wide range of units, at various specs and prices. One pair were dirt cheap, but nowhere as senstive as some considerably more expensive ones. After due consideration, I decided to go for the lower cost option, as if I got it wrong with the cheap ones, it would be easier to cope with than getting it wrong with the expensive ones.

Guess what, I got it ( partly) wrong. The cheap ones, were indeed a touch quiet, although having a very nice tone. They're an improvement on the original piezos, but they will have to be replaced with something more expensive before they offer the performance I want.

To a very great extent, replacing the drivers in cabs with different ones is really a suck-it-and-see process.

As I said much easier if the original is available--which to some extent comes down to purchasing units with a brand thats likely to have replacement parts for the forseeable future--but hey lifes not perfect and but for the "accident" probably not required.