Help a newbie repair his speakers?

[curveship]

Hi All --
First, if this board is the wrong place for this, sorry and please let me know where might be better. Like I said, I'm a newbie .

I received a set of 10-year-old Infinity RS3 speakers from a friend (125w 2-way 6 1/2" bookshelf speakers), but it appears that one of the tweeters is silent. Looking around on-line, replacements are priced around $70-90. Here's a link to show what I'm talking about: Infinity Tweeter 333232-001. That seems like more than the speakers are worth.

Could I put a different aftermarket tweeter in these? Should it be a pair, so that the two units remain symmetric? Could anyone suggest one that would be good and a good match? I'd like to keep the total cost below or not much over $40 if possible.

I'm sure it's the tweeter itself, and not the wiring to it, as I swapped the tweeters left for right and the symptoms followed the tweeter. I've also read that tweeters can often be repaired, but you have to be able to get to the voice coil, and these appear to be glued shut.

Thanks for any help! This is a great forum.
-- Adam

[Andersonix]

Originally Posted by curveship

That seems like more than the speakers are worth.

Indeed.

From the photo it appears the tweeter might snap out of its housing? Then you might get a better look at the voice coil leads soldered to the terminals to see if one is broken (which would probably be your only chance of any repair).

Yes, you should replace them as a pair. Have you checked Zaph's site for good cheap tweeter recommendations? That's where I'd start.

[curveship]

Originally Posted by Tosh

Indeed.

From the photo it appears the tweeter might snap out of its housing? Then you might get a better look at the voice coil leads soldered to the terminals to see if one is broken (which would probably be your only chance of any repair).

Yes, you should replace them as a pair. Have you checked Zaph's site for good cheap tweeter recommendations? That's where I'd start.

Thanks Tosh!

I've tried to remove the tweeter from the housing, and so far, without really getting medieval on it, it hasn't popped out. I may try again tonight. If I destroy it, nothing lost, right?

Yes, I was looking at Zaph's "tweeter mashup." He seems to like the Vifa DQ25SC16-04 a lot (link to Madisound page). The OEM tweeter fits into a plastic enclosure in the frontplate of the speaker. Here's a small picture -- all I can get right now -- of how it works:


Could I just drill 4 holes in that plastic faceplate and mount the Vifa instead? Or would that sound gawdawful?