Please help an amateur diagnose tweeter issue (Vifa XT25)

[jayeph]

Hi everyone, I just purchased a pair of Meadowlark Kestrel 2's with the Vifa XT25TG30-04 tweeters.

However, unfortunately one of the tweeters is completely dead/silent. No static/hiss. The seller won't cooperate with me on getting it fixed and insists that it's "shipping damage".

My question is, how can I confirm if it's dead or just a loose wire maybe? I unscrewed the dead tweeter and the wires look connected though. I have no problems ordering a replacement XT25 for ~$40, but I've never installed a tweeter before and I was wondering if it's as simple as soldering/plug-n-play'ing the new tweeter. Do I need to replace both at once so they're matched/have the same hours?

Sorry for the newbie questions, thanks in advance.

[mjf]

hello.
you can disconnect one wire from the tweeter
and measure the coil res with a multimeter,it should show a few ohm.
if it shows open circuit the tweeter is probably dead.
greets

[jayeph]

thanks for the reply, excuse my ignorance but how do i go about doing this? i'm very new to speakers & electronics but i do have a multimeter

by disconnect, do you mean i need to cut off one of the wire connections? where would i put the prongs to read the ohm?

[mjf]

yes, i would cut off (or desolder) one wire ..........because i don't know your crossover,there could be built in a coil or a res in paralell.........
and the two prongs at the place where the two wires are connected at the tweeter.

[jayeph]

so i disconnected one wire, and i just touched the prongs to the two tweeter posts, with music playing

the meter did not move at all

[jayeph]

does this mean open circuit/dead tweeter?, from what i know it's a transmission line speaker w/ first order crossover

if so, can i just buy 1 replacement tweeter or do i need a matched pair?


also, one more question, is there any way i can find more info on what caused it to die?

i want to find out if the seller sold me speakers w/ a dead tweeter, or that it actually somehow damaged when shipping to my house.. can a loose wire or anything during shipping cause a dead tweeter?

[Andersonix]

Originally Posted by jayeph

so i disconnected one wire, and i just touched the prongs to the two tweeter posts, with music playing

Who told you to have music playing? Anyway, it doesn't matter. Buy a pair of replacement voice coil assemblies (maybe from Madisound?) and ask a handy friend to just replace both.

[Shaun]

Unless you can see visible evidence of damage (like a scuff mark, indentation or scratch), it is highly unlikely that your tweeter was damaged in transit. Were they not protectively packaged, anyway?

Switch your multimeter to ohms (might be indicated with an omega symbol), and the range to 200ohms (or the next higher setting above 10). You can test that your meter shows zero ohms when you touch theprobes together, and infinity or "OL" when not connected. After disconnecting at least one of the tweeter leads, apply the probes to the tweeter connection lugs. The reading should be in the region of 4 to 7 ohms, or thereabouts. If it shows "OL", the voice coil has gone open circuit.

But before doing all that, it may be useful to check the connections around the crossover. Sometimes dry solder joints can develop; moving the equipment around may cause them to go completely open circuit.

[jayeph]

Originally Posted by Tosh

Who told you to have music playing? Anyway, it doesn't matter. Buy a pair of replacement voice coil assemblies (maybe from Madisound?) and ask a handy friend to just replace both.

i'm new to this, i wasn't sure... you can test it with speaker cables disconnected?

what do you mean by voice coil assemblies? i don't need to replace the tweeter? again please excuse my ignorance and bear with me

[jayeph]

Originally Posted by Shaun

Unless you can see visible evidence of damage (like a scuff mark, indentation or scratch), it is highly unlikely that your tweeter was damaged in transit. Were they not protectively packaged, anyway?

Switch your multimeter to ohms (might be indicated with an omega symbol), and the range to 200ohms (or the next higher setting above 10). You can test that your meter shows zero ohms when you touch theprobes together, and infinity or "OL" when not connected. After disconnecting at least one of the tweeter leads, apply the probes to the tweeter connection lugs. The reading should be in the region of 4 to 7 ohms, or thereabouts. If it shows "OL", the voice coil has gone open circuit.

But before doing all that, it may be useful to check the connections around the crossover. Sometimes dry solder joints can develop; moving the equipment around may cause them to go completely open circuit.

yes they were in packed well, i just have a feeling the seller already knew it was dead and sold it to me anyway... now he's telling me that shipping damage caused the tweeter to die


when i read the tweeter resistance w/ the multimeter, am i suppose to have the speaker cable disconnected? does it matter?


i have on way of getting to the crossover... the cabinet is very narrow and i'm not sure how to open it


thanks in advance for the help