B&W 801 S3 tweeter/midrange head removal

[tubularfluxus]

Hi,
I have a pair of B&W 801 S3 speakers, of which one produces distortion from the midrange-tweeter head.

I would like to remove the head and swap it with the other speaker, to try isolate if the speaker is within the tweeter-midrange, or within the crossover of that speaker (which I believe sits at the bottom under the speaker).

On B&W 801 S2 the head had a screw on top, to loosen it so that it could be removed from the body. On S3, there is no screw on top.

Has anyone had experience removing the head on S3?

Thank you

 

[system7]

You'll need the service manual for the B&W Matrix 801 S3:
B&W Group North America Service & Support - Home

Looks easy enough to me. Fault could be a loose connection, rubbing voicecoil, dried up ferrofluid or dry or cracked joint or worn component in the crossover or protection circuits.

Turning an old driver 90 degrees can often cure voicecoil alignment problems.

 

[sreten]

Turning an old driver 90 degrees can often cure voicecoil alignment problems.

Hi,

Often you need to turn it 180 degrees.

Or prod the driver round the edges to see if one
point seems to be the worst for causing rubbing.
Mount the driver with this point on the bottom.

rgds, sreten.

 

[tubularfluxus]

Thanks for pointing to the service manual. I've found it and managed to disassemble the midrange and tweeter without removing the head.

I swapped midrange and tweeter between the two speakers and found that one particular midrange is distorting the sound. The midrange itself looks perfect. Tested with a multimeter for resistance returns 7.2ohm.

It produces sound, but is muffled and distorted.

Is there any fix I could try or should I just replace the midrange and throw the old one away?

 

[system7]

You might do some measuring of physical size of the fried midrange. I suspect the voicecoil has fried and unravelled.

IMO, a Peerless midrange might be a suitable replacement:
Peerless HDS PPB 830860

They also have always done this shape of mid.
Peerless Midwoofers & Midrange Speakers, Free UK Delivery.

You can probably adjust mid level with a resistor change.

 

[tubularfluxus]

I think I am going to look first and see if I can find another identical midrange on ebay or such...but thank you

 

[Face]

I think I am going to look first and see if I can find another identical midrange on ebay or such...but thank you

That would be best.