I have a pair of B&W DM640i speakers that i've had for many years. When i started having kids the speakers were left in the den which becme the Barney room and they sat there unused for a few years until I finally rebuilt my Living Room.
I just bought a pioneer VSX-1121 and hooked it up just to find that the bass driver on the right speaker is blown. Took it in to a local place (Audio Den) in Lake Grove and am told that B&W does not have the part in stock and there is no ETA on it so it could be months or I might never get it.
Assuming that I just blew most of my non-kid money on the Pioneer receiver, what options do I have to get these fixed? They are a twin bass driver speaker.
Thanks from a Newbie!
I just bought a pioneer VSX-1121 and hooked it up just to find that the bass driver on the right speaker is blown. Took it in to a local place (Audio Den) in Lake Grove and am told that B&W does not have the part in stock and there is no ETA on it so it could be months or I might never get it.
Assuming that I just blew most of my non-kid money on the Pioneer receiver, what options do I have to get these fixed? They are a twin bass driver speaker.
Thanks from a Newbie!
Was the driver blown, or was there a wiring or XO issue? Looks like 2 bass drivers in parallel, so having 1 go, withoit the 2nd being damaged or degraded is strange (unless one was borderline).
I would suggest you just wait, B&W is pretty good at keeping parts. You might want to check with the Canadian dustrib. You might want to contact B&W directly in the UK. I could easily see a distrib saing, it will have to wait until the next boat.
If you replace 1 woofer, you really need to replace all 4, XOs will need tweaking (an opportunity to bi-amp?) and the resale value will plummet.
dave
I would suggest you just wait, B&W is pretty good at keeping parts. You might want to check with the Canadian dustrib. You might want to contact B&W directly in the UK. I could easily see a distrib saing, it will have to wait until the next boat.
If you replace 1 woofer, you really need to replace all 4, XOs will need tweaking (an opportunity to bi-amp?) and the resale value will plummet.
dave
Thanks for that. I've never reparied a speaker before so i'm out of my league with trying to find a replacment that's not a B&W OEM part. Has anyone ever used speaker components from "Parts Express" ?
first, look to see if theres a broken wire, somewhere
and you can check each woofer with a simple 1.5V battery
and you can check each woofer with a simple 1.5V battery
B&Ws sometimes suffer from connection problems, especially as they get older.
The spade connectors that link everything together can become loose or corroded.
Also check the braided wire between the voice coil and the frame of the speaker.
The spade connectors that link everything together can become loose or corroded.
Also check the braided wire between the voice coil and the frame of the speaker.
The electronics on the X over and connectors seem to be fine. This most likely occured when my daughter turned up the volume. The in-line fuses on the Rotel Amp for the same right channel also blew but that seems to be the extent of the damange to the amp. Only one driver of the two in the right speaker is outputting bad noise while the other bass driver is sounding fine. You are correct in that there are two 8-in. bass drivers in parallel. Maybe patience is the right call. It's hard when I have a brand new receiver and have only one speaker sitting home.
As the 640i is relatively recent 2009 ish.
I imagine that B&W will keep spares for it.
I would WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMENED fitting a genuine replacement.
If your local dealer cant help. Try contacting them directly.
+44 1903 221800
I imagine that B&W will keep spares for it.
I would WHOLEHEARTEDLY RECOMMENED fitting a genuine replacement.
If your local dealer cant help. Try contacting them directly.
+44 1903 221800
Well, calling the UK was a great suggestion and I did call just now and they informed me that the bass driver has been officially discontinued for some time now and if the US Distributor does not have any they will never be available. That ends my guess work there.
So, I figure option #2 is to find someone with the same speaker that's willing to sell them so I can pull the drivers. I've looked around at various sites and can't seem to find any.
Option #3 is to find equivalent replacement bass drivers from another mfg. Any suggestions on a brand and provider or is that a path I shouldn’t bother going down?
All comments welcome..
Try doing a little homework to see if the 640i shares common drivers with another speaker. (B&W make their own drivers). This would at least open up your options looking for a replacement.
RECONING is not really an option - you would seriously affect the sound quality.
HOWEVER, A good reconing facility may be able to repair your exisitng driver.
RECONING is not really an option - you would seriously affect the sound quality.
HOWEVER, A good reconing facility may be able to repair your exisitng driver.
Hi,
The US distributor does not have any, it would have been $120.
FWIW your mids are $240 each, and your tweeters $170.
Your part number ZZ8915 or ZZ08915 might come up on e-bay.
Seller suite7sales seems to deal in used B&W drivers.
rgds, sreten.
The US distributor does not have any, it would have been $120.
FWIW your mids are $240 each, and your tweeters $170.
Your part number ZZ8915 or ZZ08915 might come up on e-bay.
Seller suite7sales seems to deal in used B&W drivers.
rgds, sreten.
In the same boat
I'm in the same boat, only in need of 3 bass drivers.
Did you ever find a source for these?
I talked to B&W and found that the tweeters and midrange speakers all have replacement parts available, but the bass units are discontinued.
I'm in the same boat, only in need of 3 bass drivers.
Did you ever find a source for these?
I talked to B&W and found that the tweeters and midrange speakers all have replacement parts available, but the bass units are discontinued.
I should probably also clarify that my problem is not that they are silent, but that they buzz terribly at low frequencies, because the cone scrapes or something like that.
Reviving an ancient thread. I too have a buzzing bass driver from a DM640i speaker. Is there any way to repair this for a reasonable cost that a non-tech person could hope to do ?
gn2, did you ever solve this?
I just googled the same symptom for the same set of DM640i speakers and landed here. Distortion/buzzing from just 1 of the woofers (the upper one of the two). I'm the original owner from the 1990's. Still love the speakers and have no desire to change them. I figured I could swap 1 woofer out for the same original part easily enough myself, but WOW what a rabbit-hole I found myself in on this site! I didn't know there was such a vibrant group of fervent die-hards willing to rip everything apart down to such tiny details. I'm not looking for that much DIY.
I'm bumping your question up again in hopes someone has a good answer for both of us!
I just googled the same symptom for the same set of DM640i speakers and landed here. Distortion/buzzing from just 1 of the woofers (the upper one of the two). I'm the original owner from the 1990's. Still love the speakers and have no desire to change them. I figured I could swap 1 woofer out for the same original part easily enough myself, but WOW what a rabbit-hole I found myself in on this site! I didn't know there was such a vibrant group of fervent die-hards willing to rip everything apart down to such tiny details. I'm not looking for that much DIY.
I'm bumping your question up again in hopes someone has a good answer for both of us!