Focal 826 Tweeter Removal

I completely agree with you. But I am here at the mercy of Focal. If they don't have tweeters in stock, I may try something different. But they do have in stock. So I will go with original tweeters. My only concern is how will they sound. Because I have not heard them before.
It's best to go with the original, they sound reasonably priced to me and it's safe to say they probably are the optimum for the speaker without delving into the crossover design and directivity.
 
Get the original replacements. If for some reason the speakers don't work out to your taste you will be able to sell them for a much better price as originals with OEM replacement tweeters. Also, who knows how long they will be available.
If you want to play around with a different tweeters you can leave the replacement tweeters out, connect new longer wires to the existing tweeter wires and run them to a new tweeter of your choice, with or without an enclosure (I have used AMT's), that sits on top of the speaker cabinet. Not perfect, but allows lots of flexibility. Most likely you will have to do some EQ work but I have had some fun playing around this way.
 
Well $70 is expensive for what you're getting here. These tweeters are small basic no chamber neo devices worth like $10-20. Like the tiny faceplate-less tymphany devices.

It's absolutely normal though. Manufacturer bought replacement drivers are always horrendously expensive. $1000 speakers cost the manufacture about $100 to make.

I've no idea why manufacturers charge so much for replacement drivers. It can't be big business very few people will but them.

Value for money or not, $70 isn't a huge amount to get your speakers going.
 

Fussing over output impedance on most modern amps is pretty much a waste of time... If you look at the specification for "Damping Factor" you will find most modern amps run 50 or more.

Damping Factor is simply the ratio between the actual output impedance of the amplifier and that of the speakers. So if you are using an amplifier specified with a DF of 50 on 8 ohm speakers the actual output impedance of that amplifier is something like .... 8/50 ==0.16 ohms.

When solid state gear started coming out, engineers moved from the transformer days of impedance matching to the more robust technique of Impedance Bridging wherin a low impedance output is used to drive a much higher impedance input, to ensure the maximum transfer of energy. At line levels this commonly amounts to a 600 ohm (or less) output feeding a 10k (or higher) input. With power amps this became "Damping Factor".

With feedback, the damping factor can be amplified many times, so an amp with an output impedance of 0.1 ohms could be made to look like 0.01 ohms increasing the damping factor by 10X or more, as the feedback network tends to compensate for the load.

In most power amps the specification for 8 ohm or 4 ohm loads is thus much more about the limits of output current than the actual impedance of the amplifier.
 
I've no idea why manufacturers charge so much for replacement drivers. It can't be big business very few people will but them.

Stocking specific replacement parts is something of crap shoot. How many should you have? ... From managing a service department, I know how much space and how much waste there is in stocking device specific parts. For example we used to keep side frames in stock for our cash register lines. Over my tenure I doubt we sold more than 5 of them. Very often we know this in advance, but often we do not. So the price as a replacement part tends to reflect the likelihood of us getting stuck with a bucket load of stuff we would never sell.
 
diyAudio Moderator
Joined 2008
Paid Member
Yep, it seems like everything buys an argument around here. :D

But it's true... Impedance Bridging was developed to ensure that you can buy the best products from several different companies, plug it all in and make it work.

The only place I've ever worked where impedance matching was still a thing is in RF communications and two way radio. In fact you can still find several of my antenna designs on line... complete with impedance matching instructions. (For example: 2 Meter Balcony Bender - VE3VDC )
 
Last edited:
They are out for delivery. I will be installing them tonight. I am planning to use Arcam DiVA P1000 7-Channel amplifier with my 826. Can I use this amplifier? I have mentioned the specifications of the amplifier.

Spec:

NOTE: ALL MEASUREMENTS ARE WITH 230V / 50 HZ MAINS

POWER CONTINUOUS OUTPUT POWER (WATTS PER CHANNEL)

ALL CHANNELS DRIVEN:
20HZ - 20HZ, 8O 135 WPC 945KW TOTAL
20HZ - 20HZ, 4O 210WPC 1.47KW TOTAL

ONE OR TWO CHANNELS DRIVEN AT:
1KHZ, 8O 190 WPC
1KHZ, 4O 250 WPC
1KHZ, 3.2O 300 WPC

PEAK OUTPUT CURRENT CAPABILITY:
>20.5 AMPS PER CHANNEL

TOTAL HARMONIC DISTORTION:
AT ANY LEVEL UP TO RATED POWER, INTO 4 OR 8O <0.08% 20HZ - 20HZ, TYPICALLY <0.007% AT 1KHZ

FREQUENCY RESPONSE: +/- 0.2DB 2HZ - 50HZ -1 DB AT 1HZ AND 100KHZ

RESIDUAL HUM AND NOISE:
REF FULL POWER -110DB A WEIGHTED, OR 100DB CCIR

VOLTAGE GAIN:
USER SELECTABLE
A X31.5DB
B X29DB
C X26DB

INPUT IMPEDANCE:
22KO IN PARALLEL WITH 180 PF

OUTPUT IMPEDANCE:
50MO AT 20HZ, 1KHZ 80MO AT 20HZ

GENERAL:
WXDXH (INCLUDING FEET) 430 X 400 X 133MM POWER CONSUMPTION 2.2KW MAX
WEIGHT (NET) 18KG E&OE 08/05
 
Photos of the new tweeter. It came with the key :)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20200207_161825654.jpg
    IMG_20200207_161825654.jpg
    962 KB · Views: 80
  • IMG_20200207_161757279.jpg
    IMG_20200207_161757279.jpg
    591.3 KB · Views: 87
  • IMG_20200207_163732285.jpg
    IMG_20200207_163732285.jpg
    253.7 KB · Views: 82