I have a ZRT build with two Scanspeak Revelators bass elements on each side. Last time I went to use them there was no bass. Initially I thought there was something wrong with my NAD D3020, but tried with a different amp and realised the problem were the speakers. They are about ten years old, from Madisound Speaker store.
When taken out and measures with a multimeter, they all show open circuit. They have, to my knowledge, not been playing loud and I can see absolutely no damage on any of them (except two of them which has some unrelated cat scratch cone damage). I read somewhere that these might have issues with absorbing moisture, causing rust? I'm just very confused about why they would all fail at the approximate same time. We're in Australia, and the weather here changes from humid part of the year to quite dry and hot.
There's some discolouration on the labels, am wondering if that can indicate moisture? Any ideas?
When taken out and measures with a multimeter, they all show open circuit. They have, to my knowledge, not been playing loud and I can see absolutely no damage on any of them (except two of them which has some unrelated cat scratch cone damage). I read somewhere that these might have issues with absorbing moisture, causing rust? I'm just very confused about why they would all fail at the approximate same time. We're in Australia, and the weather here changes from humid part of the year to quite dry and hot.
There's some discolouration on the labels, am wondering if that can indicate moisture? Any ideas?
Scan Sepak sudden death
Not sure if it is "very common" - so far I have only seen this "feature" from ScanSpeak. Never come across any Dynaudio, Seas, Philips, Focal drivers having this fail.
If you are on the east coast where I am, we have had the wettest 3 months on record. More than the average annual rainfall in the first 3 months of the year and predicted to continue for some time. I have exactly the same drivers in my speakers. Yours look a bit mouldy, so I suspect corrosion somewhere. I run a dehumidifier in my listening room at least 12hr/day. it pulls 20 litres of water out each session. The main concern are the 5000 LP's but the electronics and speakers benefit too. The Revelator are pulp cones so possible quite susceptible to moisture attack too. I highly recommend a dehumidifier when you have fixed the problem. Plenty of benefits audio/health wise.
I had the issue of the flexible wire getting disconnected from the voice coil with the loudspeaker of a 1950's valve radio (radio brand Sonorton, loudspeaker brand Musicalpha) and with the midrange speaker of a Klein & Hummel OY active studio monitor. I could fix it in both cases.
I have had that happen to several Viva TC9 drivers in my arrays after they had been in storage in a damp garage for almost a year.
I've been in contact with Scan Speak and they have changed the glue they use to prevent problems like yours on newer drivers.
In your case it should be repairable if done with care. I would have expected your drivers to be a little older...
I've been in contact with Scan Speak and they have changed the glue they use to prevent problems like yours on newer drivers.
In your case it should be repairable if done with care. I would have expected your drivers to be a little older...
This is Australia. I went to buy soccer goals for my son who recently turned 10. You know the type that you put it be backyard, with the netting and have a little kick?
I asked- how long will this last? The sport store clerk (yes, we still have retail staff and real retail stores here) laughed and replied “you can’t expect anything to last than 12 months here in the (Northern) Territory”
Needless to stay, I took her advice and didn’t buy the steel soccer posts.
I used my DIY speaker building skills to build soccer goals out of commercial grade down(water) pipes.
This will never go mouldy.
Too bad you can’t make speakers with PVC… yet.
I asked- how long will this last? The sport store clerk (yes, we still have retail staff and real retail stores here) laughed and replied “you can’t expect anything to last than 12 months here in the (Northern) Territory”
Needless to stay, I took her advice and didn’t buy the steel soccer posts.
I used my DIY speaker building skills to build soccer goals out of commercial grade down(water) pipes.
This will never go mouldy.
Too bad you can’t make speakers with PVC… yet.
Attachments
The ScanSpeak failures I have seen, +20 drivers of various age, all had the wire glued to the back of the cone deteriorated; it liitterally fell apart when removing the glue ... I suspect ScanSpeak use glue containing acid.
Also, it is not only drivers +30 years, but also drivers of barely a decade old ... go figur!
Mechanial issues, as you are referring to, is something different.
Indeed, but in either case the flexible wire gets disconnected. The flexible wire getting disconnected is what I meant to call a quite common failure.
I don't know if the wires in the OY and the Sonorton got disconnected due to mechanical issues or chemical issues. If I recall correctly, they were still sticking to the cone (at least the one from the OY), but not making any contact anymore. They certainly were much older than those ScanSpeak speakers.
I don't know if the wires in the OY and the Sonorton got disconnected due to mechanical issues or chemical issues. If I recall correctly, they were still sticking to the cone (at least the one from the OY), but not making any contact anymore. They certainly were much older than those ScanSpeak speakers.
I had 4 SS18W 8531 drivers that were replaced because of a cat tearing the surrounds. I finally received new surrounds from SS & was able to use 2 of the 4 drivers. The other 2 died because of this corrosion where the VC is soldered to the lea wire. The wire was crumbly & had white residue under the glue. I couldn't repair them & was not happy!
not sure when ScanSpeak released the 18W/8531 - how old were those drivers you received from ScanSpeak when they failed?
Interesting. I recone speakers (but never any ScanSpeak), and in the photos, it looks like ScanSpeak runs the VC wires up the back of the cone to solder to the tinsel. I can't recall if I've ever seen another speaker with VC wires routed that way. You usually have to make holes in the VC and bring the tinsel through.
Strange. I have 6 SS18W 8531 drivers used in 3 separate pairs of speakers at 2 different locations since 2012. They have never shown any corrosion related problems and are still is daily use. I even have a back-up spare pair in storage which I recently checked and are in mint condition. They are still my favourite 6.5" driver despite many subjective comparisons with more recent alternatives from the SS range and SB Acoustics.
I wonder if the damping compound used for the slit cone is off-gassing corrosive fumes? Some silicone compounds are well known to produce acidic fumes. Neutral cure silicone does not have this issue. I assume the SS damping compound is proprietary but could be based on a corrosive silicone.
While working at Speaker City in the 90s we had a customer come in with some 18W woofers he just bought. The surrounds were wrinkled like bacon! After lots of head scratching I realized he was using a very volatile silicon sealer to mount the woofers. The off gassing would effect the rubber in the surrounds! Now people pay extra for surrounds like that! Lol
as far as the Scanspeaks go, I’ve seen over excursion break the tinsel lead connection too.
as far as the Scanspeaks go, I’ve seen over excursion break the tinsel lead connection too.