I'm trying to help a friend of mine with a pair of Meadowlark Blue Heron speakers that are sickly. The pair he has uses the Audx gas piezo tweeters. One of the midrange drivers isn't working. When I tried popping the midrange off of the front baffle after removing the bolts the driver wouldn't budge. What sort of adhesive did Meadowlark use to seal the driver to the box. I didn't want to pry given the superb finish on the baffle board for fear of scuffing things. How do you get the mid driver off without marring the finish? Anyone know what driver was used for the midrange? It has a clear cone material.
Another concern involves the voicing of the speakers. The speaker with all drivers functioning seems to be rather recessed sounding in the mids and highs. Has anyone experimented with different midrange drivers or crossover points? The transition between the woofers and midrange sounds as though there's something missing. The highs also seem very restrained. The owner commented that compared to some monitors he regularly uses they seem dull sounding He also noted that the Meadowlark speakers seemed dull sounding compared to my Dynaudio driver based monitors.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or sources for upgrades would be appreciated - thanks in advance!
Another concern involves the voicing of the speakers. The speaker with all drivers functioning seems to be rather recessed sounding in the mids and highs. Has anyone experimented with different midrange drivers or crossover points? The transition between the woofers and midrange sounds as though there's something missing. The highs also seem very restrained. The owner commented that compared to some monitors he regularly uses they seem dull sounding He also noted that the Meadowlark speakers seemed dull sounding compared to my Dynaudio driver based monitors.
Any thoughts, suggestions, or sources for upgrades would be appreciated - thanks in advance!
Are they the HD3P gold domes? If so, the recessed sound is quite likely due to the extremely low distortion of these drivers, quite often the ear interprets HF distortion as a "forwardness" in the sound. However, if you want to swap them out for something new, I would be more than willing to take them off your hands for a reasonable price.
Hi - gold domed tweeters are in the box. At this point we're trying to get the pair back into shape, so parting out isn't in the cards at this point unless you want both boxes...
http://www.enjoythemusic.com/magazine/equipment/0402/meadowlarkheron.htm
Hi,
Audax aerogel apparently.
I believe the tweeters c/o point is pretty high and effectively fixed
as the tweeters come fitted with the components already I think.
According to the article above the c/o is first order so should be simple to experiment.
🙂/sreten.
Hi,
Audax aerogel apparently.
I believe the tweeters c/o point is pretty high and effectively fixed
as the tweeters come fitted with the components already I think.
According to the article above the c/o is first order so should be simple to experiment.
🙂/sreten.
Hi tuberube,
My system to "extract" that HM100Z0 is a bit rude.
You can take a screw ( for metal ) and delicate turn it in the
hole. Just a bit to "grip" . Then you can pull the screw with a plier.
The force requested is very little.
Normally it works with neoprene gasket. Never tried with strange adhesive.
Cheers,
Inertial
My system to "extract" that HM100Z0 is a bit rude.
You can take a screw ( for metal ) and delicate turn it in the
hole. Just a bit to "grip" . Then you can pull the screw with a plier.
The force requested is very little.
Normally it works with neoprene gasket. Never tried with strange adhesive.
Cheers,
Inertial
Rather than a 'strange adhesive', it is probably just a case of the sealing strip bonding to the sealed surfaces. I recently had to have Dynaudio drivers refoamed. All conventional attempts to remove them failed. I ended up slicing through the foam surround and hooking some thick steel wire around one of the basket ribs and pulling (hard). It worked but was only viable becuase the surrounds were to be replaced.
In your case, you could also try using a hammer and nail punch on some of the mounting holes, to try to move the driver sideways. Warming of the driver chassis with a hair drier may also assist.
Nigel
(who is normally much more delicate in approach)
In your case, you could also try using a hammer and nail punch on some of the mounting holes, to try to move the driver sideways. Warming of the driver chassis with a hair drier may also assist.
Nigel
(who is normally much more delicate in approach)
I'm also wondering about accessing the crossover - I'd taken out the woofers to get a look inside, but didn't find an accessible crossover. I assume it's under part of transmission line - has anyone gotten inside for a good look?
tuberube said:
Hi,
read the article i linked to, the c/o is in the base of the speaker.
🙂/sreten.
I'd checked the link you provided - I was hoping someone had actually figured out how to access the crossover without ripping the cabinet apart. The designer must not have wanted folks to see what's under the hood.
As for the tight seal on the driver frame, I'd thought about poking some holes through the cone of the driver and use some sort of pliers to pull the driver out - thanks for the suggestion!
As for the tight seal on the driver frame, I'd thought about poking some holes through the cone of the driver and use some sort of pliers to pull the driver out - thanks for the suggestion!
Rather than destroying the very expensive speaker system your friend has, with no real idea what you want to do with it, why not just sell them to someone who would like them, then use the cash to buy or build something more appropriate? 
tuberube said:
Not a great idea to ruin a difficult to replace drive unit when it could be a fault elsewhere in the system causing the lack of sound.
Ideally I'd like to get the speakers running properly. I checked the connections to the mid and they're tight, and I applied a signal to the terminals so it's not working. I've found a source for the mid, so at a minimum the boxes would be working. Gutting the speakers for the drivers makes me sick - those cabinets are built like fine furniture. I realize that folks would like to get the tweeters from the boxes, but that would leave about 300 pounds of gorgeous cabinets to gather dust.
Are you sure the spare part midrange is exact ?
I think that mid can be the standard HM100Z0 ( Fs=175 Hz) last series
but I am not sure. Custom unit? Who know it?
If your voice coil are "fired" you can restore it. No damage that mid.
Extract it , only 5 minutes are required ( I have used my system 10
times and no one have damaged the drive unit ).
Just my suggestion, of course.
Cheers,
Inertial
I think that mid can be the standard HM100Z0 ( Fs=175 Hz) last series
but I am not sure. Custom unit? Who know it?
If your voice coil are "fired" you can restore it. No damage that mid.
Extract it , only 5 minutes are required ( I have used my system 10
times and no one have damaged the drive unit ).
Just my suggestion, of course.
Cheers,
Inertial
tuberube said:
Heron crossover sub chamber
(note the binding post options to select from one
of three hard-wired mid/tweeter filter networks)
Hi, sorry you have click in a link in the article to find the above, 🙂/sreten.
Hi,
I'd say you will have to get two new mid units and fit them.
I doubt that the fitted mid units are off the shelf standard units,
so if you use a standard unit you will need two for matching.
There is no reason why you should not be able to get them
up and running. Hifi-World in the UK used the Audax tweeter
in a number of designs, one at least with a Audax carbon
fibre mid unit probably very similar to the aerogel Audax.
🙂/sreten.
I'd say you will have to get two new mid units and fit them.
I doubt that the fitted mid units are off the shelf standard units,
so if you use a standard unit you will need two for matching.
There is no reason why you should not be able to get them
up and running. Hifi-World in the UK used the Audax tweeter
in a number of designs, one at least with a Audax carbon
fibre mid unit probably very similar to the aerogel Audax.
🙂/sreten.
pinkmouse said:Rather than destroying the very expensive speaker system your friend has, with no real idea what you want to do with it, why not just sell them to someone who would like them, then use the cash to buy or build something more appropriate?
We're trying to avoid destroying the boxes or making radical changes. The thread is aimed at figuring out how to access the crossover to make sure nothing is damaged or disconnected, find an appropriate replacement midrage, and finally tinkering with the crossover to better integrate the woofers and midrange. By sticking an ear right up to the mid and woofers, you can hear they're not well blended. These speakers cost too much to go radical - I'd like them to remain intact.
tuberube said:
I think you are going about this the wrong way. There is a lot of difference between extreme nearfield response and response at the intended listening position - so what you did there is misleading you.
At the listening position the speakers sound recessed in the mids, up close the mids sound recessed - everyone who listens to the speakers feel as though they're recessed/lacking in the mids. The owner is unhappy with how they sound, so some non-damaging experimentation is in order. Nothing that might be attempted will be permanent so I don't see any problems with altering the presentation somewhat.
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