Hey all! This is my first non-introduction post.
I recently picked up a pair of Dali Helicon 400 tower speakers. They sounded great but there was noticeably less output from one dome tweeter. I've had good luck bringing tweeters back to life by cleaning up the old gummy ferrofluid and putting new stuff back in. I was attempting to disassemble the tweeter but the voice coil was stuck in the magnetic groove. Turns out the magnet had shifted and pinched one side of the voice coil. It still kind of worked but at a much lower volume than the other side because it wasn't moving freely. The force needed to pull the pinched piece out of the magnet broke the voice coil so now its dead dead.
The tweeter assembly is a combo 1" silk dome tweeter along with a ribbon tweeter. As best as I can tell the dome tweeter was made for Dali by ScanSpeak. Looking at what specs I can find, the dome tweeter seems closest to a ScanSpeak D2608/9130 or at the very least that is what the Dali version is based on.
Replacement tweeters are only sold by Dali as the entire assembly (mounting plate, ribbon, dome) for $1350!!!! Needless to say, that's just a non-starter here.
I work in manufacturing and have access to CNC equipment and 3D printing machines so I can modify the mounting plate to accept pretty much any modern tweeter. Though the D2608 seems most like the original tweeter, I am looking at two Morel models that would be much easier to mount (smaller footprint) and similar specs-- the Morel CAT408 and ET448.
Ideally I'd like to not have to mess with the crossover but I realize that might be inescapable. Do I just replace the domes on both sides with something close and hope it works out? Do I replace the whole assembly with a single modern tweeter and modify the crossover accordingly as I've seen in some posts with similar Dali speakers?
Just looking for some advice from people smarter than I and hoping to learn a bit along the way.
I recently picked up a pair of Dali Helicon 400 tower speakers. They sounded great but there was noticeably less output from one dome tweeter. I've had good luck bringing tweeters back to life by cleaning up the old gummy ferrofluid and putting new stuff back in. I was attempting to disassemble the tweeter but the voice coil was stuck in the magnetic groove. Turns out the magnet had shifted and pinched one side of the voice coil. It still kind of worked but at a much lower volume than the other side because it wasn't moving freely. The force needed to pull the pinched piece out of the magnet broke the voice coil so now its dead dead.
The tweeter assembly is a combo 1" silk dome tweeter along with a ribbon tweeter. As best as I can tell the dome tweeter was made for Dali by ScanSpeak. Looking at what specs I can find, the dome tweeter seems closest to a ScanSpeak D2608/9130 or at the very least that is what the Dali version is based on.
Replacement tweeters are only sold by Dali as the entire assembly (mounting plate, ribbon, dome) for $1350!!!! Needless to say, that's just a non-starter here.
I work in manufacturing and have access to CNC equipment and 3D printing machines so I can modify the mounting plate to accept pretty much any modern tweeter. Though the D2608 seems most like the original tweeter, I am looking at two Morel models that would be much easier to mount (smaller footprint) and similar specs-- the Morel CAT408 and ET448.
Ideally I'd like to not have to mess with the crossover but I realize that might be inescapable. Do I just replace the domes on both sides with something close and hope it works out? Do I replace the whole assembly with a single modern tweeter and modify the crossover accordingly as I've seen in some posts with similar Dali speakers?
Just looking for some advice from people smarter than I and hoping to learn a bit along the way.
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hi, check this tweeter from ebay,
https://www.ebay.com/itm/385142228853
maybe the whole tweeter dome assembly plus the magnet could fit your original mounting plate.
maybe with some modification.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/385142228853
maybe the whole tweeter dome assembly plus the magnet could fit your original mounting plate.
maybe with some modification.
The dome looks remarkably like the Scan-Speak spare for the D2608/9130 tweeter (the old Peerless HDS):
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...canspeak-discovery-voice-coil-for-d2608/9130/
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/scan-speak-290060.html
Edit: sorry, I see you had already identified it, read too quickly
https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.c...canspeak-discovery-voice-coil-for-d2608/9130/
https://www.soundimports.eu/en/scan-speak-290060.html
Edit: sorry, I see you had already identified it, read too quickly
LOL! I was messaging back and forth with that seller last night! It's close but no cigar-- the bolt pattern is just slightly different. 38mm center to center rather than the 42mm I need.
Just to follow-up, I ended up ordering a ScanSpeak Discovery D2608/9130. The bolt pattern is exactly the same. I ended up reusing the "gasket" that went between the original Helicon tweeter and the mounting plate and everything went together easy.
As for the sound, it's pretty damn close. I'd say the new tweeter is a little hotter than the old but sounds great and the difference is almost impossible to notice during normal listening. I'll keep an eye out for a second-hand original tweeter assembly, but I'm more than happy with this $100 fix when the replacement parts from Dali are $1350. I did buy a second D2608 to swap into the other speaker so they match, but honestly they're close enough, I think I'd rather just keep them like this unless I find an original tweeter at a good price.
FWIW, I think the ScanSpeak Classic D2905/950000 would work as well and it might be worth buying one to compare the voicing to both the original tweeter and the D2608. The D2608 is cheaper, mostly better reviewed and was most likely the tweeter that Dali based their version on which is why I went with it first.
As for the sound, it's pretty damn close. I'd say the new tweeter is a little hotter than the old but sounds great and the difference is almost impossible to notice during normal listening. I'll keep an eye out for a second-hand original tweeter assembly, but I'm more than happy with this $100 fix when the replacement parts from Dali are $1350. I did buy a second D2608 to swap into the other speaker so they match, but honestly they're close enough, I think I'd rather just keep them like this unless I find an original tweeter at a good price.
FWIW, I think the ScanSpeak Classic D2905/950000 would work as well and it might be worth buying one to compare the voicing to both the original tweeter and the D2608. The D2608 is cheaper, mostly better reviewed and was most likely the tweeter that Dali based their version on which is why I went with it first.
