A pair of Wharfedale Opus 2-3s followed me home from the dump the other day. One works quite well and is at moments quite good sounding. The other side tweeter is dead or nearly so and there may be issues with the woofers (possibly muddy sounding). Not sure until I get more clear about the tweeter issue. I recently re-built a tweeter on another dump find (PSB Image 5T using this as guidance: https://wordpress.myon.no/misc/psb-image-tweeter-repair/) and it wasn't hard. I'm hopeful I can revive the tweeter on the Wharfedale but I can't figure out how to remove it. The tweeter is behind a plastic plate that has no screws. I've loosened the plastic bezel but can't figure out how to release it so I can get at the tweeter. I'll eventually remove the mid and top woofer if need be, but I'm wondering if anyone has any knowledge about how to remove these. Pic below is not mine, but it looks the same.
Thx in advance!
Thx in advance!
I assume it will be the same as similar looking warfdales I've worked on.
Remove the mid under the tweeter.
Put your hand in there and have a good feel around.
There will be a blob of black mastic.
This covers a nut and washer that thread onto a stud that is part of the tweeter trim.
The tweeter is screwed to the trim so the whole lot comes out as a single piece.
You have to remove the mastic with your fingers.
Have rags ready to wipe your fingers on.
Then remove the nut AND the washer.
Note that the top of the cabinet where the nut/washer is, is actually slotted.
So they will not come out unless you remove the washer.
The tweeter / plate assembly can then be wriggled out of the cabinet.
You most likely will also have to remove the sealing mastic around the wires from the inside of the cabinet as well.
The attached pics are of the last one I did.
They had obviously been attacked by someone previous to me.
So the finer details of yours might be a little different.
Remove the mid under the tweeter.
Put your hand in there and have a good feel around.
There will be a blob of black mastic.
This covers a nut and washer that thread onto a stud that is part of the tweeter trim.
The tweeter is screwed to the trim so the whole lot comes out as a single piece.
You have to remove the mastic with your fingers.
Have rags ready to wipe your fingers on.
Then remove the nut AND the washer.
Note that the top of the cabinet where the nut/washer is, is actually slotted.
So they will not come out unless you remove the washer.
The tweeter / plate assembly can then be wriggled out of the cabinet.
You most likely will also have to remove the sealing mastic around the wires from the inside of the cabinet as well.
The attached pics are of the last one I did.
They had obviously been attacked by someone previous to me.
So the finer details of yours might be a little different.
Oh man, UserAbuser, this may be just the thing I needed. Thank you!!! I'll try to have a look over the holiday break that started this evening. I'll report back if I can make progress.
Mine got damaged during transport. If you get replacement tweeter pair, but planning to throw away the one that's working, then please consider me for giving away. Will pay for US shipping
OK, availlyrics, but if it looks like I can repair the tweeter, I'll probably do that. I'll keep you posted.
Progress! I was able to get the tweeter and trim piece off thanks to UserAbuser's help. It's a little different in that the bolts that hold down the tweeter also have some wings that hold it in place and tight against the baffle and I had to use a mirror (that pink thing) to figure it out and remove it. Now that it's out I was able to get a solid reading on the tweeter and it's reading 45k ohms on my multimeter. This obviously is an odd reading. I can't figure out why it isn't just reading open. I'll next try running a signal with a big cap to see if I get anything out of it. Ultimately if the coil is OK I'll probably try to rebuild the tweeter. I'll also look into possible replacements including originals if I can find any.
Replacement Wharfedale 0326H tweeters available here: https://reconingspeakers.com/products-page/wharfedale-diamond-8-1-8-2-tweeter/
It's scary isn't it, working on a finished product, and trying not to damage something in the process.
Well done getting the old ones out.
Drivers don't always fail open circuit.
High resistance (in a faulty unit) means its been over driven and the voice coil has started to burn.
That leads to a higher resistance of the voice coil.
It still means the tweeter is knackered though 🙂
It's even more scary trying not to damage someone elses pride and joy.
Drivers don't always fail open circuit.
High resistance (in a faulty unit) means its been over driven and the voice coil has started to burn.
That leads to a higher resistance of the voice coil.
It still means the tweeter is knackered though 🙂
It's even more scary trying not to damage someone elses pride and joy.
Thanks, Galu. The price is right. Unfortunately it looks like this isn't listed for the Opus 2-3 (mine shows tweeter #0368), but it MAY work there. Do you know that it will work as a replacement in the Opus line? I have to look at what I can find on the specs of both but the Opus/0368 isn't easy to find info on. Thanks for any further input. I'll keep digging around.
In thinking more on this, I suppose it can't hurt to try it. Maybe it won't be quite up to the stock tweeter but the speakers are no good without a working tweeter of some sort. But I'd sure like to know more about sensitivity, T/S parameters, etc.
In thinking more on this, I suppose it can't hurt to try it. Maybe it won't be quite up to the stock tweeter but the speakers are no good without a working tweeter of some sort. But I'd sure like to know more about sensitivity, T/S parameters, etc.
Thx UserAbuser. I didn't know that. Yes, scarier that way I suppose. I only work on speakers I've found at the dump, like these.
I don't know for certain that the 0326H tweeter is a direct replacement parameter wise, but at the price it looks worth the try.
If there were to be a noticeable difference in response, it may be remedied by replacing both tweeters and/or an adjustment to the tweeter filter.
If there were to be a noticeable difference in response, it may be remedied by replacing both tweeters and/or an adjustment to the tweeter filter.
I signed up just to respond to this thread, since I just repaired an Opus tweeter last month.
I couldn't find the 0368 either, so went with an 0326, which are far more common, and used in many Wharfedale speakers of this era, including the Evo series.
Having also replace a tweeter in the Evo 2-40's, I knew what I was in for with the Opus - and it's exactly as shown and described above - yes, there are a little extra series of wings you need to remove (the small bolts do double duty holding the tweeter itself onto the aluminium mounting bracket). And yes, you do need a mirror, small light and some fiddling to get it done (along with a 6mm and 7mm wrenches / sockets).
To get the 0326 to fit, I had to dremel a small amount of material off the 0368's housing / heat disperser, since its wiring is a little different.
If anyone does find a source for the correct tweeters, it'd be great to learn where!
I couldn't find the 0368 either, so went with an 0326, which are far more common, and used in many Wharfedale speakers of this era, including the Evo series.
Having also replace a tweeter in the Evo 2-40's, I knew what I was in for with the Opus - and it's exactly as shown and described above - yes, there are a little extra series of wings you need to remove (the small bolts do double duty holding the tweeter itself onto the aluminium mounting bracket). And yes, you do need a mirror, small light and some fiddling to get it done (along with a 6mm and 7mm wrenches / sockets).
To get the 0326 to fit, I had to dremel a small amount of material off the 0368's housing / heat disperser, since its wiring is a little different.
If anyone does find a source for the correct tweeters, it'd be great to learn where!
Glad you posted, sultan. Can you compare the 0326 with the 0368? The other side works fine and I'd love to keep it intact, but am concerned about an imbalance between the sides if I use the 0326. I'd love to hear your thoughts if you will.
I can't tell an audible difference. The tweeters are rated very similarly in terms of specs.
For a list of tweeters supposedly used in the Opus1 line see here:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/190335/Wharfedale-Pro-Opus.html?page=20#manual
On page 21, you'll see the first series Opus used the 0326 tweeter (and 0334).
The second series Opus2's used the 0368, 0373, 0374 and 0375 tweeter part. I suspect the housing is the only real difference:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1184069/Wharfedale-Pro-Opus-2.html?page=10#manual
For a list of tweeters supposedly used in the Opus1 line see here:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/190335/Wharfedale-Pro-Opus.html?page=20#manual
On page 21, you'll see the first series Opus used the 0326 tweeter (and 0334).
The second series Opus2's used the 0368, 0373, 0374 and 0375 tweeter part. I suspect the housing is the only real difference:
https://www.manualslib.com/manual/1184069/Wharfedale-Pro-Opus-2.html?page=10#manual
You should definitely agonise over that, and put two 0326's in, and send me your spare 0368 😀
😳😆 Thanks a ton for the info. I'll probably replace it with the 0326 until/if I can find an 0368. I appreciate the input. I'd rather they work at all, even if less than optimally. I was able to rebuild a tweeter in a pair of PSB Image 5T that I also got from the dump and which work pretty well. So while I doubt it in this case (the PSB at least measured about right for DCR), maybe I'll get lucky and be able to rebuild these. Who knows?