Wilson Tweeter: Repair?

LL21 · Dec 31, 2011

When I play soundtracks (usually more loudly than music), i notice the left tweeter will crackle from time to time...not always during loud scenes, but sometimes during dialogue...but generally during louder scenes. Only the left tweeter. Right tweeter is perfect no matter how loud.

Dry solder? They are old speakers (14 years)...time for new tweeter? I just emailed my local dealer but it is New Year's Eve.

Thanks for any advice!

Steve Williams · Dec 31, 2011

Send Wilson Audio your serial numbers and they will match your tweeter

Gregadd · Dec 31, 2011

You've done the usual troubleshooting I assume? Made sure all connections are tight, switching inputs, etc?

fas42 · Dec 31, 2011

Do Wilson hardwire their drivers (naughty, naughty, if they don't ...)? As Greg suggests, it could be as simple as a connection getting flakey, but internal in this case. If you're game to get inside the cabinet, it might be obvious, and you could do yourself a favour at the same time, and fix up some of the other dodgy connections dragging down sound quality ...

As a side note on this, my friend has a current Naim Nait, finally got of warranty so immediately ripped off the cover to check out what was there. Lo and behold, the internal main fuse was somewhat loose in its holder, not faulty, but not tightly gripped either. Having now been well trained

, he got to work straight away, full clean and silver contact treatment, ahhh, there's the bass working better straight away, and the slight edge in the treble has evaporated ...

It's all as simple as that ...

Frank

LL21 · Jan 1, 2012

Gregadd said:
You've done the usual troubleshooting I assume? Made sure all connections are tight, switching inputs, etc?

Good point, i just realized this morning that because there is a tiny transformer hum in my Zanden which i can just about hear when the volume is really cranked for video...i use the Oppo's direct analogue outs when watching action movies. I will double-check...could be the Oppo's Left analogue output is causing the crackling? Not sure why volume would make the left crackle but who knows?

microstrip · Jan 1, 2012

Lloyd,

You should get a microphone, a sound card and some software that allows you to get spectra and distortion information in two minutes. It will save you the anguish of fearing that your precious tweeters are faulty. It is a powerful diagnostic tool and very easy to use. I use a BEHRINGER: ECM8000 inexpensive micro and an EMU tracker USB sound card.

FrantzM · Jan 1, 2012

microstrip said:
Lloyd,

You should get a microphone, a sound card and some software that allows you to get spectra and distortion information in two minutes. It will save you the anguish of fearing that your precious tweeters are faulty. It is a powerful diagnostic tool and very easy to use. I use a BEHRINGER: ECM8000 inexpensive micro and an EMU tracker USB sound card.

Closet Objectivist !

treitz3 · Jan 1, 2012

How old is your amplifier?

I would advise to switch the RCA or balanced inputs into your amplifier. If the issue stays in the same speaker, the issue is downstream. If it moves to the other speaker, the issue is somewhere upstream. I would try to isolate the issue first, before assuming the tweeter is malfunctioning. Best of luck in resolving your issue.

Tom

fas42 · Jan 1, 2012

I started the audio game seriously with second hand B&W bookshelf speakers, which after serious tweaking gave an excellent account of themselves. After many years a slight scratching or rubbing sound developed in one of the mid/bass drivers, that came and went. It steadily got worse, I wasn't in the mood at the time to investigate further, and one day cooked the voice coil trying to use brute force driving of the speaker to get the problem to clear. Turned out that the whole back plate/assembly of the driver is only glued on to the rest of the structure, and this glue was slowly letting go, and the back assembly was moving sideways bit by bit, to the point where the voice coil was rubbing the side of the gap at times. Until it got too much: bye, bye, driver ...

Anyone else come across or had this "problem"?

Frank

LL21 · Jan 1, 2012

So i basically played a movie at loud-ish levels...analogue out of my Oppo...and the crackling occured in the left tweeter...i then switched to the DAC immediately on my preamp and the crackling stopped. I replayed the same scene 5 times (2 with DAC and 3 with Oppo analogue-out)...the crackling only occured at high volumes thru the Oppo analogue outs.

I hope that is good news, as i care much more about the speakers than the oppo out. And i can play movies using the Zanden DAC of course anyway.

Now of course...why would this tweeter crackle only happen thru analogue outs of an oppo...at high volumes with strong bass?

treitz3 · Jan 1, 2012

It's apparently upstream then. At this point I would advise switching the R & L out of the Oppo. Does the issue stay with the speaker or move to the other one?

LL21 · Jan 1, 2012

treitz3 said:
It's apparently upstream then. At this point I would advise switching the R & L out of the Oppo. Does the issue follow the speaker or move to the other one?

That's the next step...i think i know the problem. eVeryonce in a while when you unhook the RCA from the WBT connectors, one of the WBT connections actually spins, and i have had to "screw it back on"...must be a loose connection. I am just not sure why that would cause crackle only during loud passages.

In any event, i will speak with the guy i know who did the work on the Oppo...i suspect he will know.

treitz3 · Jan 1, 2012

lloydelee21 said:
Now of course...why would this tweeter crackle only happen thru analogue outs of an oppo...at high volumes with strong bass?

That could be a multitude of other things going on but online, who's to say? Let's try to narrow down what the issue is first, before anything else. Good luck and please report back.

Tom

LL21 · Jan 1, 2012

treitz3 said:
That could be a multitude of other things going on but online, who's to say? Let's try to narrow down what the issue is first, before anything else. Good luck and please report back.

Tom

Thanks! will let all know what i find.

LL21 · Jan 2, 2012

lloydelee21 said:
Thanks! will let all know what i find.

Got an email back...sounds like there is a chance that when the Oppo RCA jacks got loose and needed "twisting" to re-tighten them, the wiring in the back may have just slightly touched or somehow gotten a little messed up. Until it can be fixed, i will just stop using the analogue outs. generally, i run everything thru my Zanden DAC anyway. Hopefully, a quick fix whenever i get around to it.

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Wilson Tweeter: Repair?

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