infinity primus 150 issue

maggotbrain

New Member
I have acquired a pair of infinity primus 150 speakers and one of them has distortion in the tweeter. Is there a way to tell if it is the tweeter or something else?
 
Hello maggotbrain. Welcome to AK. Try switching the Left and Right speakers. If it switches sides than it would be the speaker. If it is the speaker the tweeter could be damaged. Or the crossover could be causing the distortion. Also not knowing how the speakers were treated over the years (IE- did the speakers get overdriven damaging the tweeter?). If you have a meter you can check out the resistance of the tweeter. Open up the speaker and look at the crossover (The cap or caps look intact?). Disconnect one wire from the tweeter and measure the resistance of the voice coil. Check out the good speaker as a reference. That's a start.
 
Another thing you can try is to switch tweeters between cabinets to check out any crossover system problems, if the "tweeter trouble" moves with the tweeter then it is the tweeter (keep the same amplifier channel for testing), if the "trouble" stays with the cabinet (with all else remaining the same) then you have crossover system problems.
Remember to NOT make more than ONE CHANGE per "test" as you can become confused by two changes and thinking "what change made a difference?".

Mark T. :music:
 
Okay, I switched the tweeter between the two speakers and the distortion stays with the speaker so I guess that means it is a crossover problem. i have performed any other test. I can get a pair of crossovers on e-bay but they are almost as much as I paid for the speakers :whip:
 
I don't want to be "picky' or dig too "deep' here but more info is needed. :thumbsup:

Now that you have found that crossover is the issue (they must be tested at the same sound level with the same source material to rule out any "other" differences).

What is the NATURE of the "distortion", does the tweeter sound like it is "trying" to produce sounds that are (perhaps) too low for it to work without "straining or rattling" (a symptom of feeding too low a frequency of sound to a tweeter at too high a level?).

I ask because sometimes a word or description (such as "distortion" or "it's a short" for example) can have have an unclear meaning between people of varying understanding or technical backgrounds or experience. :idea:

Speaking of "level", does the distortion "start" at a given sound level and increase with volume level (don't push it too hard!) :no:

The reason I ask is because many crossover networks (the whole crossover) can have bad capacitors that fail "shorted" and aren't "blocking" the unwanted lower frequencies that the tweeter is not designed to handle (and MAY damage then).

Perhaps a "clear-Er" description of the "distortion" is needed here. :idea:

Unless the crossover is "potted" in epoxy, there should be a way to access individual components for testing and/or replacement without replacing the ENTIRE network.

Mark T.:music:
 
volume doesn't seem to have an effect on it. "rattling" seems to be an apt description of it. i tested them playing a nick drake cd. i guess i could test the crossovers but it may just be easier to just replace the crossover as I don't know how to solder or own a soldering iron.
 
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