PSB Image 2b sounds muffled

newcolors

New Member
Hi guys~

I recently picked up a pair of used PSB image 2b speakers. I have been running B&O RL 140 speakers that sound great on a Kyocera r861. I saw the 2b's at a reasonable price and picked them up. The seller allows returns.

Here is the issue~

The sound of the 2b's is incredibly muffled. Non existent mids or highs. They are connected to the kyocera. I have never actually used banana plugs before which I believe I needed for the 2b's and so it is possible I did not set up the plugs correctly~ I noticed that the plugs them selves do not fit all the way into the speakers. They are "knob" plugs i believe? I pushed a bit of speaker wire through them, fanned them out into a mushroom and screwed the top on.

What do you guys think?

Thank you for your help.
 
Yup, sounds like blown tweeters. I have a couple of pairs of 2B in my surround and 1B on my desktop. Not muffled, tweeters are indeed known to be prone to blowing when abused. PSB should still have some replacements.
 
Yup, sounds like blown tweeters. I have a couple of pairs of 2B in my surround and 1B on my desktop. Not muffled, tweeters are indeed known to be prone to blowing when abused. PSB should still have some replacements.
Thanks for replying~ I wonder if i should return them~ i think i will have to pay for shipping. But just from a quick browse it seems replacement tweeters are not too expensive... is replacing tweeters on these guys something an extreme novice could work his way through? =]
 
Yes, unscrew the old ones, unclip the wires as I don't think they were soldered IIRC. drop in the new ones and replace the screws.

I had to replace one on one of my pairs of 2B and also on the matching 9C center. The last pair of 2B I saw for sale here lately were Frankenspeakers with random replacement tweeters. Seems VERY common.
 
Yes, unscrew the old ones, unclip the wires as I don't think they were soldered IIRC. drop in the new ones and replace the screws.

I had to replace one on one of my pairs of 2B and also on the matching 9C center. The last pair of 2B I saw for sale here lately were Frankenspeakers with random replacement tweeters. Seems VERY common.

Frankenspeakers =[ . Where would you recommend finding replacement tweeters for the 2b's?
 
Bought on Ebay? If so, return them as defective. Seller should pay for return shipping. One tweeter dead, I see but both, they were shipped blown. Not worth the hassle.
 
Bought on Ebay? If so, return them as defective. Seller should pay for return shipping. One tweeter dead, I see but both, they were shipped blown. Not worth the hassle.
Thanks, I am in contact~ I guess the only reason I am considering keeping them is because I actually really want them to work lol~ and if its just the tweeter thats blown... it might be worth it to replace and keep, no?
 
I agree with everything here. I had 2b's and a pair of 1b's about two years back. two tweeters went and I felt that getting true psb replacements was to expensive.
 
I have slightly different tweeters in mine, but they were a direct replacement and sound great. I think they were roughly $40 shipped.

I'd also ask for a partial refund. Worst the seller can do is say no.
 
I know this is an older thread on this issue; however, I thought it would be appropriate to provide the information I discovered on these PSB image tweeters. I have a set of the Image 5T's. One of the tweeters was 'Dead'. Even though the conductivity across the coil measured 4.9 ohms , which is appropriate for the rated 6 ohm impedance, there was no sound. I won't say 'Blown' because I found the problem when I decided to take apart the Dead one after replacing it. What I discovered was the 'Ferrofluid', which should be liquid like thin oil, had turned thick like tar. Obviously, this trapped the voice coil; hence, no high end. I'm contacting PSB to see what they will do about it; however, I doubt they will do anything other than suggest selling me their replacement tweeters at $58 plus $20 shipping. pretty pricy.
I am planning to attempt a rebuild of the disassembled tweeter with new ferrofluid, and a new 6 ohm diaphragm..... just to see if I can do it.
Update:
PSB does not sell the diaphragm kit for these.
I installed 2 Dayton ND28F-6 6ohm tweeters so as not to affect the crossover frequency. They fit, but have slightly smaller hole pattern. I rotated 45degrees and carefully drilled new holes using the tweeter flange to spot the new holes.
Sounds great to me at $50 for the pair from Amazon.
 
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Another bump for this thread. Someone who knows I like fixing speakers gave me a pair of these 'not working'. I was expecting dead tweeters at least but they seem fine, however both woofers were blown.

One woofer had separation of cone and voice coil which resulted in a broken voice coil lead and a relatively easy fix (assuming 3 ohm DC resistance is correct*). The other one put up more of a fight:

upload_2020-7-18_19-40-41.png

I'm guessing these saw a lot of power and the tweeters handled it just fine.

*Can anyone confirm the DC resistance of the 2B woofer? Part number is W6-14PP4-S/P. Information seems scare (let alone parts in my part of the world!)
 
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