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Beovox S45-2 bad sound after transportation

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Kristianrt
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Kristianrt Posted: Tue, Feb 2 2021 4:20 PM

Yesterday I was a happy man - I found a beautiful pair of Beovox S45-2 (6312) in oak, bought then and drove them home safely in my car. I had listened to them at the seller's house and they sounded great.

 

Today I am sad. I plugged in my speakers, and one of them sound just fine - the other does not. The sound is "blurry". It is nowhere near as crisp as the other - and I am certain this wasn't an issue when I bought them. I made a video where I change balance between the speakers. It is probably hard to hear the difference, but here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRaeZRELTiA

 

I know very little about speakers, so I have absolutely no idea what could have gone wrong - and if it can be fixed. Does anyone have any ideas?

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Tue, Feb 2 2021 5:12 PM

Hi,

Try some trouble-shooting methods like change speaker wires between the two speakers to see if the problem remains with the speaker you say has the bad sound or if it moves to the other speaker. If it moves to the other speaker then you can eliminate the speakers as being the problem.

If it remains with the speaker then perhaps something shook loose during transporting them. 

If you gently press the woofers in and then release does it feel smooth or is there some friction (light scraping)?  The woofers do move, right (they are not frozen)?

-sonavor

Kristianrt
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Thanks for your reply!

I tried changing the cables, i tried using the speakers as speakers 1 as well as speakers 2 on my Beocenter 7002, and I even tried turning the faulty speaker upside down (I read that somewhere). Nothing has helped so far.

The woofer moves, and nothing seems to scrape when I gently press it in.

Oh, and by the way: The sound is equally unclear no matter how I use the bass/treble settings on the Beocenter.

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Tue, Feb 2 2021 10:23 PM

That is strange but if it is always that one Beovox speaker then it has to be internal.
The next step may have to be to open it up and examine the wiring of the signal inside the cabinet.
First looking for a bad connection and second to check for a loose component on the crossover board. 

Do the speaker connections on the cabinet feel solid?
Follow the wire from the cabinet connector to where it goes to the crossover board. 
Check that all of those board components are secure to the board and the wiring is good.
Then check the wiring from the board to the actual speaker drivers.

I can only go by your report that it sounded perfect when you purchased it and that leads me to suspect that transporting it caused something to become loose. If that is all that it is then you should be able to find it and the fix should be pretty easy. A much worse thing would have been if the woofer magnet had come loose. In that case your woofer would most likely be frozen so I think you are good there. Still...when you do open the cabinet take a look at the woofer magnets to check that they are solidly in place. 

-sonavor

Kristianrt
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I have it open right now. The wirings seem very solid in connections with the board, with the cabinet connector and with the speaker drivers as well. I even loosened the board to check if the wiring looked as solid as it felt. It did.

The magnets seem to be firm in place.

Anything else I should be looking for while it is open?

(btw - your help is really great. As mentioned, I know absolutely nothing about loudspeakers and English isn't my first language, but everything you wrote made sense when I opened the cabinet!)

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Wed, Feb 3 2021 2:19 PM

Can you post individual photos of back of each driver?  Try to capture the label information.  That is so we can verify the drivers are original and correct.
also post photos of the crossover board for each speaker.

Thanks

-sonavor

Kristianrt
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[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5861 :800:0]

[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5866 :800:0]

[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5863 :800:0]

[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5864 :800:0]

 

I hope this is what you're asking for. Otherwise let me know. Your help is greatly appreciated!

chartz
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chartz replied on Wed, Feb 3 2021 4:54 PM

Hi,

Can you measure the tweeter coil?

Your description points at a defective treble unit really. 

As John suggests, try to swap the tweeters from one speaker to the other.

Jacques

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Wed, Feb 3 2021 5:28 PM

Another thing I will probably suggest is that you replace the axial electrolytic capacitors in the crossover board. Actually both boards but change them out one at a time so you can test the difference. Doing the problem speaker first of course.

Martin (Dillen here on the forum) has Beovox capacitor replacements on the Beoparts store here.

But as Jacques suggests, first see if replacing the tweeter drivers between the two speakers moves the problem.

-sonavor

Rich
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Rich replied on Thu, Feb 4 2021 1:37 AM
I had a problem with my S45-2s way back when. Saying the sound was “blurry” is at least close to the same problem I had. I thought it was a failed phase link first, and even bought one from Martin. In fact, now that i think of it, i found this forum when trying to fix the S45-2s.

Ultimately The solution was simple: new crossover capacitors from Martin. Many years later i still listen to the S45-2s almost daily. They are now in the dining room with BM4000, BG4002 (SMMC20EN), CDX, and BC4500.


Kristianrt
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I will try to do the swap tomorrow and you will hear from me again!

I just made a measurement - the coil is approximately 26 mm i diameter.

Kristianrt
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I have been wondering if it could be the capacitors - how hard are they to change? Keep in mind that I have no experience in working with speakers (or other electronic devices of its kind)

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Thu, Feb 4 2021 10:27 PM

The capacitors are easy to change as long as you are familiar with soldering wires. If you aren't then do you have a friend that could do it for you?
When doing the work make sure and take good photos of where the wires go prior to disconnecting anything. That will confirm for you that you are putting the wires back in the correct places.

-sonavor

chartz
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chartz replied on Fri, Feb 5 2021 7:08 AM

So — is the HF unit alright?

Jacques

Kristianrt
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Okay, now I tried to change the tweeters over. Just to be clear: The part I switched was the thing I could take out without removing any wiring (meaning the coil is still in its original speaker).

Result: The bad speaker still sounds bad while the good speaker still sounds good.

However, having the two speakers next to each other, I put my ears close to them while playing music, and I could hear where the difference comes from: The tweeter in the bad speaker does not have any sound (or perhaps only very little). I was unsure about this earlier, but with the good speaker next to the bad, it was easy to hear the difference in sound coming from the top of the speakers.

Since we can rule out the inside of the tweeter to be the problem, I guess it could be the wiring? The coil? Could it still be the capacitors?

Dillen
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Dillen replied on Fri, Feb 5 2021 3:12 PM

The capacitors will most definitely need attention, but check the resistors, particularly R5 (1 Ohm).

Martin

Kristianrt
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I check this with a multimeter, right? I will order one right away. 

I guess new resistors are not part of your capacitor-set, Dillen?

Dillen
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Dillen replied on Fri, Feb 5 2021 10:24 PM

No. The resistors are usually fine, unless burned or physically broken of course.

Martin

Kristianrt
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This looks pretty much fine in my eyes. Nothing looks burned or torn on R5 or others (pic 1). Only thing that doesn't look perfect i R2 (pic 2) which seems to have been a bit sticky on the outside at some point and has darkened a bit. 

[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5886 :800:0]

[View:https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/themes/hawaii/utility/IMG_5888 :800:0]

chartz
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chartz replied on Sat, Feb 6 2021 3:59 PM
The way components look tells nothing about functionality, unless the component is visibly destroyed!

Do you have a multimeter? A soldering iron?

Have you swapped the HF units? If not, please do it before anything else.

Jacques

Kristianrt
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I have ordered a multimeter - it will be here on Monday or Tuesday. 
I am not sure what you mean by “HF units”. I would have thought those were the tweeters I mentioned earlier that I swapped with no difference to hear afterwards. 

I will be getting a soldering iron very soon - I have started reading guides to learn how to use it. 

chartz
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chartz replied on Sat, Feb 6 2021 4:15 PM
Ah okay, sorry.

The beginning of a new adventure then! Smile

Jacques

sonavor
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sonavor replied on Sat, Feb 6 2021 6:32 PM

Kristianrt:

I will be getting a soldering iron very soon - I have started reading guides to learn how to use it. 

It isn't difficult but you want to make sure and use soldering flux whenever you solder. I like the no-clean flux paste that comes in a syringe. 

-sonavor

Kristianrt
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I have news I want to share with all of you!

Today I opened the box with my soldering iron for the first time - and changed the capacitors. And now the speaker works perfectly!

Thank you all so much for your help in guiding me to possible solutions. I hope this great sound will last long.

Next up: To figure out what is wrong with my Beogram 5000 that won't play when I hit the play button. My new interest in vintage B&O is not a pure plug-and-play experience, but now I have felt the joy of succeeding with a repair, so I will do all I can to restore the turntable.

chartz
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chartz replied on Tue, Feb 16 2021 7:04 AM

Bravo, well done!

Jacques

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