Just a Rant...

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Mother Mooch
Mother Mooch Posts: 129
edited September 2007 in Vintage Speakers
The on going saga of me, My Monitor 12's and being broke... lol...

A couple of months ago i burnt out my first set of Tweets (sl2500) So i found two locally, replaced them (still sl2500) and burnt them out aswell... Now i come to find that the sl2500 are a plastic dome and tend to heat up easily (with a low power amp) (150 wpc with not much head room) As a result i melted all four domes! Not one of them blew a voice coil, just melted domes... hehehehehe... Anyhow I was getting to a point to where i was either going to sell these things off and forget the whole deal (discouraged)... So anyhow, I was puttsing around in the back bedroom one night and found my old Yamaha NS 8 Speaker boxes with a nice 1" silk dome tweeter in them and a couple of blow woofers! So i start thinking! Is it possible to carefully remove this dome and place into the sl2500 base and have a working set of tweets? Darn right... I know have a nice sounding set of tweets that look good and sound VERY good (maybe cause they are silk instead of plastic) But i am very pleased... They have been performing nicely for about two months now and no signs of meltdown yet :)

So guess my major rant is... Why are most speakers power hungry and most amps SOOOO under rated?
It's very hard to find a powerful enough amp to run these 12's at a good price (well price for me is out of the question right now) So my future is going to be lower volumes :)~ (but man do i love loud music)

Steve
Post edited by Mother Mooch on
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,082
    edited September 2007
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    I wasn't aware the sl2500 or sl3000 were plastic, they are made out of a polyamid substance that is far from conventional plastic. This is a very rare occurance as I've never heard anyone speak of actually melting the dome. Have your gear checked as it may be passing a high level of DC current which will fry speakers, literally.

    150 wpc is not a low power amp.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • dorokusai
    dorokusai Posts: 25,576
    edited September 2007
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    It sounds like abuse to me as that loudspeaker isn't hard to drive. Chill out, keep the rock concert memory in your head.
    CTC BBQ Amplifier, Sonic Frontiers Line3 Pre-Amplifier and Wadia 581 SACD player. Speakers? Always changing but for now, Mission Argonauts I picked up for $50 bucks, mint.
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  • Mother Mooch
    Mother Mooch Posts: 129
    edited September 2007
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    heiney9 wrote: »
    I wasn't aware the sl2500 or sl3000 were plastic, they are made out of a polyamid substance that is far from conventional plastic. This is a very rare occurance as I've never heard anyone speak of actually melting the dome. Have your gear checked as it may be passing a high level of DC current which will fry speakers, literally.

    150 wpc is not a low power amp.


    H9

    I couldn't tell you what they are specs wise, but they are some sort of plastic and melt pretty easily... The doom actually melted right where it's attached to the voice coil! First pair the ferro fluid even bled out through the dome!
    And i did have the amp checked about a month ago... I think i am just driving the amp to MAJOR clipping i guess!
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  • Mother Mooch
    Mother Mooch Posts: 129
    edited September 2007
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    dorokusai wrote: »
    It sounds like abuse to me as that loudspeaker isn't hard to drive. Chill out, keep the rock concert memory in your head.


    How very true!

    The thing of it is, I never take my volume past half way! Clipping is my guess!
    Oh the wonders of this hobbie :)
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  • cfrizz
    cfrizz Posts: 13,415
    edited September 2007
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    150wpc is quite respectable if it is coming from a separate amplifier & not a receiver.

    You either have equipment problems, or are quite deaf. At any rate Mark is right, stop abusing the speakers & your ears.
    Marantz AV-7705 PrePro, Classé 5 channel 200wpc Amp, Oppo 103 BluRay, Rotel RCD-1072 CDP, Sony XBR-49X800E TV, Polk S60 Main Speakers, Polk ES30 Center Channel, Polk S15 Surround Speakers SVS SB12-NSD x2
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  • madmax
    madmax Posts: 12,434
    edited September 2007
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    I've always considered about 100 watts SS about the worst case for destroying speakers. Just enough to fry everything while not quite enough to get you where you want to be.
    Vinyl, the final frontier...

    Avantgarde horns, 300b tubes, thats the kinda crap I want... :D
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  • Mother Mooch
    Mother Mooch Posts: 129
    edited September 2007
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    cfrizz wrote: »
    150wpc is quite respectable if it is coming from a separate amplifier & not a receiver.

    You either have equipment problems, or are quite deaf. At any rate Mark is right, stop abusing the speakers & your ears.

    It's a reciever not seperates!

    Not deaf yet, but working on it!
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  • jakelm
    jakelm Posts: 4,081
    edited September 2007
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    I would look at the xover for the possible problem.
    Monitor 7b's front
    Monitor 4's surround
    Frankinpolk Center (2 mw6503's with peerless tweeter)
    M10's back surround
    Hafler-200 driving patio Daytons
    Tempest-X 15" DIY sub w/ Rythmik 350A plate amp
    Dayton 12" DVC w/ Rythmik 350a plate amp
    Harman/Kardon AVR-635
    Oppo 981hd
    Denon upconvert DVD player
    Jennings Research (vintage and rare)
    Mit RPTV WS-55513
    Tosh HD-XA1
    B&K AV5000


    Dont BAN me Bro!!!!:eek:
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  • Mother Mooch
    Mother Mooch Posts: 129
    edited September 2007
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    madmax wrote: »
    I've always considered about 100 watts SS about the worst case for destroying speakers. Just enough to fry everything while not quite enough to get you where you want to be.


    I deffinitly think it's a clipping problem! It's an older Pioneer Reciever (late 80's) and i don't think it's up to the job!
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  • avguytx
    avguytx Posts: 1,628
    edited September 2007
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    OK...no ones asked. What type of receiver is it? If it's one of these newer "BPC" receivers, that's not near enough power for them and I can see why you chooched the tweeters. I'm running a 200wpc amps on either my SDA SRS2's, 1C's or Monitor 10B's and I've never melted a dome before.
    Richard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner.
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  • heiney9
    heiney9 Posts: 25,082
    edited September 2007
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    Mother Mooch wrote: »
    I deffinitly think it's a clipping problem! It's an older Pioneer Reciever (late 80's) and i don't think it's up to the job!

    BINGO! We have a winner, please step to the left to collect your prize.
    "Appreciation of audio is a completely subjective human experience. Measurements can provide a measure of insight, but are no substitute for human judgment. Why are we looking to reduce a subjective experience to objective criteria anyway? The subtleties of music and audio reproduction are for those who appreciate it. Differentiation by numbers is for those who do not".--Nelson Pass Pass Labs XA25 | EE Avant Pre | EE Mini Max Supreme DAC | MIT Shotgun S1 | Pangea AC14SE MKII | Legend L600 | BlueSound Node 3 - Tubes add soul!
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  • avguytx
    avguytx Posts: 1,628
    edited September 2007
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    That reply was going in as I was typing mine, I guess.

    Yep....BINGO. It's like the saying goes....."crap in, crap out".

    Does that receiver (on a slim chance) have pre-out/main-in jacks where you could add on a real amp to it? If not, you're going to keep going thru tweeters. Maybe you should pull out the "good" ones and drop a pair of Piezo electric tweeters in there for the time being.
    Richard? Who's your favorite Little Rascal? Alfalfa? Or is it........................Spanky?.................................Sinner.
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  • jakelm
    jakelm Posts: 4,081
    edited September 2007
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    Isnt the protection switch on the crossover (like the fuse on my 7's) supposed to stop the tweet from frying
    ?
    Monitor 7b's front
    Monitor 4's surround
    Frankinpolk Center (2 mw6503's with peerless tweeter)
    M10's back surround
    Hafler-200 driving patio Daytons
    Tempest-X 15" DIY sub w/ Rythmik 350A plate amp
    Dayton 12" DVC w/ Rythmik 350a plate amp
    Harman/Kardon AVR-635
    Oppo 981hd
    Denon upconvert DVD player
    Jennings Research (vintage and rare)
    Mit RPTV WS-55513
    Tosh HD-XA1
    B&K AV5000


    Dont BAN me Bro!!!!:eek:
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  • F1nut
    F1nut Posts: 49,806
    edited September 2007
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    Some folks learn from their mistakes, some don't.
    Political Correctness'.........defined

    "A doctrine fostered by a delusional, illogical minority and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a t-u-r-d by the clean end."

    President of Club Polk

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  • Mother Mooch
    Mother Mooch Posts: 129
    edited September 2007
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    F1nut wrote: »
    Some folks learn from their mistakes, some don't.


    More like Some folks have a rich taste on a HotDog Salary! PERIOD!

    Guess i'll go back to my old sears BoomBox and strap the **** to my head! :)
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  • maluckey
    maluckey Posts: 11
    edited September 2007
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    I killed an SL2500 during a nice HOT afternoon party and extended high volume. Apparently Drunk+Loud+Clipping = New RDO tweeters!:cool:

    Seriously,

    I'm certain that my setup has the headroom and current reserve, so it HAD to be either sheer current, bad x-over, or just beer altered hearing, coupled with the Beer Goggles not seeing the "distortion" light (Clipping Indicator). I'm guessing:rolleyes: that stupidity had something to do with it in my case, though outside of this forum I'll deny it EVERY time.:D

    Asus Xonar D2X (source)
    Adcom GFP 565 pre amp
    2 x Adcom GFA 555 II (bridged mono) amps
    Polk Audio Monitor12, Series 2, speakers with RDO 198 tweeters
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  • billbillw
    billbillw Posts: 6,196
    edited September 2007
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    Really sounds like your amp/receiver is sending DC current through the outputs. That is what burns voice coils, burns out crossovers, and possibly 'melts' tweeters. Mooch, do you have a basic multimeter? If so, take your amp out and hook it up with no inputs. Power it on, let it warm up, and measure DC current between the + and - terminals on each channel of the amp. It should be essentially zero. Anything more than 50mv means there is a problem with the amp.
    For rig details, see my profile. Nothing here anymore...
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