Monitor 11T

I just purchased a set of 11Ts #28132 & 28135 one of the passives is making a slapping sound with bass and volume. I just got these yesterday and was running though some Satch and I heard the slapping. That’s the best description I can give. I’m driving these with a clean Pioneer SX 828. Besides this slap they sound good.
I’m sure these speakers have never been worked on. Is there any upgrades recommended for these. If so where do I get the parts or do I need to get someone to work on them. The best part of all of this is I live outside Baltimore in Harford county Maryland. Please advise.

Answers

  • pkquat
    pkquat Posts: 742
    Welcome to the forum. :)

    Just to be sure the two upper 6.5" drivers can sometimes make a clacking sound if they are over driven with very low bass.

    The 8" passives can sometimes make a buzzing sound depending on the frequency. Test tones work best for determining passive buzz, and "Also sprach Zarathustra" the opening theme from the movie 2001 can sometimes work. I would first check the rubber around the passives and make sure there are no cracks or tears. This is rare, but can happen. The next step is to remove the passive and check the spider. It looks something like this.
    [img]https://i5.walmartimages.com/asr/f58eee81-4223-496a-b5c8-6258ecd22e91_1.8c7439e835c87e9674b5b8d68f319385.jpeg? odnWidth=undefined&odnHeight=undefined&odnBg=ffffff[/img]

    It may have become partially or completely detached from the speaker cone, and/or it may be torn. If it has only become detached, you can use some medium CA (super glue), preferably the a flexible kind. Some type of glue curing accelerator is also a big help. Just tack a few spots to hold it in place. Then the best recommendation is to use "Aleene's Original Tacky glue" https://www.aleenes.com/original-tacky-glue to along the entire area where it is split. Some people have applied Alleene's first in 2 or 3 spots, then tacked in place with super glue, followed by more Alleene's. This can create a better bond. Alleene's can also be used to try to repair a tear.

    The other option is to check on Ebay. These passives pop up fairly often. You need to be sure you get the proper one however. Don't quote me, but I think the passives are SW80 for the upper and SW83 for the lower. I am pretty sure the SW80 is one of them, because the SW80 was also used in the later Monitor 5 speakers. There are often a number of those on ebay. if it is the SW80 that is bad, be sure to double check the Monitor 5 passive listed is actually an SW 80. There are earlier passives for Monitor 5's that are not the same.

    Many people hear recommend rebuilding the crossovers. The Schematics can be found in the Vintage Speakers section. The values are often on the parts as well. Sonicap are the preferred capacitors, along with Mills 12watt resistors. Sonicraft should have all the values needed, and if not can get the make the exact value for a price in between the two closest values. Clarity CSA caps and Mundorf resistors are also recommended. If budget is a concern, Clarity PX, or Solen are suggested for the larger low pass caps.

    The inductors are fine, but a few people do upgrade them. I will let them comment about suggestions. Often the inductors need to be custom wound (unwound) to get the correct value and they can have different resistance values which affect the crossover.

    Some people replace the cabling inside the speaker. Supra tin coated cables are often recommended. There are many choices depending on your budget.

    If you are not into soldering DHS speaker service, Dave, @westmassguy rebuilds crossovers for people.

    The search function on the site is not the best, but some of the key words here, will get you more information. I also recommend gluing the magnets on the speakers. That should show up in a search, or use a google site search. That can sometimes yield better results.

  • No it was definitely the second passive from the bottom.
  • pkquat
    pkquat Posts: 742
    That one should be the SW80. That passive plays higher frequencies. The bottom passive should have a larger diameter disc on the front of it, and a stiffer surround.