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I should probably post this in the Driver section, but I want to make sure you all see it. Any of you guys who also browse at the PE techtalk forum may have seen these results, but I think since there has been interest here about the Neo10 and I've been a vocal supporter of them, I ought to include a link to Erin's Praxis tests.
A little background. I had an oscillator accident about 6 months ago where I sent full on +10dB/Vu 1KHz into one of the two baffles mids. Needless to say, it scared the bejeezus out of me and I could't turn it off quick enough to avoid damage. One of the Neo10 fried as a little wisp of smoke curled out of the top of it. I tested the other and it passed signal, so I thought I was good there. I ordered a replacement for the fried one and figured I was back in business. But, ever since then, my soundstage has been pulled a little to the one side and on certain program material, I began to notice something jumping out in the mix on that same side. It sounded like I was getting more distortion or level but only on a very specific range of frequencies. AJ was here recently and he noticed it pulling to one side also. At the time I told him that I suspected that the other oscillated(is that a word?) Neo10 had further problems, but I could not have guessed how bad they all were compared to when fresh.
Then a few weeks ago, Erin asked for driver donations to test out with his Praxis so I asked him if he would be kind enough to test all 4 as a group for comparisons sake if I covered shipping both ways. He agreed and posted the results last weekend.
The results were shocking to say the least. The fresh one measures just as they all had when new based on my testing AND Zaphs testing. Remember, it was my original pair that Zaph tested nearly 2 years ago. Here's the link to the post with further links inside to Erin's site:
I am now waiting for them to get back to me in the mail. In the mean time, I'd love to get to the bottom of what is going on here. There should only be one driver left in the group that was exposed to the blazing oscillator, so why are the 3 original so poor and so far off from each other? Granted, they had been soldered several times before I decided it was better to use crimp on terminals. But I am a very accomplished solderer(I taught it for 5 years at a local tech school) and never felt that I took too long to make a joint or overheat anything. So, was it that limited soldering that hurt the drivers, was it overdriving them in some fashion that I was not aware of? Or do they have some mechanism whereby they can deteriorate over time? I doubt it, but at this point, I'm looking at the need to purchase 3 more fresh ones. Not happy at all....
So, in conclusion, I'd say to be safe, DO NOT solder these guys. That goes for any of the Neo series drivers.
Greg
PS, anyone got a direct email for someone at BG to discuss this with? I seem to remember someone named Chris on the forums several years ago who worked for BG. Maybe it was DIYaudio...
A little background. I had an oscillator accident about 6 months ago where I sent full on +10dB/Vu 1KHz into one of the two baffles mids. Needless to say, it scared the bejeezus out of me and I could't turn it off quick enough to avoid damage. One of the Neo10 fried as a little wisp of smoke curled out of the top of it. I tested the other and it passed signal, so I thought I was good there. I ordered a replacement for the fried one and figured I was back in business. But, ever since then, my soundstage has been pulled a little to the one side and on certain program material, I began to notice something jumping out in the mix on that same side. It sounded like I was getting more distortion or level but only on a very specific range of frequencies. AJ was here recently and he noticed it pulling to one side also. At the time I told him that I suspected that the other oscillated(is that a word?) Neo10 had further problems, but I could not have guessed how bad they all were compared to when fresh.
Then a few weeks ago, Erin asked for driver donations to test out with his Praxis so I asked him if he would be kind enough to test all 4 as a group for comparisons sake if I covered shipping both ways. He agreed and posted the results last weekend.
The results were shocking to say the least. The fresh one measures just as they all had when new based on my testing AND Zaphs testing. Remember, it was my original pair that Zaph tested nearly 2 years ago. Here's the link to the post with further links inside to Erin's site:
I am now waiting for them to get back to me in the mail. In the mean time, I'd love to get to the bottom of what is going on here. There should only be one driver left in the group that was exposed to the blazing oscillator, so why are the 3 original so poor and so far off from each other? Granted, they had been soldered several times before I decided it was better to use crimp on terminals. But I am a very accomplished solderer(I taught it for 5 years at a local tech school) and never felt that I took too long to make a joint or overheat anything. So, was it that limited soldering that hurt the drivers, was it overdriving them in some fashion that I was not aware of? Or do they have some mechanism whereby they can deteriorate over time? I doubt it, but at this point, I'm looking at the need to purchase 3 more fresh ones. Not happy at all....
So, in conclusion, I'd say to be safe, DO NOT solder these guys. That goes for any of the Neo series drivers.
Greg
PS, anyone got a direct email for someone at BG to discuss this with? I seem to remember someone named Chris on the forums several years ago who worked for BG. Maybe it was DIYaudio...
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