Broken bass driver on 803S

[gauss]

Hi,

I have a problem with my fairly new 803Ss. Yesterday when I played a track of Ben Harper I noticed that the lower left bass driver started to make a rattling sound when playing the bass drum intro of one of the tracks. The music was loud but not louder than I have played many other smaller speakers of other brands in the same set-up (Bryston 4B-SST, I have never been able to drive it into clipping). I am pretty sure that the bass driver is broken, not sure in what way though.

Has anyone else experienced the same problem? Are these speakers more prone to break when palyed loud in comparison to other speakers? Or could the driver have been defective from the beginning?

Any input is appreciated.

Thank's,

Gauss

[jlee]

Hi,

I have a problem with my fairly new 803Ss. Yesterday when I played a track of Ben Harper I noticed that the lower left bass driver started to make a rattling sound when playing the bass drum intro of one of the tracks. The music was loud but not louder than I have played many other smaller speakers of other brands in the same set-up (Bryston 4B-SST, I have never been able to drive it into clipping). I am pretty sure that the bass driver is broken, not sure in what way though.

Has anyone else experienced the same problem? Are these speakers more prone to break when palyed loud in comparison to other speakers? Or could the driver have been defective from the beginning?

Any input is appreciated.

Thank's,

Gauss

Try tightening the hex screws. It's possible 1 or more are loose. The 800 series bass drivers are pretty tough. I highly doubt it's broken... especially if it sounds normal on other tracks as of now.

[RebelMan]

gauss, I had the same problem with the right lower bass driver in my 803S also. I didn't notice it right away. To be sure I removed the driver (which is fairly easy to do) and tested it by connecting the speaker wires directly to the terminals of the driver (be VERY CAREFUL not to touch the wires together or you will short out your amplifier). The driver was indeed dead. I contacted my dealer and they sent me a new one. I installed the new driver and the speaker worked just fine after that.

I wondered if it was a manufacturer defect too and I thought the same thing you did. So I examined the driver very closely for defects. The voice coil was fried.

There are tradeoffs every speaker manufacturer must make when designing their drivers. One of these criteria are conductor size (guage) and the number of densely packed wounds. Because the new Rohacell cones are so light weight in relation to their stiffness, B&W can utilize tighter tolerances with the wire they choose for their voice coils.

The tradeoff, however, is possible current leak from one part of the wire to an adjacent wound. When the coil generates more heat then it can handle, the plastic coating separating the adjacent wounds can melt and cause the coil to short thus disabling the driver.

Chances a pretty good that your amplifier did not clip and that the driver failed because it was defective.

[gauss]

Thank's for your input.

It's very interesting that you have had very much the same problem as I have, Rebelman. It's a comfort, I would not want to think that these speakers handle power to a lesser extent than my previous, smaller speakers.

I don't think it's a question of tightening anything on the driver, I did a visual check for this first because it did sound as if something was loose. But then I realized that the rattling sound came from within the driver. The driver did produce some sounds apart from the rattling so it is not completely dead, I have left the speaker to the dealer so they can check it out. I am expecting a phone call some time during the day from them, hopefully I will know what has happened after that.

[gauss]

I have an update for those that might be interested.

My dealer called me and according to them it seems that something is loose inside the driver. I did not press them for more information, I got the impression that they sent it to B&W for further examination. In the meantime I am waiting for an express delivery of a new driver. The sad part is that express delivery takes more than a week (air freight 2200 km approx.), it makes me wonder how long time a regular shipment would take...... :evil:

One good thing though is that I really miss listening to music through my 803Ss. It's not the same thing when I hooked up my old PMC speakers. I lack the clarity and the weight that the 803Ss give, I also think that they produce a better depth of soundstage.

[RebelMan]

That's good news they are replacing the driver. To bad that you must suffer with your PMC's until the 803S's are back online.

The price we pay (in more ways than one) for HiFi!

[SRT-10 Viper]

I had a new 800D with a bad driver early this year. The dealer ordered and replaced in my home (took 10 minutes to change). Good luck!

[gauss]

Finally, my dealer received a new driver from B&W last friday. Now I am happy again :P , they sound better than I remembered.

Only thing I did not like was that my dealer made a small mark on the veneer while they had the speaker. They claim they have been really careful, they should never make a mark or damage anything. Yeah, right :M .
I guess I should have kept the speaker in my home and brought the driver to my dealer.

Anyway, the speaker is back. Must go listen to Elgar's cello concerto, I just love that concerto. I guess it will sound wonderful through the 803S's, if not check for a used pair of 803S's for sale.

[tboooe]

glad to hear you are back enjoying music. if it was me, I would make the dealer either repair the mark or get me a new speaker (yes I am that anal). i figure you are spending a lot of money on these speakers so you deserve to have it as close to perfect as possible. This does not even take into account the fact that they damaged your speaker. Just my two cents...

[gauss]

I agree with you, tboooe.

I really tried to pressure my dealer into admitting that they had caused the mark. I guess the problem is that there are something like 5 people working in the store, sometimes there are more than one sales person in the store, other times there is only one seller in the store. I believe my delaer when he claims that he has not made the mark, the problem is that he has not been in the store all the time. They even kept the speaker in the showroom, admittedly in a corner, but still within reach of anyone entering the store.

I did not really have the time to argue with them (did I forget to mention that I had to help him replace the driver?), my car was parked illegally outside the store. I don't think I will buy anything more from this particular dealer in the future. There are two more stores in my area selling B&W ;x( . On the other hand, my dealer was very generous before the purchase and let me try 804S in my own home before I made my decision to go with the 803S's. It also springs to mind that I had promised my wife not to buy anymore HiFi in the near future, well, well, I will have to think about all of that. One of those HTMS's would be a nice addition ......

[RebelMan]

...if it was me, I would make the dealer either repair the mark or get me a new speaker (yes I am that anal).

The line forms behind me!

That is unfortunate gauss and totally unacceptable behavior with respect to your dealer. Even if your salesman was not directly responsible he was indirectly or the store owner at the very least.

The conveniences your dealer offered you are nothing special if he values your business. If the mark is something you can live with then perhaps you can use this incident as leverage when it comes time to get that HTM3S! :wink:

[gauss]

If the mark is something you can live with then perhaps you can use this incident as leverage when it comes time to get that HTM3S! :wink:

That is a good idea, I guess it would help me to get a better deal when I decide to buy the HTMS. As I have kids, I have the fronts on which effectively hides the mark. I think I can live with that, I don't dare using the speakers without fronts for many years to come.

A friend of mine had a pair of speakers on loan from the same dealer, he found that the tweeter was damaged on one of the speakers (audible damage I might add). Upon returning them to the store he told them about the tweeter and they claimed that they had not heard anything when they listened to it previously. They hooked up the speakers in the store and they said that there was nothing wrong with the tweeter! As the damage was visible in good light, my friend used a flash light and showed them the damage. The response from the sales person was something like : "Nobody walks around with a flash light when listening to speakers" :Z . Needless to say, my friend went to another dealer when he replaced his N805 for 805S (which he claims was a significant improvement by the way).

I only learned about that incident recently, had I known about that I would have gone to another dealer.