Replacing a dead woofer in a good old DM6?

[Jacques54]

Hello all,

My apologies if this isn't the right forum to discuss this, I'm new to HTG.

One of my pair of faithfull DM6 (bought back in 1976 or was it 1977) has a dead woofer. The B&W dealer tells me to forget about them, parts are not available anymore, etc.

The speakers weren't that bad and I would consider replacing the woofer. Even if it is not as good as the original, the speaker may be better than without the woofer. Could it be a crossover problem?

Would it be safe to open the enclosure (14 screws as far as I can see)? I am reasonably comfortable with electronics (managed to repair my Quad 405 power amplifier where the left channel had suffered from driving the faulty speaker), slightly less with furniture re-assembly... Any pointers or advice (maybe such as the right forum to discuss this) will be appreciated.

Thank you, Jacques.

[bigburner]

Hi Jacques,

Have you contacted B&W's Head Office in Belgium? I recently had a faulty woofer in my 13-year old DM610i and I took it into B&W's Head Office in New Zealand. They had a spare woofer on the shelf and they fixed my speaker the next day. Great service.

Given that your faulty speaker is nearly 30 years old you may not be so lucky, but B&W may be able to recommend a close match. It's worth a try if you really like your speakers.