Old B&w - Dump Or Fix

[Kobus]

In the late eighties a best friend and myself both acquired our first B&W speakers.

DM110i.

Mine are still used today for rear duties. (not coping so well)

My friend, on a very tight budget still uses his in a stereo system, which he still loves.

One of his tweeters blew/broke (does not work).

As there are no spare parts, what does one do ?

[ShadowZA]

This is a tough call. One which I can't answer. Just to say that my first set of Bee an Dubbs were the DM110i's too (in the pic taken in 1987). Great speakers they were & I still miss them. (Yup, I turfed them out some years ago - and now I wish I had kept them - could've used them for another room).



And idea: Get hold of Paul at Sound & Cinema in Cavendish ... He might know of someone who could re-wire/fix the tweet.

[bleeding ears]

If he decides to dump them, just drop them outside my place please. :lol:

seriously though, surely someone can do a repair or replacement.

I have fixed tweeters myself and I know next to nothing about them.

It may be something simple, in my case it was a broken wire, not sure what it is called exactly, but a quick home soldering job did the trick and they have been working just fine out there on my patio.(not B&W's)

I would talk with a professional speaker repairer and if he cannot fix it he would most likely be able to offer an alternative tweeter that is considered equal or dare I say it, even better than the B&W.

Only problem is you would most likely have to do both tweeters.

Maybe this is a ploy to upgrade by your friend?

Its hard to deny that the newer models do have a good look.

One more thing, I would check the woofer surrounds for perishing, yes rubber perishes too. In which case I would guess its best to dump them at my place. :lol:

Pete

[bleeding ears]

coincidentally, I just saw a pair on ebay that did not sell at $230 Australian dollars, I guess that would be about $170 US.

[drsiebling]

I have an old pair of DM110s that suffered a tweeter failure about 6 years ago. A local speaker repair shop was able to scavenge some parts and replace the ferrous fluid that had leaked from the tweeter. All in all, the repair cost me about $20 and the speaker has worked flawlessly since.

So, see if you have a local repair dude who is up to the challenge. You might be surprised.

-Ben

[RebelMan]

This is a tough call. One which I can't answer. Just to say that my first set of Bee an Dubbs were the DM110i's too (in the pic taken in 1987). Great speakers they were & I still miss them. (Yup, I turfed them out some years ago - and now I wish I had kept them - could've used them for another room).

Ahhh, another previous DM110i first time B&W owner. I wished I would have kept mine too if for no other reason then nestalgia. Nice picture. Brings back fond memories!

Kobus, have you tried asking the guys at B&W for their advice. Maybe they can give you a few more leads. Many times in the computer industry a product which has seen it's life cycle expire will often subout legacy support to third party providers. Not sure if B&W does the same thing but it might be worth your while to check with them and see.

[ShadowZA]

Ahhh, another previous DM110i first time B&W owner. I wished I would have kept mine too if for no other reason then nestalgia. Nice picture. Brings back fond memories!

You betcha, RebelMan!

I remember living in an apartment block back then and the neighbours banging on the wall for me to quieten down. Yup, great pair of speakers they were.

[ThomasW]

Any reconing service can put new surrounds on the woofers.

The tweeter, well it depends on what's wrong. If the VC is burned out then it's time for a new dome assembly, if those are available. If not get someone to measure the T/S parameters of one of the good tweeters. Then look around for a replacement unit that has similar T/S parameters (try Vifa and Seas). That way you don't need to redesign and rebuilt the crossovers.