My Son Murdered My LCR 600 S3

[applegbt]

Well I settle in to enjoy an afternoon of NFL football, decided to pop the grill covers off my speakers and screamed in horror as I noticed the following.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b222/applegbt/2008Other-5-Edit.jpg

Both the left and right cones are damaged, and the center dome tweeter has been pushed in, as you can see from the photo. I was wondering if anyone knew the best course of action for getting this mess repaired, or if I would be better off to just buy a new one. Would it be possible to order the required parts and fix it myself? Or will I have to go through my dealer to have it sent to an authorized repair facility?

Any advice would be appreciated!

[PewterTA]

You can either get the parts and fix it yourself, send it to B&W to get fixed, send it to your dealer to get fixed or try to get another one.

I'm not sure which option will be the cheapest, possibly getting the drivers and doing it yourself I would assume.

[kobestonecold]

That is why i always leave the cover on the protect my precious from my 3 yrs old daughter. :lol:

Good luck with the repair anyway, i think contact B&w dealer is the best solution.

[applegbt]

That is why i always leave the cover on the protect my precious from my 3 yrs old daughter. :lol:

Good luck with the repair anyway, i think contact B&w dealer is the best solution.

Lesson learned. :cry:

[BassThatHz]

If it doesn't sound any different I wouldn't worry about it.

If you repair it yourself you'll first have to figure out how the tweeter is mounted.
You will have to unscrew one or both mids and stick a light and camera it there to see how many screws or whatever they're using (or just ask B&W how it's done). If B&W say's it's possible then it shouldn't be that hard to do; just undo the wire+screws and replace it with a new one. I am sure they have dealt with a million dented tweeters by now.

All of this won't stop them from doing it again, so you will have to level with the kid(s) somehow. Perhaps show them the damage that they did and tell them this was like the equivalent of their "GI Joe's" or "Barbie's" head being ripped off or whatever; make them promise to never do anything like that again.

They were obviously just exploring the unknown, so you should also explain to them what tweeters are used for, and how to use it correctly.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... this has worked for me, and I leave them totally uncovered.

[applegbt]

If it doesn't sound any different I wouldn't worry about it.

If you repair it yourself you'll first have to figure out how the tweeter is mounted.
You will have to unscrew one or both mids and stick a light and camera it there to see how many screws or whatever they're using (or just ask B&W how it's done). If B&W say's it's possible then it shouldn't be that hard to do; just undo the wire+screws and replace it with a new one. I am sure they have dealt with a million dented tweeters by now.

All of this won't stop them from doing it again, so you will have to level with the kid(s) somehow. Perhaps show them the damage that they did and tell them this was like the equivalent of their "GI Joe's" or "Barbie's" head being ripped off or whatever; make them promise to never do anything like that again.

They were obviously just exploring the unknown, so you should also explain to them what tweeters are used for, and how to use it correctly.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure... this has worked for me, and I leave them totally uncovered.

Thanks for the advice. I have 4 children age 5 and under so keeping order is easier said than done. But yeah, they know the rules and the reasons for them (at least to the extent that they can understand). I was just amazed that one of them fessed up. Typically they are not allowed in the room unattended or I would have the covers on at all times. Seems there was a breakdown in the enforcement of that (not gonna name any names...*cough* wife *cough*).

Anyway, I'm not too upset about it...just need to figure out what my next steps are. Unfortunately, regardless of whether or not I can hear the difference, it will bother me to no end not to get it fixed.

[hifiguymi]

Tweeter diaphragms are really easy to replace and don't cost that much. You don't need a whole new tweeter, just the diaphragm. The woofers are also easy to replace but cost a little more than the tweeter diaphragm. All it takes is a screwdriver and a pair of needle nose pliers. You can have the woofers out in 10 minuets or less and the tweeter is only a couple of minuets as well. Any dealer should be able to do it for you.

Eric

[dan87951]

To repair you will have to remove one of the bass drivers. The tweeter just twists in. I believe you twist it counter clock wise than it will fall right out. The mid ranges drivers probably won't be cheap but I know a new tweeter diaphram (what you need) will run you about $40 bux. You can call your dealer and they should be able to get it taken care of for you.Good Luck with it.

[miner]

I guess my 50 yo eyes are not what they used to be - what is the damage on the cones? I see the tweeter diaphram damge. I would try to remove the indentions first before replacing. This may sound corny, but Glad makes a vacuum suction device for their vacuum freezer bags. It sucks the air out of the bags for storage purposes. It is like $9.99. That may be able to partially remove your indentions. Worth a try.

[applegbt]

I guess my 50 yo eyes are not what they used to be - what is the damage on the cones? I see the tweeter diaphram damge. I would try to remove the indentions first before replacing. This may sound corny, but Glad makes a vacuum suction device for their vacuum freezer bags. It sucks the air out of the bags for storage purposes. It is like $9.99. That may be able to partially remove your indentions. Worth a try.

I thought about that for the tweeter diaphragm. The damage to the midrange drivers is more severe though, so I figure I might as well get all the damage parts replaced. You should be able to see the broken cone shaped piece that protrudes from the center of the driver on the right. The left one is more difficult to see, but there is a fracture in the same piece in the center of the left hand driver.

[Miroku]

I've seen tweeter dents fixed by sticking some tape on there then pulling it off quickly to make the dented area pop back out. Might be worth a try before replacing it.

[Gump]

I fixed the tweeter on my 604 which was damaged under similar circumstances (3yr old pokey fingers). I was surprised at how easy it was to do as well as inexpensive. No experience with the cones but it might be worth a shot (DIY) to save some expence. Plus it makes you a little more familiar with the workings of the speaker---kind of a sense of accomplishment. If it doesn't work out you can always take it into the dealer for repair after trying yourself.

My wife used the vacuum cleaner to suck the dome out originally. It worked ok but there were still little crinkly wrinkles in it that bugged me so I replaced it.

Good luck!

[miner]

I thought about that for the tweeter diaphragm. The damage to the midrange drivers is more severe though, so I figure I might as well get all the damage parts replaced. You should be able to see the broken cone shaped piece that protrudes from the center of the driver on the right. The left one is more difficult to see, but there is a fracture in the same piece in the center of the left hand driver.

For the diffurser cones you should not need to buy the entire speaker cone. On my N804 those unscrew from the Kevlar driver. Hopefully the same with yours.

[dan87951]

Just a reminder even if you use the tape method and it does pull out the dent in the tweeter you will still have traces of creases in the aluminum from where it was dented previously.

[applegbt]

Just thought I'd follow up, I contacted my dealer and received the following response.

Bret,

Kids find the darndest things to play with.

Yes, the tweeter can be rebuilt easily enough and the cones on the woofers are, fundamentally, dust caps. If the voice coils have not been harmed on
the woofers, it is just a matter of re-gluing them. No big deal. Estimated cost of repair is well below the cost of replacing the speaker.

Now, we are no longer a B&W dealer but we do continue to support any product we have ever sold. We don't abandon our customers.

Answer, bring it in for repair.

Lou Hamilton
President
Audible Elegance

I am a little bummed they don't deal B&W anymore. I'll have to find out the scoop when I take the speaker in for repair.

[dan87951]

awesome hope it works out. They are going to replace just the dust caps? Wow didn't know they were serviceable like that. Be interested to know how that turns out.