804s - dead tweeters?

[jclyle]

done

[jclyle]

do all replacement parts ship from the office in Massachusetts?

[Kal Rubinson]

Just got a used pair of 804S off Audiogon that I picked up from UPS today. The shipping cartons look to be in fine shape. One tweeter has a small dimple in it, and one of the tweeter grills was half way off when I unboxed them The tweeters in both speakers aren't working. I've swapped amps and cables with no change. The midrange and bass drivers are working fine. Has anyone had an experience like this? I am concerned that the cross-over may have been damaged in transit, but hopefully its just a tweeter issue that I can fix myself. I'll be calling B&W USA tomorrow to discuss the issue.

They were insured by UPS.

Dumb question: Are there jumpers on the bi-wire terminals?

[jclyle]

Nope, straight up bi-wire, jumpers removed

[emig5m]

This is why when I buy something from Audiogon I like to buy local so I can pick it up myself and inspect before purchasing. :E

[hifiguymi]

The tweeters are pretty easy to take out so you should do it and just make sure they are hooked up. The silver colored tube at the back of the tweeter just unscrews and the tweeter will come out of the front of the black enclosure. Take them out and make sure everything is connected OK. If it is, then you probably to replace them.

They do ship from Massachusetts by the way.

Eric

[hifiguymi]

Dumb question: Are there jumpers on the bi-wire terminals?

Since it's a three way speaker, the midrange wouldn't play if those weren't in place with a single wire speaker cables. The OP said the midrange drivers work fine.

Eric

[Kal Rubinson]

Since it's a three way speaker, the midrange wouldn't play if those weren't in place with a single wire speaker cables. The OP said the midrange drivers work fine.

Eric

Yeah. Forgot that. Told you it was a dumb question. :W

Kal (who owns a pair of 804S but does not bi-wire)

[BassThatHz]

I believe you can just twist the front-3rd of tweeter 45 degrees counter-clockwise and then they just pull off forwards. This allows you to check the connectors.
Its best to leave the tweeter grills fully on when you do this to prevent further dents.

You're looking at atleast ~$400 to fix them and the crossovers if they're broken.

It seems unlikely that both connectors would come off at the same time though.

[BassThatHz]

BTW one simple way to test them once apart is to just contact them to the speaker wires. (This is with music at a "very" very-low volume without any filter.)
If sound comes out then they are fine and you have crossover problems.

[BassThatHz]

If the 804S is anything like the N803 I have then DON'T TWIST the "silver colored tube at the back" doing that may damage the wires inside

[hifiguymi]

Unscrewing the silver tube is how you do it. I have a customer that I've replaced both tweeters twice in his 804S due to one of his sons smashing them in.

Eric