Good for you Sarah !!! I'm sure that you deserve a hearty pat on the back and a "THANK YOU" from Mr Bloom for not sending them back. Now swing some of that pride over to anger and call up Mr Bloom. Ask him how long he burned these in for while making his "critical adjustments". He supposedly tweaks by ear after listening to them for an extended period of time. If that is the case, you have FAR better hearing than he does. Either way, i hope you enjoy them. Sean
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Sarah, way to go!!! You live pretty near me. Something is loose and rattles under my car. Can you come over and take a look?? Bring to Torx. Thanks! |
A hearty atta-girl! One of the cheapest tweaks I've found is tightening the screws in my speakers every few months. I was doing just that with a pair of B&W 303 and the tweeter fell out in my hand! I was tempted to take them back to my dealer but used a little deductive reasoning and half a bottle of Merlot. Turns out the tweeter locks in place in the cabinet with a simple twist. Surprised me all the same. As for soldering, I am by far the world's worst at soldering. It started way back when in an introductory electronics class, I built a simple power supply that ended up weighing the equivalent of a well-fed teenager. I could build a DIY amp but would need the help of several friends or a winch to lift it onto the rack when I was done. Pathetic |
Israel...ARE YOU LISTENING?
Nothing.
Guess I'll have to drive over there.
Colm |
Sc,
I think you should try that SET amp kit. My wife had a similar experience when we built a fence a couple of years ago. She was apprehensive about using my circular saw. After I showed her how to use it properly, she set to work. Ten minutes later she came over to my end of the fence and whispered in my ear, "Your saw is fun!" I had to fight her for it for the next two weekends.
Happy soldering. |
You go girl! And I would second Sean's suggestion to follow up with a call to the manufacturer. He should be mortified. So much for marketing hype. |
Despite the title, you don't sound like a girl, but a full fledged woman! Good job!
Please understand I've never even seen Coincident speakers, let alone looked inside them, but is there only one way to connect the tweets? You're in luck if there are different sized spades and push on connectors, or, on the other hand, they may possibly be out of phase. Even if this is bad news, you're now experienced in tearing into the speakers!
Best of luck,
Todd |
Way to go Sarah!!
I'm of the male species, but the stereotypical mechanical competance was never bestowed on me. I first realized that soldering was out of my league in college electronics class. The third day or so, we were supposed to solder some doo-dad to some other doo-hickey. Well, my soldering tool simply would not work. So I promptly took it to the teacher, and informed him that my solder gun was out of solder. He laughed so damn loud, that he could barely get the words out to "drop this class immediately". Which is precisely what I did.
Needless to say, I am dependant on my dealer to set up or "fix" any problems. Maybe I'll just call you from now on ;) |
Thank you, guys, I'm taking my bows for my "skill." I talked to my dealer, and the story is this: the guy who ships gear for him decided the Coincidents, which are grill-less, could suffer tweeter damage in shipping, so he got halfway through his idea of removing the tweeters and wrapping them separately in bubble-wrap, when he was interrupted. Unfortunately, he forgot all about his project when he later returned to it. So he screwed the tweeters back in, forgetting that he had previously unplugged them. Then he just wrapped the speakers and shipped them and never said a word to anybody! Dealer was mortified, but Israel needn't be. No doubt he heard what he was supposed to hear! Anyway, they sure do sound a LOT better w/the tweeters. I remember reading a thread about one-driver speakers recently. I trust they have more highs than my modified model?
And thank you, thank you, for your applause. Plus your soldering stories are hilarious! I personally never went to a school that offered it for credit (I attended an all-women's college in Virginia; we didn't solder.)
Sugarbrie--despite my newfound confidence, I don't think I'm ready to take on auto mechanics yet. We didn't have that at my college either.
--Sarah |
I think I'm in love!!!
(you don't like cycling do you?)
Sincerely, I remain |
Sc53, your a better man than me err ahh you know what I mean. Me hats off to you my lady. |
Sarah--Congrats on the tweeter repair! Did you connect them in phase (I once replaced drivers on my Duntechs and, after getting them out, found there was no indicator on the drivers for the "hot" and "cold" leads--no idea if it made a difference, but gnawed at me for years)??? And I've gotta know which all-women's college in Va? Was it in Buena Vista? |
Mr Prince--yes, there were (thankfully) +'s and -'s on the tweeter magnet, and the little lead wires were red and black! Couldn't have been simpler. The women's college was Sweet Briar! it is near but certainly not IN the town pronounced locally as "Byooney Vister." I purchased my first stereo rig in '73 while a sophomore there. Pioneer receiver, Garrard turntable, AR bookshelf speakers. My rig was BIG TIME for those days, and that setting. My room was used for all the parties, we even put my speakers facing out the window to blare out into the quad on lovely late afternoons (I remember in particular broadcasting Lou Reed's Walk on the Wild Side one afternoon, blew some people's minds). |
Hey, come on over, my system needs tweeked! ]:-) Congratulations! |
Ah, that brings back memories. The reason I asked was I remember visiting my (now) wife at (then) Southern Seminary in Byooney Vister (I had to spell it to the operator when I was calling information!) in 1969, when it seemed like I was the only person in that whole state with long hair, sideburns and a moustache. Given people's reactions to me, I can only imagine their reaction to Lou Reed!! |
Hope you got the phase right!!! This messed me up when the midrange from my B&W center channel came undone during shipping... little did I know that in England brown is positive and blue is neutral... or is it the other way around... I forget... heh heh... |
When I read to where you said you went & got your ProAc's I knew it was you Sarah. I also wasn't all that surprised because with all the gear you have it takes some skill to keep changing stuff around.
Anyway, good for you! BTW, I have a fully equipped garage if you want to try your hand at pulling an engine or something. Jeff |
I love it. While we're telling college stories about outing our dumbfounding skills with sodering irons, I "inherited" a hand-me-down pair of speakers senior year only to discover that the foam on the woofers was completely destroyed. So, I figure, I'll walk myself down to Radio Shack, get some replacement drivers, and have me a new pair of speakers. What more, it worked -- and not only did I soder, I screwed. Trick is, about a week later, we threw a party. Speakers worked fine for about an hour. Then one stopped and there was nothing I could do to make it go again. And I tried. Well, we lived on the fifth floor of a walkup and we had come to the practice of merely hucking our rubbish out of the window (as long as it was done, and announced, creatively -- such as "exploding Pakistani candy" or "scented, flaming art" -- screamed as loud as you could while ejecting the item, it was ok. The uninteresting stuff was actually carried down--something about honor among scofflaws? Don't ask.). So, comes the speaker.
It fit through the window, if only barely. At the time, "Speaker!" was deemed sufficient by popular vote though, in retrospect, I suppose we could have done better. I figure my track record categorically rules me out in terms of helping anyone with speaker woes.
As a postscript, I disassembled the couch with a crowbar and put that through the window (each morsel seperately announced) at the end of the year instead of carrying it out, too. And there goes my carreer in moving.... |
ok well i have a problem in my home theater. come on over and i will be glad to let you fix it. |
Hey, this thread is getting more and more interesting! Mezmo, you were insane in your college days. Throwing a couch out a 5th floor window! What city were you in? It must have been long before they started cracking down on college shenanigans. By the way, when I lived in NYC, I once heaved a broken small yellow plastic desk lamp out my 17th floor window. It had a saucer shaped top. A tree on the ground floor speared it on the way down, and it rested outside the window of a friend on the 3rd floor for about 5 years. She told me years later that she just woke up one morning and saw a yellow sun disc outside her window and took it as a good omen. |
Congrats "Tweetie", and fun stories too. I can't solder either. Cheers. Craig |
Sarah,
I'm threatened and emasculated. No really, congrats. I smile as my fiancee' develops her ear and sometimes says "why does that sound so wrong"? Actually, I'm somewhat interested in the Triumphs. Are they the UHS, the newest incarnation? I found a pair of used Mini-Triumphs and love them as a travel pair. Thanks for the input. |
sarah,
i'm actually much more impressed with your mechanical skills, being another lawyer, than i am of such, being a woman. as my bride of 35 years reminded me last month: had there been three wise women, they would have arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable and brought a casserole. and there really would be peace on earth. :o) -cfb |
Bravo Sarah!
Hats Off to You!
My wife is afraid to walk within 3 feet of my system let alone even attempt to turn it on and enjoy it! She thinks something's gonna break if she looks at to long. I'm a very handy person but I don't like having repair drywall after she tried to hang a picture with what looked to be a sledge-hammer.
Hey Cornfedboy, I thought my wife was the only one who thought that? Must be the lawyer in her?
Cheers,
Bruce |
This thread is both amusing and somewhat desturbing at the same time. Any one who has ever read one of my threads knows that political correctness(or spelling) is not my strongest conviction.I think it that anyone should get satisfaction from solving a problem but won't alot of other women be offended by this? Not that there are that many out there reading this stuff. Is it just that audio is such a "guy" thing? Women fix cars, build homes, hell my wife is damn handy with a cuttin' tourch. You should be proud, but not cuz ya are a girl that did it, but because ya did it. The part I find amusing is the responce from you guys.Wow get a mop to wipe the drool with! I wonder how many e-mail proposals of marrige, not to mention other proposals from audio perverts you got. Fire up the soldering iron and whip up a batch of glowing glass! And when you are done with the amp bring me a beer! |
I find this thread a little disturbing. Anyone (male or female) ought to be able to figure out how to unscrew a pair of tweeters. Doesn't take a rocket scientist. I repaired a Tenor amp when it showed up on my doorstep dead on arrival. Pretty easy to do when you take the bottom cover off and find a couple of wires dangling that needed to be reconnected to the power switch. Anyone could have done it. |
Hey Suzy, it was a TORX screwdriver. |
Sheesh. Maybe we are better off buying Pioneer and Sony. At least that stuff typically works when you take it out of the box. Thanks for the warning about quality control with "hi-end" gear. There apparently is none.
As to Suzy's "been there, done that" type of response, relax. There is more than enough room and attention on these forums for several women audiophiles to join in.
Kudos to both of you for having the guts to get your hands dirty. I know a LOT of men that would have pissed and moaned about the problem but done nothing to correct it themselves. For that, you both deserve a big round of applause. Sean
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wake up one morning & just know how to do something. Anything, take your pick. Let's start with auto repair, 'cause most everybody here either owns a car or did at one time. When you took your car in to have it fixed, the shop is charging $40.00 to $60.00 an hour & guess what? The mechanic woke up that morning & decided to be a mechanic. Really, that's how it works! I know someone who's very much involved with molecular biology & one day she woke up & decided to be an expert. She just now decided to become an MD & I'll bet when she wakes up in the morning she'll not only be one, but a consummate one at that. All the modern day athletes? You got it, they just woke up one day & Ta Da! Instant success!
Yep, that's how it happens. In the past, well, people just did it the old fashioned way. Let me explain. They learn on their own through trial & error. Or they watched somebody else do it. Nowadays, if you want to do something you've never done before, you just sleep on it & presto! In the morning you've got all the skills necessary, right? No more taking that first step to try something you never have before, right? Yeah, no need to set goals or try something new, because all you have to do is sleep on it.
I don't know about you guys that know how to do everything, or maybe most things, but I remember the days when trying something new was looked forward to. Maybe there was a bit of apprehension but it was exciting. Oh well, too bad. Days gone by, plus no need to worry about it anyway, 'cause anyone can do it if they just sleep on it. |
Sarah, sometimes it's just nice to remind folks of the male and female persuasion that we are capable of being handy if we *want* to be. That's the secret, guys, we usually don't *have* to be. Think about that the next time you see some poor schmuck changing a tire in the rain while his lady sits warmly in the car.... It reminds me of a joke that ends with "With one of these, I can get as many of those as I want" :) You fill in the what these and those are.... I have totally faith in this crowd to understand the meaning.... The other thing, guys, is sometimes we just let you take care of it to fill a need in you - you know that *provider* thang... and then other times, like I think in the case of Sarah, you just get some damn excited, you can't wait and jump in both feet. You do *us* proud, girl....
----steppin' back, waiting to see the sparks fly-----
aj |
Hey Sean -- Tenor claimed that somebody in customs must have opened up the bottom of the amp and yanked a few wires loose. Sounds kind of far-fetched but who knows. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to take a look before shipping the amps back to Canada. I certainly don't think I am mechanically inclined at all, but sometimes a little common sense (if the problem is obvious) can save a lot of money and hassle. |
Sorry Angela, I think the helpless female act is kind of annoying. What happens when there is no man around to "rescue" us? Sure would be nice to know how to change that flat tire then, wouldn't it? I have no problem asking for help when I need it, but I always like to see if I can actually learn something on my own first. |
Suzy, hey, did I say that I DID IT or did I merely say that IT HAPPENS? I am a woman that OWNS her own circular saw, for cripes sake :) But I must say that I WILL step back and allow a man to do something if that is something that HE needs to feel good about things.
Settle down, guys, Suzy and I are buds, so move along... no fight here.... :) |
Angela,why pretend you can't do something just to make a man feel good about himself? How about doing it on your own and making you feel good about yourself? Guess I'm not very good at trying to figure out all these male-female type games. |
Wow, I'm glad this thread flushed some fellow females out of the woodwork! Hello, ladies, glad to meet you. No one would ever accuse me of being the "helpless female," believe me. The thrill of actually being able to figure out what was wrong and have and use the tools to fix it was what made me launch this thread, really for pats on the back! Which I received, and am well satisfied. I was very pleased w/myself a few years ago when I figured out how to connect the cable box, VCR, DVD player, LD player and TV all together w/a processor and amp myself. You know, you don't have to be female to find these things confusing. I am far more mechanical and logical than my best male friend, Raphael (who won't even drive if it's raining outside). But less so than my female friend Linda, who does tiling, roofing, boat-building, and landscaping projects totally on her own because she "doesn't want to spend the money." Suzy and Angela, I'm glad of some female company on this site, hope to hear from you again. And guys, I loved all your stories of college antics and soldering non-expertise. This hobby is great! |
Well, I don't think most of us men need a woman to appear stupid to feel good about ourselves. This is a good thing because most of the female types around this site seem to be able to hold their own.
I remain, |
Well, I don't think most of us men need a woman to appear stupid to feel good about ourselves. This is a good thing because most of the female types around this site seem to be able to hold their own.
I remain, |
You guys are just WAY too serious this morning :-) I am just trying to inject some silly humor and it's getting over analyzed.... I think it's time to hit the beach....
welcome, Sarah :) |
I'd love to hit the beach but it's winter here. I'm going skating -X-country skiing... love that too... my wife is a former NCAA skier ( a good one!) and you know what.. I can barely keep up.. except when she feels sorry for me.
What comes around goes around. |
Sorry if I am taking things too seriously, but I'd really like to see women get a little more respect in this hobby, so it makes it tough for me to joke around on these issues. Suppose I probably could stand to lighten up a bit sometimes. I'm always happy to see more women get involved, just want all of us to be taken seriously. Have fun at the beach.....feels like it is below zero here. Think I'll stay inside! |
Too bad, you girls made up. I was practically drooling, while reading last few posts from the fellow female audiophiles, for a catfight . Esmeralda, Jump in any time.
Seriously, I am glad you girls have this self-aptitude. |
I've never cared for catfights, but mudwrestling might be fun. How about it, Angela? I'll meet you over at my message board and we'll both take a mudbath together. Might be good for our skin :-)
Hey, I actually do have a sense of humor :-) Maybe we can even let Sarah join us, too! |
Let me and other choice few in on it. Will Ya? Of course I will be the Refree. |
All right, if Suzy found this thread "disturbing" before, what on earth is she thinking now!!? |
I'm thinking that maybe Angela was right and I need to lighten up a bit. Just trying to have a sense of humor. |
Nilthepill - you are welcome to check out my new message board at www.audioenquirer.com. No female mudwrestling I'm afraid, but you can read all about Bob Crump's viagra soaked pointy things :-) |
Angela, I got it!!
"With one of these, I can get as many of those as I want" :) You were describing a dollar bill and wishing you had pennies, right?
Much like the guy who called his mother for advise during the honeymoon. "Mom, she is breathing pretty hard, what should I do besides kissing her?"
His mom replied, "I hope I can make you understand son, just put your long thing in where she pee's."
The bride called her back after a few minutes and said, "Your son has his foot hung in our commode." |
Very funny Albertporter! Suzy, I am there! And it better be fun place. |
........gotta admit the above verbal intercourse above is a HUGE improvement over the serious flamewars of maybe a year ago-- I bet A'gon's happy;>). Kudos gang, and Cheers. Craig. |
SHEESH.... You never know where some of these things will end up or what ground will be covered getting there. Some near-miss "catfights", Angela and Albert telling "dirty" jokes, etc... I agree Craig, MUCH better than the name calling that we had a while back. Sean
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