Soft-dome tweeter damage - NBD or permanently compromised?


I’d appreciate the community’s help untangling a tweeter damage question. I bought a used pair of floorstanding speakers produced by a boutique brand that is well known to the audiophile community. (I’ll keep the name to myself, I’m not trying to call them out.) During shipping, both soft‑dome tweeters were crushed. I used the tape‑and‑pull method to pop the domes back into shape, but I have always understood from others that a deformed tweeter can never perform the same after such damage.

The seller felt otherwise, leaving a voicemail claiming that the tweeters should perform identically once restored to their original shape. Of course, it would be in the seller’s interest to say that, so I resolved to find out from the manufacturer what tweeter was used so I could source replacements myself or ask the vendor to supply them.  When I contacted the manufacturer, I heard back from the owner, who to my surprise said, "I don’t think that will affect the sound if you got them back to where they should be. It’s basically a dust cover anyway....  They’re soft domes. I’ve had it happen a few times over the years. I’ve never heard any problems with it myself."  He offered no specs for a swap.

So I’m stuck. Are soft‑dome tweeters truly unaffected after being crushed and popped back out, or has their performance been permanently compromised? Should I keep listening or hunt down replacements (with almost no information on what to buy)?

Any first‑hand experience or technical insight would be greatly appreciated!

zm

Showing 1 response by barts

I'm having a hard time understanding how the domes of BOTH tweeters got distorted without having major damage to the shipping carton/speakers covers/the rest of the speaker.

I'm not questioning your veracity simply wondering how that happens.  Let me know if I'm missing something. 

Was the seller the OEM?  You only refer to them as the "seller".  New speakers? Floor models?

In any case this should be remedied.

Regards,

barts