To repair/replace Utopia Be


I have a pair of Diva Utopia Be. Last weekend, I noticed some weird sound from the speakers then I found the Be tweeter was broken (a hole on the dome...not sure how it gets there)

I have ordered a new tweeter from a local dealer, as the speaker is pretty heavy and the dealer told me the technics involved in replacing the unit is pretty straight forward (unscrew the screws and then connect the wires to the unit) I decided to replace the unit by myself. Anybody has similar experience on this please let me if there is anything I shall pay special attention to when replacing it.

Many many thanks.

Eric
jeq

Showing 1 response by extra_action

I have built several speakers over the years and i would like to point out a few things:
The coil associated with a tweeter is extremely sensitive and can be damaged if you apply to much heat to the driver terminals.
There is a right way and a wrong way to do the soldering:
1. Do not use a soldering gun unless you want to order another tweeter. A soldering gun as opposed to an iron can but outs hundreds of watts of heat in a very short period of time.
2. Rather buy a cheap iron from radio shack $20. Tine i.e. pre solder the wire leads that connect eventually to the terminal.
Place a crocodile clip behind the drive terminal to absorb heat upstream of the joint. Use another clip to hold the tined wire in place against the terminal. Apply heat to the terminal 3-4 seconds, touch the joint with solder for a second, remove the solder then remove the iron. Blow on the new joint.
And ensure you mark the polarity of the wires before you move them. Nothing will kill the sound of a pair of great monitors and a driver connected out of phase.

Enjoy and good luck