To repair/replace Utopia Be

I got it repaired finally, everything is fine now, thank you all for your help.

Thank you all for your useful advises and tips, I took off the damaged unit yesterday. I will get the new unit in two weeks and will report back how it goes.

All good advice. Extra Action has you all set. I recently repalced a tweeter dome for a friend on a pair of B&W's and had to solder the leads.

Note the position of the wires. If you can, take a digital photo of the old one.

When I unsoldered the old diaphragm I just heated it up a little and removed the wire. The leads had enough solder left to just heat it up and quickly add the new wire and blow on it without addign any solder. Esentially the same as Extra Action's advice.

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

I replaced a tweeter in my Divas Be's in 2006. Accidentally cracked a tweeter replacing the tiny metal tweeter covers.

The connection between the tweeter and speaker will need to be resoldered, so you should probably practice a bit so you don't get a cold solder joint which could cause future problems. Leads to the tweeter are very small. Would be worth getting a second person to help hold the wires in place while you solder. Also, use hi-quality preferably high-silver content solder.

Also, be careful of the broken tweeter. Flaking Beryllium is toxic. Enough of it in your lungs can lead to permanent breathing problems. Focal will send you a cellophane type material to put over the broken one to contain any flaking beryllium.

Otherwise, two allen bolts and two wingnuts to get to the tweeter. Magnets are strong, so be careful of tools and metal parts laying around. Did mine sitting in place in the theater. Had some help holding the tweeter and leads during soldering. Pretty simple process.

Good Luck. Can e-mail me if you need more information.

If the speaker is too heavy to turn on it's side, solicit help in holding the tweeter and then solder it. You may want to mask the speaker near the tweeter as well. Every precaution may seem extreme, but it's well worth it when the job is done correctly. One slip and regret is forever. :)

Even with soldered ends it's easy. If you have not soldered prior, just spend a few minutes with a soldering gun and practice. You need to be cautious as the melted solder runs rapidly, like water. It goes from solid to liquid - like THAT!

Be sure to protect everything nearby. Try to turn the speaker on it's side, etc. to have no chance of solder dropping onto the driver, etc. Put wood or something hard under the work area.

Are there tension clips used on these tweeters? or soldered? Just curious.

Here's another caution to keep in mind!

Make sure any metallic items (screws, wrenches, etc.) are put safely some distance away from any driver you are handling. The magnets have a way of attracting those items ;^) and they can have the nasty effect of punching a hole in your new diaphragm, cone, et. al.

Nope, it's easy and straight forward as described. All you need is a set of Allen wrenches to unscrew the driver. Just dont drop the driver and maybe have someone hold it in while you put the screws back in...

It is straightforward as long as the leads to the driver are not soldered on. I've replaced bad drivers before (darn kids) but only one tweeter. Just be sure to note which wire goes where and remember there may be some pretty strong magnets involved. Good luck with the project.