Tweeters are silent on my Wilson audio Sofia 2

You bought very expensive speakers relative to the rest of your system. Have you called Wilson for advice?

 Speakers silently protesting their supporting cast...

Wilson recommended to change the resistor which I did , still no change .
My center  Wilson Audi Watch is performing very well with the current gear when connected as center and as one of the main channels .
Therefore , I know it is not the Emotiva amp .
Any suggestions ...

Is any sound coming out of the tweeters at all?  If not could they have not been connected at all or perhaps out of phase?  Just guessing.

No sound coming out from the tweeters at all .

 It's not rocket science. Check the connections or replace tweeters

Wow. This should have been addressed 10 years ago.  Are you bi wiring?  Are jumpers missing?   

I know , I was too busy then and kept "putting it aside " , I moved and it was in the crates for some time .
No bi wiring , clean connections with very good speaker cables .

Do you remember any occasion when you might have blown both tweeters?  It doesn't seem that probable, but there aren't that many possibilities to explain this.

I don't recall any specific occasion , I believe it was like that that form when I got them .

file:///C:/Users/leeron1/Documents/Sofia%202%20internal%20photo%20two.jpg

Please click on the link to view the connection compartment .

file:///C:/Users/leeron1/Documents/Sofia%202%20internal%20photo%20two.jpg

With some speakers it can be difficult to remove the tweeters. If it is not with your speakers I would take one out, if for no other reason, to see if the internal speaker wires are properly connected.

I am hoping that someone here can help you check they are working or not once you have them out. Assuming you have determine that the internal speaker wires from your crossover were correctly attached to the tweeter.

Pull tweeter check for continuity with a multimeter.  They may have used a ferrofluid in the tweeter VC and I think this model been out for 15 years or so and could have issues with old ferofluids or just time itself. 

OP, pull the tweeter out and give it a visual. Then ohm it out. Maybe they are blown. Smell funny? Like electrical burn.. Is there no resistance or maxed out? Disconnect the driver to check, ay..

After that, it’s wire or crossover..(you changed the resistor).

You’re not running some weird main cable are you? With a hi pass filter in it are you? Like a Transparent?

Some of those cables will cause all kinds of problems, like amp oscillation.. Depends on the amp..

You ran a new piece of cable just to check? CHEAP zip cord will work fine.. LOL may be the cure..

Happy hunting..

Thank you all for the advices . I did run a different 12 gauge speaker cable to the speakers and it was the same outcome - no tweeter sound .
I'll take a loser look at the tweeter and advise of the findings .

I just saw the rear.


Could you have swapped the mid/treble connectors at any time?

Sre you absolutely sure it isn’t your mids?? About 80% of the music we hear comes out of them.  Many can't tell when their tweets stop working. :)

Disconnect both of the drivers on the top, and test for resistance. Should get 3 to 6 Ohms on each driver. Anything that reads 0 or infinite is bad. Leave the drivers disconnected.

In the resistor panel, measure the resistance across the nuts and make sure you get what is expected based on the resistors. Again, test both tweet and midrange sections.




Best,

Erik

10 years of no tweeters?  I couldn't live like that.

After you fix the problem, I would replace all the electronics to the level of the speakers.  Emotiva with Wilson should be bright as hell.  I am talking ice pick bright!

Hi Erik , I never touch the internal of the speakers . I hear the mids clearly , it’s definitely the tweeters . How do I open and remove the tweeter and midrange, just by removing the screws from both I should be able to pull them ? 

Did it take you ten years to figure out your tweeters were not working? and you call yourself an audiophile?

@OP,
Please ignore the above comment.
The rest of Audiogon is here to help.
Bob

Hi OP!

Unfortunately I can only go by pics I see on the internet. You should be able to do all the testing I suggested via the jacks on the back.  Disconnect the speaker cable and measure across the tweeter jacks.

Best,

E

I'm going by these images:

https://www.acousticgallery.fr/produit/wilson-audio-sophia-2/

Based on that, in the rear the left jack is for the midrange, and the right jack for the tweeter.  Disconnecting that speaker cable from the lower cabinet should let you measure the tweeter directly. Your average multimeter here will let us see if the tweeter voice coils are open or shorted or reasonably working.

Sorry, it seems that I'm not looking at the back of a sophia. .... let me see what the manuals say.

My bad guys, I was looking at incorrect images for a different Wilson which exposes the tweeter and midrange jacks in the back. This speaker clearly does not.

I’d start by checking the resistors under the panel in the rear. I suspect they are open. To test this, put a wire between the tweeter jacks, and play music  _VERY_ softly at first, and turn it up and see if your tweeter is magically working.

If so, that’s your problem.

Well, that’s Twitter for you! 😂 

This seems like a very simple problem. If the OP still cant figure it out himself after all these posts he will need to send it back to the speaker company. Unless hes trolling us

Op should seek the help of someone in person, not here. No disrespect to him, but it is a special case to go 10 years and not correct a significant performance issue on expensive speakers. Call in the troops. 

@jimofmaine Agreed. Any competent local tech should be able to figure this out relatively easily. 

@jetset Do you live somewhere with an audio club? If so, you might reach out and see if anyone would be willing to come over and check them out for you (or recommend a tech that does home visits).

Simple way to test the tweeters removed both jumpers and run you amp to the top biding post red and black positive / negative and do the same LF red and black to test the woofers 

Thank you everybody for your assistance , I will go through all the testing that I can do and hopefully get to the bottom of it , if no resolution I'll contact the local WA dealer .
On another note : I was looking to upgrade the AMP , especially for the 2 Sofia's and would appreciate your input on the below amps i was looking at , keeping in mind that I want the Amp to have at least 300 watts / 8 ohms / 450-500 watts / 4 ohms :
Parasound Halo A 21+ ,  Mark Levinson 532H amplifier ($4250 used) , Sunfire TGA 7401 ($2200 new) , any recomedation on a certain  Krell (price range 3000 - 5000)

My teenage son had great parties, over the years he and his friends blew 4 pairs of tweeters on my JSE Infinite Slope Model II’s. They would have the wrong input, push the volume to max, then find the correct input, blam. Cost him $60. each party.

I was replacing the Dynaudios, finally used a Focal, sounded great and it’s ferro fluid could take a hit better than the Dynaudio.

https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/speaker-drivers/?gclid=CjwKCAiA57D_BRAZEiwAZcfCxYIT_--EutU3614...


Because both are blown, I believe something like that blew your pair of tweeters (before you bought them perhaps).

You need to get to the back of your tweeters.

To prove internals are ok, there is a signal to the tweeter, is to buy a cheap tweeter, any driver, and touch it to the speaker’s tweeter’s wires.

Works, your tweeters are burnt.

No sound, other drivers work, something internal, part of the crossover? Unusual that crossover in both speakers would develop problems, unless the same weak point failed: one, then the other, finally noticeable.

To skip the crossover: disconnect the speaker wires. pull the tweeters, lower the volume to zero, touch the speaker wires to the tweeter, raise the volume a bit, just enough to see if the tweeter’s coil is good. If the tweeter moves, it’s something else, crossover or internal connection.

or test with a 1.5V battery (AA, D..)  and two leads ... much safer and easier :-)
Just touch wires to the terminals and listen for a click.
I'm baffled how this could have been overlooked, but hey.
If the tweeter are not functional you have:
1. miswired, or2. missing wires (2?  unlikely), or
3. destroyed from heat/power -- likely actually
remember that tweeters can take very little power/heat. if you play too loud too long, or worse, have extended clipping, they take the beating. And fail. Clipping = disproportional % of high frequency info.
Its why i have fuses. I kow many of you likely consider it abhorrent but i design and and have flaky stuff in my system all the time.
G

OP:
I gots to know:

Did you buy them new or used?
Did they always sound this way?
Does anyone else operate the system?

This sentence alone makes me think they are blown..

" amps i was looking at , keeping in mind that I want the Amp to have at least 300 watts / 8 ohms / 450-500 watts / 4 ohms"

Regards,
barts

jetset,

This might have already asked and answered, but do the 2’s have any kind of protection for the tweeters? Can you get to the crossover? And how hard is it to get to remove the terminal plate?

All the best.

JD

You say that the center speaker is working fine. How about removing the tweeter from that speaker and connecting it to one of your Sofia’s to see if it works.
I’m in the middle of replacing the Vifa tweeters on the speakers in my second system now (Amrita Summits). After 20+ years one of them finally went so I figured I may as well replace them both. My center speaker (also Amrita) has the same tweeter (which was replaced a few years back) so I swapped them out to determine the tweeter was indeed the issue.
As for amps, from my experience the Wilson's are a bit on the bright side so I would think the Parasound or Levinson would be a nice fit.  If you have decent audio shops in your area I would bring some amps home to listen to and compare.
But you have to get those tweeters working first!

Amrita...now there's a name I haven't heard in forever. I recall that they used to advertise in TAS. 

Kind of late now to expect Wilson to warranty their speakers.  Lot of money to spend for speakers without tweeters.

Okay my immediate quandary is this: 
If you have not missed them for 10 years
Why worry now?

I upgraded my processor to the Marantz AV8805 and i have a lot more free time to enjoy music .

If your tweeters are really absolutely silent you'd have a very "muddy" sounding speaker, the tweeters carry most of the music, not just "crisp" high frequency information. It's doubtful they'd both be really "dead" in my opinion. Don't know your age but if you're in your 50's/60's it could be a rolling off of your hearing, mine's diminished in the high frequency area, I'm 63. 

Have a friend carefully cup the tweeter while its playing, you should hear a difference. When working correctly, they're not supposed to be "bright" or even "crisp", just smooth and easy on the ear btw. 

After cranking my Maxx2’s I “lost” my midrange. Turned out I burned out the resistors. Replaced with replacements from Wilson(also have replacements for tweeters and woofers) All’s good again. Call Wilson

Btw not as expensive as you’d think($120 range)

Ohm meter on tweeters  DOH!

My Sasha had the same problem.  Blown tweeters.  Contact Wilson Audio with serial number.  They will send you a matched pair at your own cost. 

Did you buy them new?

I did buy them new but they’re out of warranty.
I already changed the resistors.
I opened and took out the tweeters ,  nothing smell like burned .
I’ll check with ohm meter and if needed order née tweeters . 

Have you put an ohms meter on your tweeters to see if they are functioning properly? My Maxx 3’s had a similar issue, I bought the ridiculously expensive resistors from Wilson and it was the tweeters, the resistors didn’t protect them. Don't get me wrong, my Wilson’s are the finest speakers I’ve ever had and I’ve had many but Wilson speaks with a lot of hot air and arrogance... measure your tweeters before you do anything...