electronics repair?

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maxwell_smart007

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Does anyone know of any places to get help on electronics repair (i.e. a forum or the like)?

I have an old Altec Lansing 2.1 sub speaker combo, and it suddenly stopped working. I get power, and the fuses are fine, but there's no bass sound.

Tested what I could - can't figure out what's wrong. ANyone know of a forum or the like that could help me figure out which capacitor or wire is bad?

Thanks!
 
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magpens

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First thing I would do is check for electrical continuity on the speaker sound coil . . . if you can find a way to get at it.

You will need an ohmmeter . . . The resistance of the coil will be something under 10 ohms . . . BUT NOT ZERO.

Infinite resistance means, of course, that the coil is "kaput".
 
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jttheclockman

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Andrew not to get off topic but you run into some electrical problems from your postings. Have you had any power surges that you know of?? Even brownouts can cause similar problems. You may want to check the voltage coming into your house. Power surges are serious with electronic equipment.
 

SteveG

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There are companies that specialize in what is known a s "Re-coning" speakers. They should be able to address your issues. Possibly Altec will offer this service, which I think would be preferable. Some times when speakers get old, the diaphragm deteriorates, causing the speaker to fail, or perhaps just sound very bad. A consideration, of course is the cost of the rework compared to the cost of new replacement speakers. Many years ago, I had a set of Infinity speakers reconed, and was very satisfied with the results.

Now, for a caution. It is not uncommon for a re-coned speaker to sound a bit different from the original. You want to be sure that the materials to be used are factory replacement parts vs. generic. If you have a pair of speakers, both should be reworked IOT get a matching sound quality from both the left and right.
 

Penultimate

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Hi
If it is an active sub with a plate amp, a component inside may have failed. I had two Klipsch subs that failed. You should be able to pull the amp and inspect it.
The first two are hits from "fix subwoofer". The last two are DIY audio building forums that might be helpful.
Parts Express is an audio component web site. They have plate Amps that might fit, or make your own. There are kits on the site. Contact me if you have questions. I build speakers, never a sub yet but the theory is the same.
Good luck.
 

WoodKnot

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I also build speakers and I have gotten a variety of things from Parts Express. I've tried a DIY kit to re-cone a pair of speakers and it a delicate process. I fixed one speaker but I didn't re-cone the other one correctly (I'll try it again now that I'm familiar with the process).
 

maxwell_smart007

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The cone seems fine - no tears or the like. I smelled some sort of electronics smell just as it went, so I assumed a capacitor leaked...btu I can't find one that looks bad. It makes no sound at all. There's power to the tweeters (or whatever the little speakers are called), but nothing at all to the sub. The sub shows 3.8ohm resistance, and it's stamped at 4ohms. I'll dig into the links - thanks!
 

magpens

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The sub shows 3.8ohm resistance, and it's stamped at 4ohms.

If the coil of your sub measures 3.8 ohms ( with nominal specification noted as 4 ohms ) it would seem there's nothing electrically wrong with the sub speaker coil itself. . . . Thanks for getting back to us on this, Andrew.
 

randyrls

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This is my general electronics knowledge. These often have a "low pass" filter on the woofer. This is a combination of capacitors and coils, but not speaker coils. The coil may have burned out.
 

jttheclockman

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Not to state the obvious but sometimes it needs to be, have you checked all connections and wiring within the speaker. Vibration could cause things to come loose. A cold solder joint could surface. I would ring out the wires to start with. Any jacks I would pull out and clean and insert back. Start from the beginning is what I always like to do when dealing with electricity of any kind.
 
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