Wharfedale purple dome tweeter cuts off at 15KHz

[Eastham]

So I recently acquired a pair of nice Wharfedale Triton 3's rated for 55Hz to 20KHz, that I've just finished semi recapping. I've been listening to them for a while and they blow me away, the mid range is so much more detailed than the 2-way speakers I've had until now, but comparing them to my Mordaunt-Short Festival 2's I noticed that some parts of songs are.. Well... Completely missing, quiet background guitar riff's, cymbals, and even backing vocals. so I decided to do a 20-20 test, and the tweeters seem to run out of puff at about 15KHz and I know I can hear higher than that. Now there is one little tidbit, I haven't replaced a of 8µF cap in each speaker, the supplier who I bought my capacitors from sent me a 8µF and a 6.8µF instead of two 8µF's, so the originals are still in there until I get this resolved with the supplier, What are the chances of these cap's being the problem? I really hope they are because I love these speakers, the detailed mid's and the strong precise bass, the rosewood veneer that I've waxed to a near gloss shine...

 

[VanArn]

Eastham, definitely replace those old capacitors with new polypropylene types. The chances are high that the original parts were NP electrolytic capacitors and these fail over time.

 

[Eastham]

Yep, those cap's made all the difference. And wow, how much more detail these have in the mid's over my 2-way MS Festival's backing lyrics sound more defined along with drum beats and the cymbals. I've been stressing these speakers with some fast paced Metal and they keep up just fine. Very nice speakers.

 

[cleverdick]

Knowing those tweeters, I'm surprised they don't cut off at 1.5kHz!

 

[Eastham]

Knowing those tweeters, I'm surprised they don't cut off at 1.5kHz!

Haha, I heard these tweeters love to fry like eggs when you pump too much power into them, I can confirm they can take 45watts, not sure how much more though! Oh and now after a full re-cap they're able to go as high as 20KHz but my hearing starts to roll off shortly after like any healthy adults ears should. Speakers are still kicking and I would recommend them for any small room low power systems. Very nice speakers.

 

[jaymanaa]

If we're talking about the purple donut tweeters, they have a flaw. Nothing with how they sound, but when they glued the lens down over the VC wires, the glue will eat through the wires. AK Member Gordon, who is absolutely tops in everything speaker, came up with a nearly exact replacement for the purple donut in the JBL line up. I want to say the 26, but it would be best to check with him. I have a pair of 90s that had two out, and after a two year search I have 4 good ones, but I don't really trust them. BTW, didn't know we had a British Audio forum until now, wow, British is my true love. I have a Radford pre that maybe you all can help me go through. I'd like to find some Leak power amps, maybe someday.

 

[N8Nagel]

do yours have the plastic cages over the front of them? If so the flaw is fixable. Unfortunately the ones in my W70Ds were the earlier style that didn't, and the domes fell off and cracked before I could have a chance to repair them (as in before I acquired the speakers.)

 

[Eastham]

Mine have the plastic cage over them. thankfully mine are still fine, but I think I know the flaw you're talking about.

 

[N8Nagel]

yeah the cage will keep the domes in place when the glue fails so you can fix the wires and put them back together.

 

[Eastham]

yeah the cage will keep the domes in place when the glue fails so you can fix the wires and put them back together.

Hmm, good to know. For anyone interested here's a pic of the speakers in question when I got them.

 

[markkb]

I've got those tweeters in my W60e's. Where do I look for the flaw and what's the remedy? Do you wait until they fail or remedy them early?
Thanks

 

[Eastham]

I've got those tweeters in my W60e's. Where do I look for the flaw and what's the remedy? Do you wait until they fail or remedy them early?
Thanks

Generally people just wait for them to fail then fix them.

 

[RobRoy]

Since my ears only go to 10k, I'd be good with those.

 

[N8Nagel]

here's a thread showing the problems and fix.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/wharfedale-w60d-purple-tweeter-repair.574822/

There are really two:

1) the glue holding the domes onto the aluminum body of the tweeter fails over time.

2) the same glue also corrodes through the aluminum coil wires of the tweeter, causing the tweeter to go open.

If you're having problems with your tweeter the fix to both problems is the same - remove the dome, clean up all the old glue, and glue them back on. At the same time pigtail the coil wires for reliability.

Whether you address this now or later is up to you. I have no opinion as my own tweeters were already dead when I got my speakers, and unfortunately the domes were cracked and unsalvageable.

The reason I would recommend if you're looking for used ones to get the ones with the plastic cages is that if the glue fails, at least the domes won't fall off until you physically remove the cages, reducing the possibility that they will crack when they fall off behind the grille like mine did.

 

[markkb]

Ok good info. Thanks for linking the thread!