Woofer repair on PMC TB2S+

[PhilipMarlowe]

Hey there,

I could get a good deal on a pair of PMC speakers. The catch is that both woofers seem to be faulty. The tweeters work fine however. I wanted to know if it's worth repairing them or if it's even possible without sending them in. I'm pretty handy with the soldering iron and if it's just something as simple as replacing caps that would not be a problem. Is this a good deal or is it a money sink?

I already contacted PMC but they haven't gotten back to me yet.

Cheers guys

 

[scott2000]

Can you ohm out the woofers??

 

[thomasdf]

faulty = what ?
lacking low end, distorted, rattling, punched cones?
Do they move freely back and forth ? You can open the speaker and bypass the crossover filter and try to drive them directly ? You will then know if the problem is the filtering or the boomer themselves

 

[PhilipMarlowe]

Can you ohm out the woofers??

What do you mean? I'm new to speaker repairs, I've only built (diy) equipment so far.

faulty = what ?
lacking low end, distorted, rattling, punched cones?
Do they move freely back and forth ? You can open the speaker and bypass the crossover filter and try to drive them directly ? You will then know if the problem is the filtering or the boomer themselves

Thanks for the quick reply. I haven't had a chance to check them out myself but the seller says they are mute and make no sound. Both of them. Would a repair be expensive/ labour intensive if the woofer itself seems intact, but the electronics inside aren't?

 

[scott2000]

What do you mean?

Use a multimeter to check the ohms across the speaker terminals. You can just goofle "testing a speaker" or something like that.....

If you're asking if the crossovers could be janky, I'd guess that could be a cheaper fix if you know the component values etc....

although there can be some luck if there's a simple mechanical failure of the leads from the terminals of the woofers which could be inexpensive.... I've been lucky in the past with similar things... even with tweeters...


pretty good read....

https://sound-au.com/articles/speaker-failure.html

 

[ruairioflaherty]

Logging in for the first time in forever, been way too busy for DIY, my bench sits sadly unused.

Apologies in advance for the terse answers to your questions, I worked part time for PMC here in LA with their high end clients for 10 years, no one has spent more time inside of PMCs on this side of the ocean.

The short answer is if you have to ask this question then the answer is no, you should not buy to repair...

How cheap is cheap?

Also the TB2+ is a nice speaker, but old tech at this point. Not something I would want to exert a lot of effort on.

I have seen many many people get "killer deals" on used PMC only to spend a fortune on spare drivers after teh fact to make them right.

Abused speakers can have crossover damage from blown caps, inductors that have heat damage and charred resistors. I've seen all of the above.

Proceed with caution and preferably pass.

 

[abbey road d enfer]

I could get a good deal on a pair of PMC speakers. The catch is that both woofers seem to be faulty. The tweeters work fine however. I wanted to know if it's worth repairing them or if it's even possible without sending them in.

There's 90% probablity the woofers are dead; even if theye are not shot beyond repair they are probably good for nothing. These are custom-made parts, and I suspect the replacement cost is a large portion of the price of the finished speaker.
If I had them given to me, I would look for a cheap cost-efficient replacement and not expect too much from these speakers.

 

[scott2000]

  These are custom-made parts

I read that PMC started in house drivers at some point but am not sure if this model was part of that? Not that it would be easy or cheap to find an original replacement even if.....

If I had them given to me

I'm interested if this falls through....lol

 

[PhilipMarlowe]

Logging in for the first time in forever, been way too busy for DIY, my bench sits sadly unused.

Apologies in advance for the terse answers to your questions, I worked part time for PMC here in LA with their high end clients for 10 years, no one has spent more time inside of PMCs on this side of the ocean.

The short answer is if you have to ask this question then the answer is no, you should not buy to repair...

How cheap is cheap?

Also the TB2+ is a nice speaker, but old tech at this point. Not something I would want to exert a lot of effort on.

I have seen many many people get "killer deals" on used PMC only to spend a fortune on spare drivers after teh fact to make them right.

Abused speakers can have crossover damage from blown caps, inductors that have heat damage and charred resistors. I've seen all of the above.

Proceed with caution and preferably pass.

Hey man, thanks for the honesty. Cheap as in 200 Euros for the pair. It's fun for me to repair stuff, if it isn't too fiddly or expensive, that is.
I contacted the PMC support now and will see what they say. I was curious about the offer because I thought if the woofer cone itself is intact, the repair wouldn't be as costly. But reading your post it makes me think that's not necessarily true.

Can a speaker be too long in the tooth, soundwise or do you mean the maintenance and repairs?

These passives would be preferable to active speakers for me, since I already got a pretty decent power amp and wouldn't need to pay for that component if I were to buy actives.

The alternatives I'm looking at for affordable passive monitors are only older tannoys, which also don't seem to have any official replacement driver support anymore...

 

[PhilipMarlowe]

There's 90% probablity the woofers are dead; even if theye are not shot beyond repair they are probably good for nothing. These are custom-made parts, and I suspect the replacement cost is a large portion of the price of the finished speaker.
If I had them given to me, I would look for a cheap cost-efficient replacement and not expect too much from these speakers.

Yeah, that's what I fear is the case. But from the outside the woofers look like in great condition. The insides are a different question I guess. I'll wait to hear back from PMC to make a final decision.

 

[thomasdf]

the woofers may look mint but have their coil burnt if they were driven too hard too long...
I happened all of a sudden on a pair of B&O I had... sad !

 

[ruairioflaherty]

Hey man, thanks for the honesty. Cheap as in 200 Euros for the pair. It's fun for me to repair stuff, if it isn't too fiddly or expensive, that is.
I contacted the PMC support now and will see what they say. I was curious about the offer because I thought if the woofer cone itself is intact, the repair wouldn't be as costly. But reading your post it makes me think that's not necessarily true.

OK, cool. I don't consider that to be worth it given your skill level here (and cost of parts).

The cosmetics of the driver mean almost nothing, I would say 98% of the hundreds of drivers I have replaced over the years looked perfect cosmetically and had coil deformation or burnout.

Can a speaker be too long in the tooth, soundwise or do you mean the maintenance and repairs?

Yes.  If it's for hifi or goofing around the threshold is much lower, but for actual mixing that's a different story.

These passives would be preferable to active speakers for me, since I already got a pretty decent power amp and wouldn't need to pay for that component if I were to buy actives.

The alternatives I'm looking at for affordable passive monitors are only older tannoys, which also don't seem to have any official replacement driver support anymore...

No love for the Tannoys here but I have friends doing good work on them, and yes, difficult on the service front.

PMC will likely have a hard time helping you remotely, without knowing whether the crossovers are intact and working to spec.

Either way, good luck!  TB2+ are nice speakers.