Is this a blown tweeter?

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

A couple days ago, my wife commented that the center channel in the theater (an Onix Ref 100) sounded muffled. I checked it out, and she was right - something sounded odd.

I plugged in REF and got an odd result, so I lugged by Bigfoot downstairs for comparison. I've attached the two graphs - green is the bigfoot and blue is the Ref 100. Both are similar up to 2500 Hz, when the Ref 100 takes a 20-25 dB dip below the Bigfoot.

Any thoughts? Could I have destroyed the tweeter or perhaps done something to the crossover?

[HAL]

How far away from the speaker did you make the measurement? Is it on the tweeter axis? Did you time window the data to eliminate room reflections?

From what I see, it looks like the tweeter level on the REF100 is about 22dB below the Bigfoot.

An easy way to check the tweeter is to remove it from the box and measure the resistance across the terminals. If it is about 4 ohms it is not open. If the resistance is very high, then the voice coil is open and the driver is bad.

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

Thanks, HAL. I'll check the resistance tonight.

I measured at the listening position. The speaker is on a stand under my projection screen, angled upwards towards the listener, so it should be pretty close to on-axis.

Since the speaker sounds noticeably different than it used to (even to my wife), I don't think nit's a room interaction issue. I'm just wondering if it's the driver, crossover, or perhaps something else I'm not thinking of. I tried two different pre-pros to make sure that wasn't the issue.

[Mep]

Physically check the crossover for any black/gray smudge marks or strong smells. Most likely the tweeter though. Maybe parts express sells a replacement?

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

It's the tweeter - I get an open circuit when I measure resistance, and hooking the speaker wires directly to the tweeter produces no sound.

Luckily, it seems that Madisound.com sells the Vifa tweeters at a reasonable price. I just need to locate the corect one.

[woofersus]

It's the XT25TG30 unless the Ref 100 got the shielded version for some reason.

[Ray3]

Did the REF100 come with a warranty and is it still in effect? Could save you a few $$ to check it out.

[Kevin_Wadsworth]

Good point on the warranty - it's been less than 3 years since I bought the Ref 100 so it should be covered.

On the other hand, it's only $46 shipped for a new tweeter and that might be easier than dealing with the warranty process. I'll send them an email and see what comes of it.