RL 140 tweeter replacement

32 replies

Hello to all from Harrison, Arkansas.

 I'm trying to get a pair of RL 140s up to speed. Just completed surround replacement on all 4 woofers. Testing proved the woofers to be working quite well, but one speaker was dull sounding overall. Investigation determined that one tweeter, even though sound quality seemed good, had approx. 50% of the output of the other tweeter. DC resistance of both voice coils is 6.1 ohm. There are no apparent signs of damage on either tweeter.

Due to the rarity of B&O items in the U.S. I think chances of finding a used tweeter for replacement are very slim. Accordingly Replacing the OEM tweeters with a suitable type more readily available seems to be my best option. 

Any information that the Beowoeld community could provide about the OEM tweeters, such as efficiency & power handling ratings, crossover frequency point, etc. would of course be very helpful in choosing replacements and greatly appreciated.

I had never even heard of B&O before these RL 140s came up for sale in a town not far away but I was intrigued enough by the styling and the hope of superior sound quality the few reviews I could find spoke of to take them on as a project. I look forward to hearing them at their full potential as a pair. The speaker with the good tweeter was impressive enough by itself to heighten my anticipation.

here are some links re: rl140

one

two

three

four

 

do a search here -lots more to read!

you might want to look into re-doing the caps while you are in there.

welcome to beoworld!

@burantek

all the links you have posted are about refoaming the woofers and replacing the front clothes.

none of these topics are about tweeters, so you missed the point i think.

 

@mazeppa

the tweeters were made by SEAS in norway.

i have the same problem and still search for good replacement tweeters (close to orginal spec)

maybe someone knows which tweeters fit the RL140s ??

root wrote:

@burantek

all the links you have posted are about refoaming the woofers and replacing the front clothes.

none of these topics are about tweeters, so you missed the point i think.

 

sorry, i thought MY POINT was simple...

use the SEARCH... as you might find a lot of info regarding the rl140's -not just their tweeters.

it sounded to me like the OP might have further interest in reading up on them as they (and b&o in general) are clearly new to him.

my apologies to the OP for misleading him...

buratenk - Thanks for the welcome and links to RL 140 info. Do have cap replacement on my mind, I listed the values of all the electrolytics while I was in there. Believe I'll see if I can get this tweeter thing resolved first, though.

root - SEAS product, eh? I'll get the information off my afflicted driver and see if I can get the needed data from them. Will also wait a few days and see if any other Beo-bro.s can help us out before I start trial and error experimentation. I just happen to have a pair of kit speakers I built that have 6 ohm DC resistance V.C. silk domes in them I could pull and try in the RL 140s.....

Will post developments as they occur.

Do you have one underachieving tweeter, or two?

regarding the cap replacement: i would recommend you to change all the caps.
member dillen can supply you with a cap kit, its not that expensive and they are easy to fit.
i have no soldering skills and it took me 30 minutes...

regarding the tweeters: you could try to contact the SEAS dealer for your area: link
tried it with the german distributor, he wrote: please ask it on a forum.
maybe the american dealers are more helpful..

my tweeters are both not working.

a german company called klangmeister offered my to try to fix them for EUR 35.-- / piece
they said there is a chance to fix if only the voltage feeder is demolished, if there is further damage they are not able to repair it. i did not even sent them the tweeters, i think this service is overpriced.

Will heed your counsel and replace all cap.s if I can get something figured out on this tweeter deal. Located the SEAS site, but their listings did not contain the H358 model from my RL 140. Dealers have no more info than is available on the internet, apparently.

By all accounts, dome weeters are generally considered to be very difficult to repair if it can be done at all. So, the search for a viable substitute begins. I'll let you know how it goes.

Have you measured the DC resistance of the voice coils on your tweeters? If so, what were the results? Most likely 0 ohms (open coils) as they are'nt working at all, but I'm curious to know.

Hi

Are you sure that there are no problems in the crossover board like bad caps. Both tweeters have the same DC resistance so there is no problem with the voice coil. Try to replace the tweeter from the other speaker to see if its still low output. If it is the problem must be in the crossover board.

 

/Fredrik

Fredrik,

That's a good idea and I will try it. What I had considered to be the defintitive test was to remove both tweeters and listen to them individually at my bench. Trying both tweeters w/both crossover networks will help ensure I'm not fooling myself.

 

Thank you,

Stephen

Swapped tweeters and low output still with the same driver. Looked long and hard, high and low for an OEM replacement to no avail. About 6 months ago I found some Peerless 1" silk dome tweeters (#812687) that seemed to be a good electrical and size match They're made in Denmark, no less.

Finally got around to installing them this morning. Took a little bit of filing on the mounting flanges to get them in, but nothing drastic. Hooked those babies up on my garage system for a test drive and was very pleased with the result of my experiment in driver substitution. Walked away from them for a few hours to ensure I wasn't "hearing" my wish for a good result. Came back, listened to my main system for a bit. then put the RL-140s in place of my main speakers and I remain impressed. Still working on getting them in their optimal position on the floor stands. Started out horizontal, moved them to vertical with the tweeters both on the inside is noticeably better. I'm excited about the potentail of these speakers. They don't get much favorable press here in the States, but I'm starting to like mine very much.

Next step is to recap them. I'm looking for a schematic of the crossover circuit. I noted the values while I was in there, but the type of capacitor I use can vary with application in circuit. Poly in series with signal path, bipolar electrolytic in parallel to voice coil (typically woofers).            

Can any of my Beo Bro.s help me out with an RL-140 crossover schematic?

BTW, my main speakers are Klipsch Chorus that have been recapped, the transformer and tweeter diaphrams upgraded. They are very, very good. The RL-140s compare surprisingly well to them.

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