I just inherited a pair of 10–15 year-old Paradigm tower speakers. In their prime, they were extraordinary. My folks replaced them because they started to sound a bit muddy/dull. I tried them on three separate receivers with a couple pairs of wires and find the same thing. They’re lacking their former crispness.
Any ideas of what could have caused this? Since it happened to both, is it safe to assume it had something to do with the signal coming from their (my folks’) receiver? Or is it more likely that they failed independently but it wasn’t until they both went that it was noticeable?
I can’t find any information/model number on them (Paradigm Performance Series is all that’s written on the outside), so I don’t know if these should be 6 or 8 Ohms, if that makes any difference. Could they need a different resistance than what the receivers have been putting out (if that’s the right term) and the “problem” arose when my folks got a new receiver?
Or is this such a generic question that the only way to do anything about it is to find someone who can work on/repair speakers?
If they are lacking the crispness, I take it you mean there is no real top end (like, for example, hi-hats)? I don’t know the model of cabinet you have, but I assume there is a bass driver and 1 or more smaller tweeters. Are they all working?
The impedance won’t make much difference to sound quality, but if you’d got it wrong, the likely outcome would be a knackered amplifier.
From what you’ve said, they’ve had a good thraping from time to time and the tweeters have gone. You may be able to replace the diaphragms if they are a popular make/model (like JBL), or just replace them.
How the heck do I get the back of the cabinet off? I took out all the screws I could find, but it won’t budge. I got a cat’s paw between the 19mm-thick back and the thin veneer-like sides, but all that happened was the sides bowed out a bit and made cracking sounds.
Is there any way to test the crossover capacitors before just replacing them?
Another common issue is that the foam surrounds on the drivers will break down over time…you can find DIY repair kits with some googling, it’s not rocket science to replace them if you’re a bit handy (it involves some measuring/cutting/gluing).
I would concur with the above - you have either lost the tweeters - most likely - or the crossover capacitors have died. The capacitors in a speaker of this level will be electrolytic, and these can dry out, leaving a capacitor with only a small fraction of its original value - something that will wipe out the high frequencies. Sadly a common failure of speakers is to burn out the tweeters. This is more easily done than you might hope.
With the front off you should play some music and put your ear close to the tweeters to check that sound is being generated.
From a quick Google search it looks as if Paradigm used Vifa tweeters on many of the Performance Series. This particular tweeter is no longer made, but a suitable replacement is certainly possible. Paradigm may still have spares, but will typically want spare part prices.
If it is simply that the crossover capacitors have dried out, they are easily replaced.
Okay, got the speakers out via the front. Great. SE9 series, even have the tweeter part number.
Looking towards the back of the cabinet, there is what looks like a small bank of capacitors/electronics. I don’t see any visible damage (what I’ve seen on blown motherboards). Is there any way to check the capacitors?
The tweeter cone seems fine; the large metal magnet it’s screwed into looks, well, like a big metal disk.