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Is crossover failure common?


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I thought I had blown the LF driver in my JBL MRX 515 last weekend. It began to sound crackly and cut out completely a few times. They're about 6 years old. I panicked and bought a new driver for $200 and that's not the problem. The HF works fine but the 15 still cuts out and crackles. I changed cables, used the other input on the panel, hooked up a completely different amp and mixer, and checked all the soldered connectors inside.

A new crossover is $100. Should I just replace it considering that's about the only thing left that it could be?

Thanks in advance,

Steve

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Yeah, looks intimidating to somebody who doesn't repair this kind of stuff for a living. Your troubleshooting methods indicate that maybe you want to find a professional service shop to handle your next problem, it's likely to be WAY cheaper and you will get the problem fixed too.

 

Repairing the crossover it the way any true repair shop would handle this. They wouldn't saddle you with unnecessary parts either.

 

BTW, no (real) repair shop would replace the woofer, they would have it reconed by a professional recone shop for about 1/2 the cost of a new part.

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Does the input panel have jacks for biamp input? What speaker are we talking about btw? It could also be the woofer itself. Swap it with the other box and see if the problem stays with the driver or with the box.

 

Don, I'd recommend you re-read the O.P.

 

All points from your post are addressed in there.

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Quite probably the crossover. Yes they're repairable (There's rarely more than a dozen parts on any 2 way passive crossover). Well you have a spare woofer which is saleable (although use the factory box for shipping and expect to take a big loss).

 

dboomer's idea still has merit in that I have seen boxes that got warped and when the driver is screwed into place (especially if it's a stamped frame) it misalignes the the voice coil (warping the speaker too). The OP could just loosen up the screws a bit and see if it still reacts the same.

 

Just a thought.

 

BTW I'd agree that the best, easiest (and most cost/time effective) course of action for the OP would be to take it to a reputable repair shop.

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Soulx ... I missed one and you missed one ;) I'm assuming he tried the other input jack on the panel, but he didn't swap out the driver or the crossover. By doing so he could identify which piece had the problem. I my experience "crackling" is generally caused by poor connections in the wiring. Neither crossovers nor woofers generally fail like this. But it is possible.

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Back in the day, I had some JBL SR4731As and their speaker wires were not hardwired to the crossovers but instead, used a 4 pin flat connector that was prone to burning and pitting. The symptoms were the same as in the OP. It might be a different animal but worth a look.

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WAY O.T., but; I'm headed off for a two week vacation which usually involves exactly that. Got any recommendations?

 

Well my research has yielded pretty much what I suspected. Now these are not difficult bottles to find but usually a good bar will have them.

 

Bookers Excellent but at about 55 dollars a bottle in my ABC store a bit pricey and not many bars have it.

Woodford Very Good at about 34 dollars a bottle is my bang for the dollar favorite.

Beams Choice Pretty Good my choice for inexpensive bourbon at about 22 dollars a bottle.

 

I did get to try some excellent moonshine at a friends house. While I wouldn't exactly call it smooth but for moonshine it was much better than most. He told me it was made by some guy who is 85 years old that is all he has done his whole life. It came from northwest West Virginia and had won some competition he told me.

 

 

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I'm off to the city to pick up a new crossover. Mine gave up the ghost after 10 years. I'll bring it with me and get them to put it on the bench. I opened it up the fuse was good, no obvious burn marks. But I don't have time to wait for a repair. If the old one is worth fixing, it will be a backup.

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Well I went with this crossover. http://www.long-mcquade.com/17948/Pro_Audio_Recording/Power_Amps_Crossovers/Yorkville_Sound/Elite_Stereo_Processor_w_Subwoofer_Crossover.htm A yorkville. $220. With the store Long & McQuade, you can increase the warranty. $5/year. It comes with a 2 year warranty so I added another 5 years for $25. The last crossover lasted me 11 years, so what the heck.

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