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JBL MRX515 Horn stopped working

Tricyclerocks

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Tricyclerocks Newbie

Tricyclerocks

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Hi Forum,

I come to you again, hat in hand, looking for wisdom and guidance.

One of our tweeters/horns on our pair JBL MRX 515 has stopped working. They're about 2 years old, bought new, never abused (as far as I know), but they go out just about every weekend whether for the 8 piece GB band or my acoustic duo, plus whatever else I need them for.

I power them for the band with a QSC PLX 3602, for the duo and small band settings with a QSC GX5.

Well, I noticed yesterday at a gig that one of the horns wasn't working. I pulled the grill off. None of the wires are disconnected and everything looks normal at all connections. There is no sound at all coming out of the horn (so no crackly, blown speaker noise) . The woofer still works fine. I swapped all the speaker cables, and the other MRX 515 works fine.

Any ideas or thoughts? Every opinion is appreciated and encouraged. I have 4 more gigs this Labor Day weekend and I doubt I can find a repair shop open. I can survive without the horn in that one speaker (so long as I'm not doing any more damage to the unit), as the woofer and the other MRX sound fine along with the subs.

Thanks in advance,

Mike

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dboomer Newbie

dboomer

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... never abused (as far as I know)

 

 

I hate to be cynical ... but ... there's a 99.99999% chance you burned out the HF driver by overpowering it. I'd call that abuse.

 

OTOH the factory may grant you a one time no questions asked freebie. They often do even though it doesn't meet the terms of the warranty. Customers frequently think the warranty means "any failure" and not "manufacturing defect" as stated in the terms.

 

Good luck (really)

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Tricyclerocks Newbie

Tricyclerocks

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"I hate to be cynical ... but ... there's a 99.99999% chance you burned out the HF driver by overpowering it. I'd call that abuse."

 

Hi dboomer,

You may be right, as I don't have the experience and knowledge you guys have. The thing is I sincerely doubt I ever really pushed them too much. As a GB musician and lounge acoustic duo, staying relatively quiet is always important. I'm definitely not suggesting it couldn't have inadvertently happened, which is a distinct possibility......in any case I'd love to know how why, but more importantly, how I can prevent it from ever happening again.

I have one more gig tomorrow, and like Aged Horse said, I'll survive. It's an outdoor gig for college kids, and unless you put your ear up to the broken speaker or were a sound engineer, you wouldn't notice the problem. I figure I'll get the speakers home after and swap the horns to trouble shoot whether its the speaker or the crossover in the speaker. I emailed JBL to find out what the procedure is to get a new horn, if that indeed is the case.

When I bought them, one of the 15" speakers didn't work. It turned out it was just the connections had fallen off (they are not soldered).

Thanks for the input!

Mike

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Tricyclerocks Newbie

Tricyclerocks

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Thanks for the idea Mogwix!

I had no idea that speakers had fuses in them. I'll look at the connector panel inside the speaker more carefully tomorrow. Is there anything or any area inside the chassis I should focus on? Or perhaps there's a easy identifiable sign that could give me a better idea of how to trouble shoot this.

Mike

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Unalaska Newbie

Unalaska

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I have to agreed with dBoomer, most likely it was blown because of overpowering. And I would go the warranty route because it never hurts to try, they could say yes.

 

If you decide to fix it yourself you'll need to find a JBL dealer with that part in stock (buy it) and replace the diaphragm yourself. You could also take it to the shop you bought it and have them do it. Either way overpowering (esp too much bass) can cause HF drivers to pop in a passive network. There is some math to this but just believe me and if you need more then ask the actual engineers.

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Keyrick Newbie

Keyrick

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Hi all,

Thanks again for the help. I swapped the horns out and definitely the broken one doesn't work. Any ideas where I can a new one? I emailed JBL but haven't heard anything from them.

Thanks,

Mike

 

 

I live in So Cal, but I'm sure you could get a new one locally. Or maybe Agedhorse could help you. Chek the link.

 

Good luck.

 

Rick

 

http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=genem&Product_Code=04-052&Category_Code=LL_JBL_Compression_Drivers

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Tricyclerocks Newbie

Tricyclerocks

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Wow, thanks for the input. I had posted that I run the MRX 515s with the QSC 3602 before and no one mentioned that there was a possibility of over powering them. Should I roll back on the amp's sensitivity? Is that HPF located on the back of the amp or somewhere in the speaker?

Finally, I'm not sure I'm going to be able to find a new speaker for this weekend. Just wondering if you'd go with the MRX's with one without the tweeter, or I have a pair of JBL MR925s (8 ohms, 350Watts continuous pink noise) that I use occasionally for acoustic duo gigs. They definitely don't sound as good as the MRXs, and weigh a billion more pounds.

Thanks,

Mike

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Tricyclerocks Newbie

Tricyclerocks

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Just the diaphragm, and he installed it into the old driver, which I had to screw into the horn and test. He said that if I didn't clean it properly, that there might some fluid that would be affected by some residue or particles that could destroy the new one. I, being both:

A) not very mechanical inclined

B) don't have time on gigs to trouble shoot and make adjustment and just need my PA equipment to work.

paid him the extra $20 to install it. Flame away.

 

The new tweeter worked fine in my basement with one mic hooked up, but we shall see if it works tomorrow at the wedding gig for an 8 piece band for 200 guests. I still would love to know why it failed in the first place, so I won't do it again.

Mike

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heath_eld Newbie

heath_eld

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Hey sorry to re-open an old thread but it seemed better than going around the same info as above.

 

I've also got a horn in a MRX (512m) stop working. Dont think its an overpowering issue, same as this guy.

 

Anyway, whats the difference between getting a new driver or a new diaphragm or both?

 

Is this what i need?

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/New-JBL-2408H-Compression-Driver-361549-001X-/330631743556?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item4cfb300844#ht_500wt_715

 

I found a quote for one at $316 in australia... seemed a lot given that its a $950 speaker.

 

Is it an easy install? Like the OP in this post, i swapped the horns in my two MRX around and established that it is definitely a horn issue, not a crossover or similar.

 

Cheers

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tuchan Newbie

tuchan

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Over powering (too much amp) maybe or a heavily clipping amp that has taken it out?

 

A while back I had two of the same drivers go on me during a small acoustic show in between the larger bands. The system was at moderate level, very moderate and all of a sudden both drivers were gone on me. Frantically I got it sorted out and screwed in some spares I had with me. Found out later that there was a few brown outs that afternoon. I am thinking resulting in the amplifier simply spitting out some bad noise due to low voltage before amplifier shut down, which it did not do.

 

The drivers have a aftermarket diaphragm installed. They are still there and have done maybe 50 shows since and pushed hard.

 

I do not recommend aftermarket parts, unless I know they are good. In my instance they seem to be just fine.

http://www.speakerrepair.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=genem&Product_Code=10-997&Category_Code=l_jbl_dias

 

I have also got some of the much cheaper diaphragms. They are plastic and I have never used them, hope not to ever. Although I am curious as to testing to see if they are up to doing the job.

 

60 odd bucks for two drivers- http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Diaphragm-8-ohm-JBL-2408-2408H-Series-/160676623877?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item256912b605

 

Critical parts, buy the JBL ;)

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