Crossover problem (?) model 1

[Guest Matthew_H]

Hi Folks,

I purchased my first pair of hifi speakers in 1977. They were the Cizek model 1's. I enjoyed these speakers for about 10 years before a problem developed. One speaker would not produce sound. I took it to a technician. He fixed the problem and when asked, told me he had replaced a capacitor that had gone bad.

I refurbished these speakers (new tweeters, new surrounds on the woofers, new pressure-sensitive foam on the baffles), about 1995. At that time, I applied signal to both tweeters and both woofers and they were working fine. But after fully assembling the speakers, I got no signal out of the (new) tweeter. (I did not touch the crossover.) I noted this on a tag placed on the speaker and put them into deep storage.

I recently took them out to use. Now the problem of the dead tweeter must be addressed.

When the other speaker went out in 1987, it was a bad capacitor. Is it likely a capacitor in the second speaker? The woofer sounds, but the (new) tweeter does not. Could I get sound from one driver only with a bad capacitor?

In asking this question I am obviously not an engineer or technician. But I am handy enough to replace the capacitors (if that's the problem), with a soldering iron. In other words, I may be able to fix a problem, but not diagnose the problem.

I am destitute and cannot possibly afford to have the fixed by a professional. (And the tech who fixed the first speaker scratched the cabitnet in about six places!)

Is it another cap gone bad? How likely is it that that's the problem?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.

My e-mail: m_here@juno.com

[Guest bilboda]

If its not too late:

Capacitors do go bad after a while and this is a possibility.

Some folks recommend replacing them whether you're getting sound or not as the values will drift over the years, giving you different crossover points, resistances, etc. As far as no sound at all though, I would first rule out the physical connections, binding post to crossover, crossover to q switch ,etc, and the q switch board to the speakers. If they are intact, the switch and knobs may need cleaning with a contact cleaner like Deoxit. Dirty contacts can cause the sound to completely cut off. If you ever do want to change out your capacitors and resistors for new ones take a look around the web. There is a site, that I can't quite recall, that offers a very good guide to ensure you are replacing parts with new ones with the same values.