[AKSA]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the heads up, this is indeed the 921, and if you look on the pdf, there is a label on the magnet which reads 810921.  This is the identical tweeter, same specs exactly, rebadged, nothing more.  This reflects the upheaval in the corporation as Tymphany went broke and Scanspeak bought the assets, including all the designs, stock, and factory jigs.

NOTE:  These tweeters don't take kindly to soldering the voice coil tags, it is possible to open circuit the connection.  Always best to use spade, push on connectors. 

Hugh

[Johnny]

Glad you mentioned this Hugh. I was about to screw up the courage to solder my tweeters this weekend, having used spades throughout for the initial setup. I did solder my woofer terminals a few weeks ago and this turned out to be essential in obtaining the best bass response...

btw I noticed that Madisound has replacement voice coils for $30 in case anyone gets into trouble.

How does one deal with the ferro-fluid when replaceing a VC?

Cheers!
John

NOTE:  These tweeters don't take kindly to soldering the voice coil tags, it is possible to open circuit the connection.  Always best to use spade, push on connectors. 

[AKSA]

John,

That seems very cheap to me....  and I'm not sure how they do the ferro-fluid.  My understanding is that it is applied with a syringe, but not sure how.

We have a speaker rebuild company in this town who go by the fetching name of 'Total Recoil'.

Cheers,

Hugh

[rabbitz]

Hi Ron,

Thanks for the heads up, this is indeed the 921, and if you look on the pdf, there is a label on the magnet which reads 810921.

It's always been a Scan Speak made tweeter and now they have rightly claimed it.

[Johnny]

Yes, I thought $30 seemed quite reasonable, but then you have to deal with disassembling the tweeter and  the ferro fluid. I guess the fluid is retained by the magnet even when you slip the coil assembly out? Maybe best left to "Total Recoil"- gotta love that

John,

That seems very cheap to me....  and I'm not sure how they do the ferro-fluid.  My understanding is that it is applied with a syringe, but not sure how.

We have a speaker rebuild company in this town who go by the fetching name of 'Total Recoil'.

Cheers,

Hugh

[Johnny]

Wabbitz,
So the QC problems reported for these tweeters (omission of ferro fluid) can't be attributed to a change in physical plant?
Not very reassuring
Is there any info on what time frame or Ser#s were involved?
Tx
John

It's always been a Scan Speak made tweeter and now they have rightly claimed it.

[Johnny]

Plinths will be ready to install tomorrow 
Then its on to the dreaded grill covers 
Procrastination is painless 
I'druther just listen 

[AKSA]

John,

I know exactly where you are at......

I sympathise, good progress, real rewards await when WAF is assured!

Hugh

[rabbitz]

Wabbitz,
So the QC problems reported for these tweeters (omission of ferro fluid) can't be attributed to a change in physical plant?
Not very reassuring
Is there any info on what time frame or Ser#s were involved?
Tx
John

Never heard of a problem with them and have sold heaps plus involved with numerous builders who use them. They've been made by Scan Speak since 2005 and IIRC were released in 2006. Of course any manufacturer can have a QA glitch. Loss of ferrofluid is no big deal and a lot of tweeters can benefit from the removal but I'm not to saying that these would as I haven't tried that mod with them.

I've had mine for a couple of years and have belted the crap out of them with no failure. The passive crossover for them does not have a cap in series to protect them and are wired directly to the +ve input so they take on all comers without dramas.

Come to think of it I've never blown a tweeter in scores of designs and believe me I've done some nasty things to them.... they're robust little buggers.

Have you had a problem with these tweeters?

[AKSA]

John, Peter,

The problem was confined to a small batch during the Tymphany reign, as I understand.  I need more information too, which I can get from Laurie.  It is almost impossible to tell from the physical configuration of the tweeter, but the problem passed many months ago when all new tweeters were made in Denmark.

It's very unlikely to affect you, however, just a few that came to Oz as I understand.

Lack of ferrofluid makes them brighter, just as you'd expect.

Cheers,

Hugh

[RonR]

After much tinkering, the Vsonics cabinets are finished!

Here's a few pics:







I wish I'd seen Hugh's warning about not soldering the connections before having a Tweeter go open circuit!

Cheers,

Ron.

[Johnny]

Thanks for the encouragement Hugh!

John,

I know exactly where you are at......

I sympathise, good progress, real rewards await when WAF is assured!

Hugh

[Johnny]

Thanks for the info Wabbitz. Its good to know these are rugged tweeters!

No I have not had a problem, though as Hugh reported, some units were shipped out without ferro, and this would effect the crossover Zobel values if not corrected.

The other concern was about soldering the terminals to the speaker wires and the possibly melting the voicecoil connections. I was just mentioning the availability of replacement coils through Madisound in case anyone has this problem, though I am not sure if replacement is a simple matter. Perhaps you can shed some light on this?

Cheers,
John

Never heard of a problem with them and have sold heaps plus involved with numerous builders who use them. They've been made by Scan Speak since 2005 and IIRC were released in 2006. Of course any manufacturer can have a QA glitch. Loss of ferrofluid is no big deal and a lot of tweeters can benefit from the removal but I'm not to saying that these would as I haven't tried that mod with them.

I've had mine for a couple of years and have belted the crap out of them with no failure. The passive crossover for them does not have a cap in series to protect them and are wired directly to the +ve input so they take on all comers without dramas.

Come to think of it I've never blown a tweeter in scores of designs and believe me I've done some nasty things to them.... they're robust little buggers.

Have you had a problem with these tweeters?

[Johnny]

Look'n good Ron!
Ain't they grand? 
Cheers,
John

After much tinkering, the Vsonics cabinets are finished!

[AKSA]

Ron,

Impressive, congratulations!

Would you or John be interested in a simple review for the website?

Cheers,

Hugh

[Johnny]

Hugh, I am interested, have something in progress and hope to get'er done soon.
I've been trying to get myself clear on some technical aspects of the design, but should probably just concentrate on listening impressions

Ron, Did you paint your woofer frames, or do the come in black ? 

Cheers,
John

Ron,

Impressive, congratulations!

Would you or John be interested in a simple review for the website?

Cheers,

Hugh

[RonR]

Hi Johnny,

I spray painted the woofer frames with satin black smooth hammerite, as I was not a fan of the Aluminium frame with black mounting screws. It looks much 'cleaner' this way.

A new Tweeter is on it's way, as I couldn't disassemble the one which went OC on soldering. Those 4 small allen bolts are done up tight! Normal service should be resumed in about a week.

Cheers,

Ron.

[Johnny]

Ah! Very nice in black, esp if you are dispensing with grill cloths.

Condolences on the tweeter. Hope the new one arrives post haste!

Cheers,
Jy

Hi Johnny,

I spray painted the woofer frames with satin black smooth hammerite, as I was not a fan of the Aluminium frame with black mounting screws. It looks much 'cleaner' this way.

A new Tweeter is on it's way, as I couldn't disassemble the one which went OC on soldering. Those 4 small allen bolts are done up tight! Normal service should be resumed in about a week.

Cheers,

Ron.

[AKSA]

Ron,

I'm very sorry to hear you damaged a tweeter and need a replacement, very sheepish about telling you too late.  I only found out myself from Laurie recently, who is a mine of information not only on the technology but also the day to day politics of the recent company changes!

Cheers,

Hugh

[Tliner]

Hi All,

Yes, I have recently cooked three 921 tweeters with the soldering iron, one after the other. That was after I had soldered over a dozen or two of them without any problems. The 921 tweeters used in the prototype VSonics have been de-soldered and re-soldered at least a dozen or more times without a problem. The plastic (ABS???) appears to have a higher softening/melting point in the older 921's.

However all is not lost. Today I decided to see what the problem actually is. Finding:- yes the heat of the soldering iron heats the metal lug which in turn softens the plastic surround for the lug to be depressed sufficiently for it to loose contact with the voice coil wire which is ONLY laid under the lug between it and on top of the plastic. I saw a gap between the lug and the wire of about 0.025" under a powerful magnifying glass. I then reheated the lug sufficiently to soften the plastic and then with a very small screw driver pushed the offending lug back into its origional position. The 921 now works again. I will repeat the repair on the other tweeters soon.

But most importantly my congratulations goes to Ron and John for very well detailed but with distinctly individual approach to building their VSonics. Well done!

I had a clean up in the listening room and the VSonics were moved out. Later when I was listening to a CD or two I noticed that the sound stage had altered sufficiently for me to have a look at the speakers. I had swapped the left speaker to the right side and vice versa. I will leave them swapped over for a while as the sound stage is much wider and instruments in an orchestra appear to be much more spread out with the same imaging as before. Worth a try??.

Cheers,

Laurie