Speaker/Tweeter Issues

[DCATTechie]

Lighting Guy here, venturing into dangerous territory

I acquired a B-52 PA system over the weekend and have come across an issue with one of the cabs. I tested both speakers out at the place that I bought them and they worked flawlessly. Once I got them home, I set them up with my mixer.
I plugged my ipod into the RCA inputs on the mixer, I ran the signal out of the RCA outputs on the Behringer and into the playback intputs on the B-52 amp. I wasn't clipping on the board and was running the amp at about 25%. One of the tweeters began to cut in and out. I removed the Behringer from the situation and plugged my ipod directly into the playback inputs on the B-52 amp. It worked fine for awhile then the tweeter began to cut out again and eventually died for good. I troubleshooted for and hour and traced the problem back to the tweeter. I replaced the working tweeter into the bad speaker and it worked fine so I'm sure that the tweeter is the problem.
The part number for the tweeter is PHT-409. It's made by a company called P Audio. The only place I could find that sells it is out in Cali. and shipping is ridiculous. I'm wondering if you guys know of any closer companies or stores in the central Ohio area that might stock this part.
Also, what could cause the tweeter to blow? Is it possible that my Behringer was sending "corrupted/bad" signal and was therefore messing with the amp/speakers? I'm worried that If I replace the tweeter that the problem will return. It is a safe bet to just replace the tweeter or should I take it to a shop and have it looked into more in depth, maybe the problem lies elsewhere.

What do you guys think? I have a multi-meter and all sorts of cable and amps so If there are any tests that I could run to give you more info, let me know and I will get them taken care of and post the results.

Thanks a lot!

 

[museav]

When you say "acquired" the system, do you mean purchased new, bought used or found on the side of the road? This could have a bearing on what to do. If it is new I would contact the manufacturer, if it was used then who knows what it may have been subject to or even if the problem you uncovered is why it was available. You could still contact B-52 and ask them about resources for replacement parts.

As far as P.Audio, their US distributor (P Audio Speakers, P Audio High Frequency Drivers, Replacement Diaphragms and Speaker Cabinets) is apparently in the Chicago area and there seems to be online dealers for P.Audio components all over the country from California to New Jersey.

 

[DCATTechie]

Sorry, should have made it more clear. I bought it used over the weekend. The people I brought it from said it was only about 3 months old, they showed me the receipt to prove it. I tested it at their place and it worked fine. Is it possible that my Behringer was send a crap signal?

 

[museav]

So these are powered speakers?

 

[avkid]

So these are powered speakers?

No, it's a powered mixer with passive speakers.

 

[museav]

No, it's a powered mixer with passive speakers.

Sorry, missed the link in the original post and the mention of the Behringer mixer and B-52 amp threw me a bit.

There doesn't appear to be anything inherently wrong with what you did, however it is possible that you could have overdriven the B-52 system. Unfortunately, they provide very little technical information on the unit such as nominal and maximum input levels and there is apparently no visual indication of level or clipping on the unit, so it is impossible to identify what may be problematic to connect or whether your Behringer output might have been more than the B-52 system could handle.

 

[coldfire]

Also remember that an under-rated amp with your speakers can cause some great problems with your tweeters. From what I understand, that doesnt seem to be the case, though. I would double and triple check the wiring in your speakers, and make sure everything is savvy in that aspect.
Otherwise, if it is an option, get a couple more properly-rated amps and test your speakers with some different brands.

I hope you find a solution.

CF