Quote Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
I'm hearing nothing but tweater and midrange distortion.
Is this my integrated amp or the speakers or the crossover caps?
I guess if you can unload them fast, then I'd do so, but if you can't, don't trash 'em, crack them open and use them as a learning tool. It's best not to fuss with something if yer afraid of breaking it.

It could be the caps in your x-over, it could be the drivers, it could be the L-pads. Old drivers tend to dry out and are more prone to distortion that before. If the sound of the horn presentation suits you, then by all means, keep the large horn - surely the driver is replacable. The smaller tweeter may have a replaceble diaphram, but I doubt it. It may even be a simple piezo (I'd have to see it). The woofer is easily replaced with a "budget woofer" or a slight upgrade, but it should be replaced by a woofer that will operate under optimum performance that cabinet. Take those drivers out and take pictures of those and lets have a look at them.

The L-pads are usually speayed with a lubricating oil from the factory and over a period of years, will turn to something similar to varnish. This will cause poor conductivity resulting in dropouts and distortion. Take that panel off and see if the pots have a tiny hole or opening anywhere - spray some electrical contact cleaner in them a work the control knob(Ratshack used to carry it). *try this first*

Most x-over caps are rated to around 60v to 70v, giving them an effective wattage rating of 100watts. That supposed to mean that that cap will maintain its effective crossover property at 100watts, even with a new electrolytic caps, rated at 100v, can still lose effectivness at high volumes, resulting in distortion. You can keep it simple, as I'm sure RS did, and stay with the -6db x-over, but use at least a 400v poly cap, which will never break down at high volumes and in my experience, introduces no significant artifact.

I'd be surprised if that woofer had an inductor (also called a coil or choke) for a x-over. Most manufacturers and designers rely on a woofer's natural rolloff, but if your midbass and/or midrange soounds muddy, that be why. Unless it was a two way and I were crossing in a mid or tweet around 7khz or 8khz, I'd never leave off a coil to aid in woofer rolloff (I'd never do anything like that anyway unless it were a PA speaker). But, i'd use at least a 18g, open aircore coil, and right now, they're a tad pricey, depending on their size (open aircore inductor have the least resistance, and are therefore more efficient).

And this is all contingent on whether or not the cabinet is salvagable. Try cleaning the L-pads and see if they sound more better.