OK...I give up!!! What went wrong!?...PLEASE HELP!!!

OK guys and gals. It has been a while since I last posted only because I am a better listener/reader than a contributor. You all are smarter than me....so....here comes my predicament: I have a pair of original Amazings and am the second owner. The first owner upgraded them to Platinums years ago. Around 2003 I purchased them and during a move a few months later, I dislodged one of the magnets which in turn ruined the ribbon...this happening in the right speaker. I sent the ribbon to Dave for repair and got it back, reinstalled it and have listened to the pair perhaps a total of 8 hours in the last 4 years. Two evenings ago I turned on the Lightstar amp, put in my Manhiem Steamroller Christmas CD and played a couple of songs and during the third song the right channel ribbon stopped working. I did all of the obvious tests first with no success so I took the back speaker cover off and checked everything so see if something came loose or apart but all look fine.... I then fired up the amp again and the speaker began working fine again! So...I ended the evening with a mystery but I was fine since the speaker worked. Well, that proved to be short lived. The next day I found that the ribbon started working fine but didn't make it through even one song....it is now completely dead. I have tested everything and there is power getting to it...it just is dead to the world. I have no idea what I have done to it but if this is a dead ribbon at this point, I think I am going to consider selling the speakers....just can't afford to spend another almost 500.00 in a ribbon I already have nearly 400.00 invested in when it was repaired just 3 or so years ago. So...I am open to anybody who might have some suggestions as to what could be wrong. Honestly, these speakers sound better than anything else I have but at this point, I am frustrated....and sad!!! Thanks for any help you might have.

Lightstar1

Did you check all the obvious things, such as connections between the crossover and the ribbon? Also, did you check that you don't have anything wrong with the crossover (cold solder joints, broken wires, dislodged components, etc.)?

There are TONS of things to check... run a search, and start reading. I know I have posted this list many times.


viewtopic.php?f=15&t=6324&hilit=ribbon+pen

search.php?keywords=%2Bribbon+%2Bpen&terms=all&author=&sc=1&sf=all&sk=t&sd=d&sr=posts&st=0&ch=300&t=0&submit=Search

This is something I do not reccomend very often for others to do... but it WILL find the break in the reaces if there is one.

BE VERY VERY VERY CAREFULL IF YOU TRY THIS.

Find comething brass or stailness steel (non-magnetic), like the head of a retractable ballpoint pen (not the pen point)
and very softley touch it to the fromt side of the aluminum traces where you see the bad spot...
If you connect the crack, or (jump the trace) you will hear sound coming from the ribbon right away.
If that is not the problem, you may have to try other places on the ribbon, to see where the break is.
If you are very carefull, you can slide the tool down each trace till you hear the ribbon kick in. Then you will know where the break is.
It is basicly a printed circuit, and if you dump too much power into, you can stress the materials.
(trust me... I've done it 5 or so times)

Once and if you find that is the problem, you might be able to do the quick fix of using a trace pen, http://www.amazon.com/CAIG-CircuitWrite ... B0002BBVQO

then again, you may be looking at rebuilding the ribbon..
That's DaveS's departmeny.

Thanks Toymaker.....
I read the entire postings with mariodawg but my problem appears to be different. I cut the wires to the ribbon (actually they were already spliced because of the replacement which was done before) and directly hooked up the ribbon...no sound..... Just to make sure, I took the wires coming from the crossover and hooked them up to another speaker I had in the room and it worked but when I reconnected them to the ribbon, nothing! Does this mean for sure that there is a problem with the ribbon?? Again, just to make sure I am being clear....I disconnected the ribbon, by passed it by then connecting a length of speaker wire from the cut ends coming from the crossover to another speaker...it worked fine. When I then reconnected the wires from the crossover to the ribbon...no sound at all came out. I really love these speakers and even though I own a pair of Polk SRS SDA 1.0 speakers, I like the sound of the Carvers better....just don't have the funds right now to replace the ribbon again in such a short period of time.....CRAP!!! Got any other suggestions???...could there be something else wrong that is just something simple???

Lightstar1

With the ribbon disconnected, put an ohmmeter across the leads. Does it read infinity (open) or zero (shorted). If it's good, it probably should read somewhere around 4 ohms.

The post above yours explains how to do a temp. fix...

Thanks again Toymaker for the tip. I tested the ribbon with an ohm meter and get zilch!....so, unless I did something wrong with the meter, looks like I have a dead ribbon. I really don't understand because I have looked closely at every inch of the ribbon and can't find a problem..at least not visually. Very disappointing especially since it is practically new with very few hours on it and was a rebuild by the King of Carver...DAVE S. Anyway, if someone is interested in a pair of Amazings....I am open to discussion. I am just gun-shy right now since it appears that I am learning that the ribbons may be rather fragile. I am in the process of upgrading my Polk SDA-SRS 1.2 pair and will now use them at this point. Thanks guys for your help!

Lightstar1

You need to examine the trace leads at the end of the ribbons.

You can have a hair-line fracture,and you really won't see it at all.
Or, like Jessie said, it coule be at the ends where you won't see it either.

Wish you were close, I'd do you a quick fix if I could

Thanks again guys...I appreciate the quick replies. I will take another look at the ends as suggested but if it can't be seen, then....???? Anyway, is there anybody close enough to Mountain Home Arkansas that would like to take a look at the problem....yeah, I was just dreaming and hoping!!! OK...at this point, what would a fair price be for a set of these speakers that look brand new....not one flaw visually but with one ribbon in trouble? I know you guys have a feeling for this so let me know and then I will put them up on this forum for someone here to get a first chance at them.

Thanks!
Lightstar1

Thanks again guys...I appreciate the quick replies. I will take another look at the ends as suggested but if it can't be seen, then....???? Anyway, is there anybody close enough to Mountain Home Arkansas that would like to take a look at the problem....yeah, I was just dreaming and hoping!!! OK...at this point, what would a fair price be for a set of these speakers that look brand new....not one flaw visually but with one ribbon in trouble? I know you guys have a feeling for this so let me know and then I will put them up on this forum for someone here to get a first chance at them.

Thanks!
Lightstar1

Sorry I can't help you with trouble shooting your ribbon problem because I've just ventured into the world of Amazing Loudspeakers very recently.

I've picked up a pair of Platinum Amazings from a local seller for $800 as recent as a week ago. The cosmetics is so so with some scratches on the top of the wood and on the sides. I think it's due to moving.

But the drivers looks in mint condition with woofers surround in just like new shape. The ribbons seems to be doing great too.

But the cosmetics is not in the best shape and needs retouching. I guess it won't be too bad because of the black color. I also need to replace the terminal cups on both speakers so I'll be replacing the binding post with a better quality stuff as well.

When I was about to get my Amazings, there was another local seller on trying to sell the Original Amazing for about 800 bucks and I saw he later reduced it to $749. I don't know it was sold or not. The prices are very recent as in about 1 week to 2 weeks ago. And both sellers are in the vicinity of Los Angeles area in Cali.

I hope you can get your amazing playing well again with little efforts.