Wilson Watt Puppy 7 Blowen tweeters?

Your key problem, as I understand it, is that this has happened twice....

It is highly likely that you are overdriving your amplifier and then burning up the voice coil or protective resistor(if there is one) on your tweeter.

This happens when you have the music too loud and at which point the bass (requires ooodles or power) draws too much power for your amp to deliver. The amp flatlines or clips...this will burn up everything but usually burns the tweeter first as it requies the least power and can get very hot very fast with a saturated distorted/signal.

It is not the power rating of your amp that is important but whether it is over driven or not. A lower powered amp will run out of power, saturate and clip more easily than a higher powered amplifier. A lower powered amp may actually be more dangerous for your tweeters than a higher powered amp if you like to listen loud. Clean power is good. Sustained distorted power does damage quite quickly.

If the above des not help and you have a very powerful amplifier then it is possible (but unlikely) that the amplifier has a problem affecting BOTH channels.

Note that music from a most top quality consumer systems will not sound loud until it distorts (at which point you risk doing damage).

There are very few consumer systems that can play deafeningly loud without distortion. These systems are usually adapted for or from professional gear.

So as a general advice => if it sounds loud then you probaby have distortion and need to be careful.

As further general advice => music with very heavy bass content is what taxes the amplifier most ...if you enjoy thunderous bass then be more careful or get some pro gear (often with built in soft clipping protection circuitry).

Another suggestion: Tube amps may be less likely to do damage than an SS amp due to the tubes high output impedance and tendency to soft clip. Although tubes generally have lower power ratings to start with.

G'luck and sorry you had these problems but it really not that uncommon especially if you realize that drivers "compress" sound as they heat up (a few minutes of play)....this has a tendency to make people inch up the volume to regain dynamic range and loudness that is lost due to compression => a vicious circle leading to eventual speaker failure.

Duanea,

Yes, you should absolutely contact a Wilson Audio Dealer. Wilson Audio should keep speakers serial numbers and perfomance parameters on file so thay they can get you drop in replacements. Also they should be able to replace the resistors if that is your problem. As Shadorne put it you are most likely overdriving your amp causing clipping. You may want to buy a bigger amp or back off the volume control.

Johnny

That's a good point Tvad. Although not all high end company's provide what most would consider good service or warranty. Take Ferrari for example, they only give a 3 month or one year warranty on their new cars not the typical 3 year 36k mile.

If someone here can't take a little ribbing for making a typo, they should get a sense of humor. I am not accussing Duanea of that.

What I don't understand is why a lot of people here on the Gon ask questions that would be best answered by the manufacturer or a dealer.

Now we are going to harass this person with the blown tweeters in his Wilson speakers because he made a typo!!!!!!!!!!!
Grow up!!!!!!!!!!!

well, ok. But geez, there's nothing mean-spirited here, and Duane has been on this board for years,posted regularly, is always articulate, and without typos, so it's not like he has any reason to be hurt.

Can't we have a little fun?