2. speakers
  3. 161671-55

Issue with ProAc D40 speaker - any suggestions to resolve the issue

Hi,


I recently bought used ProAc D40R couple of months back, and driving them with Bluenode streamer —> Digital Audio company Marachino Class D Mono blocks.


After a month or so I realized that absence of the sound from one of the ribbon tweeter, showed it to local audio equipment dealer, they fixed the issue (it was loose tweeter harness wire), now I get the sound from both the tweeter.


Recently i compared these speakers against my exiting DIY Audio Nirvana 8” Alnico single driver speaker using ‘Spanish Harlem’ Track by Rebecca Pidgeon, to my surprise Audio Nirvana sounded more clear and I can hear all the details especially shakers in the left back corner and all other details while on ProAc D40r I can barely hear all those tiny details in the background to me that should not happen with ProAc being such great speaker especially with Ribbon tweeter, so just wondering What could be the issue, Can it be a Crossover Caps issue (as the person I bought these from mentioned those were in storage for almost a year and I read it somewhere here on audiogon thread that caps in crossover may go bad if you store it for long time). 

Really appreciate any recommendations/remedies to resolve the issue, eventually i will have take it back to audio dealer but just wanted to check on forum that if anyone else experiences this kind of issue and what was the solution.


Thank you,



listener111
jjss49's avatar
Ag insider logo xs@2x
jjss49
6,610 posts
 
wow sorry to hear you are having that problem

i have had 8-10 pair of various proacs since the 1990’s...even moved two pair to asia and back when i worked there... i have never had a single driver/x-over problem like that

yes you need to find a tech do a proper sweep of the drivers and crossovers make sure all is working properly... even though a d40 has prodigious bass there is no way the speaker should obscure detail like that!!! won’t be cheap or easy to accomplish... at any time but especially now with covid etc etc
listener111 OP
26 posts
 
Thanks Milpai,
Even though the bass is more than Audio Nirvana it’s not really overpowering and seems fine as its same as what i used to get from Usher CP 6381 i used to own. (though i will try pulling those further away from wall and will see if that makes any difference). The sound is not as balanced, there is not much depth to soundstage as compared to audio nirvana or other speakers i used to own. based on what i am reading D40R should sound much better. I even saw few other videos of other ProAc speakers playing "spanish harlem" and i hear those tiny details through my headphones on youtube video but can’t hear much with D40r
listener111 OP
26 posts
 
Thanks jjss49,

looks like that is the only option i have, will see if i can take it to local audio dealer over the weekend. Just trying to figure out if there is something i can do before i take it back to the local dealer.
rcprince
3,060 posts
 
Not likely, but is it possible that the tweeter was rewired incorrectly?
motokokusanagi
189 posts
 
@rcprince might be right. @listener111 mentioned previous diagnosis said tweeter wiring was loose. IIRC, Proac crossovers generally have the tweeters connected in reverse polarity. They’re probably attached using quick connects, so if you felt up to it, carefully unscrew and remove the tweeters and check the wiring and connections are consistent both left and right. If one is not wired the same as the other, rewire it so that both are the same and see if that fixes it. It might be wired after the last "fix" so that they’re now out of phase and cancelling each other out left and right.

Levels discrepancies from 2-3khz and above would occur if that is what’s happening if you still wanted to test that way.

Hopefully Proac’s internal wiring cable distinguishes positive (e.g. red) and negative (e.g. black) legs. If reverse polarity, then the black (negative cable) would be going to the positive tweeter terminal (usually marked with a red dot)

Otherwise, http://www.troelsgravesen.dk/polarity.htm
More to discover