# Dynaudio BM5A tweeter damage



## Mark DuBerry (Nov 24, 2006)

Just posted this over on AVforums but thought it may be as well to post it here too as it is to do with the pro-audio side of things. Hope that's ok. 

I noticed today that the tweeter on one of my BM5A's has somehow been pushed in on the bottom of the dome. It is not pushed in very far and is not torn or damaged in any other way. I called TC and they said that it probably is damaged and will need replacing. I then ran some tests on the two speakers. I can't hear any difference in frequency response but testing with a sound level meter and a sine wave sweep as well as individual frequencies does show a slightly lower level on some of the upper frequencies in the damaged speaker as opposed to the un-damaged one. The difference as I say is not particularly audible but is obviously there to some extent.

I do a lot of recording and mixing of my own music with these monitors. I'm wondering if I need to replace the tweeter, which will cost a fair bit, or whether I could get away with using it as it is. I don't want to pay out unnecessarily but at the same time I don't want to my listening and monitoring to be overly adversely affected.

Any thoughts or advice appreciated.


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## Dave Upton (Aug 4, 2009)

It really depends where the damage is - it's possible to have it pushed in without affecting the sound, but it has to be on a non-motile portion of the tweeter surface. Can you post a picture?


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## Mark DuBerry (Nov 24, 2006)

Ok. Here are 2 photos. I hope they're clear enough to get an idea.


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## Dave Upton (Aug 4, 2009)

If it were my speaker, I would get it replaced - that could definitely affect the sound. Though it may be hard to hear most of the time, chances are you'll get strange harmonics or buzz at certain sympathetic frequencies.


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## Mark DuBerry (Nov 24, 2006)

Fair enough. I'll probably go ahead and change it then, although so far I'm not hearing any artifacts. 

Many thanks for your help with this.


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

I'd replace it, try to pull out the damage with a piece of tape, then keep it around as a spare.


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## Mark DuBerry (Nov 24, 2006)

Yeah, I went ahead and ordered the replacement based on the previous advice. Should arrive mid-week. I really need these monitors to be working properly, even if any defects are hard to hear. I do intend to keep it as a spare.

I did try to pull out the indent with a bit of tape as well as light vacuum cleaner suction (as suggested by the dealer I originally bought them from) but all to no avail. Granted I was very tentative in my approach but it refuses to 'pop' out. I reckon I must have pushed it in with the head of my guitar or something. I could probably get it back to shape by handling it a little more forcefully but I imagine this would do even more damage. Any suggestions about how to use tape effectively (i.e. which type of tape, how to get it to stick enough to be able to pull effectively etc.)?

Thanks again.


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