Tweeter Replacement for rare ProAc Studio 2

Madison were nice and tested the LPG 26T and confirmed that it’s more a 90dB tweeter so all stars aligned and I started drilling and needed to just machine a bit the opening for the WDT32S. However i will not install them just yet as I want to have the speaker measured to get the T/S parameters.

 

Ok currently listening to my newly installed MDT32S tweeters, and nothing different to report yet. So that’s good, not sure if they also need time to break in...

And my ear has been used to those Ti tweeters for 8 years...

 

Sadly, my ears and brain are feeling something different... there is something I can’t put my finger on it, less bright/clarity/strong,... somehow I seem to favour the previous Ti tweeter sound (which I still have). It makes me wonder if one sound is not necessarily better than another, just a matter of re-training our ear/brain. Also, I still haven’t gotten my trial DAC/tube amp to really drive these old speakers with something of adequate quality.

PS: I wonder why I can’t edit my previous posts instead of making new ones... it’s like there’s a time limit.

 

I believe you have 30 minutes where you can edit your own post.

 

I just replaced the titanium tweeters in my PROAC Studio 1's. I never was happy with the overly bright sound of the titanium tweeters. I've been searching for years for suitable replacements. The straw that broke the camel's back was discovering through testing that the frequency response of the titanium tweeters rolled off very quickly above about 8KHz and disappeared in the teens. Who would have thought that such a bright tweeter would have no high end. I finally found a great replacement at Madisound.com, which I have installed and tested. It is the Audax TW025A1-12X9 1" Textile Dome Tweeter. The sound of my Studio 1's are now so smooth and the high frequencies go all the way up to 20 KHz.
The Audax tweeter specs are:

• 8 ohms
• 70 watts nominal
• Catenary profile dome (egg shaped tip to maintain shape and reduce distortion). This same egg shape extends the frequency response.
• Replaceable voice coil assembly
• 1" impregnated textile dome
• Solid aluminum face plate
• 90dB Efficiency
• Ferrofluid cooled
• Made in France
• Positive red terminal use quick connect QC187R
• Negative terminal use quick connect QC205B

The cost is $35.20 each and replacement voice coils are available from Madisound for $18.70. The only wrinkle is the faceplate is rectangular rather than square. I carefully removed the faceplate while holding a finger on the speaker terminals to allow the faceplate to be lifted off the speaker assembly without removing the voice coil assembly. I trimmed off the sides of the faceplate just to the insides of the speaker mounting holes and smoothed the edges with a fine file. The modified faceplate is now approximately 90 mm square and it fits perfectly in the square routed opening provided for the original titanium tweeter. I removed one of the original titanium tweeters, which allowed access to the back. I placed the modified faceplate over the front of the titanium tweeter and carefully marked the location of the mounting holes for the new faceplate from the back of the titanium tweeter. To be sure that I had marked the exact center points for the mounting holes, I inserted a drill bit which just fit through the titanium speaker mounting holes and twisted it with my fingers to leave exact center marks on the new faceplates. If you decide to buy the tweeters from Madisound, buy the recommended push-on crimp terminals to connect to the Audax tweeters. If you try to solder the terminals, you will melt the plastic supports which keep the terminals firmly in place. The last modification was to notch out space on the bottom side of the tweeter mounting hole in the cabinet to provide room for the Audax speaker terminals. I am so happy with the results! The imaging is fabulous. Just listen to Lionel Richie's "All Night Long." In order to attach a photo of the installation, I had to provide a URL, which I can't do. If you would like a photo, send me your email address and I'll send it as an attachment.

 

You have know idea how relieved I am to read this. My old Studio Ones have been out of commission for about 15 years. And most online information pertains to the Mk2 (or the later Studio 100s) which used the round Scanspeak tweeters unlike the mk1 which used the square MB Quart titaniums.
Anyway thanks for this. I think I will order those tweeters and pm you for any more info.

 

Hi Lilainjil , and anyone else reading this ( I can see it's an old thread now) I also have a pair of Studio 1 with the original Scanspeak and MB Quart drivers, how did you find the Audax 025A1 drivers?

 

Well I never did get around to ordering those. This project fell by the wayside. For now.