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Heybrook HB3 originals

mozza said:
I'm thinking of changing the look of them slightly by making some one-piece grills from ply and cloth-should look a bit nicer.
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I believe the lack of any kind of lip on the fron baffle was a deliberate design decision, and adding one might affect the dispersion pattern. However, it should be easy to try the mod you are considering in a reversible way to see if you can hear a difference. I suspect the other reflections that will happen in your room will have a far bigger effect in practise.
 
That's a fair point-I'll give it a try and see what happens.

When are you going to fit your new mids?

I'm now thinking that some of the treble harshness could be part of the character of the 72/140 combo, so I've ordered some boards from Les to see if that sweetens up the top end a bit along with fitting silk dome tweeters. The speakers are so close to ideal for me that if I can sort out this one issue I'l def hang on to them. Love the energy that comes from these boxes.
 
mozza

I finally got round to measuring the height of the official Heybrook stands, and they are 9 inches - hope that helps with choosing something suitable.

I'm afraid I haven't found the time to try the mids yet.
 
On further close listening to the speakers I have to admit that I can't actually hear anything coming out of the tweeters at all. All the high frequencies seem to be coming out of the mids. This is weird.

I popped a tweeter out to have a look and it's def connected, so wonder if the tweeter or the crossover might have a problem. I'm sure they shouldn't sound as edgy as they do, given the esteem in which they are held by so many.

Think it may be time to get them looked at by someone who knows what they are doing...

Do tweeters just stop working eventually, or crossovers for that matter?
 
Thanks for the measurement Zarni, it just so happens that a friend is getting rid of... some 9 inch speaker stands! Game on!
 
its either working, or not- you must be able to tell mozza: put ear v close & stick on some cymbal type sounds or tinny.. you know the idea.. & report back. they'l sound thin nasty up close but thats normal. Tweeters are a v fine wire, coiled, that can snap; its easy to tell if a tweeter's coil is dead- zilch noise. It can become unstuck or rubs, but these usually manifest in distortion bit like a buzzing gnat sound.

did you know the naim sound before mozza, or did you just research & plump for these amps blind as it were?
 
I used to play in a quartet with a viola player who had a Naim system, although it was 8 years ago that I heard it and was impressed at the time. Seem to remember it was a Nait and a Naim Cd player. That's when I became aware of Naim.

I've had no time to organise any auditions of any kit, so my recent purchases were based entirely on on-line research. Took the view that I had to start somewhere and it may as well be Naim! Anyway, I know it's far from the ideal approach, but everything in the music business is so last minute that organising listening sessions etc is very tricky if not impossible. That is why PFM has been so invaluable. At least now I have a reference point, and a very sensitive pair of ears... Already I'm enjoying listening to music more than I ever have, so that has to be a result.

If I'm completely honest, perhaps my ideal is something a little less coloured than the Naim sound (that I'm experiencing at the moment 72/140 etc). As a musician I can't help but take the view that if it wasn't there in the original performance, then no amount of Hi-fi is going to compensate for that. I virtually live in London recording studios, so it's now quite interesting being on the other end of the process, and it also changed the way I listen when I'm performing. If anything it's improved and concentrated my listening.

Re the speakers; just went and had another listen and I'm pretty sure that there's nothing coming from the tweets. I'm 99% sure but I am hearing something which I think is cabinet resonance. It doesn't sound like tweeting!
 
I think your choices of 72/140 are spot-on to be honest- I had assumed you plumped for these after careful research; yes the naim sound is not laidback but if you liked the nait, you should defo like these two a bit more (naits generally are a tad sharper than yr combo). Intersting yr musician work there, especially "If anything it's improved and concentrated my listening".. I find naim simply links me to what I feel/hear from live music, as far as boxes/spkrs can reproduce, most other stuff that connection ain't there to my ears (musician too).

anyway back on track: tweeters- I cant understand how you are hearing the sound too sharp/ overtly toppy if the tweeter is awol; you'd simply hear the bass & mids with no HF, or LESS treble if thats the case.. odd. So what I'd do is A) unplug spkr, take out the tweet as you did before, carefully slip off both its terminals (be aware the fine wire sits close to the terminal tags/ dont poke about), and B) with a multimeter simply check for continuity from one terminal to the other (ie it'll read 0.5ohm, or 'yes terminal 1 is continuous to terminal 2, no wire break between'. If ok- and you're 100% sure you hear zilch- then you've effectively ruled out the tweeter as being the culprit, & so the next thing is the HF section of the crossover to look at.
 
Right, tweeters out (SEAS H202) and no reading between the terminals on the tweeters. I did the same test on the tweeter wires and got a reading of 0.7 so does that mean the crossover is ok???

I'm assuming I need a new pair of tweets, which is not necessarily a bad thing, as I was thinking of going to silk dome anyway. As mentioned previously the mids are ok but one has a tear and the bass drivers are spanking.

TBH I'm really enjoying the messing about with this!
 
ok so let me double check: you took out tweet, took off leads so no connection to the spkr, placed a MMeter between the terminal lugs, set the MM at its lowest ohm setting (200 perhaps?).. and got '--' ?

if yes then correct the wire seems to have broken, somewhere. Now I repaired one having never done so before- so if happy/ gonna bin them anyway why not have a try? a fiddle & pita, but hey why not? you need to just separate the plate/voicecoil section from the bulky magnet bit (4 screws on facia?). Then i spent a good while locating the break, strong magnifying glass/ light etc, then v carefully unfurled a couple of turns/ (enough length to go back to a terminal) from round the top of the voicecoil, gently araldited a spot flat on the plate, reseated it round the lug a few turns, then v carefully and a sec only soldered back on the lug: bingo, MM said 0.6 ohms and off I went.. sounded exactly as t'other/ no difference afaict.

if so just be VERY patient :) and you may get lucky- btw you are really now in the pfm DIY room!
 
I'd feel a bit of an imposter in there at the moment! Anyway, as it happens things couldn't have worked out better. I've found a new pair of Vifa Tweeters which are Wilmslow's recommended replacement-they did not have them in stock as they've had a run on them, but a bloke near to me is selling a pair, bizarrely. They are also a silk dome...:D and I'm picking them up this aft.. yipee! They should drop straight in too.

Anyway, it will be interesting to hear the HB3s with working tweeters. They haven't been doing too badly considering they're only on 2 cylinders.

Next question, any tips for soldering round the back of tweeters-I'm assuming you have to be quite careful not to melt the plastic.

Mean time, if I can repair the others I'll see how they compare.
 
blimey thats a bizarre stroke of luck, care to do my lotto numbers mozza?

part of the reason for attempting a fix before just putting in replacements, was once you got continuity back/ coil fixed good enough.. and then they effectively fried immediately again- you'd know for sure A) its a x-over prob dont go on until defo fixed and B) you wouldn't be frying yr new set; now, Id be inclined to think yr new ones once in WILL be ok **but I'd ask in diy in a seperate thread if there IS any likely chance of B), 1st if I were you (x-over's potential to fry a tweet if summats up is a step beyond my spkr knowledge you see).
 
mozza said:
I'd feel a bit of an imposter in there at the moment! Anyway, as it happens things couldn't have worked out better. I've found a new pair of Vifa Tweeters which are Wilmslow's recommended replacement-they did not have them in stock as they've had a run on them, but a bloke near to me is selling a pair, bizarrely. They are also a silk dome...:D and I'm picking them up this aft.. yipee! They should drop straight in too.

Anyway, it will be interesting to hear the HB3s with working tweeters. They haven't been doing too badly considering they're only on 2 cylinders.

Next question, any tips for soldering round the back of tweeters-I'm assuming you have to be quite careful not to melt the plastic.

Mean time, if I can repair the others I'll see how they compare.
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Make sure everything is clean, a very hot iron and be quick otherwise the tag melts the plastic and the whole kaboodle slips around and you start to swear.
 
..or you burn the tiny wire thru (I did this ages ago on my 1st tweeter soldering effort btw an hb1 vifa d25). I'd suggest soldering push-on tags to the wires from the x-over to avoid any soldering on the tweeter at all: care needed when slipping on, but far less problematic.
 
Right, got back from work 20 mins ago and have just fitted the new tweets..

The speakers sound amazing now. Positively liquid!

I kind of understand why they were sounding so edgy now. All the shiny gloss on top was missing. What I am amazed at is they sounded half decent without the tweeters running at all... Now there is another layer of life in the music.

Anyway, these babies are definitely staying! Can't wait for tomorrow so I can crank them up a bit.

Thanks again for all the input on this chaps
 
nice one there mozza- glad they're up and running now. btw which vifas? Ive a mind to hunt down some of these old hb3's now- what size are they too?
 
The speakers are roughly 2ft high and about 1ft wide and deep. Just looking for some 9" stands now. At the moment they are piggy backing on my poor old JPW sonatas, so they might sound even better on stands.

Just back from work and can finally crank up the volume:D Just sounds unbelievable. Can't believe my luck to be honest.

The Tweets are Vifa D19 TD-05-08 and cost about 22 quid each, although I managed to wangle these for 20 for the pair. Best 20 quid I've spent in along time!

Definitely get some of these beauts, you won't regret it. They certainly don't sound too edgy now-in fact they sound spot on to me. Maybe the silk dome is taking the edge off, but I suspect they sounded edgy because all the sparkle was missing from the sound so just the attack was coming through, and none of the ring. Can hear the atmosphere round the music now, and much more of the emotion. Weirdly , the bass sounds better too. I guess it's because everything's in balance now. The old problem with the loud violins has gone.

Think I got a bargain here.

Will keep my eyes peeled for you mate;)
 
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