Meridian Unplugged - Powered by MrTechGuy.co.uk Forums Discussion Meridian - Systems New tweeters

I bought the speakers used after owning a set of newer DSP5k smiley faces for a while, so when I plugged them in to listen; the difference was dramatic. I thought the tweeters were completely blown. But strangely, turning up the treble tilt all the way brought them alive again. Still not quite up to the much newer smiley face tweeters, though. So it was not a subtle degradation in my case.

However, I also purchased an older DSP5KC upgraded to 96/24. I believe the tweeter is still original, however. So probably only a couple of years newer than the old DSP5k's I just bought. The highs are a hint down in comparison to the newer tweeters of my other speakers. A simple 1dB bump in treble tilt gets it right again. They are probably going down the tubes, slow but sure.

I never used the treble control on my speakers, but if I increase them to +1.5-2 the speakers sound more like they should so I'm thinking the tweeters are on the outs - I'm looking forward to seeing how the new tweeters liven them up - I'll post on Friday how it turns out.

I'll be interested to hear about your findings.
Currently toying with the idea of replacing the ones on my DSP33s. I had a quote from one of the dealers on this forum for a pair of original tweeters.
Cheers
Tim

I replaced the tweeters on all three speakers and now I can hear what I was missing - the air is back, the shimmering of the cymbals- two tracks that I found the most obvious differences - The Eagles Hotel California and Queen Bicycle Race - The Edge/Growl is there on guitars also.

The speakers sounded good without the new tweeters, I just figured they were voiced to be subtle on the top - live and learn ...

I'd recommend the tweeters refreshed on any ferrofluid tweeter over ten years old.

The I think the DSP33 tweeters are the same as the DSP420s - (see my thread on them)

It makes me very happy to have new speakers.

Interesting findings, thanks for sharing.
I'll consider replacing the tweeters on my DSP33s, they're around 10 years old.
Tim

Are these Seas 27TBFC/G Tweeter the right ones for the DSP5K 96/24's?

Mine are upgraded from 18bit.
Thanks!
Sam

The ones I used and Calenw used (and recomended by Rodney Gold - see his post on how to install) are the Seas h1212 - they are at Madisound for $51.

SEAS Prestige 27TBFC/G (H1212) Aluminum/Magnesium Dome Tweeter
they are 6 ohms.

I don't know the exact variables that cause the ferrofluid to go bad. I've read evaporation, thickening with age, hard use.
I took apart a tweeter from a DSP420 I had, and the fluid looked very dark and kind of thick.

You need to know what new fluid looks like to be sure. Chris

Is it possible to use the tweeter from DSP7200.2 on DSP6000 (96/24)?

Thymanst,

I have ordered 3 to use across the front in DSP5k96/24 and DSP5kC96/24. I'll be back with impressions.

Thanks for the help!
Sam

I ordered ferrofluid from parts express - I'm going to try to refresh the old tweeters and see if that brings them back to life - it's only a little over $3 for each tweeter -

I am interested in this approach as well. I live minutes from Parts express, coincidentally, so I can pick up the fluid easily enough.

I am a little disheartened that a $50 driver can be such an awesome drop in replacement for a Meridian speaker. I always got the impression Meridian were a cost no object kind of design, but clearly that is not the case. Has SEAS driver technology come so far in the last few years that once great (expensive) drivers can be replaced with bargain basement ones or did Meridian never put much into the drivers in the first place? Replacing the tweeters in a nautilus B&W is staggeringly expensive in comparison to these SEAS.

Well, I'm not that disheartened since it sounds great. But perhaps I short changed myself with the H1212's. Maybe a set of upper echelon SEAS drivers would be even better?