tower speaker question

(p_e_ski) · (p_e_ski) **Join Date: Jul 2004** 08-02-2011, 6:04 PM

currently have some older Boss B60 towers speakers. Here is a picture of the inside of the can. What is this circuit board stuff?

(ian_ashton) · (ian_ashton) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 08-02-2011, 6:36 PM

The board it's self is the cross over - it separates the frequencies so only low goes to woofer and high goes to tweeter/horn

(david_e_m) · (david_e_m) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 08-02-2011, 6:38 PM

Passive crossover network made up of capacitors, inductors and resistors. Its really a dividing network. A highpass filter allows the highs to go to the tweeter and a lowpass filter allows the lower frequencies to go to the midbass speaker. Its essential, at least for the tweeter so it isn't damaged.

David
Earmark Marine

(p_e_ski) · (p_e_ski) **Join Date: Jul 2004** 08-02-2011, 7:11 PM

Wow, thanks for the quick replies. Out of the blue, the volume to the tower speakers dropped. I did some troubleshooting. The speakers still work, while being run through the cross overs, but not as loud. Here is the setup. Sony head unit with kicker amp running 4 floor speakers and sub. Separate amp runs the tower speakers. During the troubleshooting, I removed the speakers from the cans. I hooked them up to the floor speaker connections and they worked fine, from floor speaker amp. Then I unhooked the supply wires that goes to the cans from the tower speaker amp and and tried to run the speakers directly from that amp and I get no sound at all. How can I find out if the crossover is bad, or the amp is bad? Can I replace these crossovers? Will they be compatible with ANY 6.5" that I put in the can?

(david_e_m) · (david_e_m) **Join Date: Jul 2008** 08-02-2011, 8:30 PM

If you hooked up a tweeter without the crossover then the tweeter is probably blown already but maybe you got lucky. With those larger mylar or poly caps its highly unlikely you smoked a crossover. And coils really don't blow. You may have a protection device that I don't see on the crossover board that could be bad and can easily be replaced or circumvented. Or, the tweeters may be toast which would explain the percieved loss of output.
Passive crossovers are dedicated to specific speakers with specific resonances, impedances, responses, sizes and power handling. They definitely are not interchangable with other speakers.
As for diagnosing the troubled speaker and crossover, you can measure the continuity of the crossover lowpass section because it has a series inductor that passes DC. However, the highpass uses a series cap which won't allow a DC continuity check.
But you can identify the highpass trace and jumper a susbstitute cap around the existing series cap to check its function. This may be too much to ask which is okay.
Or just take it to a pro that knows exactly what he is looking at and exactly how to diagnose the product.

David
Earmark Marine