Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian AS 
I have. A Strada carbon drive unit was making clicking sounds at lower frequencies. Not audible in most music but during patches of bass then it was. I identified it using test tone spot frequencies then a signal generator. Contacted Gallo who said they'd been very reliable but would send over to the UK a new drive unit as the speakers were still under warranty. I spoke to the UK Gallo importer and we agreed that I'd do the swap myself. I took the old drive unit out and connected it to the signal generator on the bench and identified specific frequencies that it made a clicking sound. I didn't ascertain why it's doing it. The magnet doesn't come off to view the coil and former. I've had outer edge compliances make clicking before, on other makes, where glue was spread too far and stuck to the rubber half roll near each XMax and click when it moved away again.
Either way, changing the drive unit is a pain in the nuisance and I began to think I should have let the Gallo outfit take the stress! But they wouldn't cover what I felt was a significant postage cost for the whole Strada from me to them, even though it's a warranty repair! And we used to design and manufacturer out own make of speakers so I didn't expect any difficulties I couldn't deal with so I got on with it. The Olefin flake in the netting, err, requires calm patience and plenty of time to get it all back in there in a right way, it mustn't be packed too tight, it must be spread out well but not interfere with the reverse movement of the drive unit cone. It seems to have a disagreeable mind of it's own and puts up a fight to ones efforts! It's messy as well, leaking flake all over the place.
Then there's the internal wiring to contend with. 1mm copper rod and they joined it in places wire to wire and wrapped a tough felt like cloth tape around it that needs to be removed and doesn't want to come off. To get one of the wires apart I needed to take the coil out and that needed more patience and the correct Allan key which I didn't have so I had to pull the wire though which is awkward with stiff 1mm wire. Being that I prefer to have minimal joints in the signal path I was a bit disappointed that there was a join in the wire that connect the two drive units in series but I can see why they did it, to facilitate easier production. They must have a 'specialist' fit all the Olefin and drive units, then someone later joins the wires, rather than fit one drive unit, solder them together, then fit the other. I also didn't like the PCB and wire layout as I'm also very averse to copper track in the signal path and there was some I thought didn't need to be there, probably there to again make construction a bit faster. The various Allan bolts are a mix of mainly imperial and maybe some metric which I did have but expected all metric. I am very extreme when it comes to joining components, it pays dividends in the extent of revealing detail and removing harshness and veiling in the sound but I've personally found that very few people are bothered by this and don't consider it a priority and are happy with a relatively blurred sound that gives them more boom and tizz or whatever. The better tonal balance is what we all want of course but I try and get both because over two decades of tinkering I found that I can; by taking the lids off of everything and reconstructing the insides at component level. I don't think anyone in this thread does this kind of thing, it's the preserve of folks over at DIY Audio. Here it's about plugging boxes to other boxes, and more recently, using some buttons to set some software. I've found there is some useful stuff about software setting and drivers and hardware for PC based audio here in AVS.
Anyway, that aside, if you're speaker is clicking then perhaps take it back to the dealer, likely not that they will want to, or be able to, fix it but perhaps they can send it on to someone who can. If the Strada are tricky to work in, then I expect the 3.5 will be a lot more so.
I have. A Strada carbon drive unit was making clicking sounds at lower frequencies. Not audible in most music but during patches of bass then it was. I identified it using test tone spot frequencies then a signal generator. Contacted Gallo who said they'd been very reliable but would send over to the UK a new drive unit as the speakers were still under warranty. I spoke to the UK Gallo importer and we agreed that I'd do the swap myself. I took the old drive unit out and connected it to the signal generator on the bench and identified specific frequencies that it made a clicking sound. I didn't ascertain why it's doing it. The magnet doesn't come off to view the coil and former. I've had outer edge compliances make clicking before, on other makes, where glue was spread too far and stuck to the rubber half roll near each XMax and click when it moved away again.
Either way, changing the drive unit is a pain in the nuisance and I began to think I should have let the Gallo outfit take the stress! But they wouldn't cover what I felt was a significant postage cost for the whole Strada from me to them, even though it's a warranty repair! And we used to design and manufacturer out own make of speakers so I didn't expect any difficulties I couldn't deal with so I got on with it. The Olefin flake in the netting, err, requires calm patience and plenty of time to get it all back in there in a right way, it mustn't be packed too tight, it must be spread out well but not interfere with the reverse movement of the drive unit cone. It seems to have a disagreeable mind of it's own and puts up a fight to ones efforts! It's messy as well, leaking flake all over the place.
Then there's the internal wiring to contend with. 1mm copper rod and they joined it in places wire to wire and wrapped a tough felt like cloth tape around it that needs to be removed and doesn't want to come off. To get one of the wires apart I needed to take the coil out and that needed more patience and the correct Allan key which I didn't have so I had to pull the wire though which is awkward with stiff 1mm wire. Being that I prefer to have minimal joints in the signal path I was a bit disappointed that there was a join in the wire that connect the two drive units in series but I can see why they did it, to facilitate easier production. They must have a 'specialist' fit all the Olefin and drive units, then someone later joins the wires, rather than fit one drive unit, solder them together, then fit the other. I also didn't like the PCB and wire layout as I'm also very averse to copper track in the signal path and there was some I thought didn't need to be there, probably there to again make construction a bit faster. The various Allan bolts are a mix of mainly imperial and maybe some metric which I did have but expected all metric. I am very extreme when it comes to joining components, it pays dividends in the extent of revealing detail and removing harshness and veiling in the sound but I've personally found that very few people are bothered by this and don't consider it a priority and are happy with a relatively blurred sound that gives them more boom and tizz or whatever. The better tonal balance is what we all want of course but I try and get both because over two decades of tinkering I found that I can; by taking the lids off of everything and reconstructing the insides at component level. I don't think anyone in this thread does this kind of thing, it's the preserve of folks over at DIY Audio. Here it's about plugging boxes to other boxes, and more recently, using some buttons to set some software. I've found there is some useful stuff about software setting and drivers and hardware for PC based audio here in AVS.
Anyway, that aside, if you're speaker is clicking then perhaps take it back to the dealer, likely not that they will want to, or be able to, fix it but perhaps they can send it on to someone who can. If the Strada are tricky to work in, then I expect the 3.5 will be a lot more so.
Thank You. I was hoping not to hear a story like that. Whats funny is the 3.4 dynaudios i bought 8 years ago had a similar issue when the dealer installed them. Fortunately the dealer installed them and heard the problem so there was no question of the defect. They replaced the speaker, they didn't send back for repair. I really hope Gallo/Dealer gives me a replacement. I prefer not having a repaired speaker. I deff wont try to fix myself. I hope they don't make me ship them the defective one without them providing a replacement first.
Also would note that after messing with placement and a little adjustements in the room the Gallos sound fantastic.
Edited by jeffpoos - 11/26/12 at 7:39pm
