Help: Wharfedale 9.1

[rajeshkr]

I have been using Wharfedale 9.1 with Norge 2060. The woofer driver of one of the speakers started misbehaving and finally stopped working. I took them to Vector, Brigade Road, from where I bought them.

They came back saying the replacement parts are not available, 9.1 being an obsolete model. but he got it repaired by a local guy, with a disclaimer on quality. As expected, the speaker works, but nowhere near the quality it used to give before.

Any pointers ..?

 

[Orko]

Maybe speak with Kshitij at Designer Audio, Bombay? He's the Wharfedale distributor in India. Alternatively, why not write to Wharfedale directly? I'm sure they'll have a better solution for you.

 

[efernand1]

Hi RajeshKR,

I am sure there would be some dealer in Bangalore who would be involved in selling spares for Wharfedale. You may want to conduct a few google searches which may yield some results.

If you know the model of the Speaker driver which had gone faulty, you can check if you can order online if a new driver is available and accordingly evaluate the cost.

 

[rajeshkr]

Contacted Designer Audio, and got this reply:

Dear Sir,

VECTOR SYSTEMS of Bangalore did email us for Diamond 9.1 drivers and what they are saying is true. We did check in our warehouse for these spares but unfortunately no stock for them. Diamond 9 series is obsolete since a long time now and we are sorry we cannot get these spares any longer.

I have written to Wharfedale too, but I don't have much hopes.

May be, I could try using them as rear surrounds in future when I build a 5.1

 

[Orko]

Bummer. How about Diamond 10 drivers?

 

[pradski]

Don't expect any reply from wharfedale. My two 9 series towers and bookshelfs took off. The rubber edges broke away. Even vector fellow where I had purchased did not reply. Wharfedale did not even acknowledge.

 

[rajeshkr]

Got a response from Wharfedale England and they have a few drivers. Working out on the payment method and shipping options.

 

[spirovious]

Got a response from Wharfedale England and they have a few drivers. Working out on the payment method and shipping options.

Please update the final cost later.

 

[Orko]

Got a response from Wharfedale England and they have a few drivers. Working out on the payment method and shipping options.

It worked! Awesome.

 

[rajeshkr]

GBP 26.99 plus 20.00 shipping. It is really worth?

 

[Orko]

That's about 5000 rupees if no duty gets slapped on it. Totally worth it, I think, if it brings your speakers back to spec.

 

[rajeshkr]

Hmm. Any idea if duty gets slapped to such items?

 

[anuragn]

5K seems OK for one driver.
But I am thinking, the driver stopped working by itself as is evident from your first post. And if none of the operating conditions have changed post the repair, then there is a possibility of other speaker's driver also going bad anytime in future.
Would you again spend another 5K because you just spent on one driver and hence dont want to discard the speakers. This would take the total repair cost to 10K which would seem a bit too high.
So ask yourself whether you are prepared to take chances and then decide.
Decision could be either of the two, I am not suggesting any one in particular.
And from SQ perspective also, we dont know whether the replacement driver is from which lot and whether its timbre would match with the other one (though ideally it should match).

 

[rajeshkr]

^^ Good thoughts.

Vector guy suspected the Norge amp, it could have misbehaved causing the issue. It is just a guess, with no evidence.
I am planning to move to a AVR, as a plan to have 2.1 setup.

Other option I have is to keep the speakers as is, and use it as rear surrounds, I feel rear surrounds are not much demanding in terms of SQ.

 

[spirovious]

If there is no sound,you can open and check if connection is loose.

 

[rajeshkr]

If there is no sound,you can open and check if connection is loose.

No, it is repaired locally and working now. Only, the clarity is not matching with the good one. In normal low-volume listening it is not obvious unless you pay attention.

 

[hifipal4all]

Other option I have is to keep the speakers as is, and use it as rear surrounds, I feel rear surrounds are not much demanding in terms of SQ.

Perfect thought ... do not spend on restoration ... may be you could end up spending more than 5k after passing thru customs .. it's not worth at all.

Make sure that before buying a new set of speakers for your stereo setup check the Norge with a qualified technician for any issues bcoz there are chances it could damage the new pair too if it is faulty.

 

[koushik]

I think 5k is bit high for 9.1's woofer. I replaced my B&W 602's 7" woofer for 5.2k shipped to my place from Mumbai AudioVision.

 

[rajeshkr]

Make sure that before buying a new set of speakers for your stereo setup check the Norge with a qualified technician for any issues bcoz there are chances it could damage the new pair too if it is faulty.

Yes. I would run the new speakers with a new AVR.

 

[rajeshkr]

One question though. Do I need to care about the impedance of new front speakers to match with these diamonds? 9.1 is rated at 6ohms. Should I find 6ohms speakers for the front/center?