I must have been playing fairly loud but had odd slappy/clackety noises from the mid/bass drivers the other night (Rammstein/Marilyn Manson).
I’ve had the speakers since the early 90’s and first experienced this when a group of us had a weekend away and I took the system as it was then to the rental and it got played loud and hard. It scared me at the time but they seemed fine thereafter.
Until the other ni9ght I’d not experienced this more than once or twice in decades.
Have I damaged the drivers or is it just something manifesting when played too loud?
It sounds like there is damage but it is possible they have just been over-driven and the drive is bottoming out despite the cone and damper. It’s a bit like a car running out of suspension going over a particularly deep pot-hole in the road and hitting the bump stops.
It could be serviced. If you are in the UK someone like Wilmslow Audio may be able to help. An exact replacement may not be possible but a close alternative may be possible. They can also service the capacitors in the cross-over etc.
It depends on the sound it makes but a clackety sound as you describe suggests metallic rather than a rubber surround. In my experience, it is usually the cone driver bottoming out that causes that kind of sound. Something may of course be loose and you can test that if you can get at the screws that hold the cone in place.
It might be worth unscrewing the fixing screws and rotating the driver through 180 degrees and re-fixing it.
Sometimes a driver can start to “droop” and turning it around “can” re-center the cone and restore normal service.
I have not repaired that particular driver, but I have others. I have found that using a marine sealer/adhesive called Sikaflex 291 provides good stability, stays a little flexible over time, and sticks like whatsits to a blanket. It only takes a thin smear to do the job normally.
The only thing I can think of that can cause a sound that might be described that way is the drivers hitting the end stops. The B139 bass drivers in my old IMF RSPMs could be induced to do that, most commonly if I played Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Telarc recording not turning it low enough.
If the speaker plays normally and sounds normal the rest of the time it is probably undamaged, but driving that hard excessively could one day result in permanent damage, whether a burnt out voice coil, heat deformed coil former, or mechanical damage, so I’d be inclined to treat it as a warning.
Yes, if it helps, this is what Andrew said regarding bass drivers for ES 14’s when I first started discussing the refurbishment options with him:
“With all the Epos speakers that I have had through the workshop over the years, they have all suffered with failed bass drivers. This causes a real issue as the drivers are no longer manufactured and there are no rebuild parts available for the voice coils or cones. The bass driver chassis also forms part of the cabinet baffle making it impossible to use any alternative bass drivers. Owners of ES11’s and ES14’s have all reported the bass drivers suddenly failing without any warning and upon my inspection every one had a failed voice coil. Second hand drivers are extremely difficult to find now (due to this issue) which has left all my Epos customers with speakers that they can no longer use.”
Good luck - these speakers are too good to lose. I think there are a pair on the 'Bay currently - maybe a source for spare drivers? tempted myself actually
It does unfortunately sound like mid/bass driver damage, probably the coil.
Out of interest, how are the surrounds? They usually start to show signs of minute fracturing but this in itself is not a sure sign of imminent failure and even with this ES14s can still sound great and go on working fine for many years.
The problem doesn’t manifest itself most of the time which is why I was wondering if this might be an effect of over driving them but possibly without lasting damage if you’ve managed to turn them down as soon as you hear the noise which happens a couple of times a second and stops when you reduce volume.
What happened with mine is that once the ‘clacking’ started at highish volume, over time it occurred at progressively lower volume. It’s caused by the voice coil / plastic bobbin glued joint failing, which ultimately could damage the coil windings or lead-outs, resulting in a dead drive unit. Hopefully with careful use your 14s will carry on working fine for years.
I think that may be wishful thinking. According to your earlier description, the driver seems to be failing and so unfortunately it is likely to get progressively worse until it reaches a tipping point and suddenly lets go. Hopefully, it will hold out for a while yet.
It is likely to be repairable or you may be able to get an equivalent mid/bass unit. When I looked there were some close matches in size and specs. You would need to replace both drivers and have them measured if you can and see if they need any crossover amendments. I know there was not much in the EPOS 14.
Looking at the specs for the 14, some places said 6.5in (165mm) or 7in (177 ish) driver. Do you know which? Due to the cover plates over the driver, it may be important to know how thick the rim is. Most are 5mm, but some are 7mm and other variations.
I just read your post with the insert about the bass driver. That’s unfortunate if the cabinet requires the EPOS unit to make it all fit together.
That’s a pity, as there are some good Scanspeak and Monacor (probably others) alternative drivers but if they can’t fit in with the cabinet (or support the baffle) then it won’t work.
I’d like to think that something is moving too far and causing the slapping noise at hight volume but not actually broken - I’ve only experienced it 3 or maybe 4 times since it first happened probably 30 years ago. They seem to play ok, but I’m naturally a bit twitched that something is damaged.
Wasn’t helped by the fact I was playing music videos on YouTube and I’m constantly changing the volume as the adverts go stupidly loud in between tracks and individual tracks are quite variable volume wise.
