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[Jonathan Woytek]

Hi all. I picked up a set of EV ZXA1's used pretty recently, and they came with me for the theatre show I'm setting up for this week. I didn't expect to use them and had them primarily in case I needed a smaller monitor unit for the conductor. Well, they didn't get used there, and instead are being piano reinforcement on stage for the cast. Of course, I didn't have time to vet them before packing for the show, and it seems that one of them has no HF, and the other is sounding a little buzzy at moderate volume. Not cool. I checked out the driver in the one that has no HF. My tiny portable meter that I carry is no longer working (of course, the first time I really need it in a few years...). The unit does click when a weak voltage is put across the terminals. I inspected the diaphragm and it doesn't appear to be damaged. The gap was clean.

I need to grab a meter when I go down to the theatre tomorrow after work to see if I'm seeing voltage on the crossover output. I'm tempted to just order two diaphragms and get them on their way ASAP, but I am now unsure if that is the problem. The other thing I can do is pull the driver from the mostly-working one and connect it to the crossover in the other cabinet to see if it is a crossover problem. I did pull the crossover/amp unit from the cabinet that has the failed HF, and didn't observe anything out of the ordinary on the power supply or the amp modules.

Can anyone think of anything else to test? Or has anyone experienced issues with these to confirm if I'm probably just looking at diaphragm replacement? If I can fix them myself quickly, I want to do that. I don't have time to take them to a service center right now--I would have to replace them on stage anyway to do that, so at that point I'm not going to go nuts trying to get them repaired quickly.

jonathan

[Dennis Wiggins]

...and it seems that one of them has no HF, and the other is sounding a little buzzy at moderate volume...

jonathan

A 'buzzy' cabinet:  If it has low(er) frequency cabinet buzz, separate the shell halves (a lot of screws!).    Apply a very thin bead of black RTV in the mating groove.  Reassemble. 

For HF problems:  Have your serial numbers in hand.  Call EV support.  (1-800-289-0096 | [email protected]).  They will advise.  There will be no charge until you authorize it.

-Dennis

[Bob Leonard]

Check the xover to see if there are fuses/bulbs that are faulted. EV likes to use them on their products and anything over the normal cabinet rating tends to burn them out. Get your meter working, or buy a new one, the check to see if they are open. These are usually halogen type bulbs you can get at any automotive supply house. If that's not the problem then more than likely it's the compression driver diaphragm.

[Jonathan Woytek]

A 'buzzy' cabinet:  If it has low(er) frequency cabinet buzz, separate the shell halves (a lot of screws!).    Apply a very thin bead of black RTV in the mating groove.  Reassemble. 

For HF problems:  Have your serial numbers in hand.  Call EV support.  (1-800-289-0096 | [email protected]).  They will advise.  There will be no charge until you authorize it.

-Dennis

Thanks Dennis. It's noise that seems to come from the horn and not from the cabinet itself. Thanks for the advice on contacting EV support, too. I should have grabbed photos of the serial numbers before I left today. I didn't even think about it, and they didn't make it into my database yet because I just picked them up. Oof. Irritatingly, I bought them from a pretty reputable local shop, too. I've also dropped them a line in case they can get me a deal on diaphragms or have some loaner units in their rental inventory, though they don't usually rent these. I'll still contact support to see if they can give me some leads. Thanks!

jonathan

[Jonathan Woytek]

Check the xover to see if there are fuses/bulbs that are faulted. EV likes to use them on their products and anything over the normal cabinet rating tends to burn them out. Get your meter working, or buy a new one, the check to see if they are open. These are usually halogen type bulbs you can get at any automotive supply house. If that's not the problem then more than likely it's the compression driver diaphragm.

Thanks for the thoughts. I read about the fuse-bulbs that are used in other cabinets. I couldn't find any in this one, which isn't totally surprising for a powered cabinet. There is a single fuse on the PS/amp/crossover module that is on the power supply board and appears to be a fuse for the power supply. It is intact.

I have a couple nice Flukes here at home and will be taking one with me tomorrow. The old RadioShack ultra-portable VOM seems to have breathed its last, which is too bad. That thing fit great in my gig case. Oh well.

jonathan

[Stu McDoniel]

Hi all. I picked up a set of EV ZXA1's used pretty recently, and they came with me for the theatre show I'm setting up for this week. I didn't expect to use them and had them primarily in case I needed a smaller monitor unit for the conductor. Well, they didn't get used there, and instead are being piano reinforcement on stage for the cast. Of course, I didn't have time to vet them before packing for the show, and it seems that one of them has no HF, and the other is sounding a little buzzy at moderate volume. Not cool. I checked out the driver in the one that has no HF. My tiny portable meter that I carry is no longer working (of course, the first time I really need it in a few years...). The unit does click when a weak voltage is put across the terminals. I inspected the diaphragm and it doesn't appear to be damaged. The gap was clean.

I need to grab a meter when I go down to the theatre tomorrow after work to see if I'm seeing voltage on the crossover output. I'm tempted to just order two diaphragms and get them on their way ASAP, but I am now unsure if that is the problem. The other thing I can do is pull the driver from the mostly-working one and connect it to the crossover in the other cabinet to see if it is a crossover problem. I did pull the crossover/amp unit from the cabinet that has the failed HF, and didn't observe anything out of the ordinary on the power supply or the amp modules.

Can anyone think of anything else to test? Or has anyone experienced issues with these to confirm if I'm probably just looking at diaphragm replacement? If I can fix them myself quickly, I want to do that. I don't have time to take them to a service center right now--I would have to replace them on stage anyway to do that, so at that point I'm not going to go nuts trying to get them repaired quickly.

jonathan

Considering you have a show this week you could ease  your stress level and rent a couple of boxes for the show and take some more time to get the EV box issues sorted out.

[Jonathan Woytek]

For HF problems:  Have your serial numbers in hand.  Call EV support.  (1-800-289-0096 | [email protected]).  They will advise.  There will be no charge until you authorize it.

Hey, I just wanted to follow-up and give some props to the EV support folks. I emailed them late one night after getting home from rehearsal, and had an email back the following morning with some debugging steps and suggestions. Unfortunately, in this case, it seems that it is a problem with the amp/crossover module. It also appears that the part might only be available in the form of the whole amp/crossover/power supply module. Still, that was a rather nice interaction and a quite quick response!

Thanks to all who responded here. I appreciate it!

jonathan

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