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It's not broken, think more about general service to ensure full performance
It's not broken, think more about general service to ensure full performance
Wilson Audio Maintenance
- Thread starter mauidan
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Hi Everyone,
Quick question for the expertes, I was checking my Sasha 1 resistors and see that tweeter use 2 1,60 ohms in parallel and midrange use 2 3,2 ohms in parallel , wilson audio page is saying that the values are 0,8 ohms for tweeter and 1,60 ohms for midrange, so using this resistor in parallel will change the values ? also, is it possible to use only on resistor ( not parallel ) ?
Thanks in advance.
Alexandre.
Quick question for the expertes, I was checking my Sasha 1 resistors and see that tweeter use 2 1,60 ohms in parallel and midrange use 2 3,2 ohms in parallel , wilson audio page is saying that the values are 0,8 ohms for tweeter and 1,60 ohms for midrange, so using this resistor in parallel will change the values ? also, is it possible to use only on resistor ( not parallel ) ?
Thanks in advance.
Alexandre.
Alexandre,
You should source those resistors as a "kit", directly from your dealer/Wilson Audio. He should be able to help you replace them too.
You should source those resistors as a "kit", directly from your dealer/Wilson Audio. He should be able to help you replace them too.
Hi Alexandre
When you put 2 resistors in parallel you divide their value by 2, so whit two 1,6 ohms in parallel you've got the right 0,8 ohms value you should have, same think for the two 3,2 ohms to get a 1,6 ohms value.
Placing two resistor in parallel allows to double the admitted power these resistors can handle, so if Wilson choose to place two in parallel, never put only one instead of, it can burn at high listening level...
OK. I bit the bullet last week and changes the resistors on my wilson mains as well. I was not expecting a noticeable change but as some other forum members have stated, you have a lot of money tied up there to not try to get the best out of them. I only changed the tweeters and midranges because as I said I doubted a noticeable change. I had already listened to every driver and all were functioning and the system really sounds quite great. I had also crawled all over the speakers last week making certain that all of the drivers had at least a snug fit screw in every hole. I was surprised to find that one of the woofers, all four mid ranges and the two rear firing tweeters all had varying levels of loose screws (especially the rear firing tweeters) I also noticed that all of the screws on the resistors were sloppy loose...bad!
OK...the conclusion. An extreme difference. The top has more air seeming to open the sound up quite a bit and the mids seem more present with more tooth for example on classical on cello or violin soloists as well as female vocalists. I listen to all types of non pop music and am a technical guy so I can only say I'm not going to try to measure the resistors to see if the values have drifted. I am "smart" enough to understand that as the impedance changes on the system due to how the speakers are being driven, the load on these resistors also changes. I don't really need to understand it any further than that in reality. I didn't have to listen hard or carefully to hear the dramatic change. I also recognize that a minor shift in value on a set of resistors can make a difference on what comes out the back end. To confirm, I went ahead and ordered a set of phase resistors and woofer resistors. They may not make a spec of difference, but after hearing the change the top half made, a few hundred bucks is a safe bet to confirm it.
OK...the conclusion. An extreme difference. The top has more air seeming to open the sound up quite a bit and the mids seem more present with more tooth for example on classical on cello or violin soloists as well as female vocalists. I listen to all types of non pop music and am a technical guy so I can only say I'm not going to try to measure the resistors to see if the values have drifted. I am "smart" enough to understand that as the impedance changes on the system due to how the speakers are being driven, the load on these resistors also changes. I don't really need to understand it any further than that in reality. I didn't have to listen hard or carefully to hear the dramatic change. I also recognize that a minor shift in value on a set of resistors can make a difference on what comes out the back end. To confirm, I went ahead and ordered a set of phase resistors and woofer resistors. They may not make a spec of difference, but after hearing the change the top half made, a few hundred bucks is a safe bet to confirm it.
Congrats...are you saying that you changed the VALUE of the resistors as well, or simply bought a different resistor with the SAME value? Were the original resistors old...or brand new? Just curious if you think the change is from the 'quality' of the resistor or the 'value'...or perhaps even both.
Where did you buy your resistors? What kind did you buy?
Sorry to be safe and conservative but I bought the resistors from Wilson and they were stock resistors for my model. The new replacements all have the originally specified values (and I checked the olds vs the news as well). I didn't purchase the speakers new but have had them for quite some time. They sounded better in my dedicated room than new ones at the local Wilson dealer so I wasn't thinking there was a lot of room for improvement, but I am always trying to find more. I stumbled across this discussion and was immediately intrigued. My current mains are my 3rd set of Wilsons and I had only ever changed a resistor on one of other sets due to an amplification (wilson crossover) malfunction. I was never considering that the resistors could shift enough in value to make a difference as long as they were still functioning. I drive my mains with an old FPB 600 and Dan D' says it will comfortably run at 1000w at 8ohms without difficulty. The wilsons are 4 ohm and doubling that is a lot of oomph. I play them loud enough but I'm certain that I've never pushed the amp anywhere close to clipping (now that the crossover is repaired). Prior to my purchasing them, it's possible that they may have been driven by a piece of gear that was not capable at loud volumes or the speakers may have been pointed out a door in a montana ranch. (I don't think so) but what I am sure of is the difference is extreme.
Summary..did not change manufacturer or value of resistors. Purchased from Wilson
Summary..did not change manufacturer or value of resistors. Purchased from Wilson
Just a note on this.... if you plan to replace the resistors yourself, what you want depends on the speakers you have and what you plan to do.
The items in a Wilson speaker specific kit may include resistors for bass, midrange and treble. On my Alexia series 2, only the midrange and treble resistors are end-user accessible - behind the rear panel. The bass resistor requires opening the bottom of the speaker and that requires someone who knows how to do that (dealer, technician.) I have no Wilson dealer near me so I bought the midrange and treble resistors separately. This is less expensive than buying the kit and getting bass resistors (most expensive) you cannot replace yourself.
eidt: and fwiw, a 'kit' is for a single speaker.
Tell me about it Tim.
I got a different value bass resistors from Wilson when I had a really difficult room a few years back. It reduced output in the 100hz level. Total pita to do as I had dismantle the entire speaker, put them on wheels , then tip 140kg speaker on their side. Mate of mine then soldered the new bass resistors back in.
8 years later, as in 3 weeks ago, we put the old standard value bass resistors back in - used brand new as Wilson give you a spare of each. Took 3 of us to repeat the process.
I also have tweeter resistors that Wilson supplied to give 0 5, 1db, 2db and 3db gain in the tweeter level.
My Maxx3 speakers are now back to factory spec. They sound quite different.
Yep - sounds like you've been through it! Good to be back on spec.
Update. Based on my experience changing the tweeter and midrange resistors last week i went ahead and ordered the phase and woofer resisters as well. They came yesterday. I havent done a large amount of research to determine exactly what these resisters are supposed to do but i am noticing changes which are less easy to describe but possibly equally if not move important to my listening. The sound seems more resilient and specifically the mids possibly more cohesive. listening to a favorite ecm recording by kim kaskashian and robert levin and for example the previous change made her bowing more “toothy” and when playing highest notes noticeably crisper. this newest change really made her finger plucking noticeably more percussive. I also noticed a low piano note by levin stood out distinctly crisp where previously it was just a note and his romping piano solo where he is really flowing quickly each note seems much more concise. Very difficult to articulate. I know these are minor examples but added up all of these types of changes make the work much more believable. i also believe bass decay seems more immediate as well creating a more real experience.
After reading these posts are you giving any thought to changing your resistors… not to another value or manufacturer but with the thought that the existing resistors may be out of spec from daily Use?
None whatsoever. As I said the only resistor I changed was the woofer damper resistor. I asked the very question recently when I was repositioning my upper modules and had the backs removed from my speakers thus exposing the resistors. At the time I was assisted by Damon Von Schweikert and Leif Swanson from Von Schweikert Audio and neither felt a need to do such
Steve they have no way to assess this. You cannot measure the resistors in circuit. Further, by the time you can pull them out of circuit, they will no longer be at operating temp. Just replace them. If there is no change, we suggest owners put the old resistors into their tool kit.
But in your case, call Jerron and order a set of mid and tweeter resistors. If the old ones are not bad and there is not an improvement, I'll buy them back.
Are they unused? If so use those. If not, call Jerron. Either way, you might be in for a very pleasant surprise.
Make sure to remove any oxidation on the resistor leads
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