Several days back, I was playing the stereo at a rather moderate volume, and suddenly the left speaker was not as loud as the right. Panic! I started to investigate and found the the midrange speakers in my big Legacy Focus 20/20’s were not playing. And laying my hand on my amp, it seemed hotter than I ever remember it being. Not sure what was going on I quickly shut it down.

So the next day I got motivated to look inside. I removed the rear jack plate, and saw nothing really, so I pulled the rear woofer out. I had always assumed it was a passive radiator, seeing there are two 12” speakers in the front, but no! It’s a full fledged woofer, all three wired to the same points. And now I had a clear view of the crossover circuits. I wish I had taken more pictures, not one, but two large boards! One on each side. About 8” square. What’s that? 200mm? The board on the left was for the woofers, and the board on the right was for midrange, treble, and extra treble. I did take a photo of that.



At this point I emailed Legacy, and I am proud to say they responded the very next day! I told them there was no way I was shipping the speaker, so any help they could offer would be appreciated. Their tech gave me advice to verify the midranges were functioning. And how to remove the circuit board.

So once I had it out, it sat on my desk for two days, as I went over it checking components, and connections. I really didn’t find anything wrong, and feared I would be shipping it back. But on the jack plate are three toggle switches, bass, mids, and highs. By flipping these switches you can drop any range by approximately one decibel, to help fine tune the speaker to the room. The midrange toggle switch was not reading full short when engaged. Looking at the circuit design, I’m not sure how this could cause the symptoms. But I decided to hard wire that circuit to the “high”, position. I tidied up the board and put it back, and it worked!

So I am very pleased with myself! Also, on the rear of that circuit board was the date of 1997, so these speakers are 21 years old now! And like new if I do say so. I could go back and replace that toggle switch, but, I don’t recall ever using the midrange switch, it’s always been in the high position. And the toggle switches are glued in with a big gob of hot glue, so, it would be a chore to get it out. I may go back and fix it if I ever decide to sell them. And after nearly a week without the stereo, I came to realize just how much I missed it! And I have to say, I’ve never seen such crossover circuits in my life! Two 8” boards, there must have been over 30 parts just on the top end board, and the parts on the low end board were huge! Expensive looking stuff. And again, extra thanks to Legacy for all their help without question, real customer service to brag about!

Anyone else had any hi-fi emergencies lately? It really does cause one to worry. I was very lucky to get out without spending any money.




Russell


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