I have a pair of vintage (mid 80's) CV AT-15's hooked up to a home theater system via a Yamaha RX-V2500 receiver. The right speaker stopped working today. I switched it with the other speaker and it still does not work. If I hook other test speakers up to the receiver they all work so it is not the wire and not the receiver. I switched out the fuse (which looks good) with the other at-15 speaker and still no luck so it's not the fuse. As these speakers are very heavy and bulky, what should I look for as the cause of no sound? The speakers look fine from the front. Sending it anywhere for repair would be difficult. Could I possibly replace the crossover?
Yes, order a crossover if you want to, but opening the thing is a good place to start, because you will have to open it to replace said plug n play part anyhow. Open it and see, or have someone who knows about these things have a look.
Complete speaker systems do not stop working completely. You can blow a driver or a crossover component but the remaining parts of the system normally continue to work. The exception to that rule would be a series wired crossover. Not many designers use a series connection and I'm unaware of an CV models that do so.
Fuses can look good and still be open. Did you try the fuse from the non-working speaker in the other speaker?
About the only thing that comes to mind when a complete speaker system suddenly stops working all together is a wire has come loose. Since the entire speaker is non-functional this would probably be a wire at the entry into the speaker from the speaker connectors or at the entry into the crossover board. Remove the cup or board holding the speaker connectors in place and take a look around the inside of the cabinet for any loose connections at either of those two locations.
Jan, I have to agree that it's most strange for an entire system to fail. I did try the fuse from the working speaker and that did nothing. I had already thought of a possible broken wire or loose connection. I'll pull the back off and see what I can find. Hopefully, it will be something simple.
If there are no screws in the back of those speakers (and I assume there are not) then take the woofer out to gain access to the inside of the cabinet.
Success! Thanks to all who responded. The problem was that after 22 years, both wires had apparently vibrated off the input plate back connector lugs. After, reconnecting the wires, the sound was restored.
The internal wiring is normally colored red/black for signal identification. However, it is sometimes difficult to see the "+" and "-" markings on the internal parts of a speaker. Do make certain you have reconnected the speakers in proper phase. Use a battery and check for correct movement of the woofers in both speakers. If you don't know how to do this, ask.
Thanks again. Before I connected the wires, I removed the input plate from the working speaker to see how they were connected. There is a blue wire to the positive and black to the ground. Yes, I was surprised they used cheap, push on lugs. I've also got two AT-12s for the rear. All are in good shape considering their age.
