General Music Chat

Hey Kids,

I need to replace the little 6" piezos in my small cabs...They're old DR. FONG cabs..They have an eminence 15 and the old tweeters were motorola..Doesnt have a crossover....I thought I was gonna be able to replace the diaphrams in them but I guess we quit doing that years ago I was told ...I got on the net and looked and man ,its confusing...The price range is from 7$ to 35 $ a piece...Most dont give the specs...Cant find any local...Just wondered if anyone has ordered piezos from a good co. and would recommend them.

Thanks,
John in WV.

The crossover frequency can be determined by what capacitor you put in series with the tweeter.
Change the capacitor - change the roll-off frequency . . .

Hey Alan,

These piezos dont have crossovers...They're wired directly to the 15...I thought the same thing and was surprised to find this set up when I took the tweeter out...They told me the same thing on the Pro Audio Messageboard...No one there directed me to a specific site to find these tweeters..Everything was kinda vague ..I guess no one there is used to dealing with just one 15 wired to one tweeter.I thought Id check here to see if anyone had actually bought tweeters before...I started runnin the stero through these cabs a while back when jammin on drums then noticed out at a gig that I couldnt get any highs????Hmmmm, some where in the process of me BLASTIN these cabs, they died The stroe was too high SPL I guess.. Anyway, if ya know of a site to check out ,plese let me know.

Thanks,
John

Piezo tweeters do not have an ohm load, and don't require a crossover.

Just check on e-bay for good deals. You really only need to be concerned on replacing with the same size.

For more info check here:

http://www.musicsupplycenter.com/Search ... 0#Tweeters


And read this (taken from the above website):

Piezo---Not very loud, good high frequency, no ohm load, don't need a crossover, handle decent power. Piezo tweeters are very inexpensive but that does not mean they are bad. They do serve a purpose. generally the frequency response of a piezo is 2000hz to 20,000hz and they step up in volume the higher the frequency. generally they do have a fairly crisp sound at higher frequencies but when mounted in a horn lens, they do tend to be a little middy sounding. Piezo tweeters do not have an ohm load. They do not require a crossover either. They naturally roll in at 2000hz and will NOT pick up anything below that so a crossover is not needed but one can be used to make the tweeter roll in at a higher frequency response.

Good luck

Hey Guy,

Thanks for that site....For years ,Ive had kind of a bastardized knowledge of tweeters,piezos, horns lumping them all together , not really knowing their detailed differences..Now maybe this old dog can learn some new tricks...Yeah , I might go with a mid range horn instead of a tweeter...Ive never bought from E bay...Always paid cash for everything and dealt with local stores OR use the PH to order and actually talked to who Im buying from...Alot of these audio places are buy online only..Give no # to call...Dont even tell shipping prices (MY BIGGEST PET PEEVE )...Im gonna study this tutiorial that you sent and maybe re-evaluate my choice.

John in WV.

Hey there..
I usually take the piezio tweeter out and look for the same replacement part if I can get it. Just my nature but I like OEM parts in my gear..
You say it is a Motorola tweeter .. so call them, give them the number on the back of your part OR ask them where a dealer is located..
Then just go there..with your burned up part. They should be able to fix you up with a new one..
I always look for the OEM parts, why-- the cabinet that part came out of was designed to function correctly with that part in it. If you use just any old new part other than OEM then there may be some slight differences in sound..

Just 2cents worth from an old rocker..
Good luck with your search..
{:-)

Hey Richard,

Man , I have to laugh...Well maybe cry ...Yeah , In 76, thats what we woulda done.It would have been that simple...When this first happened,my whole thought process was pretty much the advice you gave.I thought it was gonna be that easy...Heck ,I work at a music store and you'd think they would have connections gettin tweeters.....Well, they dont....They dont even order parts like that anymore...Motorola doesnt even make tweeters anymore..None of the big net stores like musicians friend etc. carry them...Getting parts for a steam engine would be easier I think ...Im gonna check out speaker exchange.com..They have a toll free # to call so If they have the horn Im lookin for , Im gonna get it....The site instigator sent only had one piezo and it wasnt really what Im look for .....Im gonna get one with a higher SPL and RMS value...OLD DUDES, like me, TAKE CARE OF YOUR STUFF...Cant get a data disk anymore..OR a battery for an SQ1, and a whole host of items....And if ya do find a replacement , chances are it wont be near as good as what we had 25 yrs ago...Ive had 3 boom boxes in 2 yrs..Now the left side is out when I play CD's on THIS ONE (not tapes or radio????).My old panasonic lasted 74-93 or so....You can have all this new crap (post 89)....digital recording is too clean ... ...have to warm it up with tape simulators...Hell, I could go on

Keep in mind that you can still decide exactly where the lows are rolled off, by adding a cap. You son't need to depend entirely on the piezo's inherent characteristics . . .
Some years back I'd done business with two different speaker companies. They had maybe a thousand speakers for sale; no cabinets . . .
Sorry, I don't recall the company names, but maybe they're on Google. But you probably researched the internet to death, huh?
. . . whatever . . . Good luck with your search.

Hey Kids,

I found me some tweets...Pretty much the same (newer. )as I had ... I didnt wanna change the ohm factor with a horn or other compression driver...Gonna use the mains AND montiors from now on when blastin the stero

Thanks to all who responded,
John

check allelectronics.com. they're reasonable.