Please buy the correct recommended replacement component. The one Glen points to may be correct. (I don't know.) A quickie email to Mackie tech support may clear it up for you.
There's almost no question that Mackie itself does not make the woofer, that they buy it from an OEM (it may or may not be one that they own). Which almost certainly means if you can find the right OEM and the right speaker that it would be cheaper that way than it would be getting it through Mackie.
But Raw Depth is right; I wouldn't trust the information I gave you about the Vifa speaker as is, as I got that from an anonymous forum post elsewhere, and have not been able to verify it. And we all know just how reliable these forums can be in getting accurate information
I in fact couldn't even find the Vifa speaker in question. Unless you don't mind paying the $80 each for the Mackie-branded replanements, I'd research thoroughly, and start by finding an authorized Mackie repair shop or two and asking them (Mackie themselves will be interested in selling you their own model number.)
Now that I'm looking at my 824s in daylight, it looks like you might have to remove the whole central woofer/tweeter assembly from the box, as it looks like that front plate might actually be all one piece. Then once you have that out, it'd probably just a matter of unscrewing the woofer from that assembly via some internal screws. At least that's my best guess.
When you ask the repair guys about the replacement speaker, you can ask about that too.
G.
Anyways, I'll definitely call Mackie support to see what I can do... It's been crazy at work, so no time to deal with personal stuff during business hours.
