Hello,
I am fairly new to home recording, and, like many of you, light on liquid assets at the moment, and am hoping that someone smarter than I can lend me some advice as to how to proceed with a broken studio monitor.
Said monitor (Bx5a), was accidentally knocked over while plugged in (but off) with a TRS 1/4" cable. The speaker turns on (the LED turns on) and I can hear faint static coming from the speaker, but no connector (it can take 1/4" or XLR) produces any sound. I have tried different cables and connectors, and the other monitor is just fine. It must have landed with the 1/4" cable down, because the back panel is dented in around the connector inputs.
Since it is out of warranty, I decided to open it up to see if anything was obvious. The plastic housing that the 1/4" cable goes into is cracked and separated from the back panel (it was glued), and the prongs coming off of the XLR connector seem to have snapped.
My first thought was that the prongs were separate parts sticking out of the circuit board, and I attempted (poorly, don't laugh) to solder the prongs to the back of the XLR connector with no luck. After trying this, and realizing it wasn't helping, I then speculated that the prongs had originally been actually part of the XLR connector as in they jutted out the back of the part and were bent and soldered to the board all as one object. I hope that makes sense.
I do believe that this thought is correct, but I don't know what is the best course of action. Like I said, money is an issue right now, so if there is a DIY solution, I would prefer that over professional repair (second choice) or replacement (a distant third, as these monitors have gotten very little use).
I tried to take pictures, but I'm not sure they are very helpful. Also, on many forums, people are saying that these speakers are notorious for bad capacitors, which I think I may have as well, but I don't want to start chasing a red herring. Like others with the capacitor problem, I am (now) getting a hiss, and I did hear a loud *thump* when turning it on, but I had thought that was normal.
My gut tells me that the monitor is fine aside from the connector issues, but I have nothing to base that on except for ignorance and hope.
Any help would be appreciated.
I am fairly new to home recording, and, like many of you, light on liquid assets at the moment, and am hoping that someone smarter than I can lend me some advice as to how to proceed with a broken studio monitor.
Said monitor (Bx5a), was accidentally knocked over while plugged in (but off) with a TRS 1/4" cable. The speaker turns on (the LED turns on) and I can hear faint static coming from the speaker, but no connector (it can take 1/4" or XLR) produces any sound. I have tried different cables and connectors, and the other monitor is just fine. It must have landed with the 1/4" cable down, because the back panel is dented in around the connector inputs.
Since it is out of warranty, I decided to open it up to see if anything was obvious. The plastic housing that the 1/4" cable goes into is cracked and separated from the back panel (it was glued), and the prongs coming off of the XLR connector seem to have snapped.
My first thought was that the prongs were separate parts sticking out of the circuit board, and I attempted (poorly, don't laugh) to solder the prongs to the back of the XLR connector with no luck. After trying this, and realizing it wasn't helping, I then speculated that the prongs had originally been actually part of the XLR connector as in they jutted out the back of the part and were bent and soldered to the board all as one object. I hope that makes sense.
I do believe that this thought is correct, but I don't know what is the best course of action. Like I said, money is an issue right now, so if there is a DIY solution, I would prefer that over professional repair (second choice) or replacement (a distant third, as these monitors have gotten very little use).
I tried to take pictures, but I'm not sure they are very helpful. Also, on many forums, people are saying that these speakers are notorious for bad capacitors, which I think I may have as well, but I don't want to start chasing a red herring. Like others with the capacitor problem, I am (now) getting a hiss, and I did hear a loud *thump* when turning it on, but I had thought that was normal.
My gut tells me that the monitor is fine aside from the connector issues, but I have nothing to base that on except for ignorance and hope.
Any help would be appreciated.