Mackie HR824 tweeter
Thursday, November 5. 2009
In my project studio is a fine pair of Mackie nearfied monitors. I use them for recording and mixing music. I bought them almost three years ago from musiciansfriend.com and have had nothing but good things to say about them.
... Until about a month ago.
One evening when I turned them on, I noticed that the sound coming from the right monitor was dull and muffled. After some basic troubleshooting, I determined that the problem was within the monitor itself, and not the line in. Specifically, it sounded like the tweeter was not working.
Not to worry - there was a three year factory warranty on the monitor. I called the number listed on the warranty card the very next day, fully expecting to be given an RMA number and a location to ship the monitor for repair/replacement.
It was not to be.
After waiting on hold for 30 minutes or so, getting dropped, waiting again, getting transferred, another drop, etc., I finally got through to a Mackie support tech, who informed me that Mackie no longer does in-factory warranty work. I would need to call the closest authorized service center.
Fortunately, the closest authorized service center (crownmagnetics.com) was not far away, and I had already done business with them in the past. After a quick call to confirm that they were in fact a Mackie authorized service center, I took the monitor to them for repair.
So far, so good.
A week later, after hearing nothing from Crown Magnetics, I gave them a call. They told me that "yes, the problem is the tweeter" (more specifically, the voice coil), and that the order had been placed to Mackie, but it could take up to several months to receive the replacement part, due to massive restructuring inside the company, and relocation of Mackie's manufacturing facilities to a factory in China.
Troubling. Even more troubling was the news that the Chinese company had just recently filed for bankruptcy. There was not much I could do, though; as the monitor was basically worthless without the tweeter. So I waited. And waited.
And waited.
About a month later, Crown Magnetics called back to inform me that they could not get the part. Oh and incidentally they were no longer a Mackie authorized service center, even though they were still listed as such on Mackie's support website. Furthormore, the part itself had been discontinued by the manufacturer and it was no longer available!
<sigh>
What to do? After some thought, I decided to look for myself. I opened up the working monitor and examined the tweeter. On the side was a label with the following information:
25TAF/G-MD
H 0899-06ohm
Made in Norway. 37/06
I googled this information, only to confirm what the dealer had told me: the part was discontinued.
After calling two more supposedly authorized Mackie service centers, and receiving a less than satisfactory response, I called the service center at fullcompass.com, an online retailer with whom I had done good business with in the past. I talked with a guy named Dennis, who confirmed everything I had learned about Mackie's troubles. Unfortunately, he also informed me that Full Compass was not an Mackie authorized service center.
But ... I felt better, because he was a very nice guy to talk to. And he suggested that I talk with someone in their parts center who could perhaps find me a replacement tweeter, and would I like him to transfer me?
But of course!
The guy at the parts center was equally nice, but he did not really have much more to offer. He did suggest, however, that I call a speaker repair company, that deals with many different brands of speakers. He mentioned one company in particular, madisound.com.
Here is where the story gets brighter. I was soon on the phone with Larry from Madisound, who took down all the information about the bad tweeter, and within a few minutes found a suggested replacement from the same manufacturer, SEAS, with identical dimensions, and even better quality.
SEAS Prestige
27TBFC/G
H1212
Aluminum/Magnesium Dome
The full tweeter cost $43.20, and the voice coil by itself cost $12.00. I decided to get two full replacements, so the monitors would still be perfectly matched. I ordered the parts from Madisound, and they were delivered in two days. It took all of about half an hour to replace each tweeter.
The mesh grill on the new tweeter is cosmetically different, but it is shaped the same, and I cannot distinguish any difference in sound quality or clarity.
In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that about two years ago during a reorganization of my studio space, the monitor fell about four feet to the (concrete) floor. This may well have damaged the voice coil in the tweeter. So I do not feel entirely robbed out of my Mackie warranty.
But I doubt that I will be buying anything Mackie in the foreseeable future!
