ARCAM ONE replacement bass speaker required.

Hi guys. First post on this forum.

I have a pair of A&R Cambridge Arcam One loudspeakers that I bought new about 35 years ago.

After thousands of hours of listening and countless parties one of the bass speakers has turned a little fuzzy especially at low volume and at low-volume occasionally cuts out for a split second.

I am guessing that it is the speaker that is at fault and that I should source a replacement or possibly a replacement pair as I don't suppose I'm going to be lucky enough to find one speaker to match.

Having never sourced any replacement parts for any loudspeakers or other hi-fi hardware I haven't a clue where to start.

If I can tap into your expert knowledge and if anyone can point me in the right direction I will be most grateful.

 

you're unlikely to get a single one but I see pairs on ebay regularly. But it could be a good opportunity to get something else of a similar vintage cheap, e.g. monitor audio R852/MD or Monitor 9 speakers.

 

As a seasoned engineer and technician of 50 years in audio I can tell you that what I learned early on in audio troubleshooting is that you look for the simplest most logical solution instead of pulling out the sledge hammer at first sign of degradation.

Unless a speaker has been driven by an external amplifier far past it's range of limited motion or subject to extreme humidity, the chances are it's not the problem. The first think to check is all of the connections. Dissimilar metal surfaces from connectors can cause corrosion and corrosion can lead to faulty contacts with can cause distortion. Next replace the audio input cable to the device. If after doing that you still hear distortion. There are still other possibilities before suspecting the speaker.

The amplifier driving it. If you are able, connect it to another speaker to see if produces the same result (which would point to an amplifier problem providing the cables have been checked).

Next. if you are able to touch the cone of the speaker, gently move the cone in it's natural forward and back motion, listen and feel for the sound of rubbing or scraping from the voice coil to the surrounding magnet. That would be an indication of damage, do to the a fore mention use.

 

Thanks for the response guys. I will do some checks and tests tonight and see how it goes.

 

Hi Phazed, I can see that your post was in December but was wondering if you got sorted as I am selling a pair of Arcam One speakers with stands. Excellent condition. Kind regards

 

Yes, I would be interested.

Can you contact me?

 

Hi I'm new here, I will take some pics later once I have mounted back on stands as I had dismantled to store. What is the best way of contacting you. Kind regards