Briz Vegas Posted October 23, 2019 Posted October 23, 2019 Hi folks I have been enjoying my Vivid B1s for about 6 years-ish and only had one issue when the centre dust cap popped off the front main driver a few years back. The dust cap is an integral part of the main drivers apparently. This was fixed under warranty and the Avation folks ( importers) were very helpful and even came to my home to replace the driver. I was very pleased with the high quality friendly service. Unfortunately the same thing has now happened to the rear facing driver on that speaker and it is now out of warranty. I am still waiting to hear back from Vivid/importer/dealers on my options and it’s been well over a month since my first email (and a couple of follow up visits to the local dealers). Possibly my fault that it has dragged on as I have not been a squeaking wheel. These were expensive speakers ( i think the last price was north of $20,000, but I got mine under that when the dollar was still strong) so I’m looking to return them to original condition. My 2006 B&W 804s ( rears) have been faultless and are still as good as new ( ok, drivers could do with a clean) so speakers can last if you look after them. Has anyone else had similar issues with Vivids main drivers? I was even wondering about trying to contact Laurence Dickie, the speaker designer, for advice. Has anyone had any contact with Laurence? It is not clear how the dust caps are attached as there is no glue residue. The two parts are pristine, they just need to be reattached. I believe getting a good seal is important. Under warranty they replaced the other driver, but I had to give them the old one ( which was fine, I had no use for it and on that occasion the wafer thin dust cap had tiny cracks from when I picked it up off the floor. It’s very fragile). I certainly don’t want to consider any further hifi expenditure until my speakers are fully restored.
Steve M Posted October 23, 2019 Posted October 23, 2019 (edited) Good luck with all that ...bespoke drivers made in-house by Vivid, meaning only they know what is going on with dust cap failures (probably aging adhesive or heat treatment?). Steve. From Stereophile review: ” The drive-units used in the B1 were all developed by Vivid and are manufactured in-house. In their design, Laurence Dickie paid particular attention to the sound emitted from the rear of the diaphragms. The tweeter and midrange domes use radially polarized rare-earth ring magnets that present very little acoustic obstruction behind the dome. The dome's backwave fires into a large-diameter tapered hole in the pole piece, this attached to a fiber-damped, exponentially tapered tube—in effect, an inverted horn—that runs the speaker's entire depth. As in a transmission line, the backwave from the tweeter and midrange domes is absorbed without reradiating back through the diaphragms. The woofer also uses a radially polarized rare-earth magnet assembly, this time with a diameter not much greater than that of the voice-coil, and the 12 struts connecting the cast frame to the magnet assembly are profiled to present the smallest possible surface area to the backwave. “ (Read more at https://www.stereophile.com/content/vivid-audio-b1-loudspeaker#wSGWkPSEP4mMHGTW.99) Edited October 23, 2019 by Steve M
Briz Vegas Posted October 23, 2019 Author Posted October 23, 2019 Heat treatment is an interesting thought. Could explain lack of any visible glue on the ultra slim edge. Not good for repairability however. If that is the case. Given the hand made in house approach, and the fact that Vivid are still here, you would think that they can look after older customers that want to keep the speakers. More so than a big company where the customer relationship is less personal.
Tony B Posted October 23, 2019 Posted October 23, 2019 You can easily replace it yourself. I think the replacement driver is around $1200 and they will take the damaged one back. Nice sounding speaker btw!
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