Vista Woofers Blown - questions on High Pass Filter

[scottmhill]

Two weeks ago I burned out both woofers on a fairly new set of Vistas (they were lightly used floor model closeouts). I replaced the woofers with great customer service from Martin Logan. After replacing them, I wanted to make sure that if I had anything to do with the cause of the failure that I prevent it in the future. One of their suggestions was to supplement the base with a sub and apply a high pass filter to the Vistas.

The background: I was running the speakers with a Emotiva xpa-200 (240w x 2 at 4ohm). I was pre-amping that with a Marantz SR7005 (from Zone 2). The speakers burned out after several continuous hours at about 80% volume (volume according to the Marantz). I have a sub hooked up as well (I've split the pre-out). I can't use a High Pass Filter on Zone 2, otherwise I will have no low end to send to the sub. Prior to the speakers failing (I never actually heard them fail), I had no distortion and no clipping, just great high-volume sound that I could hear throughout my house.

So, the questions are twofold: (1) How do you recommend that I get a high pass filter in this setup (Note: The sub has a speaker level in and out, but I do not know if it applies a high pass filter to the speaker out)? (2) Will taking out the lower frequencies allow me to play the Vistas at higher volume without risk of burn-out (I guess what I mean here is, is it the low frequencies that cause the woofer to burn out, and by taking that out do I lessen the risk)?

Thanks for the help. First time here. Love this site and really love my Vistas.

 

[MrBT]

In Marantz SR7005 set you Vistas to "Small" and cut (cross over) it as 80Hz. Use LFE IN in your sub. 80Hz should be enough to safely drive your speakers to relatively loud levels.
Don't worry, you're not alone with this issue . I had to replace Vista's blown woofers three times already. Just learn it's limitations and you should be fine.

 

[scottmhill]

Thank you MrBT. One caveat. I'm using the Vistas in a Zone 2 setup, meaning the receiver doesn't have an LFE output for Zone 2 (it has two LFE outputs for Zone 1).

 

[MrBT]

Quick and dirty solution would be: Behringer SUPER-X PRO CX2310 Crossover between preamp and amp??? Although not sure 100%. It's cheap but it's not really puristic approach. I remember asking the same question some time ago but solutions were expensive.
Also there are subs with high pass filter out (like Descent i for example).

 

[scottmhill]

This may open a new topic, but I recall (in my high school days of loud car-audio) in-line RCA crossovers called F-Mods. http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=266-272 They still sell them. I've tried to search the forums on these, but not seeing anything. I expect they are controversial. But would something like this work?

 

[Tosh]

F-Mods are 'passive line level crossovers' (PLLXO), and yes, a high pass PLLXO of the right XO frequency should work here. But based on what I've read in threads here, ML owes Vista owners free woofers for life -- and an explanation...?