Single Revel F208 with low midrange output

[restorer-john]

The thing to bear in mind here is the capacitor that failed, likely did so due to internal reaction/corrosion, not from use or abuse. Midrange capacitors are hardly in a stressful environment or subject to high voltages and high currents. No matter what you did, you couldn't cause that capacitor to bulge/vent/fail like it did. It is a manufacturing defect.

As such, you may run into the same problems with the other speaker or other capacitors in either crossover as they were all likely made around the same time by the one manufacturer.

 

[Larry B. Larabee]

Samsung just got fined for dumping a bunch of sulfuric acid into the Austin ecosystem, another good reason to skip Harman.

@sigbergaudio how much sulfuric acid have you dumped into your fjord?

Fined? Get a rope.

 

[Alice of Old Vincennes]

I guess Revel does not follow this site. Need to post this thread where they can see it.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Makes me think I need to do a careful measurement of each of my F208's in the same exact spot of the room. Then in the future I can repeat if it seems anything has changed.

@MichaelJ I know you said these weren't new, but do you know how old the F208's you have are?

 

[Rottmannash]

Well, it was a bit of a chore accessing the midrange crossover board. It is NOT located in the midrange compartment as I hoped. Rather, it is directly behind the top bass driver, which was in there so tight I had to remove the binding post component, reach through its hole and push the bottom bass driver out from behind while prying from the front. I tried for a half hour to remove the other woofer in order to get direct access to the board, but it won't budge. I took these pictures by sticking my iPhone up behind the top woofer...I'm not sure what, if anything, can be gleaned from this.View attachment 180773View attachment 180772

...at least you have the Eames lounge chair to sit in while you ponder.

 

[Rottmannash]

Makes me think I need to do a careful measurement of each of my F208's in the same exact spot of the room. Then in the future I can repeat if it seems anything has changed.

@MichaelJ I know you said these weren't new, but do you know how old the F208's you have are?

I feel the same way-now I'm worried too.

 

[Beave]

Great news. I'm glad it worked for you!

 

[puppet]

:thumbup:

 

[Laserjock]

Good to hear that did it. Sucks it messed up the speaker to get to it.

Has anyone ever seen a capacitor failure in a crossover before this?

I have to think it’s a very rare occurrence.

 

[Slare]

I don't have a F208 in front of me but if the damaged finish is just gloss black, somebody familiar with auto body work could probably patch it up to the point of it not being noticeable to anyone that wasn't aware of exactly what to look at.

Also maybe not worth your time, but you have the entire story now including no support from service, identification of the problem, and proof of effective repair. Revel still has dealers and sells product. If you can find that right person and get the info to them, I would think some goodwill support would be possible. A good dealer would be interested in something like this, at the very minimum they might be able to put you in contact with that right person. May be time to find out if your local dealer is a good one or not.

 

[Tom C]

As a prospective buyer, the price of the Revel F208 just seems too high for it not to be serviceable. From the sounds of it, any repair would have to be done at the factory, if you want the unit to come out looking the same at the end of the repair process. Does anyone know of an alternative? I imagine the Revels are all built the same way, i.e., not repairable. Are Kefs any different? Can they be taken apart and parts replaced without destroying the cabinet? And who else provides 8-in woofer that measures this well?

 

[Blumlein 88]

I don't have a F208 in front of me but if the damaged finish is just gloss black, somebody familiar with auto body work could probably patch it up to the point of it not being noticeable to anyone that wasn't aware of exactly what to look at.

Also maybe not worth your time, but you have the entire story now including no support from service, identification of the problem, and proof of effective repair. Revel still has dealers and sells product. If you can find that right person and get the info to them, I would think some goodwill support would be possible. A good dealer would be interested in something like this, at the very minimum they might be able to put you in contact with that right person. May be time to find out if your local dealer is a good one or not.

Yeah, I would think you might get one of those dent and scratch repair places to fix up the cosmetics of your F208. Wouldn't hurt to call a couple, tell them what you have and see if they'll do it. They specialize in smaller jobs being affordable like that.

 

[MichaelJ]

I’m working on a email to the regional sales manager. I’ll point him to this thread and hope for some sympathy regarding this ordeal. Someone asked for closeups of the bad cap after I removed it from the board. Here they are.

 

[Blumlein 88]

I’m working on a email to the regional sales manager. I’ll point him to this thread and hope for some sympathy regarding this ordeal. Someone asked for closeups of the bad cap after I removed it from the board. Here they are.

Did you measure the Capacitance of the bad cap.

 

[Thomas_A]

Good to hear that did it. Sucks it messed up the speaker to get to it.

Has anyone ever seen a capacitor failure in a crossover before this?

I have to think it’s a very rare occurrence.

Yes, I have.

 

[phoenixdogfan]

I don't have a F208 in front of me but if the damaged finish is just gloss black, somebody familiar with auto body work could probably patch it up to the point of it not being noticeable to anyone that wasn't aware of exactly what to look at.

Also maybe not worth your time, but you have the entire story now including no support from service, identification of the problem, and proof of effective repair. Revel still has dealers and sells product. If you can find that right person and get the info to them, I would think some goodwill support would be possible. A good dealer would be interested in something like this, at the very minimum they might be able to put you in contact with that right person. May be time to find out if your local dealer is a good one or not.

I don't know where he's located but Hi Fi Buys in Nashville is a Revel dealer. Though I've never bought Revel speakers from them, all my dealings fpr other product seem to suggest a very well run dealership.

 

[Laserjock]

I’m working on a email to the regional sales manager. I’ll point him to this thread and hope for some sympathy regarding this ordeal. Someone asked for closeups of the bad cap after I removed it from the board. Here they are.

Is it in manic or depression state?
I know, not a joking matter (have people in my life with it) but couldn’t resist.
Would like to know how it measures (capacitance) also.

 

[restorer-john]

Did you measure the Capacitance of the bad cap.

The capacitance may still be close to spec, but with a cracked top vent from internal pressure, the electrolyte will be gone/dry and the ESR will be way too high (basically adding a resistor in series). He needs an ESR meter to test for that. But it's academic- it's clearly the cause.

Regardless, it is a factory failure. No doubt about that. The consequential loss (the cost and subsequent cabinet damage) is unfortunate and Revel/Harman should provide him suitable remedy as a (public) act of goodwill. But if these (likely) Bennic built crossovers start to have similar capacitor failures en-masse, they will have fun and games on their hands.

 

[Tom C]

The capacitance may still be close to spec, but with a cracked top vent from internal pressure, the electrolyte will be gone/dry and the ESR will be way too high (basically adding a resistor in series). He needs an ESR meter to test for that. But it's academic- it's clearly the cause.

Regardless, it is a factory failure. No doubt about that. The consequential loss (the cost and subsequent cabinet damage) is unfortunate and Revel/Harman should provide him suitable remedy as a (public) act of goodwill. But if these (likely) Bennic built crossovers start to have similar capacitor failures en-masse, they will have fun and games on their hands.

They are obviously very bright people and no doubt have thought of this. ABCD mode (avoid, blame, conceal, deny) is a common defense mechanism.

 

[JayGilb]

Regardless, it is a factory failure. No doubt about that. The consequential loss (the cost and subsequent cabinet damage) is unfortunate and Revel/Harman should provide him suitable remedy as a (public) act of goodwill. But if these (likely) Bennic built crossovers start to have similar capacitor failures en-masse, they will have fun and games on their hands.

The op ran a test to verify the discrepancy and stated that there wasn't an obvious difference between the L/R speakers.
This thread is public and could lead to other Revel owners looking closer at their systems.

Not exactly a set of $100 Edifiers speakers here and owners would expect a decent response from them if a batch of caps started to fail in the field.