|
Need Advice: Klein & Hummel O 300 from auction with issue.. (see video)
Hey guys.. could use some advice here.
I won these at auction for $1630 Australian, they were listed as NEW liquidation stock, unopened with warranty. Bare in mind my budget was zero, I saw the opportunity, reactivated my credit card that I don't use because I hate being in debt, and whacked the whole lot on it.
When I got them it was obvious they weren't new. The boxes had been opened and retaped more than once and there were minor scratches and wear in the paint on the speakers, but still.. for the price I was ok with that.
The left one is missing some plugs from the back which expose factory adjustment trimpots and let air escape the sealed enclosure system, discovered this because I heard a lot of noise from the air movement. Some of the screws also have some rust in them where it looks like a screwdriver has been used on them some time ago.
Reported this to the auction house, they offerred $300 back. I accepted, was a happy chappy.
Then I did some producing with them, and discovered a more serious issue with the right speaker. It makes a buzzing sound once the cone hits a certain range of excursion, see the linked video for what I mean. Video
I was spewing when I heard that, I emailed them back and said actually they're knackered I want a refund, so the guy helpfully set the process in motion.
Then, I got a week to produce with them while I was waiting for that to happen, and that's where i'm fucked. I've become so attached to them I don't want to return them anymore. For the first time ever I took a tune I was working on 3/4 finished and played it on my hi-fi system with sub and it sounded good, balanced, no major surprises. In the past whenever i've had something sounding good on my Mackie MR8's and tried playing them on my hi-fi its sounded like shit, muddy as hell and way too much bass, especially from the sub, totally overpowering. I knew the mackies weren't perfect but I thought a lot of it was my hi-fi setup, some of my mixes sounded ok on other systems, but only after a lot of testing and re-tweaking.
So I emailed them back again hoping that instead of returning them I could get a bit more reimbursement for the replacement driver I figure is needed on the right speaker, given that they are supposed to be new and under warranty. Unfortunately i'm being told too late refund process is underway and we wouldn't have given you more than $300 back anyway.
There's no way i'm going back to the MR8's after this, I set them up in tandem and switched this project between them both and the flaws in the mackies were suddenly completely obvious. The bass has no definition or presence in comparison so no wonder i've been mixing songs bass heavy, and the high end is really hyped compared to the 300's, so no wonder my mixes have been coming out dull while sounding good in the studio. That's just the obvious flaws, obviously the high end monitors are going to have more depth and detail in the imaging but I just hadn't realised the mackies were as coloured as this experiment showed them to be.
So i've looked around at my alternatives, correct me if i'm wrong but Focal Twin 6 Be or Event Opals seem to be the main contenders that are going to give me a similar experience to the 300's without being hideously expensive, and they're both already double what i've spent on these as it is.
So forgive me for thinking out loud but i'm trying to work out what the best course of action is. I could try and get the original $300 reimbursement and keep them, then the quote for a new driver is $465 so essentially i've been taken for a couple of hundred in repairs by a fraudulently listed item, but compared to the actual new price i'm still a fair way ahead, assuming nothing else goes wrong with them, i'd say they've been well used they're not even close to new.
I've rambled but the point of this was to get someone to listen to the buzzing sound from the right speaker in the video and tell me whether it's worth trying to keep them and replace the driver, or let them go and aim for opals or something.
The best part about these for me is the bass, it's so clear and defined I would hate to spend $3000 on focals or opals and find my mix didn't translate as well as it has done on these..
___________________
i7 | Cubase | Virus TI KB | Motu 828mk3 | K&H O300 | Dell U2410 x2 | Maschine | Soundcloud
|
