Hi,

New to the forum but wondered if anyone could help with my TDK 3 Speaker ETP68103 box please?

Very strange but my TDK 3 Speaker has suddenly stopped outputting sound? Everything else works. The box switches on and comes to life. It seems to recognise all inputs and FM/AM tuner look like they are working.

The Graphic EQ shows it is streaming something but I get no sound from the speakers? I also did a firmware upgrade to see if that would help. No difference.

Any ideas or pointers or how best to take it apart to try fix it?

Thanks

Oh dear....the forum has a fair few posts from members who've strayed from the path of vintage rightness and been bitten by these TDK's...they seem to be particularly prone to self destruction which is a shame as they look pretty cool imo and apparently sound fab when they make any sound at all.

No doubt someone will chip in with a tip or two shortly so I'll just jump in with a 'welcome to the forum!' and suggest you buy a proper old skool blaster!

USB working fine, it also upgrades firmware from and reads the port. All other inputs are reading audio signals and the Graphic EQ springs into life.

In fact everything is working other than no sound ! What/where do you think the problems with the volume is ? Do you have any access to schematics by any chance?

In the meantime I've taken off the top handle, popped off the cone covers and removed the central woofer. It's pretty easy to get that far. You can see the main board to the right of where the central woofer sits.

I was hoping in vain it might be something like a ribbon cable having come loose with all that vibration perhaps? Perhaps re-seat some connectors and do the easy wins to begin with.

Just trying to work out how the two halves come apart at the moment.

Must say this thing is built like a brickhouse otherwise.

Thanks

Does volume pot feel different then before?  I've seen many people who have issues with volume. How old is unit? Did you buy new because there is 1 year warrantee and you can either get your money back or get the new A73 model. But you have to have receipt of sale. 

Hey, thanks for the welcome and seems like a pretty cool forum.

I've noticed there's some indifferent views about the TDK's! I have an A73, soundcube and the 2 speaker variant of this as well. They really are excellent otherwise and the sound quality is superb. They go loud without distortion.

Not sure what's going on with this one though. There's not a lot inside so case of trying to isolate the problem !

Pot seems the same, pretty smooth, marker LED stays on all the way round as well the LED dials.

Could it be the pot itself you reckon? Pretty sure you could mod that, no? Just need to get access to it at the moment. In fact there's not a whole lot going on inside from what I can see?

No warranty, got it from someone for next to nothing so happy to delve into it and bring it back to life! I'm in the UK but warranty maybe 2 years here, I will check? The A73 is nothing in comparison to this beast!

Has anyone already taken one of these apart please.

I've got handle off, all speakers out and retaining screws and volume knob off.

The OK/Back switch seems to be a rocker switch. Does this just pop/prise off? I imagine due to the Tuning dial it is clipped to a PCB screwed to the cabinet. If someone could confirm that would be good.

Also it seems there are retaining screws behind the black faceplate? This looks stuck on to the chassis. I imagine it is double sided tape. Was going to gently heat the faceplate and then prise off gently with a butter knife.

Get these two final bits off then i am in !

If anyone has gone this far some advce would be handy as i don't wish to damage the the fascia.

At the moment I am suspecting something to do with the Volume pot or a component on the amplification side of things perhaps?

Thanks

these are not easy to take apart.. the front plastic is glued on.. the screws are behind the front (behind the piano finished plastic front) my guess if it was mine would be as you said.. perhaps one of the connectors came loose.. it can happen..

good luck..

Hi, does the black plastic prise off and have you tried it? I can't see any other way in there so imagine it has to !

I've been able to slip a very thin butter knife between the case and the plastic and there is some give so it suggests it's probably only double sided adhesive holding it on. I was going to use a hairdryer and gently heat the plastic and then gradually work it away.

I can't see any loose connectors to the mainboard at the moment.

So far, I have to say it is a mighty bit of kit. Probably only let down by minor internal assembly or perhaps a few dodgy components. There really is not a whole lot inside so isolating faults or weakness will probably be minor issues.

Hopefully with a few mods to address any known issues this machine could easily become a future classic.

That sounds a pretty good idea. I found the detailed instructions on Boomboxery and he has also been very helpful.

You can get the speakers out, handle off and knobs out easily and in minutes. I've tested a corner of the faceplate with a thin putty knife and it started to work the plastic away.

I was being ultra careful as the I don't wish to damage the finish or cosmetics. Now I know it's not going to break and is coming off I will give it a real go later tonight !

There is not a whole lot going on inside so with best guesswork I am narrowing it down to reseating connectors, volume pot or more seriously amplification/transistor on the main board.

Thanks

OK, I managed to strip it all down. The 3 speaker is a little more involved than the 2 speaker.

Having a look at the internals the fault is definitely either in the pot or a component failure in the amplification circuit.

In the meantime I had lodged a query with TDK and surprisingly they have got back to me offering a replacement product!

Do you know if what they offer is a like for llke eg another 3 speaker?

Do you have a warentey?

hi guys, did they ask you for a receipt for a replacement on the speaker ? my volume knob is slightly faulty where there's not much distance between quiet and loud, any ideas ?

Well wish I could help. I had been following findaway`s posts on the disassembly of this unit since I was curious myself. Have owned mine since they came out and have had zero issues. From what I hear, the wires behind the vol. knob get twisted to where when you turn up the vol. the knob kind of turns back down on its own with the twisted wire resistance. I dont know why these wires get twisted this way on some models and some not, but it could be a part was left out on some causing this. Cant be sure. I have wanted to make the rear "removable." I know my unit has a drastic vol change on it, but it seems normal. These go from low to alive real quik. I can almost tell where the amp kicks in on the vol. knob positioning - loud fast. This makes for a hard box to listen to at low vol. You want to turn it up a little more and BAM Too loud. I also wonder how many parts are interchangeable between the Two and Three speaker models. Plenty of the Two speakers out there. Good Luck.

Hi zacco, My unit has no issues. I was resopnding to the post in regards to a area of trouble to check into (if even possible.) I have had mine since they came out, so have had it too long for warranty. Like earilier post, I would like to pick up a two speaker if some parts are usable. (?)

The Volume knob simply pulls off. There are two wires leading into it for the light. These can become tangled and over time they can catch on an internal edge.

The wire gets caught as you turn and the taughtness then retracts the volume knob. This accounts for the phantom volume drop off and the knob turning itself down.

If your volume is jumping from low to high over a short throw, then quite probably the pot has had it.

There is not much internally to these boxes. You can take them apart with a bit of care and you will find a very basic level of build inside.

It's a pity really as if TDK had spent only a little more on the internal componentry, these boxes are pretty solid.

@findaway, how did u solve ur problem. Same with me here, my tdk 3 speaker boombox plays but in a few minutes would stop giving audio output despite thhat it appears to be streaming on somethinhg. Ur advise will be deeply appreciates. Thanks