I loved these speakers very much, I burned myself trying to fix them

Sigh. Today is a sad day legally. I had to say goodbye to my Harman Kardon GLA-55 2.0 PC loudspeakers. I have had them for over 15 years of faithful service, but despite trying to repair them and my deceived efforts to fix them, I have had to admit that their time has come, and they have joined the paint boxes for the next landfill (for recycling).

I have a new pair along the way, and they will not sound so well, nor will they look like iconic, but they will work properly, which is probably more important. However, it is still a sad day, and it is worth it to be eulogized. As technology tends to come and go, we all have that tool, peripheral or ingredient which has a special place in our hearts and for me, my funny Harman Kardon speakers were one of them.

I literally just wrote a piece for PCWorld why even these speakers were so great. An appropriate delivery but an irony. Let’s give them one more.

The funny love

The GLA-55 are a unique group of speakers who were donated to me in the early 2010s by my then boss, who did not need them in his equal audiophile configuration. They are large and heavy and completely funny. They never went into my configuration or would immediately look at my more modern monitors, and less Christly and other hardware.

But they looked great and were a great start of the conversation. Of all the strange devices, gizmos and the ingredients I have had during the last 20 years of writing for PC and other equipment, my Harman Kardon speakers always attracted more interest from friends and family visits.

They were as much work of art as the capable PC louds with strong and high -high bass. Techpowerup even called those most delightful speakers ever in their return cover when.

But after so many years of use they had begun to indicate their age. Scratches on the crystalline -like plastic are immersed in the soft surface with the wrong children’s fingers, and finally, a rubber hole surrounding the main drivers.

As I maneuver them for some shots for the aforementioned article, I wrote for their longevity, I finger against the rubber and simply disintegrated into a sticky, powder mess. At the easiest touches, I had inadvertently destroyed the Hermet room around the driver, which helped provide such a good sound. In an moment of carelessness I destroyed this speaker.

But apparently this was not my first time. Looking closer to the other speaker, he discovered similar stress points in the rubber and actuality, she had already begun to leave the plastic siege as well. Neither the speaker was in excellent condition and some rapid googling suggested that at best, I should not use them until they were fixed. If they could be fixed at all.

A glow of hope

My first contact with Harman Kardon was a dead end. These speakers had been at the end of their lives for years, so no, they could not fix them or provide any aid. They had a third -party company they used for UK repairs, though. They may be able to do so, they told me.

But no. Parts to replace this very specific surrounding circle no longer existed, so there was no way they could do it.

Maybe a third party alternative? I looked, but the drivers in these speakers were a very specific 3.1 -inch diameter diameter. I found nothing close to the right size … until I did it.

It turns out that a store for repairing Dutch speakers had some surrounding foam substitutes for my very specific Harman Kardon GLA-55 speakers. What luck! I ordered that a pair be sent in a proper hurry and I was looking forward to their arrival two weeks later.

In the meantime I contacted the original repair store, but I was blocked on the possible bill. It was $ 150 (equivalent) even watching speakers to see if they could or could not repair them. Estimates for current repair were several hundred more, plus transportation. While these speakers could have been worth $ 1000 when the new ones, but I could get a comparable set of speakers for the same price of a repair.

But I’m a diligent hat. Before limiting these speakers to the trash pile, I have to make a shot in it as well.

Maybe I can adjust the high -scale electronics themselves

I have shared graphics cards, laptops and other complicated PC equipment for years. Surely with proper care I could have a good move in arranging these myself. So I decided to work.

I peel from the rubber legs to the bottom of the rubber, I removed the screws. I split the basic housing and peel the screws on the circuit chart and… solder. Union tireless in this, so my hobbyist unifying iron could not get enough to melt it effectively. I didn’t have a coupling wick. I burned myself twice in my inexperience.

Two hours in this mess of melted skin and solid coupling, I considered my options. I was on the verge of diving down a rabbit hole (undoubtedly run by Autical). There was still a chance that I could fix this, but I was ready to order a new coupling iron and any other device to make this repair easier, that I was not sure to perform effectively.

I touched the rubber on the speaker around again, as if I was confirmed how bad it was, and melted in my hand in a sticky mess that would have made it difficult to fit the foam even after an effective game. It wouldn’t work, was it?

I could spend hours from my time and tens or hundreds more of my dollars to fix these old, striking, toothed, beautiful speakers. Or I could go and write an article about it and earn enough to pay their replacements.

So here we are.

So long and thanks for all riffs

Impaired, I spent the next 20 minutes fixing the mess I would do. Points of union on the table, seemingly liquid parts of the loudspeaker rubber on the floor, put the tools in the tool box, my bubble finger under the tap. I thought of stealing the speakers again together so that they could at least get their burial march in full form. Like preparing them for an open casket.

But they are speakers, not a person or pets. I wrapped them near the pile of other jumped out and ordered some perfectly good R1280DBS edifiers. They are not super exciting, do not look weird and wonderful, and maybe they won’t sound as good as Harman Kardon made them back in their time. But there is Bluetooth support, and they will fit better on my table, and they will not have a strange sound that I am using instead I am using my wireless headphones.

I will miss the GLA-55s. They were not just a great part of the equipment, but an iconic part of my PC games and setting work for more than a decade. He sincerely feels a little strange by pressing this, without those who bend my monitors.

Something is wrong. I suspect it will feel that way for quite a long time.