Thanks for the advice. So what your saying is that too much give in the surround will alter the sound.
That would be a pity as I think the woofer is really at the heart of this speaker.
Champ: the first time I came across the Dovedale3 I ( as usual) tried to press the cone in to see how compliant it was. It 'didn't' give way at all. I thought it was stuck, like as if the voice coil was glued and stuck. Then when my friend played some music it was amazing.All the deep bass and incredibly tight sound! I have never been able to get an explanation about the suspension's stiffness. It REALLY doesn't seem to move when depressed! What ARE the TS parameters ? After over 40 years I STILL want to know ! I've never seen a bass driver so stiff in all those years since ! And remember it is a sealed box with very good LF extension.
If the surround is really damaged you will HAVE TO change it ! I'm curious about what will happen to it after doing that. A plain rubber surround shouldn't cost much I think. I replaced a JBL 10 inch driver's surround with one taken off from a replacement cone+ surround I found in the market. I pulled off the surround, cleaned up the glue on the edges and it was good to go. Worked out very well . Measure the inner and outer diameter before buying a replacement. Small variations usually can be adjusted.
And just to repeat again. The stiffness of the original couldn't be from the rubber surround. So a springier modern surround might not matter too much. Fs might certainly go down a bit more but if the spider controls most of it , you should be OK I think.
Just found my post from 2006 !!
" I have been waiting to get my hands on this unit after a 30 year wait ! I want to measure the woofer parameters.
It used to have very deep and clean bass . The suspension is unusually stiff . Fs of 16 Hz ? Could never understand how that was possible with such a stiff surround/spider assembly.
Cheers..."
Just looked at the threads shown below:
Found the following by 'cone head' in 2013
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/228234-wharfedale-dovedale.html
Parameters of the bass driver
Fr 20.712Hz
DC ohm 5.4
Qts 0.342
Qes 0.4
Qms 2.343
Vas 319.1L
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So the moral of the story is that if I can replace it with an original, so do
I am now in the camp of not repairing it or using different drivers. I will look for originals. I cannot believe that anything, especially after your comments and others, will yield the same sound signature. The way I see it is that by all rights it is a propriatory design. Obviously the designers wanted this stiffness. I do have a line on a pair and will let you guys know how that works out.
The mid drives
That is another story.
Hi Champ, I find it hard to understand why the rubber in the surround is cracked. Most rubber surrounds stiffen a bit but don't crack often. maybe this one is different ? Or that particular driver ? I still think that a new rubber surround might work well. You can't get the original of course.
In one of those threads there was some reference to a replacement for the midrange. Look up the links at the bottom of the page.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/85282-replacement-drivers-wharfedale-dovedale-iii.html
An extract:
".....I replaced it with a Celestion Ditton 44 mid-range (6 Ohms, as the Wharfedale one), adapting the hole in the cabinet front. The speaker now sounded much better than the other. So, I replaced the mid-range driver in the other speaker as well. Finally replaced the cross-over filter capacitors for the tweeter (one seemed to have leaked) and that made quite a difference as well. The speakers have a three-position switch for attenuating or emphasising mid-range and tweeter, I attenuate the tweeter and set the mid-range to neutral to have the best result (in my room and with my ears)....."
I think you should be able to find something that is suitable though you may have to meddle with the crossover !
In one of those threads there was some reference to a replacement for the midrange. Look up the links at the bottom of the page.
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/multi-way/85282-replacement-drivers-wharfedale-dovedale-iii.html
An extract:
".....I replaced it with a Celestion Ditton 44 mid-range (6 Ohms, as the Wharfedale one), adapting the hole in the cabinet front. The speaker now sounded much better than the other. So, I replaced the mid-range driver in the other speaker as well. Finally replaced the cross-over filter capacitors for the tweeter (one seemed to have leaked) and that made quite a difference as well. The speakers have a three-position switch for attenuating or emphasising mid-range and tweeter, I attenuate the tweeter and set the mid-range to neutral to have the best result (in my room and with my ears)....."
I think you should be able to find something that is suitable though you may have to meddle with the crossover !
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The cracking is mentioned several times in other threads.
Thanks for the note on the Celestion Ditton 44. I would have to attenuate with a resistor I think as my speakers do not have any switches on the back. I have this issue posted in another thread. Hopefully I will know about the bass drivers I have a bead on. The owner said the surround are fairly supple.
I uploaded the xover schematic for the early version with 6 components on Audiokarma in 2008.
And yes,the woofer suspension seems to get very hard with age.I have a pair of Meltons that have the same problem.
And yes,the woofer suspension seems to get very hard with age.I have a pair of Meltons that have the same problem.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
Must be the early version, then.
Keep us updated!
I am sure they are. They read "Dovedal 3A" so assuming "A" being the beginning. The crossover looks right on.
They have a very strange grill. It is made of a brown 1/4" thick board with a pattern stamped out of it in 2 panels split by a piece of wood. Kind of concerns me a bit since I think this material will mess with the imaging. If I get this going I'll post pics.
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