Sansui S-40 3-way vintage speakers

[Ronj]

Sansui S-40 3-way vintage speakers

After a lot of aimless googling over last couple of years, I manage to find more about my Sansui speakers bought from a thrift shop few years back. I now know they are called Sansui S-40 and their possible specs are

Sansui S-40 three-way 8 ohm speakers
Power rating 15 - 50W RMS, 65W peak
Woofer : 10" 255mm tweeter 50mm super-tweeter 50mm

Specifications :
-:®:- 3-way : 200mm bass, 50mm tweeter, 50mm super-tweeter
-:®:- Power : 50W RMS, 65W peak input
-:®:- Efficiency : 93 dB / 1W / 1m
-:®:- Frequency response : 35 - 22kHz
-:®:- Dimensions [ H x W x D ]: 640 x 320 x 336mm
-:®:- Weight : 11.3kg each speaker ~ 13kg each packed



Many attempts to open the back side of these speakers have resulted in failures. Even though I like their sound, I really feel something has happened to the high end… I think dried up electrolytic caps could be the reason…

The screws in the back are refusing to come out even after many attempts with an impact drill… Any other options? Even the front grill cloth is fixed… Should I tear the front grill cloth and see whether I can access from front side? What you guys suggest? And anyone here listened to them? How good originally are they?

[Ronj]

This is the website that helped me identify my speakers...

SansuiS-40


These are the pics from that website...






And here are the pics of my speakers

[AllenB]

Take a power drill with a bit just larger than the shank of the screws would be, and drill the heads off them.

[Moondog55]

I just pulled apart a set of these ( or something very similar ) and found a couple of loose wires due to bad solder joints were the fault.
honestly did not think they were well built.
Cutting the grill fabric will allow you to remove the drivers if salvage is what you are after or run a saw around the perimeter and just cut the back out and then replace the whole back panel if drilling the screws out does not work

[picowallspeaker]

Originally Posted by Moondog55

... or run a saw around the perimeter and just cut the back out and then replace the whole back panel if drilling the screws out does not work

Also a heavy hammer does the job

although to restore their 'original sound' ,after , you'd need to replace the chipboard with the same type

[Moondog55]

OK while I agree that the original sound is not the best the large drivers do have an excellent midrange ( assuming the 8inch is a little better in this regard ) I'd keep the woofer and ditch the rest.

I believe most of these early manufacture woofers have a good natural roll-off and are usually designed to be used full range and the XO is in most cases just a cap on the tweeter.

[picowallspeaker]

No , I wasn't sarcastic !
Some combos might be good .
I'm yet to finish some boxes saved from the junk , same chipboard as those Sansui , they work perfectly without ANY stuffing inside .
The tweeter hole has been replaced with some acoustic resistance ( straws )
and a little waveguide helps a 3/4" unit to merge directivity ( also dispersion ) with the 7 " woofer .
Of course none of my buildings do include 'grills' or fabric in front of the speakers : it does deteriorate the sound

[Moondog55]

Originally Posted by picowallspeaker

Also a heavy hammer does the job

although to restore their 'original sound' ,after , you'd need to replace the chipboard with the same type

I thought you meant a full demolition job LOL

I have found that most of these cheap speakers actually benefit from the addition of fibre damping, but all builds are different

[Ronj]

Hey Guys thanks...
After a couple of Guinness pints, I got brave enough to handle my cloth scissors yesterday night...Let the pictures below tell rest of the story...





As you can see they are drivers are screwed from inside... So almost a dead-end again... the chip-board has started dis-integrating as well... these are acoustic suspension speakers... At least I don't have to worry about porting and all that... So build a whole new enclosure? Or just the back-panel board that's the dilemma...

Another question is what you guys think of building a new removable grill? I think with my incredible dexterous hands, I should be at least able to do it! I have some leftover dark grey grill cloth that I ordered from parts-express last year...


I know their sound may not be best, but they do have some kind of old school charm!

[Moondog55]

First take the back off
The grill should be fastened from inside, so easily removed and new fabric easily enough. Woofers look OK, can't say anything about the high-range as they don't look like the units in my old boxes. but probably the generic closed back cones with 1/2inch voice coils that most cheap speakers used.
The pins holding the woofers in are threaded and have harp lugs that dig into the baffle to hold in place; if the wood has started to soften they will just rotate and do nothing.
Put a small drop of Penetrene on the thread and leave it for 24 hours or longer before trying to unscrew them.
If the chip board is starting to go I'd be thinking of new boxes.
Is this driver 10 inch or 8 inch??