Advice sought- restoring Tannoy 12" DC drivers (3149/3169)

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Hi so i bought a pair of second hand Tannoy lynx and I'm having quite a bit of "surprises".:rolleyes:
My plans where to keep the drivers ("officially " 3169 in the lynxes) ditch the cabinets and crossovers, and with time build a pair of actives, with digital filtering via pure music. Well that will have to wait- i just found i have to first restore the 12"...

First thing, the two speakers don't sound the same.Checked if the compression diaphragms were measuring ok, they are both at around 09 Ohms, could be many things, aging crossover components etc

Now for the issues- the first one has the VC rubbing if not pressing by hand perfectly symetrically on either side of the membrane. Voice coil mesures 06 ohms and looks ok - no traces of discoloration from burning or bad scratches just a voice coil former gap wich is about 2 mm that i find a bit big? The voice coil measures (inner of VC) 50,61 on one axis and 51,36 on the other so it looks it's ovalised somehow.Pics show the external Dia.

The second has been reconed by a pig, Leaving a dirty mess where the dustcap is glued. Voice coil measures 51,4 mm on both axis- there's a bit of traces of rubbing inside the VC former ( easy to see as the former in this one is black) near the bottom.

The Magnet gap for VC is around 2mm.( a bit*h to measuse because of the magnetic field on the caliper)

Has anyone an idea how i could re-shape the slightly ovalised VC ? In his terrific blog zen mod (Zen Mod's blog adventures with Tannoy K 3809 FFL’s Tannoy K3809 adventure (revitalization ………. again !?! ) | Zen Mod Blog) says he uses a cup and does it by hand, not too sure about that?
I am keen to get it fixed because before even considering a (terribly expensive) recone i would like to measure both drivers since in my view one is a 3149 and the other a 3169. ( different suspension profile). (And now i have to learn how Arta works :eek: )
Thanks for any input.
 

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Different suspension profile de "m" profile come from the reconed one, and looks exactely as "current" re-cone kits stated for 3169 and 3149 but looks to me as a 3169. Harder suspension, the first wave takes most action, the second (most outside) barely moves. it has only a few mm travel before touching the basket. Flat edge wire, black alu former

The other one looks like a 3149, round Voice coil wire. clear aluminium former.
 

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Cool- Thanks.:)

Trying to locate rat-glue over here... t-Bolt on its way- hope to use a glass inside VC that has OD of 50-50,8 mm slide it inside VC and tighten outside wit the bolt, putting dab of exoxy in gap to settle it, not sure what type of epoxy to use, can get really hot there?
 

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More on surrounds...

as you can see, the softer (3149-like surround) is light fabric that lets light pass through. (Pic taken on my faithful Tann actives) while the harder "m" profile (3169) let almost nothing (pic taken facing sunlight) .

Anyone changed their fabric surrounds on these 12" DC? Any idea where i could find them?
Think I'd like to get the 3149 type on both.
 

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Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
another tonight ... ;)

I used a cup as caliber - easier to check shape of VC former than by tricky caliper measurement

also - former being of Al sheet - I just pressed it with fingers (iterative process) , rechecking with cup , to form it back to more proper circular form

cigaret paper - being really thin , I used it as shield for glue , to not let glue goes between former and cup

you can oil it (paper) slightly , so it will not stuck to glue

however - I used glue strictly for (in that case necessary) re-bonding of VC to former in area of former split , not as measure for re-forming

surrounds ...... raw ones .... no help from either Tannoy or Lockwood ; I believe their form isn't so critical as is condition of surround treatment ;

try with procedure explained in my blog and Fs measurement will tell you all you need to know

also , when measuring Fs with surround fully wet with alcohol (meaning that in that moment surround will no longer dominate Fs , as it needs to be with speaker in proper shape) , that will tell you is there any difference between spiders ;

if they're the same , spks are equal enough (same type!) , so you are free to proceed with revitalization , hoping to have proper stereo pair afterwards
 
Dreaded or Not.. Presumably.. You bought damaged drivers Cheaply.
Few Sympathies.. My father once told me: You cannot cheat an honest man
Feel free to bend the VC into a better shape.. it might even work, or not.
However a decent/competent/warranteed repair will be pricey.
Hopefully less so than buying a healthy replacement pair ??
Buy Cheap.. Buy twice My friend
 
Official Court Jester
Joined 2003
Paid Member
well , noise is high there .... at least I didn't found any solution for both spiders and cloth surround related questions

spiders - as way to transfer higher Fs (PA intended) units to lower Fs (say Hi Fi) ones , cloth surrounds - to bring them back to factory performance

though , I believe I covered entire story in my blog , in Tann related scribings
 
Well it turned out the spider of the 3169 is out of shape, doing the hairdrier trick does straighten him up a bit but then it pushes the first wave of the suspension out.
Contacted Lockwood they can only be reconed as 3149. Recones ordered.

I'm still struggling to see what soundcard i would need to buy S/H for ARTA, limps etc under mac osx 10.6.8. (Imac) to measure T/S. Any advice very welcome
 
I received the recones from Lockwood but no progress yet - last week 88 year old guy was making a U-turn, stopped and then pulled and hit my bike straight in the middle - Thank god i was going slow and he had just started. I have a strain on my anckle that is hurting me. Thank god the scooter has good solid protection ( metal bars) on the side, it could have been much worse...
 
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