Will some one help the new guy with his Sansui SP-5500X's?

[ancorp]

First time posting in the loudspeaker section, I need help with repearing or replacing a pair of woofers. I have two never repaired or reconed Sansui SP-5500X floor speakers. The stuff around the cones (not foam, but the rippled paper with coating) has eventually completely ripped and now is sounds like crap- rattles with anything that has any bass. The rest of the system is fine.

I would replace the woofers - but i cant find anything that will fit the crossover - The original woofer is 15", 50w, 5ohm. I can get a pair of car subwoofers for them but they will be 4 (or maybe 8 if i look hard enough) Are there any resistors that can pull off about 200w at 1 ohm? I could just run a 4ohm and the resistor in series than.

Is there a way to repair those speakers without ordering some kit off the net? I live in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, Canada. Is there any stores near by that can get me the stuff i need (what do i need? new woofers? or repear the old ones?).

you can find my speakers here - http://www.sansui.us/SP_XSeries.htm
They r the first two pics on the page.

P.S. Ive got these speakers for free, a friend found them on the side of a street and gave em to me

[HiSPL]

Thats one heck of a find you've got there . Even if you could find a 5 ohm woofer, that doesn't mean it'll work with the cross over. Those big woofs were fairly smooth and allowed to play pretty high in their range. So a car sub would be really nasty trying to play the same range. Tell me this, is the surround (accordion shaped thing on the edge) actually ripped or has it just seperated from the cone at the seam?

If the latter is the case then you're in luck! you can reglue the seams with some of this . Just use a tooth pick or something similar to pry apart the section you're working on and put a thin coat of glue down between the surround and cone.

If the surround is actually ripped then your best bet is to watch ebay. These woofers (and other parts) come up with regularity there.

Good luck and keep at it, these speakers are definately worth repairing.

-=Tim=-

[ancorp]

Unfourtinately its RIPPED.... About using a car sub - the range is pretty low on them i know, but these speakers have two midranges each at about 4-5" and about 20 watts each i think, so it will be ok i guess. sure some frequencies will be cut but its ok, these maybe paired up with some other stereo speakers , the jbl82. I ALSO found these on my way home some guy was about to trash em .

So any way to get a 4ohm bumped up to 5? i think a 1 ohm restir will do the trick but where can i find one???

[joe carrow]

Originally posted by ancorp
Unfourtinately its RIPPED.... About using a car sub - the range is pretty low on them i know, but these speakers have two midranges each at about 4-5" and about 20 watts each i think, so it will be ok i guess. sure some frequencies will be cut but its ok, these maybe paired up with some other stereo speakers , the jbl82. I ALSO found these on my way home some guy was about to trash em .

So any way to get a 4ohm bumped up to 5? i think a 1 ohm restir will do the trick but where can i find one???

I wouldn't recommend using a car woofer... I have to say, I agree with HiSPL. Wait for one of these to come up on Ebay, or at least take a shot at replacing the surround before you spend money on new drivers. Parts express has a kit for re-foaming speakers... but since your cones don't have foam, I'm not sure what to tell you. It could work, or you might find surround replacements elsewhere. I'm guessing that these 15s are playing higher than you think, and you'll lose some nice sound if you go for car woofers. If you're just using them to play rap at parties, modern woofers might not be a bad thing!

Anyway, if you do replace the woofer, remember to take a look at the T/S parameters and make sure it will get along with the box, and not just the crossover.

So you really feel the need to give it a shot? You could get some 10 or 20 watt resistors and wire them in parallel. You said the woofer is 50 watts? 50 watts worth of resistor should be more than enough. The woofer is dropping more voltage; it will dissipate more power.

Four of these in parallel ought to do the trick-http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=004-4


Good luck!

[ancorp]

hmm probably i will have to replace them... I want them to be my mains in my future hometheater setup - in a couple of weeks once i move that is. I will listen to rap music up loud on them too just like Joe mentioned, but theater sound is my #1 priority rite now. Is there any audio shops around toronto, ontario? I dont order stuff off the net unless i can pickit up and pay rite there. I could use some resistors

Appreciate the help!

[HiSPL]

I wouldn't even bother with trying to make it 5 ohms. It won't make any difference at all. Who cares if it keeps the crossover point the same, the car sub won't play that high anyway....


And if you did you still have efficiency problems to deal with. Those old Sansui's were highly efficient beasts. Like 100dB at one watt. Does your car sub come anywhere close to that?

It will be all mid and treble with NO bass.

Also, to compound the problem is box alignment. Your car sub is probably designed for a small sealed cabinet. You are going to be putting it in a large vented cabinet. Not the best alignment for sure....

If you just have to try it, please don't goober up the box so that you cant put the original woofers back in. You'll thank us later.


Here I am stepping off the soapbox....
-=Tim=-

[motherone]

I'm with the other guys here. Don't muck up the speaker with an improper woofer replacement. You might be able to find a pro-sound driver to replace it.

Or, you could just look on ebay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...sPageName=WDVW

[brandzip]

An interesting solution might be to trash your current drivers, but keep the cabinet.
Carefully measure the inside dimensions, and any port dimensions.
Measure the speaker cutouts. Call (or write or e-mail) Madisound
They might have a recommendation as to drivers and crossover.
You might find that the current technology drivers are incredibly good.
The box would look the same and your friends would be shocked.

[brandzip]

I just looked at the posted pics.

I don't think re-drivering the enclosure is a possibility, unless you want to install a new face plate.

Just too many weird holes.

Save your money and buy a quality DIY kit from a reputable company.

A couple of names that come to mind are:
Madisound
North Creek

These can give you some of the best 'bang-for-the-buck'.

[ancorp]

hmm - forget about me ripping these apart and rebuilding it. Im not any good at that and i aint got any money, maybe enough for a pair of 50$ each 15" car subs. These speakers sound horrible because of the rip. If anyone wants to buy them from me - go ahead, cash only, pickup only, im in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. They are on ok condition, not all that great.