Sure.
http://groups.google.com/group/gale-audio
There's links to a Lecson and Hill Plasmatronic groups as well.
http://groups.google.com/group/gale-audio
There's links to a Lecson and Hill Plasmatronic groups as well.
Gale GS401A
Hi all.
If you are having problems with the Xover units then perhaps i am responsible.?
About 90% of all Xover units where assembled by my company in London.
The main problems where the fixings of the Pots , the Fuse holder and the Speaker terminals, this was resolved after the first 50 or so units by adding more serated washers to grip the wooden panel.
The other problem was the Pots , they where scratchy from new, resolved by cleaning the contact area on the pots and giving a very light spray of contact lube that contained a small ammount of light oil.
Making Modifications of the speakers:
Do NOT remove the fuse/ holder assembly.
It serves to protect the speakers from overload.( And what will you do with the hole thats left.? )
Any alterations such as removing the Chrome end caps WILL effect the sound quality, as well as the resale value.
Ted
Hi all.
If you are having problems with the Xover units then perhaps i am responsible.?
About 90% of all Xover units where assembled by my company in London.
The main problems where the fixings of the Pots , the Fuse holder and the Speaker terminals, this was resolved after the first 50 or so units by adding more serated washers to grip the wooden panel.
The other problem was the Pots , they where scratchy from new, resolved by cleaning the contact area on the pots and giving a very light spray of contact lube that contained a small ammount of light oil.
Making Modifications of the speakers:
Do NOT remove the fuse/ holder assembly.
It serves to protect the speakers from overload.( And what will you do with the hole thats left.? )
Any alterations such as removing the Chrome end caps WILL effect the sound quality, as well as the resale value.
Ted
Yet another re-build
Hi,
Just got my 401s out of storage after a very long time.
I was so disappointed with the sound - my memories of the way they used to sound had me expecting some delightful listening.
Have spent the last week or so researching, reading and so on.
I've decided on a complete refurbishment.
I'll re foam the bass and mids - hopefully the tweeters are still OK, but won't know for sure until I open them up. I also want to re-build the crossovers as many others have.
Whilst I am handy at the DIY and pretty good on cars I've never tackled anything like this before.
I would appreciate any guidance anyone has - particularly if anyone has a shopping list of the bits needed to re-build the crossovers.
Wilmslow Audio - which has been linked to in many many Gale 401 posts no longer seem to be stocking parts - so again any help with where I can source all the bits would be really great.
Here's hoping I can re live the incredible performance of these speakers as I remember them.
Thanks in advance for your help
Hi,
Just got my 401s out of storage after a very long time.
I was so disappointed with the sound - my memories of the way they used to sound had me expecting some delightful listening.
Have spent the last week or so researching, reading and so on.
I've decided on a complete refurbishment.
I'll re foam the bass and mids - hopefully the tweeters are still OK, but won't know for sure until I open them up. I also want to re-build the crossovers as many others have.
Whilst I am handy at the DIY and pretty good on cars I've never tackled anything like this before.
I would appreciate any guidance anyone has - particularly if anyone has a shopping list of the bits needed to re-build the crossovers.
Wilmslow Audio - which has been linked to in many many Gale 401 posts no longer seem to be stocking parts - so again any help with where I can source all the bits would be really great.
Here's hoping I can re live the incredible performance of these speakers as I remember them.
Thanks in advance for your help
Gale GS401a
Hi all,
First time posting here and lovely to be in the company of fellow Gale loudspeaker appreciators! I've just restored a pair of 401a MKII's and have documented the process at Tír Na HiFi • View topic - Gale 401a restoration
Hope it helps and encourages.
Terry
Hi all,
First time posting here and lovely to be in the company of fellow Gale loudspeaker appreciators! I've just restored a pair of 401a MKII's and have documented the process at Tír Na HiFi • View topic - Gale 401a restoration
Hope it helps and encourages.
Terry
They look stunning Terry - Top job!
If someone had told me those stands were made for the Gale 401, I would have believed them.
I'd seriously look into recapping the crossover or even building a new pair. Done properly you should get a big improvement in sound quality.
Many thanks and yes, the Sonus Faber stands look and work very well. They have the mass to cope with the considerable weight. The Auditor M's are sulking in the corner!
On the crossover - I'd been advised that replacing the caps would change the character of the sound. I like it as it is and how it was intended all those years ago.
Did you recap yours? With what and how did they affect things?
Best,
T
The electrolytics may have drifted out of spec, so they may not be sounding as they were intended all those years ago. Also, refoaming the drivers could have changed the spec of the drivers slightly.
I haven't recapped a pair of Gale 401s but I have enough experience to know that a good polypropylene capacitor sounds better than any electrolytic. The only problem with replacing an electrolytic cap with a poly is the lower ESR of the poly. If you don't take the ESR into account you could end up with a worse sounding speaker.
A safe bet would be to replace the electrolytics with some new ones - LINK.
If you don't mind experimenting then you could try replacing the electrolytics with polyprops but with a 1ohm resistor in series to try and mimic the ESR of the electrolytic.
You've highlighted the risks and many thanks for that. Very useful for future reference. For now though, they're sounding great and long may it continue.....!
I have some wood versions of the 401, you must replace the caps mine were miles out from spec also resistors and even the coils they are loose wound and very microphonic.Ignor all the rubbish about changing character improving the crossover just releases more of the drivers performance.
The 401 is one of those special speakers that connect you to the music.
The 401 is one of those special speakers that connect you to the music.
Agree totally!
Your points re crossover are noted. Would love to hook up with someone who has made the cx changes and do a comparison.
Many thanks.
T
Had our revised xo v original xo shoot out last night. Thanks to Dublinia for coming over. Really appreciate you hauling all 110 lbs of speakers and stands halfway across Dublin!
It was a fascinating evening. Two sets of 401a's in the same room. They certainly looked identical - so much so I took a pic of the serial numbers to avoid mixing up the pairs! But would they sound the same? Similar? Remotely even?
We played a variety of material but for the main part it was Lyle Lovett, Miles Davis, 'Cannonball' Alderley, Art Blakey, Calexico and Gary's Boyle and Moore on 'Electric Glide' who provided the entertainment. All on vinyl with an LP 12 spinner and watts courtesy of a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3... 275 of them.
We kicked off with Lyle Lovett's 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man' on 'Release Me', a superb recording and pressing from Curb Records. My speakers (original crossovers), perched on the new Gale stands. Paul was as curious as I was... "original and best" or otherwise? All seemed good. Was good! Damned good! Just a couple of tracks to keep things focused and then swap in Paul's speakers.
Definitely cut from the same cloth... lots of 'slam', attack, sparkling midrange and layered detail. But where my Gales soared, these reworked xo versions soared higher. Everything seemed be in sharper focus. Same music. Just more of it. More nuanced. This was a "Jazus" moment for Paul and a "ok, I get it" for me. The crossovers will be done!
Regarding the stands, they performed flawlessly. My room has a sprung wooden floor and none of the (very considerable) energy from 32" of combined woofer area, was felt underfoot. They work.
Will need some guidance now on the caps and resistors. I'm keen to keep the integrity of the originals so whatever the modern equivalents happen to be.
Will read back over this thread.
It was a fascinating evening. Two sets of 401a's in the same room. They certainly looked identical - so much so I took a pic of the serial numbers to avoid mixing up the pairs! But would they sound the same? Similar? Remotely even?
We played a variety of material but for the main part it was Lyle Lovett, Miles Davis, 'Cannonball' Alderley, Art Blakey, Calexico and Gary's Boyle and Moore on 'Electric Glide' who provided the entertainment. All on vinyl with an LP 12 spinner and watts courtesy of a Musical Fidelity Nu-Vista M3... 275 of them.
We kicked off with Lyle Lovett's 'Brown Eyed Handsome Man' on 'Release Me', a superb recording and pressing from Curb Records. My speakers (original crossovers), perched on the new Gale stands. Paul was as curious as I was... "original and best" or otherwise? All seemed good. Was good! Damned good! Just a couple of tracks to keep things focused and then swap in Paul's speakers.
Definitely cut from the same cloth... lots of 'slam', attack, sparkling midrange and layered detail. But where my Gales soared, these reworked xo versions soared higher. Everything seemed be in sharper focus. Same music. Just more of it. More nuanced. This was a "Jazus" moment for Paul and a "ok, I get it" for me. The crossovers will be done!
Regarding the stands, they performed flawlessly. My room has a sprung wooden floor and none of the (very considerable) energy from 32" of combined woofer area, was felt underfoot. They work.
Will need some guidance now on the caps and resistors. I'm keen to keep the integrity of the originals so whatever the modern equivalents happen to be.
Will read back over this thread.
Attachments
All the capacitors that I've tried have sounded exactly as Tony Gee describes in his cap test page - LINK
Mundorf supreme are a very nice cap but sound louder than other polyprops for some reason, so I avoid them now.
Jantzen Z Superior are very nice but expensive - so good for tweeters and mids if you can afford them (use a pair in parallel if you can't get the correct value). They are smooth and detailed without a hint of brightness.
Ansar polyprops are exactly as he describes, so I don't use them for a tweeter series cap because they sound a little forward, but I do use them elsewhere.
The only thing I don't agree with is adding a small value Vishay MKP1837 in parallel with a larger polyprop. I've tried this and it sounds a bit edgy or sibilant IMO.
I'm not sure that resistors make any difference. I really need to do some more experimenting in that area though. If I was going to experiment I'd try Mills compared to the standard ceramic wirewounds.
Oh, make sure that you measure the components before you fit them. I've had brand new capacitors from Mundorf and Ansar that were the wrong values. I've also had resistors that were quite far off spec.
Mundorf supreme are a very nice cap but sound louder than other polyprops for some reason, so I avoid them now.
Jantzen Z Superior are very nice but expensive - so good for tweeters and mids if you can afford them (use a pair in parallel if you can't get the correct value). They are smooth and detailed without a hint of brightness.
Ansar polyprops are exactly as he describes, so I don't use them for a tweeter series cap because they sound a little forward, but I do use them elsewhere.
The only thing I don't agree with is adding a small value Vishay MKP1837 in parallel with a larger polyprop. I've tried this and it sounds a bit edgy or sibilant IMO.
I'm not sure that resistors make any difference. I really need to do some more experimenting in that area though. If I was going to experiment I'd try Mills compared to the standard ceramic wirewounds.
Oh, make sure that you measure the components before you fit them. I've had brand new capacitors from Mundorf and Ansar that were the wrong values. I've also had resistors that were quite far off spec.
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