Re-hab the 601's?

[bluesy]

Hello, all. I posted this in the Electronics & Parts forum also. Maybe that was the wrong spot. Got an old pair of Bose 601's bought new in '77. Two eight's and four 3" in each. Only two tweeters work in each cab. Checked the others-- no workee. The good ones are 8 ohms. I got new replacements but they're 4 ohms. There's only about 5 or 6 parts in the crossover. Can I use these 4 ohm tweeters with the existing crossover? If not, can I replace/add components to the existing crossover to put the speakers back in order? I'm no electronics guy, but I'd feel fairly confident having a go at this with some guidance. The speakers sound really lousy the way they are-- I'd like to restore them. Really. The 8's are also 8 ohm. Any input?

[richie00boy]

Welcome to the world of Mr Fitzpatrick

Replacing the tweeters with lower impedance units will require some fiddling. The attenuation network will need adjusting and this will probably throw out the crossover frequency a bit as well. Depending on the complexity of the crossover it may be reasonably easy or it may require more work and maths.

[TheSlimMan]

It'd probably be easier overall to go with 8-ohm replacement tweeters. When you go re-engeneering crossovers, one change affects everything else.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Originally posted by richie00boy
Welcome to the world of Mr Fitzpatrick

Well, he did ask for input. Strange that it got deleted though.

[Variac]

The only thing that annoys us mods more than bad behavior is a constant stream of negatism- especially towards new members and people without a background in audio.

[Bill Fitzpatrick]

Well, then I take it all back.

Hey, bluesy, those Bose 601 speakers are teriffic and you should make every effort to get them working again. Fret and fuss over them. They will give you years of solid, accurate musical enjoyment.

[ShinOBIWAN]

Originally posted by Bill Fitzpatrick
Well, then I take it all back.

Hey, bluesy, those Bose 601 speakers are teriffic and you should make every effort to get them working again. Fret and fuss over them. They will give you years of solid, accurate musical enjoyment.

You really need to find some wit my son.

[Frank Berry]

You might be able to put two of the tweeters in series and parallel the third one. The total impedance will be closer than putting them all in parallel.

[richie00boy]

But the paralleled one will be putting out more than the other two individually. Odd numbers of drivers wired series/parallel are always a no-no IMO. It depends how desperate you are and how much emphasis you place on quality and reliability.

[bluesy]

There are 4 (four) three inch tweeters-if that makes a difference for the series/parallel thing. Yes, I'm out of my element here...I'm a musician running a modest home studio here looking to utilize additional speakers to help my mixes translate better to various systems. Theory being- if you can make a mix sound decent on crappy speakers the mix might translate better to a listeners consumer grade system. Besides.. the 601's aren't doing anything anyways. I do have quality near field monitors as well as a tri-amped system-all Ashly power and active three way crossover. The room is reasonably tuned with bass trapping/absorbers/diffusers. The detail and clarity is amazing. The issue is getting a mix to translate well to all systems without running a CD to everyone's house/car for evaluation. To more playback speakers, the easier the comparison. (Besides, I can't afford a mix/mastering engineer) At least you guys' didn't bash me for mentioning the "Bose" word!!