Question about Acoustat X

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I have a pair of Acoustat X with no electronics that has been sitting in my patio room for years. I just checked and I believe that the diaphragms of all 6 panels are still intact. But there are probably enough of dust that needs to be cleaned out of them.

I figure I could use air spray (light pressure of course) and a vacuum to blow and clean out the dust from the back side of the panels. What can you do to the front side? The cloth grills in the front are not removable. I am sure it is very dusty inside too.

All 6 panels seem to be fastened to the speaker chassis from the rear side with plastic fasteners. Can I safely unscrew the fasteners and remove the panels? This seems to be the only way to get to the front side of the panels.

Any suggestions to service (clean) the panels are appreciated. Thanks.
 
Yes you can just unsctew the bolts an pull the panels out.. be carful with the wires there are 3..wires for ea panel.... i would start with the center 8" an then pull the 2 on the outside.... i use a nutdriver....if you use a swew driver be carful not to slip an puch a hole in the mylar.....
Are you going to sale the panels?...last i paid for 9" were $50ea..you well 2 8"X48" an 4 9"X48 panels....good luck
 
I doubt they need cleaning on the side that is protected by the grille cloth. But no harm in pulling the screws on one and having a peek.

Is the visible side covered with dust?
It's safe to run a vacuum cleaner with a natural hair brush attachment over the plastic grids...

You can run them with a standard tube amp, from the plates of the tubes, with an appropriate load on the output xfmr. Probably something like 20 ohms or so on the 16 ohm tap would do nicely... or even the same on the 8 ohm tap.

The original electronic amplfiier had some EQ built in, so be prepared for not having a flat response on one frequency extreme or the other, or both...

There are some discussions of how to run ESLs in this manner around. Maybe some even on this forum. Of course you won't get full SPL with this method, but probably quite a fair level.

_-_-
 
If there is no electronics you will have to build a Bias supply of at least in the range of 2.5Kv to 5 Kv or so.

Even if you run it off of some tubes.

I would follow Bear's suggestion to just vacuum them and/or to just blow them out with some compressed air until you get them running again.

You can use our method of Power Toroid transformers in reverse to power them but you won't get a Full Range response down to 20Hz or 40Hz or so like the original interfaces will provide.

This is the reason that the interfaces are so large and heavy in size.

At best you will only get down to about 300Hz using the DIY methods with a large amplifier, and, you will need a separate woofer system to handle the low end.

But you can make them work again!!! ;)

FWIW

jer :)
 
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Many thanks for the replies. The speakers will not be for sale. I will try to build up needed electronics to in order to use them. I have been using for 20+ years a pair of Magneplan III[TM with an original M&K The Bottom End subwoofer. The sound of my Magneplan is really good. I believe the Acoustat X will be even better provided that a proper interface and a power amp of the right capability are set up.

The panels don't really look too dusty. But there is a bit of dust at the base of the chassis and I assume that is an indication that the panels are dusty inside too. I guess I should just use pressured air to blow out the dust and a vacuum to capture whatever comes out. I will leave the panels as they are now without attempting to remove them. I will actually wrap them up with plastic film for now and wait until next Spring to revisit the speakers.

Thanks again for the suggestions.
 
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