I'm currently looking to repair a pair of 5" drivers from a set of Wharfedale W2 Speakers. The voice coils are both open circuit.
The literature says that they are Super 5 drivrs but the ones I have do not look like the ones listed in the Wharfedale leaflet. I have atteched a picture and I was wondering if anyone has any experience of these unit.
Any information would be appreciated.
The literature says that they are Super 5 drivrs but the ones I have do not look like the ones listed in the Wharfedale leaflet. I have atteched a picture and I was wondering if anyone has any experience of these unit.
Any information would be appreciated.
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The coils are the same type as are fitted to the Super 3 tweeters. The coil wire is aluminium . The magnet assembly is the earlier type featuring Alcomax alloy; this was replaced with the ceramic version in the 1960,s.
Check the reading on the wires leading to the cone from behind the driver terminals and not just on the terminal themselves. The joints at the terminals may have failed because aluminium requires special attachment techniques.
VaNarn has previously written: "There are special solder alloys and fluxes such as Alu-Sol from Multicore that can be used, although some experience is needed to find the best technique to make reliable connections."
VaNarn has previously written: "There are special solder alloys and fluxes such as Alu-Sol from Multicore that can be used, although some experience is needed to find the best technique to make reliable connections."
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there were similar issues with some old Lowther units so there maybe some knowledge you can tap into there for repairing these connections.
there were similar issues with some old Lowther units so there maybe some knowledge you can tap into there for repairing these connections.
Thanks for the information, that was very useful. the fact that they are very easly might explain the absence of a label on the back.
Just for information, I checked the connectivity directly on the bare coil wire and they are both still showing open.
Just for information, I checked the connectivity directly on the bare coil wire and they are both still showing open.
Sounds like you have nothing to lose by carefully removing the cone and voice coil assembly as shown in the image to allow a proper examination.
Here, the aluminium voice coil wire attaches to the flexible braided copper wire at the cone. At that junction may lie the problem.
Note that this shows the voice coil from a Super 3 on a replacement cone.
Here, the aluminium voice coil wire attaches to the flexible braided copper wire at the cone. At that junction may lie the problem.
Note that this shows the voice coil from a Super 3 on a replacement cone.
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This is the front of the speaker showing the rotted surround.
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I removed the voice coil and checked properly and there is no continuity in the wire at all, so it looks like they will need to be replaced.
The question is - with what? 
The sound of the Super 5's is pretty unique and working originals are hard to come by.
There are none on UK auction at the moment, and that can be a risky source anyway.
The sound of the Super 5's is pretty unique and working originals are hard to come by.
There are none on UK auction at the moment, and that can be a risky source anyway.
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how much do you want to spend - anything is repairable ?
e.g. can you find somebody to rewind the coil - count the tirns when you take off the old windings & measure the wire diameter etc.
Or, find a speaker with same size voice-coil and use it as a donor, keeping the original cone. It won’t be a perfect repair as in like for like but might be easiest option
e.g. can you find somebody to rewind the coil - count the tirns when you take off the old windings & measure the wire diameter etc.
Or, find a speaker with same size voice-coil and use it as a donor, keeping the original cone. It won’t be a perfect repair as in like for like but might be easiest option
The only other Wharfedale speakers using the exact same voice coil were the 8'' Bronze/FS/AL, the Super 8/FS/AL and the 8/145. If you can obtain any of these with an intact voice coil at an acceptable price, then there is a chance of being able to repair the Super 5 with the salvaged parts. It is rare for coil rewinders to have enamelled aluminium wire in stock (especially the SWG sizes) as unlike copper wire it is unavailable in small quantities.
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I've taken the cone and coil out of the cage and these are the details of the coil -
Winding width = 7.5mm
No. of turns = 88 (2 layers of 44)
Wire Diameter = 0.2mm
Coil former material is paper/card
Former length 17mm
I worked out that the length of the wire is just over 7m, which according to my calculations would only give a coil DC resistance of about 3 ohm which isn't as high as I thought it would be.
I think I will rewind the coil myself but it looks like I will have to use copper wire.
The Super 3 model is regarded as one of the best cone tweeters ever made, and the Super 5 is not far behind. The Super 5 could be comfortably crossed over at 1,000Hz using just a 1st order crossover (as in the W2), while a pair could be crossed over as low as 400Hz (as in the W4).
Both the Super 3 and the Super 5 have an very high flux magnet system (flux density 14,500 oersteds; total flux 60,000 maxwells). I presume this gives clinical control of the movement of their aluminium voice coils. A Super 5 weighs in at 3.25lb (1.5kg).
The flux density is identical to that of the following larger drivers in the Wharfedale range (circa 1963): Super 8/FS, Super 8/RS/DD and Golden 10/RS/DD (FS = Foam Surround, RS = Roll Surround and DD = Double Diaphragm).
However, I suppose there's a lot of nostalgia involved - nostalgia for the days when Wharfedale drivers were over-engineered and before cost-cutting became more the norm.