Castle Speakers 'upgrade'

Status
Not open for further replies.
Jump to Latest
C

Clicquot

Member
Joined 2011
#1
Hello guys,

I wonder if you could help me with an 'issue' I have. I've a pair of Castle Howard S1 speakers, and it's bigger brother, the Winchester. They are now >18 years old. I've always loved the sound of these speakers, though, during the years... issues came up with the woofers. These were know issues: spider glue did hold the alu chassis anymore, or an issue with the voicecoil came up. Now, the dealer from where I've bought the speakers always helped me out with repairing (re-glue) or just swapping the driver. Some week ago, I had the issue again: one woofer crackled, almost no sound coming out of the speaker. So i went back once more... the guys still has about 8 woofers at his disposal in orde to repair defective units. In fact, he continues to repair the stuff... until one day, it won't be possible anymore, or he's taking his retirement ;-)

Now, so, the driver was replaced... and music was there. Though, I tried to go all the way again with the speakers and all of a sudden... kwak-kwak-kwak... spider issue again on that 'new' speaker. I glued it myself, like the way I did before on other woofers (and they still play ok). But, i'm a bit fed up on 'repairing'/swapping these drivers over and over again. The original castle is out of business, the new Castle (made in China), won't respond to my driver questions etc. Both the Howard and Winchester are using the same drivers: only the case differs (the latter is bigger, more volume).


I wondered if there was any way of 'upgrading' these speakers to be a bit more future-proof or maybe to upgrade the sound to 'something' better? Better, is rather a subjective thingy... If you ask me what sound I want, I'm not sure... like I said, I was Ok with these speakers... I just want to keep them as soon as possible. I made contact with a speaker dealer/repair center in order to check out the drivers. He wanted to take them apart and 'rebuilt' them to their original state = in that way, you'll keep the same 'sound'... is that actually a good idea? I'm not sure yet what this will cost, maybe i'm better to replace with a new, modern kit? That's why i'm here, asking for your opinion, checking to see what you would do?

I'm adding some pictures to this thread, so you might see what it's about. The only think I could trace back is the tweeter, this is a Danish make, Vifa d25AG-05 6 ohms. If I look on the internet, I can find this piece of hardware for about 50 dollars (not available anymore, but that was it latest price). I pay for about 105 dollars for a 'new' (repaired) from the original dealer. In that time, the speakers were sold at....2600 dollars here! Ahum!

Also, these filters, do the still 'look' OK??? I also want to repair and repaint the case is some glossy color...at least, i'll have some fun rebuilding this... the only thing I don't know is: check the original low cost parts or search for something 'newish' Thanks already for your input, much appreciated!

Woofers:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Tweeter,

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


Filters:

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.



Case

An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.


An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
 
#2
If the rebuild includes new spiders, then that's probably the best way to go if not too expensive. The orginal cones look OK, so could be reused. The crossovers look good, although i'm sure someone will tell you to upgrade the inductors to air core....
 
#3
Thanks for your reply PeteMcK... i'm a rather total n00b with these things; the repair center will get me a quote this week for reviewing and if necessary rebuilding the woofers to its original state. I've also showed them the filter: they only thing they suggested already is to swap the speaker connection 'interlinks': they seem to have been connected with a 'plug'... the guy told me this is 'not done' for such speakers -> should be soldered onto the print board.

I've a question about this: should I just solder the existing wires onto the board, or should I 'upgrade' those cables with something 'better' ? What is 'better', any suggestions? The original ones seem pretty standard (not that thick). Can I make them a bit longer (makes it a bit easier to reinstall stuff) Would swapping these have an influence on the sound afterwards or not?

In addition, he told me that the only thing I would be able to 'upgrade' (driver wise), was maybe the tweeter... the rest: stay with the original design. Anyone a suggestion for a 'better' replacement of the tweeter than it's original Vifa d25AG-05 ? (something plug and play?)

thanks once more for any suggestion!
 
#4
Oddly enough I've just today been thinking about upgrading the tweeters on my Castle Winchesters but they're glued into the cabinet. Do you know what model these are Clicquot? Are you just having trouble with the Howards or with the Winchesters also? I've had absolutely no trouble with mine but feel the tweeters could be improved upon, the sound is a bit bright and glassy for strings. I really don't think you'll find much improvement changing the other drivers btw, the cabinet design has the biggest impact on midrange and bass with these chaps imho
 
#5
re:"should I just solder the existing wires onto the board" - yes
re:"should I 'upgrade' those cables " - no, they worked fine for a couple of decades.. spend your money on more music...😀
re:"Can I make them a bit longer " - yes

the SEAS 22TFF looks like it would be a good replacement tweeter, same sensitivity, similar impedance curve, better Fs & dispersion
Do you know the crossover frequency of these speakers?
Edit: I see the new version (S3) xover is 1.8Khz, the impedance graphs for both tweeters are ~ 6ohms at that point, so the 22TFF should drop in OK
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom