Hi Everyone I'm new here.
I currently have four 30W100's (2 per channel) which are probably close to 25 years old. Needing refoamed. I've been debating if I should re-foam them or perhaps it's time to upgrade to something better.
I'm using them as Subwoofers X-Over 120HZ 48DB. Subs driven by Nakimichi PA-7.
I would keep my sealed box's which are very nice: 5.8 cubic foot internal/sealed. 1.5 inch's all around except front baffle 3inch's. Heavily braced. (Yes box's were a little small for two 30W100's Q approx. 1.23 used some EQ)
Anyway they served me well so I'm either going to re-foam and save a lot of money or just bite the bullet and go for something better.
Couple of choice's I was looking at which would work in my sealed box's are:
SB Acoustics SB34NRX75-6 - What I worry a little with this woofer is with two I'd be running about 3 Ohms. Might stress my ageing PA-7 to much.
Aurum Cantus AC300/75C2C 12 - Looks like a nice woofer but won't go quite as low as the SB Acoustics woofers.
I could port but would prefer to keep things simple by remaining sealed. Not set in stone though.
Any opinions/ideas appreciated!
Mark
I currently have four 30W100's (2 per channel) which are probably close to 25 years old. Needing refoamed. I've been debating if I should re-foam them or perhaps it's time to upgrade to something better.
I'm using them as Subwoofers X-Over 120HZ 48DB. Subs driven by Nakimichi PA-7.
I would keep my sealed box's which are very nice: 5.8 cubic foot internal/sealed. 1.5 inch's all around except front baffle 3inch's. Heavily braced. (Yes box's were a little small for two 30W100's Q approx. 1.23 used some EQ)
Anyway they served me well so I'm either going to re-foam and save a lot of money or just bite the bullet and go for something better.
Couple of choice's I was looking at which would work in my sealed box's are:
SB Acoustics SB34NRX75-6 - What I worry a little with this woofer is with two I'd be running about 3 Ohms. Might stress my ageing PA-7 to much.
Aurum Cantus AC300/75C2C 12 - Looks like a nice woofer but won't go quite as low as the SB Acoustics woofers.
I could port but would prefer to keep things simple by remaining sealed. Not set in stone though.
Any opinions/ideas appreciated!
Mark
Mark I did a lot of Dynaudio for studio’s and therefore seen/heard a lot of 30W100’s. Maybe these drivers could use a design upgrade from Dyn but I know what you are talking about, this typical Dyn sound. Very nice character and love these transients between 60-150Hz from this driver.
Even today these drivers are part of an international studio reference standard in their M3A and M4S systems.
So if you are pleased with the sound, just re-foam them and wait until you come across something you like even more.
Even today these drivers are part of an international studio reference standard in their M3A and M4S systems.
So if you are pleased with the sound, just re-foam them and wait until you come across something you like even more.
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Thanks yeah I agree they are pretty good woofers. I force um to go low with about 8 db boost at 22 hz another 6 at 30hz or so.
Just thinking I can proly find something that'll go lower without required eq & associated power requirments.
Sadly I fried two 30W100's when trying to drive them to hard with an Adcom amp. Not the Dynaudio's fault it was the Adcom frying that did um in.
Needless to say I am not a fan of Adcom amps.
Just thinking I can proly find something that'll go lower without required eq & associated power requirments.
Sadly I fried two 30W100's when trying to drive them to hard with an Adcom amp. Not the Dynaudio's fault it was the Adcom frying that did um in.
Needless to say I am not a fan of Adcom amps.
We installed active M3’s with 1250watts for the low section (MC2-1250's). It never gave any problem so I wasn’t doubting your 30W100’s😉
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Just to update, I'm gonna go ahead and refoam the 30W100's. I'm just not seeing any 12 inch woofers to replace them with that look much better. At least not with out paying a LOT of money.
I'm sure you wont regret it. Make sure you take time and patient to get the voice coil aligned to its right position. The rest is a piece of cake. Just let us know how it worked out!
Hey Djim (or anyone please feel free to answer) I have a quick question.
I decided to let the speaker repair place refoam them for me to be sure I don't mess it up but I have another question.
I built these subwoofers MANY years back and I just run them connected directly to my Nakamichi PA-7 via electronic crossover.
Well I've been reading a lot the last few weeks trying to learn more and some people put some kind of network across the driver's to cancel the inductance? Cap resister I believe.
While I've got them out is this something I need to do? If so can anyone tell me what to use? Again I run two 30W100's per channel in 4 ohms. I'm planing to try to cross them over a little higher too if that makes a difference. Thinking of 160 HZ for the reason of trying to limit more work out of my aging Acoustat 2 plus 2 speakers.
Any opinions appreciated.
Thanks, Mark
I decided to let the speaker repair place refoam them for me to be sure I don't mess it up but I have another question.
I built these subwoofers MANY years back and I just run them connected directly to my Nakamichi PA-7 via electronic crossover.
Well I've been reading a lot the last few weeks trying to learn more and some people put some kind of network across the driver's to cancel the inductance? Cap resister I believe.
While I've got them out is this something I need to do? If so can anyone tell me what to use? Again I run two 30W100's per channel in 4 ohms. I'm planing to try to cross them over a little higher too if that makes a difference. Thinking of 160 HZ for the reason of trying to limit more work out of my aging Acoustat 2 plus 2 speakers.
Any opinions appreciated.
Thanks, Mark
Hi Mark,
If you never have done any re-foaming yourself I can understand you want to be sure that the job will be done correctly on expensive dyn drivers.
As far your question about the network, I think you mean a network for impedance correction. In your case you are driving them active so it is not really necessary although it also depends on the amplifier. I’m not a HiFi expert so I really don’t know how your Nakamichi handles loads but your drivers aren’t the worst load for amps. Since you power them active there are no mid or high drivers on the same amp that can gain from a better impedance of your LF drivers.
About the crossover, the 30W100’s should be able to be crossed even higher then your suggested 160Hz. Actually I have seen/heard them filtered around 280Hz with a very decent definition. Personally I prefer them to be crossed below 180Hz but that’s my opinion.
Btw advice from others can be a good starting point but always trust your own ears. You have to listen to them so you decide what sounds good!
If you never have done any re-foaming yourself I can understand you want to be sure that the job will be done correctly on expensive dyn drivers.
As far your question about the network, I think you mean a network for impedance correction. In your case you are driving them active so it is not really necessary although it also depends on the amplifier. I’m not a HiFi expert so I really don’t know how your Nakamichi handles loads but your drivers aren’t the worst load for amps. Since you power them active there are no mid or high drivers on the same amp that can gain from a better impedance of your LF drivers.
About the crossover, the 30W100’s should be able to be crossed even higher then your suggested 160Hz. Actually I have seen/heard them filtered around 280Hz with a very decent definition. Personally I prefer them to be crossed below 180Hz but that’s my opinion.
Btw advice from others can be a good starting point but always trust your own ears. You have to listen to them so you decide what sounds good!
Since I still love to sound of my system I have chosen to re-foam both AR-14s, replace the original magnetic fluid cooled tweeters with new ones, and re-foam my BA powered subwoofer. (Blew this playing the bombing scene from "Forrest Gump" of all things!) Never looked back. The work was done professionally.
Some time ago we did an exclusive re-cone job for one off our clients. He had some old (custom) studio loudspeakers that were supposed to be used in one of the old Polydor studio’s. The bass drivers were RCF’s from the 60/70ties that were gone. Of course, recones were no longer available so we advised him to look for a good replacement. Our client was convinced these 'unique' drivers had some 'magic' he never heard in any other driver. He insisted we should do the ultimate and costs were no issue. Since our clients have the last word we found somebody who did the custom Voice Coil job. We used the old cone but with new surrounding, piston and spider from spare parts of other RCF recones from the eighties. We delivered the ‘new’ drivers including a new back label in edged aluminium. We didn’t even bill him all labour hours since it had become more a prestige project for ourselves.
Afterwards the client was disappointed since he still missed the 'magic' he knew. After searching throughout Europe he managed to locate and buy 2 similar drivers somewhere in Italy. Besides the costs and effort to locate these drivers he was still not satisfied. The problem was not the recone job but the worn out old drivers he used to listen too. That worn out driver sound was the base of his ‘magic’. But we were even more surprised that we had to recone the other two drivers also. Just a couple of years ago he sold his studio monitors to some famous German 'schlager' artist for a ridiculous price so maybe he wasn’t that crazy as we thought.
Afterwards the client was disappointed since he still missed the 'magic' he knew. After searching throughout Europe he managed to locate and buy 2 similar drivers somewhere in Italy. Besides the costs and effort to locate these drivers he was still not satisfied. The problem was not the recone job but the worn out old drivers he used to listen too. That worn out driver sound was the base of his ‘magic’. But we were even more surprised that we had to recone the other two drivers also. Just a couple of years ago he sold his studio monitors to some famous German 'schlager' artist for a ridiculous price so maybe he wasn’t that crazy as we thought.
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Can someone tell me where can I send a 30W100 to get the surround repaired. I see talking about foam surrounds, the surrounds on mine are rubber. Did they make two versions of these with different surrounds.
I would prefer someone in Canada for the repair but the USA would be okay too.
The moving company damaged the driver. Does anyone have any suggestions if I were to replace them with an updated driver, after all their insurance company will be paying. Has any company come out with a driver that clearly beats this one. I love the bass these drivers reproduce, they may not be the fastest drivers but they sound nice.
I would prefer someone in Canada for the repair but the USA would be okay too.
The moving company damaged the driver. Does anyone have any suggestions if I were to replace them with an updated driver, after all their insurance company will be paying. Has any company come out with a driver that clearly beats this one. I love the bass these drivers reproduce, they may not be the fastest drivers but they sound nice.
Hi Walter, I'm not sure what you mean with 'fast' drivers since the frequency sets out the speed of movement. If you mean 'controlled' sound, these drivers are sensitive to small changes in loading so any mistake can make them sound less. Also the 12" from Dynaudio are quiet sensitive for the amp that is driving them. Anyway, the oldest models were only available with foam surrounds. Newer models can have both, foam or rubber. Like usual the rubber surround delivers more stiffness and rises the resonance of the loudspeaker a little. Also the other related T/S parameters change with it.
Hi Djim,
I suppose I should have said more sensitive, or not sluggish. My surrounds are rubber, that's no doubt why they've latest this long as I'm sure foam surround wouldn
t last as long. Do you if Dynaudio will still repair these?
I suppose I should have said more sensitive, or not sluggish. My surrounds are rubber, that's no doubt why they've latest this long as I'm sure foam surround wouldn
t last as long. Do you if Dynaudio will still repair these?
Update concerning mine, I ended up doing them myself and it's not very difficult but admittedly I was slightly sloppy with the glue. Not to bad though. Got my foam surrounds from speaker city and they looked like exact replacements.
Walter, the official policy of Dynaudio is not to repair old units but to replace, which is a costly business for the consumer. The idea behind this policy is that when you recone a driver by hand and eye, the tolerances (can) become bigger then 1.5dB (don’t pin me on the exact number that Dynaudio uses). But there are quality surrounds available from 3th parties which are a good option. Just make sure if you let them repair you pick a company that knows the job.
Like Mercury stated, if you have a steady hand and patients you can do it yourself quiet easy.
Like Mercury stated, if you have a steady hand and patients you can do it yourself quiet easy.
Yeah 1.5 db is a big change. Do you know any good 3rd party comapnies that have good quality surrounds. Also I suppose by not using a dynaudio replacement could mean the characteristcis will most likely change which will give me two different bass drivers, unless I change them both, hmm double trouble.
How do you remove the old surround? Does speaker city carry the rubber surrounds? I think I would prefer rubber over foam for longivity.
How do you remove the old surround? Does speaker city carry the rubber surrounds? I think I would prefer rubber over foam for longivity.
I'm not sure where you can get rubber surrounds for Dyns at the moment. As an authorised Dynaudio dealer (till 2001) we only did replacements and non of our clients ever needed a replacement for the rubber surrounds.
However I do have a question about your 30W100's, when I look in my archive I can't find a 30W100 with a rubber surround. Now, I don't claim it isn't possible because we were only authorised dealer for the Professional Studio M (and BM) series which only used the 30W100XL's and I have no info about drivers used in the hifi range. So I advice you to double check if the surround isn't really foam based (compressed/dense foam type).
However I do have a question about your 30W100's, when I look in my archive I can't find a 30W100 with a rubber surround. Now, I don't claim it isn't possible because we were only authorised dealer for the Professional Studio M (and BM) series which only used the 30W100XL's and I have no info about drivers used in the hifi range. So I advice you to double check if the surround isn't really foam based (compressed/dense foam type).
Hmm, well without getting out the mag-glass they sure look like rubber. Unless they are really dense foam that looks like rubber then they might be. I ordered a set of surrounds so I'll find out when I get them. THe ebay seller say these surround come from Germany and were made on an original dye from Dynaudio. Who knows for sure.
In another thread a poster said there is a special way to center the the cones when replacing the surrounds, do you know about this, I've asked him so we'll see if he replies with the correct way to it. I was just going to use a 30hz signal.
In another thread a poster said there is a special way to center the the cones when replacing the surrounds, do you know about this, I've asked him so we'll see if he replies with the correct way to it. I was just going to use a 30hz signal.
When they get old they look a little more rubbery but they aren't. As far as I know Dynaudio only used the foam surrounds.
At any rate the ones I got from speaker city matched the old dynaudio ones EXACTLY. When I laid it over the other they looked identical. I'd recommend the ones from Speaker city.
Parts Express has some too but someone said they were not an exact match.
Voice coil remains centered and I'd say the 1.5 DB difference is hogwash. Mine sound as good as the day I got them even though there over 25 years old now.
I'd also say if the foams last 20 to 25 years that isn't that bad. Not sure if it's true but I read the newer foam lasts longer than the older.
Having said all of that.............. I think I'm planning to sell my subs. Not because they aren't good but I've just been thinking of moving up to some 15's for more power at the lowest end.
At any rate the ones I got from speaker city matched the old dynaudio ones EXACTLY. When I laid it over the other they looked identical. I'd recommend the ones from Speaker city.
Parts Express has some too but someone said they were not an exact match.
Voice coil remains centered and I'd say the 1.5 DB difference is hogwash. Mine sound as good as the day I got them even though there over 25 years old now.
I'd also say if the foams last 20 to 25 years that isn't that bad. Not sure if it's true but I read the newer foam lasts longer than the older.
Having said all of that.............. I think I'm planning to sell my subs. Not because they aren't good but I've just been thinking of moving up to some 15's for more power at the lowest end.
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