We are many who stumbled across those gems, and realized that after 20-30 years they may fail in the glueing, or membrane failures... many different fault mechanisms behind the membrane failures. And then started to dig deep in the process of refurbishing them. I would happily bring a suitcase with mylar glue tools coating, stretch jig, acetone, lint free cloths, heat gun, thermocouples, etc and take a flight to Menorca spending 14 days discovering another island (I´m born on an island myself called Tjörn ) during the day, and do some restauration during the evenings for two weeks. Or bring 16 panels already renovated and stretched and bring 12 panels back.
(4 extra panels as spare). There is enough information here at DiyAudio I would say that covers everything if you want to do it your self, it was far less information 25 years ago when me and sheldon started... take the advice to do it right, with complete disassembly, cleaning and new membranes. With new materials there is potential that they will work better than original.
You are right: I was surprized about the very pleasant result after having re-done (and also mechanically modified some parts to get more mech. stability and damping) my Quad63's. So I completely agree with the 2nd part of the post, and I even would encourage any more or less technically educated Quad63 owner of never-rebuilt items to go ahead with a Diy rework/update, even if they (still) seem functional. All Quad63's are >25 years old today. And you will also discover that you will rebuild them with much more precision and care than they have been originally built.
May I add a decent caveat to all the certainly very valuable informations available at DiyAudio: First of all and as in any forum, beside all valuable infos, quite a bunch of advices are simply outdated and partially even misleading. And Quad63-wise, there are so many subtleties where things could potentially seriously go wrong while refurbishing them. Some of these pitfalls have never been published in any forum (at least I did not find them published). So better go for a concise, complete and up-to-date HowTo and do it the reverted way: My advice is to best contact rob@eraudio.com.au for his dedicated Quad63 repair book. And if you need further infos e.g. such as pictures or videos, then you will find these in the forums or youtube. And, while proceeding this way, you will also develop a feeling to whom you may trust (the few real experts) and to whom better not (all the others) ...
Suchwise, proceeding with your repair while steadily browsing Internet knowledge along with the the infos from the mentionned booklet you simply will raise your odds that you will
1. be more alert and compent while doing the repair
2. need less annoying and tyring trial-and-error iterations
3. raise your chance to be successful at all (in terms of personal survival and also final auditioning pleasure)
Especially if you do the rework for the first time.
So then, have fun doing so. I had, and I can encourate to risk the journey. As for me, I sincerely regret not having by chance a 2nd and even 3rd pair of forgotten Quad63's in a dusty shack, waiting to be refurbished. Really just for fun.
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Thank so much for the counsels, I will develope a strategy, clean table, clean enviroment, enough space. After studied as work My ESL, discovered that many simple solutions with incredible final result. The delay system supplying several stators ussing at the end the same parts of the same diafragm, in other words, is the same as use several speakers so close and tight and with focus. Apretiated gentlemen, thanks for share the info.
I mean the delay line that makes the treble progressively out of phase centripetally. To the most informed, ask the following question: Is that delay line in turn, is it possible that it acts as a crossover? Thanks Wout31 for your reports and your suggestions, I know you always wanted the best for me. Did you know that when I was introduced to this world of Bricolage, things were not exactly as I supposed at first glance. This is another chapter that talks about how this generation of DIY people does not take anything for granted until they have verified it, and apart from that, I know for sure that they know what they are talking about when they do it. If at any time I hurt any member I strongly apologize. A cordial greeting to the friend from the Netherlands and no less cordial to the network of members of this topic.
No not the delay line, it is the difference in capacitance of the various rings on the stators that do that job. The speaker itself is the filter.
The delay between each segment is 20uS so from the center ring to the outer ring there is 100uS delay.
Each ring has 22pF and each coil has 18H. It is true that the high frequency is slightly attenuated at the outer most ring.
In distance this means that each ring is delayed by 7mm of sound travel.
Each ring has 22pF and each coil has 18H. It is true that the high frequency is slightly attenuated at the outer most ring.
In distance this means that each ring is delayed by 7mm of sound travel.
Thanks dude for the explanation. I assumed something about the operation, what I did not know was what the colleague from Holland, Wout31, explained, that the crossover capacitor was represented by the stator and that the speaker itself represented it, all this speaks of a very ingenious invention. In the end it is like a hifi bricolage with very low distortion and a wonderful resulting realism.