Torn foam surround has got to go. Experts can re-foam, that is not you. Small rips in the paper cone can be taped, but If you buy new woofers that problem is gone. Tweeters should be good unless abused by the wrong signal. Try cymbals or tinkley bell tracks to test tweeters. Mid, look & listen, they probably are not foam. I have paper+rubber surround speakers 59 years old that are fine (hammond organ). Disconnect woofers before a listen test, scaping voice coils from bad surround can short and burn your amp transistors.
DIstorted sound can be the e-caps in the crossover. Pull the woofers and look in there for cylinders with pinched ends labeled "xxx uf" or "mf" if the parts are old enough. These are time fuses to make people buy a new product. Partsexpress.com or simplyspeakers.com or madisound.com have replacements. 100 v rated ones sound better than 50 v rated ones, David Weems says in his book.
DIstorted sound can be the e-caps in the crossover. Pull the woofers and look in there for cylinders with pinched ends labeled "xxx uf" or "mf" if the parts are old enough. These are time fuses to make people buy a new product. Partsexpress.com or simplyspeakers.com or madisound.com have replacements. 100 v rated ones sound better than 50 v rated ones, David Weems says in his book.
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I gave you a link to replacement woofers in post #7, and indianajo has referred to them in post #18.
EDIT: Those replacements are $94 each which will let you realise what you are faced with financially.
P.S. Unless you actually test the speakers, you will not know which of the drivers does, or does not, need replacing, or which ones would be candidates for refoaming.
Refoaming disintegrated surrounds is by far the cheapest option.
Report back on the individual drivers once you have tested the speakers using the new cable you have ordered.
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I like David Weems' book!
P.S. According to the photo posted by the OP, the foam has perished on the mids too.
A restoration which is not for the faint-hearted!
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So After trying them out the 10 and 4 woofers doesnt work... I think its gonna too big of a repair for me
what do you think about those?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...ghtspeed_banner&referralCode=messenger_banner
what do you think about those?
https://www.facebook.com/marketplac...ghtspeed_banner&referralCode=messenger_banner
Rental Access center had some 4 driver towers out on the sidewalk demoing for months. Not these. Sounded like ****. Thump thump buzz buzz, which catches all the bimbos when installed in in the boot of a rice burner. Those consumer things, even if they have a frequency response spec, usually is +-10 db. Radio Shack used to have +-20 db "production tolerance". Said so in a RS headphone spec sheet I bought.
The AR48 is real, with real specs. You would have maybe $150 in drivers in each if you didn't recone anything. Or buy some parts-express bargain 10" which are dirt cheap, but go for high sensitivity. That way if bass are too loud you can insert 2 ohm 10 watt resistors to taste. Paper cones are fine IMHO, as is ferrite magnet. You are not going to move them every night, neodynium magnet is for bar bands. Read the specs, I bought some 10" drivers which were 9.5" in diameter and wouldn't fit the hole. On woofer just make sure Qt is >0.4 which is drivers for sealed cabinets.
The AR48 is real, with real specs. You would have maybe $150 in drivers in each if you didn't recone anything. Or buy some parts-express bargain 10" which are dirt cheap, but go for high sensitivity. That way if bass are too loud you can insert 2 ohm 10 watt resistors to taste. Paper cones are fine IMHO, as is ferrite magnet. You are not going to move them every night, neodynium magnet is for bar bands. Read the specs, I bought some 10" drivers which were 9.5" in diameter and wouldn't fit the hole. On woofer just make sure Qt is >0.4 which is drivers for sealed cabinets.
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The 10" woofers and the 4" midranges don't work in both your enclosures? Certainly not a repair for the faint-hearted!
The Infinity RS-625 tower speakers to which you link can also suffer from foam rot (see my image below), so it's a case of inspecting carefully before you buy!
In fact, you should probably avoid second hand speakers that employ foam surrounds and look for ones with butyl rubber/PVC surrounds.
The Infinity RS-625 tower speakers to which you link can also suffer from foam rot (see my image below), so it's a case of inspecting carefully before you buy!
In fact, you should probably avoid second hand speakers that employ foam surrounds and look for ones with butyl rubber/PVC surrounds.
There are now many good, inexpensive speakers available new.
You won't waste money or worry about repairs, on new speakers.
Some examples:
Magnepan .7
Polk Audio Legend L100
KLH Model Three
Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M II
Monitor Audio Bronze 500
You won't waste money or worry about repairs, on new speakers.
Some examples:
Magnepan .7
Polk Audio Legend L100
KLH Model Three
Klipsch Reference Premiere RP-600M II
Monitor Audio Bronze 500
I think it is ok to refoam the speakers, which is simple compared to full diaphragm replacement. Did this with our quite old Infinities successful. The re-foaming kits were available somewhere in the Netherlands.
Indeed... I got 50 year old speakers with rubber surrounds still going strong ( new caps in crossover and new coil/butterfly in one woofer )...
But the foam surrounds I got in another set ( made in the late 90s ) gave up the ghost at 20 years. The factory shipped me a new set of PVC replacements.
Do they even use foam surrounds anymore?
You guys in the US are really fortunate, too, as your market seems to be alive with bargain second hand gear. Here, that kind of stuff is well overpriced - you'd have a heart attack if you saw what is being asked for half decent older speakers in Australia.
The forum threads I see where a US member has picked up something really nice for $20 from a Goodwill store, that might cost hundreds here, makes me quite jealous.
The forum threads I see where a US member has picked up something really nice for $20 from a Goodwill store, that might cost hundreds here, makes me quite jealous.
^
"The forum threads I see where a US member has picked up something really nice for $20 from a Goodwill store, that might cost hundreds here, makes me quite jealous."
That's history. Look at eBay... the flippers long ago took over that source of used components... they'll buy an 8 track Radio Shack, clean it up with Windex, plug it in and if it doesn't smoke they'll take fancy pictures and a a fantastic "Rare!! Audiophile!!!" post on eBay for 100 bucks.
Then you got the flippers trying to foist something that has been "fully rebuilt by my technician, it's playing music right now!!".. like the Sony VFET integrated for 2000 bucks... I asked him.. "Did the diodes get replaced?".... He had no clue.
"The forum threads I see where a US member has picked up something really nice for $20 from a Goodwill store, that might cost hundreds here, makes me quite jealous."
That's history. Look at eBay... the flippers long ago took over that source of used components... they'll buy an 8 track Radio Shack, clean it up with Windex, plug it in and if it doesn't smoke they'll take fancy pictures and a a fantastic "Rare!! Audiophile!!!" post on eBay for 100 bucks.
Then you got the flippers trying to foist something that has been "fully rebuilt by my technician, it's playing music right now!!".. like the Sony VFET integrated for 2000 bucks... I asked him.. "Did the diodes get replaced?".... He had no clue.
Quite true... the game of getting something is often more important than just getting it.
I don't hoard, you see... I collect.. and I can tell you a story about every thing I got... some stuff took years, others I just got lucky.
Of course, that leads to hoarding as it's hard to sell something to which you have forged an attachment.
But, important! don't let the game take over. My most expensive vintage components were either given to me or inherited. Thus the 1000 dollar renovations ( had someone who is an expert at such, loves the components, works part time at it and is a real pleasure to talk to ) were all that took... OK, the time invested is the "hobby"...
There are too many people chasing wildly overpriced old components (*), often being fleeced by scammers and flipper ( eBay? ) who spend money on stuff that sounds... very vintage and often in need of a complete restoration... while more modern stuff, still working perfectly and sounding far better, languishes at lower prices.
Example... five years ago I got a "demo" Nuforce STA200 amp for 400 bucks, including shipping, with full manufacturer's warranty!
Maybe I ought to look for a Job amp? Too bad they never made a matching line stage preamp.
BTW, my most important, longest and eventually eye opener was the chase for a pair of Aleph 2s. Started when my kids were in high school and later in college.. so money was tight. I passed up, ERROR!!!, a pair up the 405 for just 2500 bucks. After that, it was a long drought, or were overpriced or simply would not ship. Eventually, that led me to a pair of Rawson (gulp!) A5s with the Signature Floating Ground Archicture MkII. After being flamed by everyone, yep, including Nelson himself, I fixed them and lived until I figure I really wanted A2s... and I wanted the A5s fixed ( plus a Rawson F5).... The DIY rest is history.....
Yep, everything has a story and a relationship behind it. I find dealing with audiophiles fun and engaging. And my wife likes dealing with the wives of audiophiles,... I think she can relate to them too.
There is no way a '74 Marantz 2220B, "upgraded" with LEDs is worth 900 bucks.... nor a 2325 for 3000 bucks... no way.
OTOH, if you look, you can find a Conrad Johnson ET3SE preamp for under 3000 bucks... That's the version with the teflon caps and Vishay resistors...
I don't hoard, you see... I collect.. and I can tell you a story about every thing I got... some stuff took years, others I just got lucky.
Of course, that leads to hoarding as it's hard to sell something to which you have forged an attachment.
But, important! don't let the game take over. My most expensive vintage components were either given to me or inherited. Thus the 1000 dollar renovations ( had someone who is an expert at such, loves the components, works part time at it and is a real pleasure to talk to ) were all that took... OK, the time invested is the "hobby"...
There are too many people chasing wildly overpriced old components (*), often being fleeced by scammers and flipper ( eBay? ) who spend money on stuff that sounds... very vintage and often in need of a complete restoration... while more modern stuff, still working perfectly and sounding far better, languishes at lower prices.
Example... five years ago I got a "demo" Nuforce STA200 amp for 400 bucks, including shipping, with full manufacturer's warranty!
Maybe I ought to look for a Job amp? Too bad they never made a matching line stage preamp.
BTW, my most important, longest and eventually eye opener was the chase for a pair of Aleph 2s. Started when my kids were in high school and later in college.. so money was tight. I passed up, ERROR!!!, a pair up the 405 for just 2500 bucks. After that, it was a long drought, or were overpriced or simply would not ship. Eventually, that led me to a pair of Rawson (gulp!) A5s with the Signature Floating Ground Archicture MkII. After being flamed by everyone, yep, including Nelson himself, I fixed them and lived until I figure I really wanted A2s... and I wanted the A5s fixed ( plus a Rawson F5).... The DIY rest is history.....
Yep, everything has a story and a relationship behind it. I find dealing with audiophiles fun and engaging. And my wife likes dealing with the wives of audiophiles,... I think she can relate to them too.
There is no way a '74 Marantz 2220B, "upgraded" with LEDs is worth 900 bucks.... nor a 2325 for 3000 bucks... no way.
OTOH, if you look, you can find a Conrad Johnson ET3SE preamp for under 3000 bucks... That's the version with the teflon caps and Vishay resistors...
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