Snell Type EII Restoration: To Stuff or Not to Stuff

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Logon

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Joined 2012
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chrisb

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Joined 2002
limono said:
You're better off buying basic Audio Note kit drivers/ crossovers and fitting into Snell II cab correcting the port.
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Where does one acquire such components these days? IINM, AN/UK discontinued their kits years ago, and the ANK version is, I think rather overpriced.
https://ankaudiokits.com/product/speaker-kit-03/

FWIW, I built a couple of pairs of the AN kits well over a decade ago, and found them to be quite underwhelming.
 
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limono

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Joined 2007
Hmm , I thought that AN/UK still sell those kits.
As underwhelming as the kits are ( and I agree they are nowhere near factory speakers -I guess by design ) they still should be better than replacement Snell drivers which are also not exactly cheap or for that matter the old drivers with new foam.
 
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chrisb

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Joined 2002
Pure_Brew

Pure_Brew

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Joined 2009
tvr2500m said:
I recall the same thing with the C/Vs. The high frequencies could be harsh, glarey. Yeah, rockin' out. The dynamics were outstanding. The speaker did so much right, they were so close to all I wanted in a speaker, that I owned them for a long time (perhaps far too long) working with them to get that last bit right to bring the whole thing together. Interesting you mention Voecks. Listening to many Revel models remind me of many of his Snell designs. You can see the evolution of his design approaches moving from his Snell to his Revel designs. I have kinda leaned in the direction of liking the Peter Snell designs better overall.

I've heard some folks attribute that rough high frequency delivery of the C/V to the titanium dome tweeter. Some have mentioned the crossover of the MTM and its phasing. I dunno.
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I think the old Stereophile review mentioned the tweeter for the C/V as a JBL. I don’t think it was confirmed as such, but it might explain some listening experiences.

As far as Voecks vs P.Snell, I think they both produced some great designs based on what was available at the time with off-the-shelf drivers. Voecks was responsible for the Snell A5 reference system, which I had the opportunity to audition. It was the first time I had heard something so holographic and dynamic at scale, I think it ruined me lol. Tall tower array with outboard passive crossovers and a pair of 18” subs. Yowza

The Snell EII has zero relationship to that design and others mentioned, except perhaps Snell’s approach to crossover matching to reference, and usage of rear-firing tweeters.

I looked over the Audionote path, which did look interesting, but when price is a consideration, the atomic upgrade with reference matched crossover components seemed like a much better deal.

I really think some of the sound experiences of the older designs, like these old E’s, is led by the sound of omission , rather than addition. I’m not against higher resolution designs at all, but if it’s at the expense of having icepicks jabbed into my eardrums, then the other benefits do not matter.

That video posted about removing the woofers from cabinets is genius. I followed it exactly when I overhauled my EII’s
 
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trevor_bartram

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Joined 2023
Good to see a Snell thread. I purchased Snell J IIs from Absolute Sounds in Framingham, MA in the mid 80s based on their holographic presentation of D'Oyly Carte G&S opera recordings. They replaced Malcolm Jones' HiFiN&RR Tabor design that I built in 1978 while a student & still use. The Snell's were my main speaker for 15 years. I pulled them out of storage a couple years ago, the bass driver foam had disintegrated, so it was replaced by a local MA specialist. On return I didn't like how they sounded, so they went back into storage, now I know why! Also the lacquer on the tweeter was disintegrating but the specialist recommended leaving it alone. I wonder what else (bipolar caps?) could be in need of replacement?
 
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