TDL Studio 1 : need replacement drivers

Hello,

I need to replace the drivers in my TDL Studio 1 speakers. They're showing their age (like me!) and the sound is nowhere near as good as it was. Could anyone advise me on which drivers to use (not too expensive as I have a very modest income)
Thank-you to anybody who can advise.
Anna
 
Hi,

before exchanging units, try to find out whether it's driver or/and crossover related. You did not mention in particular how it sounds now. Did the bass become shallower? Does the tweeter sound as if it were attenuatted, "blanket over the loudspeaker" kind of a sound? Older tweeters may exhibit poorer performance having hardened ferrofluid in the motor so a service cleaning could improve that. Aged non polarized electrolytic capacitors in the tweeter crossover network could be dried out, if there were such in the first place, which would have sounded like a lack of high frequencies.
 
Hi Anna. Assuming it is the drivers that are up the proverbial, I also had to replace them in a pair of Studio 1s about 18 months ago. See TDL Studio 1 | Audiokarma Home Audio Stereo Discussion Forums
for details. Monacor SPH-165 woofers and Monacor DT-250 tweeters do the job nicely & aren't too stupidly expensive but it does involve some minor woodwork to make them fit. No changes to the crossovers are needed and the end sonic results are very similar to a 'mint' pair of Studio 1s, which I also have.
 
That sounds VERY interesting! Thank-you, I'm going to look into it. When you say some "minor woodworking" could you give me an idea of what you mean (minor being a relative concept!) - what skill level and what tools required? The cabinets are still in pretty good condition. What I'm looking to get back is the very low frequency thump and the broad soundstage of the Studio 1s. Did you get these back with your replacement drivers?
Thanks again! I could undersstand your message even with my very limited hifi vocabulary!
Anna
 
If you read DM101's project, you discover there were two plastic bass drivers used in various versions. This affects the amount of woodwork you have to do.

A rebated round 185mm one and a flush mounted smaller one with a square frame.

The round one can be replaced with this Monacor SPH-170:
Monacor SPH-170 Diameter 185mm

Tweeters should be measured for fit too,

Falcon do a soft dome Audax replacement. It may not be what you want here especially if you have an Elac metal tweeter:

AUDAX TW025A0 8 ohm 12 x 8 Tweeter, replaces IMF, Celef, Radford

A general inspection is worthwhile before throwing money at a project, as Lojzek says. The tweeters are probably too old to have ferrofluid, which is an oily liquid that can dry out and reduce treble output.

Old bass units sometimes sag and rub voicecoil with a buzzing noise. You test that by gently pushing them in. Turning them 90 degrees can cure that. Put the speaker on its back to adjust like that. Make notes as you go along of the wiring colours on the connections.

Lastly, old electrolytic capacitors in the crossover can degrade with time, being essentially wet. People often replace as a matter of course. I'd think these speakers are hard soldered, but there might be some nuts on the speaker terminals that can tighten up to fresh metal.

Just one additional thought. Old copper speaker cables can corrode very badly. Sounds fuzzy. I have sometimes amazed people with the improvement of stripping them back to fresh metal. Along with pressing buttons on the amp and turning volume controls to take off corrosion, and pulling out plugs and pushing them back on again. Better, you can buy aerosol switch cleaner if you are feeling adventurous. MOT for amps.
 
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Thank-you system7, I'll have a think on that - I'm just worried that I might make a hash of installing the replacement drivers - not being very good at intricate, manual work. In my Studio 1s at the moment the trebles are OK but have become a somewhat tinny and less precise, the bass "thump" has disappeared (as though the very low frequencies are simply absent) and the mids sound brassy like they're going through a grinder - harsh and upleasant with the sounds all mixed together like mashed potato! The overall sound has lost its warm, round, "comfortable" aspect. Before it sounded like the sound simply flowed out of the speakers to fill the room with a very broad "soundscape" (not directional) but now it seems to be pumped out aggressively.
 
If the driver surrounds are gone, then they can be repaired. Many speakers are fixed in this way. If you cannot do it yourself, get them to someone like Wembley Speakers (they are in London) or someone similar in your territory.

MUCH MUCH easier than trying to randomly replace the drivers and 'hope' that they will work.

I had Studio 1 speakers for many years - they were great. But I had a pair of Gale 401A professional restored and they are my only units now.
 
Thanks Jensen. It's a bit complicated here because I live in France and transmission-line speakers aren't very well known either by constructors or repairers. I did have them repaired professionally once (by a guy called Pascal Louvet who makes high-end speakers and does repairs too) but the sound was a long way from being like it was before... :-(
 
Hopefully I've attached a photo here - I can't see it though!
 

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Alors! Pascal has been very creative there!

That is nothing like the original. :confused:

Looks like a Dynaudio bass and a Vifa XT25 tweeter!

I wonder if he modified the crossover too?

This could get deep.

But replacing the bass looks like the main event. Maybe we could find an Audax unit.

Question of what fits, really.
 
This looks doable to me.

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Clearly this is the square frame bass model originally. And the 13x8mm metal tweeter.

The good news is it isn't rebated (which means the baffle is flat), so almost anything will fit.

You need to unscrew the drivers and measure the hole cutouts in the baffle.

It's not hard to file them bigger if the new drivers need a bigger cutout.

Et Apres, we have a dig around Speakers & Audio Parts, EU Webshop to see what is available.
 
....
Tweeters should be measured for fit too,

Falcon do a soft dome Audax replacement. It may not be what you want here especially if you have an Elac metal tweeter:

AUDAX TW025A0 8 ohm 12 x 8 Tweeter, replaces IMF, Celef, Radford

A general inspection is worthwhile before throwing money at a project, as Lojzek says. The tweeters are probably too old to have ferrofluid, which is an oily liquid that can dry out and reduce treble output.
....
Photos of the Studio 1 show a rectangular ELAC faceplate hard dome tweeter common on many TDL models. These did use ferrofluid and it will be long dried up. The Falcon replacement is likely to work, the original was not the strong point of the design.
 
Bonjour Sally,
your "repaired" Loudspeakers have sadly not very much to do with the original TDL Studio 1 anymore (TDL Studio 1 loudspeaker Measurements | Stereophile.com).

Before you start off into new design adventures with whatever drivers - which will require a new crossover and probably other changes - you might consider buying another Studio 1, if you liked the sound (TDL Elektronik Studio 1-Excellent "Ubertragungsleitung" HiFi Lautsprecher | eBay). This might sound more expensive first, but as the original drivers are hardly available anymore, it could be your safest way to get the "old" sound back. All else is a new loudspeaker - you simply can´t use whatever is available as drivers and hope that it sounds good.
Sorry to discourage you somehow...

Cordialement

Mattes
 
It's true that 6" polycones are not easily available and tend to expensive these days. I must thank Lojzek for this thought, but the paper Visaton WS17E-8 is only £25:

WS 17 E - 8 Ohm | Visaton

If it fits, it ought to be cheap entertainment at least. Nothing will blow up for sure. A similar project here.

Visaton-Monacor 2 way sealed simple loudspeaker build plans

The perfect can be the enemy of the good sometimes.
 
Thanks Mattes. I had originally started to look for a replacement pair of Studio 1s and found a few for sale here and there. But they were all so far from here that if I did buy I would be "buying blind" without having been able to see or, more importantly, hear the speakers. Also, shipping for such large items could be a problem, especially in France. I was once sent a Feder guitar amp from London and it got lost on the way. It did eventually turn up (more than 6 months later). I've also had many more smaller items going mission in the post. So I'm not very confident. If someone nearby who knows their stuff could go and "visit" the speakers that would be helpful but as they're scattered all over Europe that'd mean having people all over the place! I've never seen any for sale in France... But I'm not totally opposed to the idea if a really good opportunity comes up and is within by somewhat limited budget.