Isobarik Refurbs

[MikeMusic]

Do we know Simon Hamnet ?
He had an ad. on Ebay for selling or refurbing Isobariks.
Seems to know what he's talking about
I can post the Ebay words if that's ok
Couple of pages, but he does talk about Iso's which must be good
:-)

[MartinT]

Post the link if you can, Mike.

[MikeMusic]

Ebay item 290690037251

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290690037251?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649#ht_5304wt_974

[MartinT]

Interesting, especially replacing the B110 with a kevlar unit. Knowing what I do about the KEF drivers from my old Cambridge R40s, I would agree with that. This guy appears to know his stuff. Worth a call to discuss yours?

[MikeMusic]

If we don't know him....
I was hoping someone else would go first
There seem so many options.
I'll have another read and maybe contact him
I have 3 pairs of Iso's so could spare a pair for a while
:-)

[Lodgesound]

I have a mint pair of Isobariks with the outboard passive crossovers - was pleasantly surprised at how much they appear to be worth now - was told by someone that I would be lucky to get £300 for them........hmmmmmmmmmm....

[sq225917]

Briks were trading at anywhere between £400 for a basic external xo set up to about £900 for the full blown active ready versions. The entry level has moved to £6-700 and the top end up to £1100 of late.

[MikeMusic]

I have a mint pair of Isobariks with the outboard passive crossovers - was pleasantly surprised at how much they appear to be worth now - was told by someone that I would be lucky to get £300 for them........hmmmmmmmmmm....

£300 for a knackered pair needing work maybe

[stupinder]

Briks were the stuff of dreams for me in my teens.

[Reid Malenfant]

Interesting, especially replacing the B110 with a kevlar unit. Knowing what I do about the KEF drivers from my old Cambridge R40s, I would agree with that.
You really should see the quality of those Monacor drive units :) If they are anything like the carbon fibre bass/mids I purchased then they are of the very top quality.

The B110 suffered from a pretty pronounced peak in the midrange which the BBC crossovers attempted to alleviate, I'd call that a plaster rather than tackling the real problem. All the other early Kef drivers appear to suffer the same fate, even the B139 with it's aluminium coated polystyrene cone. Just at different frequencies ;)

[MikeMusic]

Briks were the stuff of dreams for me in my teens.

I was able to buy the dream !
Having been running my business for a few years and amassing some dough
The competition at the time was an active Merdian system, M10 speakers.
God they went LOUD.
I swear the top of my head came off a few times

[stupinder]

I was able to buy the dream !
Having been running my business for a few years and amassing some dough
The competition at the time was an active Merdian system, M10 speakers.
God they went LOUD.
I swear the top of my head came off a few times around the same time as my Brik drea i was in a hifi shop in Sheffield listening to M10s and they were playing (I thought) the Mission, but it will have been 84 or 85 so couldn't have been. Funny how the mind plays tricks.

[MikeMusic]

You really should see the quality of those Monacor drive units :) If they are anything like the carbon fibre bass/mids I purchased then they are of the very top quality.

The B110 suffered from a pretty pronounced peak in the midrange which the BBC crossovers attempted to alleviate, I'd call that a plaster rather than tackling the real problem. All the other early Kef drivers appear to suffer the same fate, even the B139 with it's aluminium coated polystyrene cone. Just at different frequencies ;)

S'funny. Ivor seemed to get so much right and yet so much not at all right

[Reid Malenfant]

S'funny. Ivor seemed to get so much right and yet so much not at all right
Time marches on & so does technology in loudspeaker drivers :) At the time they were decent drivers & just about the only alternative to a paper pulp cone.

Bextrene soon died a death as soon as polypropylene drivers hit the street as it didn't need tons of gunk slathered all over it to damp the things :eyebrows:

[MartinT]

Bextrene soon died a death as soon as polypropylene drivers hit the street as it didn't need tons of gunk slathered all over it to damp the things :eyebrows:

It didn't need the power either, which is why so many BBC and BBC-like speakers are quite inefficient.

[Marco]

Time marches on & so does technology in loudspeaker drivers :)


Lol - aye, tell that to the 35+ year old paper-coned drivers in me old Tannoys!! :eyebrows: ;)

Marco (who is, btw, a fan of Isobariks, in the right system).

[Reid Malenfant]

Pulp fibre & paper cones are still being used even now as I know you know Marco :D It's still great stuff as it's inherently light & self damping.

I was kind of refering to the polystyrene & aluminium sandwich that goes to make the B139 & Bextrene of the B110..

Not paper or pulp as that is as relevant today (maybe more so with modern manufacturing techniques) as it was back with the Rice - Kellogg (:lol:) speaker from the 1920s.

[Marco]

Indeed - and ya knows I was only pulling ya leg, and also making sure that your comments weren't misinterpreted by anyone as meaning that all new loudspeaker technology is superior to all old technology, which in terms of my experience (and I'm sure yours, too) patently isn't the case :)

Marco.

[Ian Walker]

Lol - aye, tell that to the 35+ year old paper-coned drivers in me old Tannoys!! :eyebrows: ;)

Marco (who is, btw, a fan of Isobariks, in the right system).

Thats a weee fibette...the last time we heard briks you reckoned the bass sounded like a fffffffffffffart :lol:

[Marco]

Lol - used within their limitations, in the right system, they're a fun listen! :)

Just don't play anything too demanding, with lots of bass, or they'll fart more than a flatulent Fat-Tailed Dingo! :D

Marco.

[MikeMusic]

Time marches on & so does technology in loudspeaker drivers :) At the time they were decent drivers & just about the only alternative to a paper pulp cone.

Bextrene soon died a death as soon as polypropylene drivers hit the street as it didn't need tons of gunk slathered all over it to damp the things :eyebrows:

Guess so
The world was changing as I had the system installed
Think it had just been accepted that speaker cable could make a difference
A Sound Org table was brought along for me to hear - yes another purchase
The stands had knobs (never used) as well as spikes for the stands.
Always thought the XLRs were pointless and such a pain for a bad soldering punter like me. Yes and 3 pins using just 2 !

[MikeMusic]

Lol - used within their limitations, in the right system, they're a fun listen! :)

Just don't play anything too demanding, with lots of bass, or they'll fart more than a flatulent Fat-Tailed Dingo! :D

Marco.

As I've upgraded the system I have found less bass, but more detail
Can't remember which upgrade but the lack of total bass left me speechless for a while

[Patrick Dixon]

Just don't play anything too demanding, with lots of bass, or they'll fart more than a flatulent Fat-Tailed Dingo! :D

I've never heard my Briks sound like a fart ... but then I don't play farty music.

Or were you just trying to cover up something Marco?

[Marco]

Could be! :eyebrows:

No, it was when Ian and I were once round at John Watson's place (he of Mana), and we played something fairly loud, with deep bass, and his Briks just couldn't handle it, so kind of gave up and made a 'phut' noise, instead! :D

Marco.

[Reid Malenfant]

A B139 really doesn't move a lot of air at all, paralleling a couple up (but only radiating from the surface area of one) to effectively shrink the enclosure volume by half & asking them to do deep bass at highish volume is asking for dead drivers. I know as I killed a pair of B139s myself. They were going flat to 20Hz though before they passed away :eyebrows:

It was also a brilliant party :rfl:

[DSJR]

:sofa:

Best not comment - I know 'briks far too well to be unbiased...

[MikeMusic]

:sofa:

Best not comment - I know 'briks far too well to be unbiased...

I've led a sheltered life in hifi terms since 1985.
Then I was exposed to the terrible Martin T just a few short years ago.
He made me spend money, mostly on peripherals.
If I took my system back to what it was, 4 way adaptors, original mains leads and interconnects I'm sure the Iso's would sound just as horrid as they did before I started upgrading

[DSJR]

Put it this way, 'briks can sound enchanting IF, you have a good pair, and they like the room they're in. The fact that they are around 3 ohms over much of their range doesn't help either. if you have a screechy, quacky pair (mid 80's before the major refurb Linn did), then there's nothing you can do other than replace all four mid drivers with a modern equivalent (KEF had to change the bextrene doping and/or surround I believe with terminal results for the lower powered version)

A client with a Naim passive powered 'Brik system traded his OK 'briks for some Sonus Faber Concerto's I remember. The sound was at least as clear, the speakers looked better and no shortcomings at all were noticed in comparison. I asked my colleague who was dealing with him how the 'briks sounded and the comment "No bass" was the reply......... (I was part-time by then and didn't get to hear them before they were taken to the Trading Station to be flogged off cheap).

[MartinT]

Then I was exposed to the terrible Martin T just a few short years ago.
He made me spend money, mostly on peripherals.

:) All good investments, though, no matter what equipment you end up with.

[Marco]

Indeed, Mike. Martin, you'll have to stop improving people's systems like that - it's getting to be a bad habit! :D

Marco.

[MikeMusic]

Put it this way, 'briks can sound enchanting IF, you have a good pair, and they like the room they're in. The fact that they are around 3 ohms over much of their range doesn't help either. if you have a screechy, quacky pair (mid 80's before the major refurb Linn did), then there's nothing you can do other than replace all four mid drivers with a modern equivalent (KEF had to change the bextrene doping and/or surround I believe with terminal results for the lower powered version)

A client with a Naim passive powered 'Brik system traded his OK 'briks for some Sonus Faber Concerto's I remember. The sound was at least as clear, the speakers looked better and no shortcomings at all were noticed in comparison. I asked my colleague who was dealing with him how the 'briks sounded and the comment "No bass" was the reply......... (I was part-time by then and didn't get to hear them before they were taken to the Trading Station to be flogged off cheap).

I was on the point of changing my mid 80s pair until I did the mains and the earth.
Went from rubbish to very listenable. Got better from there
I have little experience of other speakers indeed other systems as most people I know think spending £500 on a system is a vast amount of money.
'Course you lot are far more dangerous
:)

[DSJR]

If you have a good sound out of your 'briks, then you'll have to spend a fair amount to even begin to better them. To better tham in every way, I'd possibly have suggested active ATC 50's or 100's, but at several grand plus......

If you're using naim, just make sure the amps are properly serviced, since they ALWAYS sound better than they ever did for it. The original harshness of CB Naim amps all but disappears I found and hopefully, time has made the voltages inside more stable (it seems to I think). As you've found, it's a fact of life that old Naims are incredibly sensitive to mains issues - CD players spraying loads of noise and muck down their signal screens and mains leads etc...

[MikeMusic]

I *think* it is a good sound, with Naim amps.
I'm happy to be proved wrong if it makes the music better