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I'd be very reluctant to move away from using the HF2000. It's one of the key factors in the sound of this speaker, as you will find if you try another tweeter.Quote:
Originally Posted by MartinT
The HF2000 has wonderful detail with a distinctive creamy smoothness and I've not heard quite the same from other similar sized dome drivers.
I'll do what I can to rescue it, Geoff!
Ok, got the Danish oil now. Drivers and crossovers coming out tomorrow and I'll work on the cabinets too. Crossover components on their way from Wilmslow. Tomorrow is refurb day #1 :)
Good luck with it. Interesting speakers, that should sound great when finished.
One set of drivers removed, the AR bass drivers are in a bad way and will be refoamed. I'm not sure about the Peerless mid, it looks ok and the surround flexes fine. I may leave it well alone although I have the refoam kit if needs be. This Celestion tweeter looks ok, the other one is in a very bad way and I may not be able to rescue it.
The internal wadding looks different from the fibreglass of the British ones, could be lambs wool.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8396/8...15cc0887_b.jpg
The crossover is shocking: point to point wiring I prefer over a PCB, but the bloody thing has got glue all over it, bits of wadding stuck to it and is stapled to the rear panel!
Also, the internal wiring is very naff thin stuff. Looks like these US built Gales were not given the TLC in manufacturing of the British ones.
Good internal bracing, the cabinets look strong.
http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8125/8...0e966a7b_b.jpg
Um that glue maybe a problem if you try removing it you might take the coating off the Inductor wire in the process..
The glue was just a crude way to stop components vibrating/resonating. You should be able to change the wiring easily enough by the look of it.
The capacitors should prize off if need be and as Andr'e suggests, the inductors are probably best left well alone. They look like reasonable air cored items anyway.
Don't worry about the crossover appearance, it's no worse than many of its time. I don't know if you intend to keep the 'L' pads, if you remove them the mid & top output levels will be a bit higher and you may need to compensate.
I'd say don't touch the midrange units unless you have to. It's hard to tell from the picture, but they look as though they have foam surrounds, I'm fairly sure there was a variant of this unit with cloth surrounds which may be worth looking out for. If you suspect the foam is about to fall apart, gently give them a thin coat of Aleene's Original Tacky Glue, it will strengthen them but keep them pliant, you may want to thin it with about 25% water. I used it on my Tannoy foam surrounds and it worked a treat. It's basically simliar to Plastiflex, which was is used for cone and surround doping. When dry it goes clear and remains elastic and tacky to touch.
I'm sure you've thought of this, but mask off and give the baffles a spray with satin black before you refit the drivers.
Thanks, Geoff. I will try to preserve the mids and have ordered some Aleene's.
To be honest, I'm considering building the crossovers from new. I'm currently trying to undo the staples to get the old ones out (there's glue to contend with, too). Quite tricky through a bass driver hole. I won't keep the L-pads, I've calculated the fixed resistors I'll need to replace them.
Hi Martin;
I'm quite envious that you've a pair of these. I had a pair of GS401A with the Chrome ends back in the late 70s/early 80s. Initially my 110watt monoblocks had to go back to the manufacturers to have the heatsinks beefed up as they kept tripping out the amps. I have very fond memories of these; very spacious I recall and absolutely fabulous when the volume is turned up. I think they might have been the best speakers I ever had.
Regards
Tony
That's very good to know, Tony. I'm really looking forward to firing them up, just a few hurdles to pass first ;)