B&W DM2A refurb's

[Audio Al]

Sadly thats the condition they were in when purchased

But the sound more than makes up for the cosmetics


May see if I can make some stretchy covers for them in a more acceptable colour to me

[walpurgis]

Take the grilles off and 'dolly' out the kinks. Shouldn't be too hard.

They do sound nice. I had a pair. Had to rebuild the rectifiers in mine.

[Audio Al]

Take the grilles off and 'dolly' out the kinks. Shouldn't be too hard.

I did think of doing that but they have a printed pattern / texture to the grill and you would flatten this as well

[Audio Al]

Just found this on the web a review of the 35 year olds

" These speakers were manufactured in the '70s... yep, 35 years ago... Then, why this review? because their technology was very special, and still interesting.
The mid-bass was 7.5", huge magnet, cast frame, bextrene shallow cone.
They were loaded by a quarter-wave Transmission Line, and covered the spectrum up to 3kHz. The T.L., high crossover frequency, very thick baffle and Bextrene cone resulted in a very neutral, non-boxy sound, still excellent today. The efficiency was very low, though, and a powerful amplifier is required (100W per channel).
There were 2 dome tweeters, one 38mm and one 19m (above 14kHz). Dome tweeters were in their infancy, and use of 2 tweeters was logical at the time, but one 25~30mm modern dome tweeter today would provide a less harsh, more detailed sound.
I wonder if somebody ever modded a pair of B&W DM2a. Keeping the enclosure and the mid-bass, augmented by a modern top-quality dome tweeter with an adequate crossover, should be a killer combination.
It is a pity that T.L. are not used more often. The freedom from 'boxiness' and the possibility to produce very low bass from a mid-size woofer are exceptional. "

[walpurgis]

Dunno where you got that info, but they are 1/8th wavelength lines, not 1/4. I spoke to John Bowers about his design when they were released.

[Macca]

You not thought about getting those ESL 57 refurbished, Al?

[Audio Al]

You not thought about getting those ESL 57 refurbished, Al?

Yes many times

Then I looked in my bank account and stopped thinking

[dowser]

Yes many times

Then I looked in my bank account and stopped thinking

Do yours have the wax potted EHT units? If so its a fairly easy DIY job to rebuild them with new caps and diodes. Assuming they are still stock then you are not hearing them anywhere near their best.

I have a spare pair here I always intended to rebuild and then sell on an exchange basis for old ones.

I'd recommend taking grills off, gently push out dings & wash them, check EHT units to see if they are wax potted & and clean all the dust off the panels (nappy wipes are good) - you can then also check panels for arc damage.

Richard

[seoirse2002]

Hello

Left home this morning to collect the speakers and 6 hours later home

Some photos as purchased

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This speaker case has black marks in the grain of the veneer , not good cosmetically
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Both grills are very good and have the B&W badges

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With the grill off
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Driver unit
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Not sure what this unit is ?
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Tweeter unit
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This wadding does not look original its like a giant scotchbrite / hard plastic sort of material ?
Any ideas
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The speaker front mounting plate is held in with cross head screws ?
Are these correct for the year as the tweeter screws are slot heads

Looks like they may have been got at / serviced at some point

I will get them wired up and have a listen and see if everything is working

Then tomorrow will take out the front plates and have a proper look inside

Any comments welcome

Be interesting to see how you are going to get the cabinets back to normal....Ive got a pair that look like that lurking undercover in the garage and would be nice to refurb the wood

[seoirse2002]

Hello

Left home this morning to collect the speakers and 6 hours later home

Some photos as purchased

.
.

.
.


This speaker case has black marks in the grain of the veneer , not good cosmetically
.
.

.
Both grills are very good and have the B&W badges

.
.

.
With the grill off
.
.

.
Driver unit
.
.

.
Not sure what this unit is ?
.
.

.
Tweeter unit
.
.

.
This wadding does not look original its like a giant scotchbrite / hard plastic sort of material ?
Any ideas
.
.

.
The speaker front mounting plate is held in with cross head screws ?
Are these correct for the year as the tweeter screws are slot heads

Looks like they may have been got at / serviced at some point

I will get them wired up and have a listen and see if everything is working

Then tomorrow will take out the front plates and have a proper look inside

Any comments welcome

just like that actually