Lockwoods in da house! - advice please

[walpurgis]

You could always use a Formica cased amp to drive them. Rogers HG88?

[struth]

I think it's water based but still a right pain. Bit like taking off wall paper or plaster, some easy bits and some really slow bits.

I have read that if you scrub the area with warm, soapy water, this may be enough to remove the stain.

Applying an ammonia-based household cleaner with a spray bottle or dry cloth should remove stubborn water-based paints. Rinse the area with water after..

not tried it but may be worth a go on say the underside and see if it is quicker.

[Macca]

Don't make any decisions on amplifiers etc until you have the drivers fixed - is my advice.

Looks like the original finish is pretty good. Not sure what you can do about the missing chunks of formica. Maybe some sort of resin fill?

[The Black Adder]

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement and conflicting viewpoints, now I really don't know what to do!

Tried scraping the paint off the top of one cab.

I started on this panel because it is really badly damaged already so no big loss if I made a hash of it. As you can see there is a whopping great chunk of Formica missing off of one corner.

Actually came up pretty well but was a bit of a nightmare.

This bit took me about an hour and a half solid work - reckon both cabs would take me a couple of months

Still sounding awesome, but my amp and CD player are just that bit thin sounding, OK with the right recordings - my Rega RS3s have quite a full balance.

I think the CDS1 is the main culprit but it isn't going anywhere so a change of amp will be on the horizon sometime down the road and since I'm thinking of getting rid of the RP6 anyway that will mean a complete system change

Few photos of tonight's handiwork, knew that Costa rewards card would come in handy

Looks like Oak finish to me - what do you think?

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John.. I used Fairy power spray to get the paint off my Lockwoods... it's evil stuff but fetches paint off like a treat.

[Wakefield Turntables]

John,

Youll find the Lockwoods to be a labour of love but when you get them sorted you'll be glad of the effort.

[The Black Adder]

Welcome to the manly Lockwood owners club, it's nice to know that 15" is better than 12" .

Well they are but the 12" MG's do sound slightly more dynamic even so, quicker transients. Bass is bloody good with 12" MG's too if you get them in the correct enclosures with a sorted (correctly updated) crossover. The 15" drivers are better in regards to bass and scale but the 12" ones are no slouch I can tell you that for sure and worth more than the asking in comparison to 15" drivers.

The 10" MG's... well, not good IMO.

[walpurgis]

The 10" MG's... well, not good IMO.

Agreed. But the 10" HPD is extremely nice.

[JohnJo]

It's great to get the benefit of all your experience folks, I've taken it onboard and the updated plan is to strip the paint over the coming weeks, as time permits, and stick with the Formica rather than ditching it for veneer. Probably get them reconed but I haven't completely ruled out doing the surrounds myself, I'll do some more research. I'll check the components on the crossovers and replace anything that looks or reads dodgy with original value components. I might return to the crossovers down the line once I'm used to the speakers and I'll do nothing regarding my amp until everything is settled in.

[Reffc]

You really do need to have those reconed at the minimum. I always advise a recone rather than refoam because (as most people forget) the suspensions on those will be well past their best by now. I get a lot of Tannoys in for fettling and all without exception have lowered Fs readings due to soggy suspension. Ignore earlier comments about worries of pleated or "wrong" surrounds...that's nonsense. Lockwood Audio supply the correct cone, suspension and Tannoplas foam type surrounds for HPDs to restore these to the correct T&S parameters with the benefit that the new voicecoil insulation has a higher power rating than the originals. It's all good.

Crossovers will more than likely want removing, taken apart, switches cleaned some joints possibly re-flowing, and ideally, capacitors changed for better quality new ones. It makes a positive difference, trust me. The output wiring is usually made up of 3 core ligting flex (fitted from the factory) to the original 4 pin plugs. The wiring is non-ofc and non-tinned to tends to corrode at the 4 pin plug end. best thing is to replace it with inexpensive OFC or tinned wiring and best place for the original plugs is in the bin. Mark Pitcher or myself can supply new manufacture gold plated sprung 4-pin plugs for these. Best of luck with them.

[JohnJo]

You really do need to have those reconed at the minimum. I always advise a recone rather than refoam because (as most people forget) the suspensions on those will be well past their best by now. I get a lot of Tannoys in for fettling and all without exception have lowered Fs readings due to soggy suspension. Ignore earlier comments about worries of pleated or "wrong" surrounds...that's nonsense. Lockwood Audio supply the correct cone, suspension and Tannoplas foam type surrounds for HPDs to restore these to the correct T&S parameters with the benefit that the new voicecoil insulation has a higher power rating than the originals. It's all good.

Crossovers will more than likely want removing, taken apart, switches cleaned some joints possibly re-flowing, and ideally, capacitors changed for better quality new ones. It makes a positive difference, trust me. The output wiring is usually made up of 3 core ligting flex (fitted from the factory) to the original 4 pin plugs. The wiring is non-ofc and non-tinned to tends to corrode at the 4 pin plug end. best thing is to replace it with inexpensive OFC or tinned wiring and best place for the original plugs is in the bin. Mark Pitcher or myself can supply new manufacture gold plated sprung 4-pin plugs for these. Best of luck with them.

Thanks Paul, appreciate the advice and offer - I'll be in touch in due course regarding the crossovers.
Tbh, I'm thinking of taking the drivers to Tannoy at Coatbridge for a recone. In fairness they gave me Lockwoods details, who I've spoken to as well and were very helpful too but Glasgow is closer and I'm thinking of driving over with them rather than posting as I don't trust them to get there or to London and back in one piece.

I've got the tops of both speakers nearly stripped of paint but Rexton was right, labour of love. Tried different cleaners etc but no avail. Hair drier definitely helped with the really stubborn bits but the heat is causing the Formica to lift at the edges. Right royal pain. Stickability is not one of my strong points but I'll plod on though because they are fantastic!
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