Anyone know Griffin loudspeakers from the 80s?

[sburrell]

Hi,

My dad's Wharfedale Linton 3 XP speakers have bitten the dust (the woofer on one of them is dead, not sure why) and a friend of his gave him some loudspeakers for free. Make is Griffin. Found a thread on the interweb with someone asking the exact same question, albeit with photos, here.

Anyone know anything about them?

Ta muchly.

PS: would that woofer on the Linton 3 XPs be hard to fix? I think it may just be a wiring problem, because I remember it was intermittent for a time.

[DSJR]

It may be possible to fix the Linton IIIXP's, but they weren't too hot when new and are pretty grim today IMO. You might tap up HiFi dave, who has a boxed pair intended for "test" functions. he may be willing to let them go...

Can I just say that griffin's had a definite sonic "flavour." very damped and "dry" in presentation as I recall, with a "pinched" quality I remember. Thirty years on, they may well perform differently on modern gear.

I'd look out for some original Mission 700's (even if you have to re-foam or replace the bass units...). They were so good with elderly equipment and not bad with better stuff too and they didn't "bite" like HB1's used to.

[Alex_UK]

My first pair of *proper* speakers were Linton 3 XP's, bought second-hand and were the cheapest in the grotty "pawn" shop - which probably should've told me something! They weren't that bad, to be fair but easily improved on. You could unscrew the offending driver and check the connections - might be something simple like a loose wire at either driver or crossover end, and what's the worst that can happen?

[hifi_dave]

Well, the sky might cave in or you could open up a Black Hole in the back garden.

[The Vinyl Adventure]

jimmy ( Technics Fan ) offerd to sell me some "Mission 700's Leading Edge Mk2 Speakers in Ash Black" you might want to pm him if you are to take dave's advice as he didnt want much money for them

[Alex_UK]

Well, the sky might cave in or you could open up a Black Hole in the back garden.

Crickey, if I'd known they could do that I'd never have chucked them!

[The Grand Wazoo]

Who needs a multi-billion dollar internationally organised, researched and funded nuclear particle doughnut in Switzerland when you've got some of Wharfedale's finest in you lounge? - Bookshelf Hadron Collidors!

[sburrell]

Well, I pulled the grille off the offending speaker, and though the sky didn't fall in when I took out the woofer, some white cardboard-like material did tumble to the floor---some kind of giant paper washer for the woofer? Well, it was in 4 bits, now. Still, I examined the connection to the woofer and it looked fine---no fraying, shoogliness or plain and simple separation. The wires disappeared up into the depths of the cabinet, and I didn't want to rummage through the mass of purple filler fibre at that point to hunt for the crossover. Actually, truth is, ever since I took a large door off its hinges in my flat (refurbed in the 80s) and noticed a white fire-resistant layer I've been paranoid about asbestos fibres. Someone once told me that asbestos is one of the best sound dampers you'll find, so I'm jittery that these speakers might contain it in some fashion---that purple filler especially Yes, I'm paranoid…
Anyway, I think I'll leave the speakers be now and take them to a car boot sale. Might get a fiver for them?

As for those Griffins: are they an improvement over the Linton 3 XPs? I've not had a chance to hear them myself, but in physical terms they seem solid and certainly heavy, like the Lintons on steroids and with a touch more polish.
I wasn't really thinking of buying my dad new speakers just now---probably a new CD player if anything, and a new stylus for his AT MM cart on his Rega Planar 2. But I'll bear the recommendation in mind in case a pair of Mission 700s should appear at a good price.