speaker know it all please!

[DanGTI]

ok first off, sorry...this is not strictly car related. Im restoring / rescuing some old speakers of my dads (they are very rare and very old and also have some sentimental value)....

whats happened is the flexible part of the driver was (stupidly) made of some special type of paper and over the years has completely deteriorated....this part of the drivers was repaired as a make do about 10 years ago, but im sorting them out properly now so I need some new drivers......

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sorry if the pics are *****...they were done in a rush

From hole to hole (mounting points) they measure 145mm and the cone itself cannot be more than 105mm Diameter.....would any car speakers fit?

Im probably at a lost cause here but i thought its worth a try to see if anyone can help.

[Tigz™]

What size is that in inchs?

Dont forget speakers need the correct enclosure sizes to operate propally so to do this right your gonna need to find some drivers that will work in that size box.

you can of course fine tune the box to make it a little smaller, or by adding some wadding make it "seem" larger.

Have you measured the inside of the boxes?

They look fantastic by the way!

*note*

Could be possable to get the drivers `re-coned`....

[DanGTI]

5 and 3/4 inch from hole to hole and the area for the cone itself i think is 4 1/4 inch diameter

these were awesone speakers and all the music I grew up listening to as a kid was played through them....cant measure inside the box cos its got a wierd air chamber thing (its not just a hollow box with wadding)

thanks for the ideas I will definately see if its possible for them to be `re-coned` cos i have no idea how to work out which speakers will be right for this size cabinet

[bossjohnc]

Quite a lot of drivers use paper as it's an ideal material - lightweight etc.

I think there might be a resistance problem with car speakers, they're usually rated quite differently.

What make are they? If they're a decent make, the manufacturer will probably have service centres that restore old speakers, I personally think that's the best way to do it.

[Tigz™]

Ya I think home speakers are 8ohm drivers.

Not too much a problem if you get duel coil drivers..

But I think John is right, see if ou can get them `re-built` buddy.

[DanGTI]

these are seriously vintage (LEAK).....they were well ahead of their time and unfeasibly expensive (back in whenever) and to complicate things, only a limited amuont were put together (in Yorkshire!).....so probably wont have a service centre just for them (not like having a set of B&W's or Sony's) but good idea, I might try and see if theres anyone in the UK that refurbs old audio equipment.

apart from the sentimental value, itd cost me easily £1500+ for some new home speakers id be as happy with cos theyre so cheaply put together now....so Im determined to get them running properly.

[DanGTI]

whats a dual coil driver? (cos they are 8ohms)

[bossjohnc]

Ahhhh, Leak - you shouldn't have too much of a problem restoring those I wouldn't have thought... bound to be people doing it

[DanGTI]

my god someone thats actually heard of them

[bossjohnc]

They went out of business or were taken over a very very long time ago, but are a well respected name in hifi - particularly for valve amps.

Edit: In fact, that probably sheds some light on the reasoning for the paper drivers - they're probably made to have a very high sensitivity so that they require little power to run, probably something like 93/94 dBWm. A nice pair of 15W Leak mono blocks would be a great combination style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" />

[DanGTI]

yeah my old man used to be a radio / tv service bloke back in th'old days for all that kind of stuff and told me theyve not been around for years (id never heard of them). pretty rare now cos everyones have died (like these) and been thrown out or replaced by £149.99 Aiwa mini systems

[bossjohnc]

QUOTE(DanGTI)

replaced by £149.99 Aiwa mini systems

*shudder*

[DanGTI]

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[DanGTI]

QUOTE(bossjohnc)

They went out of business or were taken over a very very long time ago, but are a well respected name in hifi - particularly for valve amps.

Edit: In fact, that probably sheds some light on the reasoning for the paper drivers - they're probably made to have a very high sensitivity so that they require little power to run, probably something like 93/94 dBWm. A nice pair of 15W Leak mono blocks would be a great combination  

sorry....what? (still learning all this audio stuff) 93/94 dBW what? mono block?

[Max]

Think we've got an old pair of LEAK speakers up the loft. Never heard of them before. I would advise against putting car speakers in them. Surely with a bit of searching, you will find some old enthusiast that can repair/ point you in the right direction. If its the senimental value, and you want a top job then dont rush into anything.

[DanGTI]

yeah true, Ive thought about it a lot more after typing this thread (thanks for the help so far) and dont want to bodge them together, Im gonna get them like new, get new wiring and speaker cables and some quality stands to put them on. Ive looked up a few vintage audio & `re-coning` places on the net (one is in bradford where these were made!) and emailed them so will wait & see what response I get.

u should bring 'em down from the loft - these had a sweet sound, Ive looked at loads of new speakers but nothing at what id consider a reasonable price quite sounds how id like and feel cheap.

[Max]

Tried them, they're not as high end as yours, not a patch on my b&w's.

[DanGTI]

i dunno how 'high end' these are....Im told they were about the best about at the time....but I remember how good certain old albums and songs sound through them and i cant find anything similar (in new ones). I do like most the B&W's these are a similar size to the 602's but smaller cones.

[DanGTI]

QUOTE(bossjohnc)

They went out of business or were taken over a very very long time ago, but are a well respected name in hifi - particularly for valve amps.

Edit: In fact, that probably sheds some light on the reasoning for the paper drivers - they're probably made to have a very high sensitivity so that they require little power to run, probably something like 93/94 dBWm. A nice pair of 15W Leak mono blocks would be a great combination  

Youre not far off the mark there...been doin my homework on these (read the back of the speaker!) they are designed for 90 and were rated up to 25W

[M1 Lupo]

Max, what B&W's have you got out of curiosity?

[bossjohnc]

As we're on the subject...

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These are my Tannoys - 8" Dual Concentric driver rated at 89dBwM, running with an amp which is rated at 30W per channel @0.001% THD.

I've had them for about 15 years now - saved up with paper round money... seems a little crazy now I look back at it, but I'm glad I made the purchase!!

Definately get those speakers refurbed properly, it'll be well worth it.

[Max]

Ive only got the 601's but the plan is to get some 603's or 604's and use the 601's as rear speakers in the new palace of love.

[DanGTI]

i cant remember which ones are which, but i found the biggest bookshelf ones sounded waaay better than some of the more expensive floorstanders. (i think due to the smaller drivers)

[Max]

All depends what kind of room its in. Usually, bookshelves will sound better than floorstanders in a smaller room.

[bossjohnc]

One other thought... if you haven't replaced any of the internal speaker wiring yet, don't. It might be made of `non-oxidising` metal of some kind, possibly quite expensive to replace (and shouldn't need replacing if it is). It might not be on the other hand but it'd be best to get it checked out first.