Guest BartJY Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Hi Folks, I have an old pair of Allison Threes. The first problem I have is that one of the tweeters seems to be shot, any idea where I might find replacements that have the same sonic quality? The second issue is the foam suspension around the woofers is coming off. Any idea where I can get them refoamed? Let me say that this is a great web site. Who would have thought there would be a place all about my speakers. Fantastic. ThanksBart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Welcome BartAnd did you know about the Yahoo Allison forum?http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/allison-speakers/Regarding the foam: It is not difficult to do it yourself. I get my kits from MSound:http://www.citlink.net/~msound/Check his site for step-by-step instructions. I refoamed a couple of pair of Allison: Fours with his kits.If you REALLY don't want to do it yourself, check the Home page here, then click on Links. You will see a number of resources. One--Carl's Custom Loudspeakers--does refoaming. Carl is a frequent contributor here.About those tweeters. That's a tough one. Allison tweeters had excellent dispersion that is unmatched by replacements. You may be able to find used ones on ebay--they do pop up from time to time. I'm not sure if the Three used the same tweeter as the Four, but I bought these for my Fours:http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_i...roducts_id=1109They were recommended by Howard Ferstler, an Allison enthusiast and prolific writer on all things audio. But I never used them because I found a used one on ebay (whatever you do, make sure the tweeters match). If you also post your question on the Yahoo forum, you may get advice from Howard (and on rare occaisions Roy himself writes in!!)Take a look at the Allison brochure in the library--it seems to say the Three and Four (in fact all the "Series One" speakers) used the same 1" (2.5 cm) convex diaphragm tweeter.Good luckKent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thanks Kent. I've read some of your older posts. In one of them you were refering to how you couldn't repair your tweeters. I got the impression that it had something to do with the wire leads? What happened? I ask because one of my tweeter wires has broken off from the spring clamping post and was wondering if it can be soldered to a longer wire to reach the spring post? Was that your problem or was it different? Thanks for your tips and links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Thanks Kent. I've read some of your older posts. In one of them you were refering to how you couldn't repair your tweeters. I got the impression that it had something to do with the wire leads? What happened? I ask because one of my tweeter wires has broken off from the spring clamping post and was wondering if it can be soldered to a longer wire to reach the spring post? Was that your problem or was it different? Thanks for your tips and links.Hi BartI just did a quick search on the Yahoo site and found this info from Alan Schwab, another Allison expert:All of the Allison acoustics-Massachusetts 1 inch diameterConvex Diaphragm Boston, USA manufactured Tweeters were of twodifferent electro/acoustic designs. The first model of these tweetersdesigned for the Allison One, Two and Three was designed to be used inall of these 3-way systems with a tweeter low end crossover frequencyof 3,750 Hz. All of these 3-way tweeters used a siliconedamping/cooling fluid in the tweeter voice coil gap. The Allison FourTweeters' were the first of a number of later Allison Acoustics modelsthat used the Allison 1 inch Convex Diaphragm Tweeter in slightlymodified form that was designed for use in 2-way loudspeaker systemswith a low end tweeter crossover frequency of 2,000 Hz. This 2-wayAllison Tweeter was identical in design with the 3-way Allison Tweeterexcept that the damping/cooling fluid used in the voice coil gap wasferrofluid and not the silicone fluid used in the 3-way AllisonTweeter design. The frequency response plots of both the Allison3-way and 2-way Tweeters were published in Allison Acoustic'sliterature and are both superb. However, the 3-way designed AllisonTweeter model has advantages in its smoothness and off-axisperformance over the 2-way design as displayed in Allison'sliterature. I should point out that even the Allison 2-way Tweeter'spublished frequency performance easily exceeds, particularly inoff-axis radiation performance, that of the published frequencyresponse performance of any other production tweeter whose publishedspecifications I have ever reviewed.So you need a One Two or Three tweeter. Or the Audax may work.As far as the tweeter leads: They are VERY thin--like hair. A skilled technician COULD solder an extension, but my clumsy fingers just made matters worse. When I replaced the Allison: Four tweets I used Allison: Fives, which were idendical except they were back wired. Much better for me btw--looking over some old Yahoo posts, I see that it was Alan Schwab who gave a LOT of good advice. It may have been Howard who suggested the Audax in the first place but I forget. Bear in mind that if you replace the tweeters with Audax or any other tweet it will most likely require crossover modifications.Now that I think about it, RoyC has written very favorably in the AR section about HiVi Q1R tweeters as replacements for AR3a and 2ax tweets. I "think" there are some similarities between the AR tweets and the Allisons in terms of dispersion, crossover point (2 kHz for the Allison: Fours) and physical size. Maybe some HiVi enthusiasts will offer advice.Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 Yeah, I'm afraid me and my clumsy fingers did the same thing. The wire was broken, but I broke even more if it off. I'm going to try soldering the wire to see if that is what the tweeters problem is. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If that doesn't work then maybe I'll be camping out on eBay for a while for some replacements.......So how hard is it to replace the woofer foam?Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 So how hard is it to replace the woofer foam?Not hard at all but it does require patience. Look at that MSound site for the instructions and also check this thread for info on the correct "fillet" style foam:http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Boar...?showtopic=4158You might be able to send the tweeters to Millersound:http://www.millersound.net/about.htmIf anyone can fix them, Bill LeGall can.Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 6, 2009 Report Share Posted February 6, 2009 OOPS-- made a mistake on that Audax tweet. It's this one:http://www.madisound.com/catalog/product_i...products_id=374You need 4 ohms for Allisons. I forget--are the Allison tweeters about 4" diameter, like the ARs? If so this Audax is the correct physical size and impedance.This is the HiVi, but they are 6 ohmshttp://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.c...tnumber=297-417Don't know how much difference that makes or if the impedance can be "fixed" somehow--I'm not a xover engineer Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigyank Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Not hard at all but it does require patience. Look at that MSound site for the instructions and also check this thread for info on the correct "fillet" style foam:http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/IP.Boar...?showtopic=4158You might be able to send the tweeters to Millersound:http://www.millersound.net/about.htmIf anyone can fix them, Bill LeGall can.KentBill told me personally that repairing the tweeters is impossible for him. The mids he actually "fixed" better than original and I am hand delivering my remaining 3 since they have the domes pushed in.Yank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Bill told me personally that repairing the tweeters is impossible for him. The mids he actually "fixed" better than original and I am hand delivering my remaining 3 since they have the domes pushed in.YankHey Yank. Wow. I guess if he can't fix them they are truly unfixable. Glad he did so well on the mids. How did he improve them?So Bart, you are back to watching ebay, or you may want to try those Audax tweets. I'm willing to sell mine--send me a PM if interested. Or for just a little more you can get them from Madisound.Good luck.Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigyank Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hey Yank. Wow. I guess if he can't fix them they are truly unfixable. Glad he did so well on the mids. How did he improve them?So you are back to watching ebay, or if you may want to try those Audax tweets. I'm willing to sell mine--send me a PM if interested. Or for just alittle more you can get them from Madisound.Good luck.KentI didn't have a before pic on this but the lead was pulled out by one of my cats and the dome was pushed in as well:http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u60/big...del_One_Mid.jpgBill, whom I have met on a couple of occasions is truly a stand up guy.Yank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 Hi YankThat's cool. Never met Bill but he is reputed to be the best.The rest of my message re buying tweets was intended for Bart. I see you have a couple for sale so maybe Bart should contact you. Or go the Audax route.Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigyank Posted February 16, 2009 Report Share Posted February 16, 2009 I didn't have a before pic on this but the lead was pulled out by one of my cats and the dome was pushed in as well:http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u60/big...del_One_Mid.jpgBill, whom I have met on a couple of occasions is truly a stand up guy.YankWhat I failed to mention in the previous post is that he opens up the mid, softens/reforms the dome and in my case carefully unwinds one turn of the voice coil to reattach to the tinsel lead. He then repainted (correct term?) the dome with what looks like original coating (doesn't show up in the pic well) and had all of this done in under a week. He also stated to me that he can recone the woofers if needed (mine do not need to be).Yank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted February 17, 2009 Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hey Yank. Wow. I guess if he can't fix them they are truly unfixable. Glad he did so well on the mids. How did he improve them?So Bart, you are back to watching ebay, or you may want to try those Audax tweets. I'm willing to sell mine--send me a PM if interested. Or for just a little more you can get them from Madisound.Good luck.KentPM sent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 Kent, I did it. After setting up an area with good light and a hot soldering tool and with assorted paraphernalia to grasp and hold the very small diameter tweeter wire against a new almost as small wire I was successful at making a good solder joint. Now that the wire has been lengthened and can once again reach the speaker box binding post, the best part is....................... the tweeter works! Yeah!Now it's probably just a matter of time before the other tweeter needs the same type of repair. When it does, I'll know what to do.Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted March 1, 2009 Report Share Posted March 1, 2009 What speaker refoaming companies are recommended. I simply don't have the time to do it myself. ThanksBart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted March 2, 2009 Report Share Posted March 2, 2009 What speaker refoaming companies are recommended. I simply don't have the time to do it myself. ThanksBartNever mind, I saw your reference to Carl's Custom Loudspeakers. Seems like a good guy, I'll be sending my Allison Three woofers up his way in the next week or two. Bart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BartJY Posted August 30, 2009 Report Share Posted August 30, 2009 Sent the sub woofers to Carl for refoaming, got them back within ten days. Good work and reasonably priced. Carl's a professional and easy to work with. I'd recommend him to anyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JKent Posted September 2, 2009 Report Share Posted September 2, 2009 I never suggested the Audax, but it might work if all else fails.Howard FerstlerMy apologies Howard and Bart. Someone on the Yahoo forum suggested the Audax. It may have been Alan Schwab as I mentioned in Post #4, but I'm not sure. I bought a pair but subsequently found some original Allisons. Good luck with your project Bart.Kent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.