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Gear / Technical Help => Playback Forum => Topic started by: Scooter123 on October 04, 2022, 12:07:05 AM
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My vintage audio guy says my tweeters are shot. Further complicating this problem is that parts are not available, and good guarantied used parts are challenging.
Can I just cut a hole in the speaker and slap on a new dome style tweeter? You know a good one from Parts Express?
These were free, and other than nostalgia, I have no emotional investment in the speakers.
The second question is this--I need a good set of bookshelf speakers, preferably a set of four, mid sized, you know perhaps an 8 inch woofer, unported cabinet, preferably reasonable to cheap. Got any suggestions for brands to shop, new or used.
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No recommendation for a replacement tweeter, but ideally you would want to swap out the existing tweeter rather than cut a new hole in the cabinet.
What's your budget for the bookshelf speakers??
There's a regular poster over on ASR that maintains a list of "recommended" speakers, that may be helpful. Here's the post for passive speakers:
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?threads/passive-speaker-recommendations-for-usa-by-sweetchaos.28296/
He also maintains a Google Doc listing of bookshelf speakers less than $300 regardless of whether they are "recommended" or not, but may help you peruse what's out there:
https://docs.google.com/document/u/1/d/e/2PACX-1vSmJ4_mrI6qlyD112KwadpXWZolFvGBcepj_OFvwWUvcF08Ah8k2UTduzPVtclrwhAWv90eFSyDk8x9/pub
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For the tweeters, you'll want to select ones that match up with the crossovers. Maybe call a place like https://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/ and tell them what Advent model you have. They should be able to help you select something compatible.
For the bookshelves, 8" woofers & un-ported? Ported is typically the norm for the smaller woofers used in what would be considered bookshelf speakers. Will you be using sub(s) with them?
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My vintage audio guy says my tweeters are shot. Further complicating this problem is that parts are not available, and good guarantied used parts are challenging.
Can I just cut a hole in the speaker and slap on a new dome style tweeter? You know a good one from Parts Express?
These were free, and other than nostalgia, I have no emotional investment in the speakers.
The second question is this--I need a good set of bookshelf speakers, preferably a set of four, mid sized, you know perhaps an 8 inch woofer, unported cabinet, preferably reasonable to cheap. Got any suggestions for brands to shop, new or used.
how are you at building things ? parts express bookshelf kit is like 100$
i built a pair and think they sound great. does have an adjustable port though
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We are trying to find a replacement tweeter, but it is a bit of a fool's errand. My vintage audio guy that repairs my gear, is an absolute perfectionist and does not want to throw Chinese crap (Parts Express) at these speakers. I try to tell him that even in the day, these were very much pedestrian speakers, like a "B" or "B+" quality, but he has read about Henry Kloss and wants to do it right. He has a supply of US made tweeters, $20-$200 and will pick one to match the crossover which is at approximately 1800Hz.
I have a second pair and presumably the tweeters are shot on those as well.
The tweeters were the weak point of the speaker.
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$200 for new tweeters and crossovers, but woofers are getting soft, need foam, coil is deteriorating ...
There are some very nice upgrade options
The high end stuff of 10 years ago has dropped 70% in price, and might amaze you.
Funny thing about high end consumers is that they often work or travel so much that their gear is pristine
Bower & Wilkins flagship for under $2k ! (They were about $8500 new)
But, if you want to nurse those along, there are a few close matches
https://simplyspeakers.com/assets/images/pdffiles/P85C00019-spec.pdf
If you haven't seen that yet
And then there is the hope of good, used parts:
https://southjersey.craigslist.org/ele/d/sicklerville-baby-advent-speakers/7534385158.html
(Change the crossover caps on old speakers, at least)
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If your Advent speakers are the "Original Large Advent" model, with the beveled front trim edge, then you should take a close look at the crossovers. There were two and maybe three revisions of the crossover circuit. "Rev 1", with a pair of 16 uF capacitors was hard on the tweeters and Advent adjusted to "Rev 2" with an 8 and 16 uF capacitor to reduce tweeter burnout. Whether your speakers have Rev 1 or Rev 2 crossovers, it would be worthwhile to completely rebuild them to Rev 2 with new film capacitors and better coils. This isn't too difficult if you have some soldering skills and a voltmeter that can read inductance (or have your speaker guru do it for you...). I can send you a parts list if interested.
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These are two--Advent 3s which were a bookcase small speaker, and the "Smaller Advent Speaker" which while small, was larger than the Advent 3s. The crossover seems to be 1800 or so. All were good per my tech guy. I am not qualified to test anything other than listening, so Audio Design in Burbank which is super busy with studio repairs (the lobby is a whose who of bands, recording studios and artists) with pictures of a ton of famous people that flock to this small shop. Good enough for Manny Marroquin (a recording engineer) is good enough for me.