Goodmans Maxim MRange: Bookshelf Speaker Refurb

[mstap42]

UPDATES:

• In a reply to this original post, I added some pics of the woofer for comparison to Goodmans Maximus-1 and Realistic Minimus-1. Also a spec sheet from the EMD Audio site > Goodmans Maxim page.
• In another reply to this post, I added some pics where I tried to disassemble one of the blown tweeters.

These little speakers came to me a couple of years ago as part of a really nice cache of gear from a friend's basement. My friend said the tweeters were blown, but I took the units anyway because they are so heavy for their size, and I thought I might use them in my garage.

Here are some "before" pics:




After opening them up, I was surprised by the build quality. The cabinets aren't all that thick, but the drivers are mounted on thick metal plates, and the enclosures are almost entirely filled with heavy open-cell foam. The woofers have cast metal baskets and large magnets (ferrite?). Pretty impressive so far. But the tweeters, which were in fact dead, are mounted in cheap plastic.




I had never heard of Goodmans. A little looking around online confirmed that the brand is pretty well regarded, and these little speakers were mentioned favorably in their time. So I decided to fix them up.

In two years of looking, I have never seen a replacement for MRange tweeters. No big loss. Even if replacements were available I would not use them because they're nowhere near the quality of the rest of the components. So I dropped in a couple of vintage phenolic ring tweets (CTS?) I had on hand:




Next I replaced the original electrolytic cap in each crossover with new, non-polarized caps of the same value. (I don't have an "after" pic.)



How do they sound? Pretty good for their size and worth the little bit of time and effort to resuscitate them. I auditioned them with my modded Heathkit EA-2s and a bunch of records and CDs. The treble range sounds as expected for the drivers I used ... smooth and fairly detailed. The bass is less than I expected from a driver with such a large magnet. They don't play very loud, either. These components would probably sound better in a ported enclosure or in an open baffle design.

So I won't be using them to play source material with lots of bass. But they are especially well-suited for my jazz records from the '40s and '50s and for vocal / acoustic instrumental music. They might make their way into the garage, but for now, they're on the shelf with my other components. Maybe I will mod them for use as Bluetooth speakers.

Cheers!

 

[ra.ra]

I've never heard of this MRange descriptor, but your speakers look basically identical to the highly desirable Goodman's Maximus-1, sought after by some collectors. Have never seen the foam stuffing before, but they are normally tightly packed with fiberglass batts. About the tweeters, are you sure they are dead? - - - it looks like you may have some bad wire connections.

Your call, of course, but because of their desirability, I'd suggest keeping them as "stock" as possible.

 

[Artie]

Nice job. Even though I've never heard of Goodman's, that grill cloth sure does look familiar.

 

[mstap42]

I've never heard of this MRange descriptor, but your speakers look basically identical to the highly desirable Goodman's Maximus-1, sought after by some collectors. Have never seen the foam stuffing before, but they are normally tightly packed with fiberglass batts. About the tweeters, are you sure they are dead? - - - it looks like you may have some bad wire connections.

Your call, of course, but because of their desirability, I'd suggest keeping them as "stock" as possible.

View attachment 947289

View attachment 947290

View attachment 947293

Thanks, ra.ra ... When I can get back to this, I can post some pics of the MRange. The Maximus is an earlier variant, I believe. (Look at that gigantic magnet!) Yes, there were bad solder joints, but reflowing them didn't help. The tweets measure "open" with my Ohm meter. I generally agree about keeping as "stock" as possible. For example, a stock, working pair like these went for >$400 on that big auction site a couple of months after I acquired these. Wow. But considering that replacement parts are all but non-existent, I would rather use them than store them in my attic! I will keep looking, and if I find some working tweeters, I can get them and make it all right again.

Cheers!

 

[ra.ra]

Yeah, I've seen prices for the Max-1 even higher than that, which might make me think to possibly see if the original tweeters can be repaired - - - I'd think about contacting Bill Legall at Millersound. Was hard to tell from your pics, but is your woofer magnet as massive as in Max-1?

 

[mstap42]

Yeah, I've seen prices for the Max-1 even higher than that, which might make me think to possibly see if the original tweeters can be repaired - - - I'd think about contacting Bill Legall at Millersound. Was hard to tell from your pics, but is your woofer magnet as massive as in Max-1?

Thanks for referring me to Bill Legall. I will look into the repair option. My woofer magnet is about 1/3 - 1/2 as massive as in the Max-1.

Thanks!

 

[ra.ra]

Next time you post, maybe you can show view of woofer from the side so we can see relative magnet size. The Realistic Minimus-1 is a speaker that was an imitation of the Max-1, and it had a rather impressive little woofer, too, as shown in pic attached.

 

[mstap42]

I've never heard of this MRange descriptor, but your speakers look basically identical to the highly desirable Goodman's Maximus-1, sought after by some collectors. Have never seen the foam stuffing before, but they are normally tightly packed with fiberglass batts. About the tweeters, are you sure they are dead? - - - it looks like you may have some bad wire connections.

Your call, of course, but because of their desirability, I'd suggest keeping them as "stock" as possible.

View attachment 947289

View attachment 947290

View attachment 947293

@ra.ra

The Goodmans Maximus-1 and Realistic Minumus-1 looks virtually identical to mine, except their woofer magnets are beasts.

Here is mine for comparison ...








Spec sheet ... (Source: EMD Audio site > [ 5/19/23 - I took this link down because it no longer pointed to the EMD site. I could not find the document on their Facebook or current website. ] )

 

[ra.ra]

Hey, that's pretty interesting - - - I've never, never seen this speaker model before this thread appeared. Yep, woofer magnet is definitely different from Max-1, but rather impressive nonetheless for such a small driver. Thx for sharing the product sheet, too, and keep us posted on progress. Cool speakers worth preserving, if possible.

 

[mstap42]

Hey, that's pretty interesting - - - I've never, never seen this speaker model before this thread appeared. Yep, woofer magnet is definitely different from Max-1, but rather impressive nonetheless for such a small driver. Thx for sharing the product sheet, too, and keep us posted on progress. Cool speakers worth preserving, if possible.

Yes, it's still a pretty heavy little speaker. I had seen both of the examples you posted before but somehow never connected them to my own. Thanks for the heads up! I wish I could provide a citation for the spec sheet.

There isn't much out there on these speakers. Finding it should be too hard to find. (Shameless plug alert...) This may be helpful for anyone who has worn Google out searching but not finding that one thing: Sometimes I get better, more focused results with Duck Duck Go.

Thanks for the encouragement and contact for tweeter repair. I will post back here when I learn more about it. It would be great if they could be repaired fairly reasonably because I have another use for the CTS phenolics. Meanwhile, I can enjoy these!

 

[mstap42]

Thanks for referring me to Bill Legall. I will look into the repair option. My woofer magnet is about 1/3 - 1/2 as massive as in the Max-1.

Thanks!

UPDATE pasted from the Millersound home page (italics added) ...

To arrange for speaker repair(s), please head to our contact page.
Kindly note: We do not repair or service tweeters.
For tweeter replacement, we highly recommend our friends at Madisound.​

I will post back here what I learn from Madisound about repairing the tweeters.

Cheers!

 

[mstap42]

Let's open one of the tweeters up.

But first a little measurement...

Meter working? Yep...



Resistance? Yep. A lot.



Mug shots...





The plastic surround is pretty tough. It is affixed to the black plastic basket with a clear, pliable adhesive. With care and a sharp knife, you can easily pry the surround off the housing.

Unexpected find: The void behind the cone and surround contains a layer of 1/4-inch batting of some kind. (This improves my opinion of the design. The plastic housing doesn't make a good first impression.)



I had hoped the assembly would just drop out of the plastic case. But no. The spider is glued to the case.



End of the line for this dissection.

 

[ra.ra]

Kindly note: We do not repair or service tweeters.

Oops, sorry 'bout 'dat - - - I know how highly Bill's work is regarded, but was unaware he did not work on tweeters.

Strange little drivers - - odd that they cannot be removed from the plastic cup. I hope Madisound can help you out. Great pics, thanks, and that's a very nice Laguiole knife

 

[mstap42]

ra.ra ... No worries. Glad for your input about keeping things stock. It's how I roll with my amps. I mod them but in a way that they can be put back to stock.

Will keep you posted on progress.

Re: the knife ... good eye! Indeed, you are in the ballpark with French origin. This is an Opinel, mad in France. It is absolutely one of my favorite possessions for its design, simplicity, utility, portability, and ease of maintenance.

 

[ra.ra]

Yeah, I was a little doubtful of my own guess, but I knew I had seen that knife before. I was thinking it might be like this one that I use all the time.

 

[mstap42]

Yeah, I was a little doubtful of my own guess, but I knew I had seen that knife before. I was thinking it might be like this one that I use all the time.

View attachment 949188

Thanks for posting your knife pic. Nice! I had to look up Laguiole ... I had never seen one before. I need a knife with a blade profile like yours. The trailing point design of mine makes it difficult to use for certain applications.

 

[Jkathome]

V. Interesting blog, esp the di-section of tweeter. I wonder if there was a before attempt at playing music thro them ?
Unfortunate however, the ‘repair’ distroyed about £450 worth of original classic 1965 speakers.