Calling Sansui SP owners.... lattice grill repair

[Old Guy8]

I had SP1200 with 10" woofers. The grills were held on with a finish nail at each corner. I added Velcro to replace the nails. Mine had a name plate on grills said " Kabuki ".
IMO the woofer surrounds maybe had not aged well. Were very stiff! I've never seen them when new. There are threads here on members attemps to remove goop from cloth surrounds to loosen up. One recently said he was successful. Mine hardly moved when I played them..
I sold mine without working on surrounds.

 

[superdog]

Here is a pair of SP2700a that I picked up for $20.Fairly uncommon.I haven't had the chance to really audition them yet but they may be staying for quite a bit.Its hard to see but they also have the name Sansui stamped on the face of the drivers.Never saw that or the up firing driver before.

 

[4-2-7]

Here is a pair of SP2700a that I picked up for $20.Fairly uncommon.I haven't had the chance to really audition them yet but they may be staying for quite a bit.Its hard to see but they also have the name Sansui stamped on the face of the drivers.Never saw that or the up firing driver before.

Those are not common and generally cost a pretty penny on ebay

 

[jhouse55]

Let us know how they sound. That’s a first that I have seen. Is there a listing of the models Sansui made out there on the net?

Here is a pair of SP2700a that I picked up for $20.Fairly uncommon.I haven't had the chance to really audition them yet but they may be staying for quite a bit.Its hard to see but they also have the name Sansui stamped on the face of the drivers.Never saw that or the up firing driver before.

 

[BLAH BLAH]

Will not part with my SP-5000s...beasts...

 

[superdog]

Those are not common and generally cost a pretty penny on ebay

I never knew these existed until last weekend.They are in decent shape.Not as bad as the pics may appear.In some resesrre these may be on of Sansuis better efforts.

 

[superdog]

Let us know how they sound. That’s a first that I have seen. Is there a listing of the models Sansui made out there on the net?

ImI not aware of any database for Sansui speakers.

 

[doctorolds]

Congrats on your purchase @jhouse55. Many Sansui speaker owners report the same problem, lack of bass. If you replace the crossover caps, binding posts, freshen up the cabinets, and like them except for the lack of bass you can try to re-dope the surround's as described in the following thread. Keep us posted.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....ning-hardened-cloth-speaker-surrounds.846570/

 

[jhouse55]

Thanks! I’m in the middle of recapping two other pairs of speakers (Advent Baby II and KLH CB 8) but these will be next in line. What would be considered “freshen up the cabinets”?
You’re the second one to mention that recipe of surrounds.
“Off to more reading!”

Congrats on your purchase @jhouse55. Many Sansui speaker owners report the same problem, lack of bass. If you replace the crossover caps, binding posts, freshen up the cabinets, and like them except for the lack of bass you can try to re-dope the surround's as described in the following thread. Keep us posted.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/index....ning-hardened-cloth-speaker-surrounds.846570/

 

[doctorolds]

You indicated that the cabinets were in good condition, but there may be flaws that we cannot see in the photos. Basically a thorough cleaning, address any issues, and maybe a new finish if required. I performed the re-doping process on a pair of speakers mentioned in the thread I provided the link to and I suggest that you at least read it and decide for yourself if you need to address the lack of bass with your speakers and are willing to try it.

 

[nfafan]

I’d like to offer a slightly different experience here. I picked up a pair, and from first impressions, they were extremely dull, and lacked full bass. Initial thought was to recap the crossover, which I did with all film caps. Also the level controls needed extensive cleaning beyond a contact cleaner bath. The new film caps absolutely woke these things up, night and day from the original aging electrolytics. Imaging appeared, as it did not before, and overall a nicer experience. The bass still sucked, so off to the AK search feature I went. The only solution that made sense for these was softening up the surrounds, and the typical solvents didn’t work, so I tried the DOT 3 brake fluid application on the surrounds and like magic, the woofers are now loose and free to move some air, an hour later. Sound test: a solid contender, nice full range, not harsh at all, fast midrange and seemingly flat response to the ear. Literally everything well balanced, ports tuned precisely, Nothing too bad to say IMOP.

If you don't mind me asking, how has the DOT-3 softening trick held up? Did you first clean the surrounds with acetone and then apply the DOT, or just apply the DOT over-top the stiff "substructure"?

TIA

 

[CJVx]

As simple as putting it onto the surrounds with no prep work. It will “rejuvenate” the original coating and they got nice and loosey goosey. Put the speakers on their backs for application and leave overnight for the DOT3 fluid to soak in, the wipe off the excess in the morning and stand the speakers back up. I did this two nights in a row with dramatic results, and still loose a month later.

If you don't mind me asking, how has the DOT-3 softening trick held up? Did you first clean the surrounds with acetone and then apply the DOT, or just apply the DOT over-top the stiff "substructure"?

TIA

 

[nfafan]

As simple as putting it onto the surrounds with no prep work. It will “rejuvenate” the original coating and they got nice and loosey goosey. Put the speakers on their backs for application and leave overnight for the DOT3 fluid to soak in, the wipe off the excess in the morning and stand the speakers back up. I did this two nights in a row with dramatic results, and still loose a month later.

I just tried this silicon trick on my SP-50 surrounds, but; used "3-In-One" Silicon lube from Lowes as it was half the price of DOT 5 silicon brake fluid.

I tried to clean off the tarred surrounds as much as possible first, using acetone and an acid brush, rags. It was bonded pretty tough and looked like on baked on cosmoline as it was wiping off. It really gummed up the brush.

Anyway, without any tools to do exact tests, it's hard to tell if it sonically helped the bass.

 

[CJVx]

Hello, you need to use DOT3 brake fluid, silicon or DOT5 will no nothing at all. After an hour you will absolutely be able to feel the speaker suspension compliance has gotten significantly looser. You’re going to have to remove all the silicon though, that might not let the DOT3 soak in as it should.

 

[nfafan]

Hello, you need to use DOT3 brake fluid, silicon or DOT5 will no nothing at all. After an hour you will absolutely be able to feel the speaker suspension compliance has gotten significantly looser. You’re going to have to remove all the silicon though, that might not let the DOT3 soak in as it should.

OK, thanks! Was thinking DOT 5 silicone on my mind as a means of adding suppleness, vs. DOT 3 as a means of re-animating the dried sealant. Will go at them again with Acetone after I order more of the magic AR surround sealer to re-seal surrounds.

 

[JB8]

Scored a pair of SP-2500's last night from the original owner! Lots of battle scars, super dusty and the lattice had some chipping, but, I was stoked - couldn't believe I found these and at a reasonable price! The owner seemed super trustworthy so I was ready to just get them to my truck without listening to them, but the owner insisted, felt like he may have needed one last listen before giving them up... They sounded great! Not worried about the travel scars and totally did the sharpie fix on the lattice, very happy with my purchase, especially being home-bound at the moment.

I want to recap them and would love your opinion on which caps to use. When I adjust both switches on each speaker I'm getting slightly different results, so do to the age, etc., seems like new caps will be the best way begin this relationship.

If you have the exact part numbers that would be a huge bonus as well, so thanks in advance for the details!