DIY Open baffle conversion of W70 Wharfedales?

Should I

  • Part and sell the W70 components

    Votes: 0 0.0%
  • Experiment with using the drivers in an open baffle design

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Total voters
    2

Sam08861

Super Member
I've posted the below in the British Audio section, so apologies for those that have seen this twice...

I've got a Wharfedale 60D Mark II pair that are acoustic suspension and I've been very happy with them. Good crisp response and enough bass and clean highs.
I also have a pair of very early all alnico W70s that are ported. While these sound pretty good, with complex music having multiple bass lines, I feel like they get pretty muddy. I've replace the military 'Arrow' pio caps with russian KBGs and not much change.

Having read up a bit on open baffle designs, I thought I'd give taking the W70 drivers and putting them into an open baffle design. Also, it looks like the mids in my boxes may be 10" items instead of 8"

Tweeters are the alnico super 3's

I'll have to measure the mids later, but to me they are almost as big as the 12.5" woofers. So perhaps I'm seeing things or this was how the early W70s came.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

The cabinets themselves are now structurally sound now that I've 'bondoed' the corners and replaced portions of veneer so they pass the 5' test, but really need full sheets on all faces to look perfect. (I've got an old thread showing the repairs) I do have a very large sheet of walnut veneer, but haven't had the time to 'install' it.

Should I...

1. Reveneer them and sell them to someone who will love them and use the money for better speakers?

(Or perhaps I can sell them as is along with the veneer to someone who wants to DIY)

2. Have some fun experimenting and go for creating the open baffle?

This would be a diy ground up creation and I'd surely need advise from the experts on whether or not the drivers would be OK for open baffle design. Ive seen the SFBs but understand those drivers are totally different and purpose built, or at least the cones were modified to have softer throw for the open design and upward tweeter firing.

3. Part out the speakers and use the money to buy better speakers?

Not sure if these are far and few or which would net more cash in a sale, option 1 or 3.

Any and all comments and opinions welcome!
 
These have the sand filled rear panels, correct? I don't think I'd pull the drivers unless the cabinets were really trashed. If they're not what you're after, I'd suggest selling them.

I had a pair several years ago. After using them for awhile, I sold them to another AK'er across the state.

Edit: I would sell them as is, unless you really want to do the veneering, and you're experienced doing it and think you can get significantly more. Otherwise, I'd save the veneer and hassle for something you want to keep.
 
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