More junk haul; B&W 804 and Snell J

cwh

33
Don't worry @GD70 I haven't upstaged your VA score. Got pinged with pics of pair of tossed B&W Matrix 804 series 1 and gen 1 Snell type Js. Handed my connect a Jackson knowing full well I over paid.

The 804's tweeters fell off somewhere between the owner's house and the e-cycler. If you can find them, tweeters will cost as much as the speakers would sell for. A quick tap on the woofers show potential issues for one pair. I'm guessing bad woofers on that speaker sent BWs off into the basement. Shame as the cabs, grills and other bits are in good shape.

The Snell Js have been kicked around a little more but are definite candidates for a redo. The veneer, edges and corners are pretty decent without any major wounds.They'll clean up well. These guys probably got basemented when the last bit of foam went. Not much residual left. Hoping they're good for good for refoam and didn't get blasted without proper support. Just dealt with a 2ax woofer played hard without foam. VC was smashed. The tweeters look ok. One has the typical crackly doping.

Onto some testing and contemplating.
IMG_3181.JPGIMG_3189.JPGIMG_3184.JPG IMG_3183.JPG IMG_3185.JPG IMG_3186.JPG IMG_3187.JPG
 
Hey mang,

May have their faults, but it feels good dragging home treasures though! Congrats!

Biggles
 
Hey mang,

May have their faults, but it feels good dragging home treasures though! Congrats!

Biggles
The pickin's have been getting slimmer and slimmer. More of a, for old time's sake haul...

I'm guessing each 804 grill has 2-40lbs of aluminum in them.
IMG_3182.JPG IMG_3192.JPG IMG_3193.JPGIMG_3194.JPG
 
Don't worry @GD70 I haven't upstaged your VA score. Got pinged with pics of pair of tossed B&W Matrix 804 series 1 and gen 1 Snell type Js. Handed my connect a Jackson knowing full well I over paid.

The 804's tweeters fell off somewhere between the owner's house and the e-cycler. If you can find them, tweeters will cost as much as the speakers would sell for. A quick tap on the woofers show potential issues for one pair. I'm guessing bad woofers on that speaker sent BWs off into the basement. Shame as the cabs, grills and other bits are in good shape.

The Snell Js have been kicked around a little more but are definite candidates for a redo. The veneer, edges and corners are pretty decent without any major wounds.They'll clean up well. These guys probably got basemented when the last bit of foam went. Not much residual left. Hoping they're good for good for refoam and didn't get blasted without proper support. Just dealt with a 2ax woofer played hard without foam. VC was smashed. The tweeters look ok. One has the typical crackly doping.

Onto some testing and contemplating.
View attachment 1185751View attachment 1185754View attachment 1185750 View attachment 1185752 View attachment 1185753 View attachment 1185755 View attachment 1185756
Upstaged? Nah! I never feel that way about others scores. I feel good for you! And that some great speakers found a good home and will sing again!
You have some fun projects to play with!
Glenn
 
Interesting. Seems like another case of BW woofer funk. Had a DM something or other that came through last year with same issue. I just got a replacement and didn’t spend time investigating further. Seems like a surround needing adjustment. Voice coil isn’t centered. Maybe I’ll pull the cone and take a look.

Also it’s odd that the cab has threaded inserts yet woofer was screwed into crumbly particle board.


58E5A208-E9DE-43D7-A13A-BD3460AFF117.jpeg 0323F10D-8EB7-48E7-AA47-E996B3FF259F.jpeg
 
Sounds like someone else has been in there, in the past, for some reason or another.

Biggles
Factory mounting I believe.

So let's say I can tweak this kevlar woofer into working spec and I have a pair of otherwise good 804s save for tweeters....Finding the BW replacements is unicorn territory. At least for what I'd pay.

So what are my aftermarket options? Making a top mount tweeter? I'm thinking a @drbiggles bamboo cup type would look pretty bitchin'. Substitute the Wharfedale Super 3.
RichardIII058.jpg
 
Those 804s are great speakers but without the tweeters it's gonna cost to get them going again.
I got mine for next to nothing because both tweeter domes were pushed in which wasn't a big deal since you can buy replacements from B&W. The complete tweeters unfortunately aren't available anymore as the housings are NLA. The drivers are but at $600 ea. a bit spendy.
That woofer looks different than mine. It may have a different bolt pattern which might explain it being screwed into the wood rather than the inserts. Mine all use the threaded inserts to secure the drivers.
 
That woofer looks different than the ones in mine. It may have a different bolt pattern which might explain it being screwed into the wood rather than the inserts
I think they used the same cast baskets on all the 90s 6.5" woofers. Maybe they ran out of M5 bolts that day.
 
Factory mounting I believe.

So let's say I can tweak this kevlar woofer into working spec and I have a pair of otherwise good 804s save for tweeters....Finding the BW replacements is unicorn territory. At least for what I'd pay.

So what are my aftermarket options? Making a top mount tweeter? I'm thinking a @drbiggles bamboo cup type would look pretty bitchin'. Substitute the Wharfedale Super 3.

I had the same, or nearly the same, thought about some other tweeter solution earlier this morning. If you can get the rest of the speaker operating as it should, finding a suitable tweeter solution will take a little time. But it won't be a big deal. No, it won't be factory. But for the buy-in cost, who the gosh cares. It's all about fun. And brother, or sister, you know I'm all about the fun.

Biggles
 
So those Snell Js....Feeling like one of those total time sinks/only for the love of it kinda situations. No way what goes in will ever come out, and I'm just at the woofers.

Value wise refoaming the Seas woofer is a total loser. 3 issues off the bat.
-Once refoamed will the woofers even be close to original spec? Surround attached to basket on top of thick layer of adhesive, not just typical glue. Snell doped the cone including some of the foam.
-Prepping driver for new surround is a 2 hour job. Tricky part is where doping covered old foam. Elastic stuff that needs to be separated at old foam inside edge and cone junction. So elastic that just cutting along junction with steady hand and sharp blade doesn't do it.
-Close to spec surrounds are pricey.

IMG_3220.JPG
 
So what are my aftermarket options? Making a top mount tweeter? I'm thinking a @drbiggles bamboo cup type would look pretty bitchin'. Substitute the Wharfedale Super 3.
RichardIII058.jpg

Parts Express sells a top mounted HiVi tweeter module. While I know it's not B&W quality, I'm sure it costs a lot less too. Maybe good enough for now?
 
Parts Express sells a top mounted HiVi tweeter module. While I know it's not B&W quality, I'm sure it costs a lot less too. Maybe good enough for now?
Oh yeah, a whole lot less.

Dr.biggles got me thinking about an AMT type tweeter. Lower price Chinese clone options abound. Also got four large Heils to play with. Aesthetically I like a natural wood toned cup on top.
 
Parts Express sells a top mounted HiVi tweeter module. While I know it's not B&W quality, I'm sure it costs a lot less too. Maybe good enough for now?

Hey man,

I've bookmarked the tweeter link! Right now, we're in the very first planning stages of getting this project off the ground. There are some finer points that we need to unearth first, specs/requirements. Once we have those, we can begin our journey. It could very well be that a used or vintage set of tweeters would be an appropriate choice. If I'm going to put in some decent effort, I want a lot better than good enough.

Biggles
 
Nice cleaning job on that Snell woofer, I can relate, some kind of eternally gooey stuff that doesn't scrape off well at all. It's more like trying to figure out how to get gum off the bottom of your shoe with a toothpick. But with scraping and acetone, finally got them clean. I feel Snells have to do with taste and placement, imo a good sounding speaker. I've looked at diff speaker reviews and I've learned not to trust those write-ups. All the opinions, finally, yours is most important finally saying the king has no clothes! ..would have been better if the queen had no clothes ...imo, depending on which queen we're talking about of course. ewwww, so bad, ewwww, I'm a misogynist ewwwww.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom