WTLC's live again

[FrankPA]

About a year ago (?) after repeated failure to acquire a working Walsh tweet for my 2000AXT's I jumped on a BIN listing for a pair of Walshes. When I got home from work I realized I'd actually bought a pair of WTLC's in need of repair. These were speakers I'd wanted since I was a teenager drooling over them in the Warehouse Sound catalog. Never seen a pair in person, or even a local sale, so I paid to have them shipped to me. This was before I got my RS 2.5's, else I'd probably have passed on them.

All 4 woofers were sans foam, one of the cone tweets was loose, the grills were pretty busted up and worst of all, one of the Walshes was dead. The seller disappeared and my only out was to ship everything back for a refund(even though I only wanted to send back the dead Walsh for a partial refund), so I just kept everything. With nothing to lose I opened the dead Walsh and was able to repair it, which led me to fix the dead one from my AXT, then a pair I had bought that were destroyed in shipping, then some for others...

Well, I finally decided to see what I could do with the WTLC's. I figured I could always sell the original doped woofers, if nothing else. Anyway, I'm now breaking in the woofer surrounds on my own WTLC's. Definitely getting better. They're never going to displace the RS 2.5's, but I'm pretty pleased with the sound, and especially how well they turned out. Now I just need to figure out where to use them.

Here's the first one right after I got it playing:

And here's the pair, all finished with the grills repaired. The grills were much worse than I had originally thought. My photos don't do them justice, the finish and the grills look very nice in person.

 

[tubed]

I love the WTLCs.
I also
hope to see a play-by-play about how you repaired the Walsh tweeter

 

[FrankPA]

I love the WTLCs.
I also
hope to see a play-by-play about how you repaired the Walsh tweeter

That's in the big Walsh tweeter thread. They come apart pretty easy, then it's micro-surgery to find the break (usually at the glue dots), separate the tiny wire from the glue dot, unwind one coil and solder to the tab. Once the voice coil is repaired, re-shape the cone and re-glue at the bottom (if cones were damaged). Finally, cut a piece of 3/8-1/2" thick foam. I used a coffee mug as a guide and an Exacto knife.

The midrange and highs sound very smooth, clear and open. The lower bass is also quite good (and improving). My one complaint is the mid bass (?). Kick drums sound dull and flat, more of a thunk than a thud (if that makes sense). I think that is improving as well, so I hope it's just the stiff new woofer surrounds.

I'll probably go back in and replace the crossover caps. I left them alone when I discovered they are both polys but I'm pretty sure (but not positive) the left Walsh is weaker than the right - even after swapping them between cabs. There are no resistors or pots on the Walshes here, so it's either the cap or wiring. Or my imagination. At the frequencies these play at it can be hard to judge with the whole speaker playing. I need to separate them more to better judge, as well as experience the soundstage.

 

[Coastsider]

My WTLC's perked up after a recap but I still find them a bit shy in the mid-bass range as you suggested. I know the forward firing 8" driver combined with the identical but more heavily doped bottom firing 8" is what give the speaker it's surprisingly good bass but I think not having a true mid-range driver takes away from the overall impact of the speaker since the Peerless mid/tweets don't come into play until 2000Hz and are just a bit too small to be that effective, their great reputation notwithstanding. Maybe because of age their Alnico magnets are getting weak. Just my theory but I still like my WTLC's a lot - they just don't get used nearly as much as the Monitor IIa's and 2000II's that are in the same room. They are good for what I describe as "quiet listening".

 

[FrankPA]

They are good for what I describe as "quiet listening".

Now that you mention it, I think I agree. I initially played them softly and thought they sounded very good. Unfortunately, I don't really do much "quiet listening".

 

[tubed]

I think they do a very good job of playing at realistic listening levels.

 

[audiomagnate]

How do they compare to your 2.5s?

 

[FrankPA]

Like I wrote, they won't be displacing the 2.5's. While the bass is surprisingly good for an 8" woofer (even 2 of them), the 2.5 Watkins are in a different league. The WTLC bass is closer to my Qb's than the 2.5's. A good subwoofer would be required to approach the 2.5 in the bass. The lowest bass is actually better than the mid-upper bass. I'm hoping this will improve as the surrounds break in.

The upper register of the Peerless tweets and the Walshes are surprisingly close to the Emits/Emims. Different in some ways, but very enjoyable. I've never felt the Walshes in my AXT's give up anything to the Emits. I like them both very much.

I've always felt my 2.5's have a dip where the Wattkins cross to the Emims (300 Hz?). There is a much more pronounced, wider depression where the WTLC woofers roll off mechanically (500 & 800 Hz?) to the Peerless. The new surrounds may be involved here, as well as the original poly caps. The left cabinet attenuates the Walsh quite noticeably and since that can only be the cap or wiring (no pot or resistor there), maybe the caps are hurting the low end response of the Peerless tweets. I have new caps for the Peerless but I need to order some for the Walshes. I didn't expect the original polys to be an issue. I can't say I noticed any change when I replaced them on the Walshes in my AXT's.

Even though I still have them close together, it's clear the WTLC's will produce a spacious, airy soundstage when properly placed. With the out-of-phase Peerless and high mounted bass port on the back plus the 360* Walsh on top, they might even surpass the 2.5 in this area. As with other Walsh equipped speakers, the sweet spot should be very large.

They certainly would be easier to place unobtrusively in a furnished room - assuming it isn't already full of speakers and gear like mine. I think the 2.5's look great in person, but I'd guess the WTLC would have greater WAF in most homes.

Bottom line, so far I prefer listening to the 2.5's and then the AXT's over the WTLC's. Time will tell.