Heath AS-10 Cabinets - Need Driver Recommendations

BmWr75

AK Subscriber
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Heath AS-10 Cabinets

Hello AKers,

I bought a set of 60s vintage Heath AS-10 speakers this weekend, mainly for the cabinets. The drivers in them are 16 ohm Jensen units, one 8" woofer and two 3" tweeters per cabinet. I'd like to put new drivers/crossovers in the cabinets after I refinish them. This will be my first DIY speaker project. Any recommendations on where to buy drivers/crossovers and what brands to consider will be greatly appreciated. It looks like the dual tweeters could be replaced with easily be replaced with a horn tweeter.

Regards, BmWr75
 
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Thanks Zilch,

Cabinet pictures and opening dimensions forthcoming as soon as I get home.

Regards, BmWr75
 
Be thinking about how much $$$ you're willing to invest.... :yes:

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Hello Zilch,

See the attached pictures. The woofer opening is 9" diameter. The tweeter opening measures 6 7/8" x 6 7/8" square. The current woofer sits 1 1/4" recessed from the front plane of the speaker when the "X" cross bar is located. The speaker cabinets are 24" tall x 13.5" wide x 11.5" deep. The only damage to the drivers is the pushed in dust caps on the tweeters.

As I said in previous post, would like to replace all the drivers, crossovers and speaker wire connectors. Budget?? Say $200 per speaker, but I'm flexible.

FYI, my soldering experience is limited, but i do know the difference between solder and flux and which end of the solder gun to hold. :beatnik:

Thanks, BmWr75
 
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That looks like a candidate for JBL OASR or its ilk... :thmbsp:
OASR's just a smidge too small for the opening, Gordon, but these new 8" square rotatable PTs will fit nicely:

Horns: JBL PT-D95HF. Score the Masonite so they mount flush from the front.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=87312&d=1208200912

Drivers: BMS 4555

http://www.bmspro.info/index.php?show=item&usbid=10280&id=54366

Woofers: JBL 127H-1 off eBay, rear mounted like the Jensens.

Ports: MAY fit through the front. Provide interior dimensions for modeling and calculation.

Crossover: 1.8 kHz active, Behringer CX3400 with simple compensation filter. I haven't designed a passive for these yet.

Member Review:

NeedForSpeed said:
On a different subject, I was shown a 98% totally flat response speaker Zilch was putting together -- 2 ways with JBL horns and a simple JBL 10" driver, in a somewhat smallish old AR cab I think it was. Run through an active crossover and bi-amped, the little speakers were astonishing in detail and imaging. That was some mind blowing [stuff]!
 
Zilch,

Internal dimensions = 22.25" height x 12 wide x 9.25 deep.

Thanks much for all the help.

Regards, BmWr75
 
1.43 cuft, about the same as what I'm working with here.

I'll run the calcs....
 
Hello Zilch,

I found the crossover via Google. Is this the one you specified?

http://www.zzounds.com/item--BEHCX3400

FYI, I just received an AudioSmile modded Behringer SRC2496 unit today, am listening to it now via WAV files streamed to an Apple Airport Express putting out an optical digital signal to the DAC.

Where do I find the horns? No luck searching.

I did find two sets of the JBL woofers on eBay. Is there any new woofer that would be an equivalent? Maybe something from Part-Express.com?

http://www.partsexpress.com/pro-sound.cfm

Thanks, BmWr75
 
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OASR is the JBL "Dr. Seuss" conical horn I use in some AR4x upgrades. It's 7" across the smallest dimensions, so it won't seal in your tweeter openings.

Here's the calcs:

Two 2" by 7" long ports will tune to 36.63 Hz with F3 = 50.63 Hz, F10 = 32.89 Hz, black. It looks like those will fit on your front baffle; you'll have to do a layout to see. The woofer flange diameter is ~10.5"

I also ran 127H, a closed-box driver, and the performance is very similar, red. It's a 50-Watt driver pushed to its limits in that alignment, though, as opposed to the 100-Watt 127H-1 I'm recommending you use ported here. It'll play damn loud, if you like, 113+ dB max, according to BB6P:

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CX3400 crossover goes for $99 at Guitar Center and similar, if you bargain. You'll also need about $50 worth of XLR cables to run it, if you don't already have them.

Waveguide is Part# 364036-001, gasket is 363645-001. Order direct from JBL Pro Parts:

http://www.jblproservice.com/forms/parts_order1.html

127H-1 is available new from the same JBL factory source for $238 each, Part #66265X

Gordon or Ray may be able to suggest an equivalent. Here are the T/S parameters as I know them:
 

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Hello Zilch,

I followed up on your driver and horn recommendations. The BMS 4555 distributor in the U.S. is Assistance Audio in Salt Lake City. They don't return emails and their voice mail box is full. Maybe they are out of business. Couldn't find any other place that sells these tweeters.

Also called the JBL Pro Service Center. They only had one Horn in stock. And, they can only sell to dealers like Guitar Center.

Is there any chance you could make some recommendations using tweeters, horns and woofers available from PartsExpress.com? Would it be heresy to use one of the PartsExpress passive Dayton crossovers instead of the Behringer CX3400 active crossover?

Thanks, BmWr75
 
Assistance Audio is the importer and factory rep for BMS. AK members have done a group buy of BMS drivers with them, but retail sales are normally through distribution:

http://www.usspeaker.com/bms 4555-1.htm

I've sent you a PM regarding acquiring the waveguides. They're new, and you may have to wait 30 days or so to get them. Did Dave or Carla tell you when they expected more to come in?

If you don't want to active biamp, I'll be working out a passive crossover for these, as they warrant the effort. Contrary to common perception, while off-the-shelf crossovers will play the drivers, virtually no seriously engineered system uses textbook passive filters.

For optimum-performing speakers, particularly with compression drivers and horns/waveguides, that's how it is.... :yes:
 
Hello Zilch,

Sent you a PM about the waveguides. Thanks for the advice on the active crossover, I'll go that route and bi-amp. Just found a second Marantz 140 amp that will fit the bill.

Thanks, BmWr75
 
Zilch,

Are there any good woofers that could be front mounted in these Heath cabinets? I think that would look better than rear mounting like the existing Jensen woofers. Would the sound quality be compromised?

I did the port layout today. It looks like two 2"x7" ports will work. They will have to be located between the woofer and tweeter/horn at 10:00 and 2:00 o'clock to the woofer.

Also, will I need to install any damping material in the cabinets? If yes, recommendations?

I plan to order the BMS 4555 drivers next week.

Thanks, BmWr75
 
You can also put the ports on back if the cabinets will not be placed close against a wall.
 
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