Altec Design 20 Repair- worth it?
- Thread starter AudioJuice
- Start date
Found someone giving away a vintage pair of Altec Lansing Design 20 speakers yesterday. He said they needed new woofers as they were “dry rotted”. At first glance, I see they just need new foam surrounds. I’ve replaced foam once before, so can tackle that project!
BUT- as I took out the woofers, I see the top one in both speaker boxes has no magnet or wires connected to it. Question 1: Are they supposed to be that way? A bit of a newb question perhaps, but I find it odd that a woofer cone would exist without a magnet/power.
Question 2: think these are worth the cost and time of replacing the 4 foam surrounds?
I bought a pair of these new long ago when my dad's AR-2s finally crumbled to dust. It must have been about 1980 and I think the store was Pacific Stereo. I had a budget. I sampled all the speakers in their listening room and finally selected these as the best within or near my budget. I don't remember what I paid for them, but I imagine I got them at a discount at around $200, because the store didn't last very long afterward and they would probably have been a bit desperate. One of the large speakers in each cabinet is a passive radiator, as mentioned. These were the main speakers I had in my living room, and I still have memories of my kids and me dancing around to Grateful Dead music in front of them. Now they sit in my garage, with the old surrounds just dusty remains. The boxes appear to be empty inside, so I don't think there ever was foam in them. I do believe they would be worth repair to the surrounds, if the speakers still work, and I or you have any use for them. Mine are in pretty good shape, otherwise, with minor repairs to the grill pieces needed. I hope to get to them soon while surrounds are still available I want to find a use for mine, again.