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Boston Acoustics A-200 Woofer Replacement Saga

ymarko said:
So you took the original woofers from very rare A-200 (the only pair on eBay right now is $700 + $200 shipping). Wow! You successfully took about $500 out of them. You are kidding, right?
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what one asks on ebay and what one gets on ebay are two entirely different things at $700 I'd wager that those will be relisted many times until the guy finally gives up
 
Why not give boston acoustics a call? Those drivers appear to be beyond help and last I knew ba still sells new replacement drivers. The drivers were around $50 each when my 400's got redone by the former owner. Your 200's certainly deserve to be put back original.
 
truevis said:
Here is a picture of the old, original woofers. The goop is silicone adhesive -- the result of a heavy-handed hack repair attempt.View attachment 311851

The accordion paper under the cones is a little folded on one of them. Hence I was thinking them not worth fixing.
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If you're not going to use them, at least pass them along to someone who can have them reconed and used them.

There is an exact-match replacement recone kit available for these. I've done that exact operation for several clients.

No, it's not as cheap as dropping in the Dayton woofer. But, as I said, the Daytons are good as replacements, IF and ONLY IF you can't get the originals working. They are not identical, though. Even though the T/S bass parameters match, the cone and surround are different enough, to change the midrange response. They're OK for the A150 (as in it doesn't seem to make much audible difference), but for the A100 (2-way- the midrange response really starts to become apparent, since the woofer is used up to its upper useful limit- where they Dayton does not go as high as the Boston, due to the heavy, damped rubber surround on the Dayton), and the A200 (the crosover is apparently more carefully "dialed in" for the woofer, than it is in the A150), they're not quite as good...

Especially on an A200- that was the original flagship speaker for Boston, when they first started out. I'd really want those to be all original... if for nothing else than preserving history. There's not that many of those around, compared to other Boston models...

BTW: As of about 2010, these drivers are apparently no longer available from Boston Acoustics. Since their merger into the D&M Group (Marantz, Denon, etc), they have been shedding a lot of these replacement parts from their inventory...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
If the speakers are past being able to be refoamed, look into reconing them. Talk to your guy down the road. See what he says. Also, check the voice coil if at all possible. If they'r estil good, then you MUST keep them and restore them. Just don't be afraid to invest a bit of money, it'll be worth it if done right. And you have a pro in the field of vintage audio very close by. Do I have to hit you in the head buddy boy? I'm with these guys, go all original if at all possible. It might even be possible to find replacement woofers on Ebay. I found some listings for exact spec copies of A-40 drivers there, so there might be some for yours. Me, I'm so far too chicken **** to refoam my own A-40s, but will eventually try. Those drivers seem to be intact, aside from the foam bits stuck to them. BTW, what method and materials do you guys recommend for cleaning the edges of the cones without doing any damage? Scares the crap out of me.
 
Yeah, I figured. Just wondered if one of the guru types here would know of those Infinities and be able to chime in on it.
 
I remember those speakers fondly in the day they were competing with much higher priced stuff. But what a hack job on the repair! If you can not get all the silicone off use silicone to glue the new foam on as it will be hard to get another glue to stick. This will require the hands of a surgeon. The Seas polymide dome tweeter has excellent qualities when used with a crossover above 7k.
 
Tone Samples on modded A-200s

KingBubba said:
looneytune2001 is Rick Cobb, former Ak Member. He will set you up with what you need and treat you right.
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Yes, got a quote on surrounds from him, thanks.

I played some tone samples through my computer's on-board Realtec driver soundcard via my Technics SA-GX670 and VLC to the A-200s.

My 7yo (annoyed) daughter could hear:
16_KHZ_SINE_WAVE.wav
18_KHZ_SINE_WAVE.wav

But I could only hear:
12_KHZ_SINE_WAVE.wav

Neither of us could hear:
20_KHZ_SINE_WAVE.wav
20_HZ_SINE_WAVE.wav

This was audible but not pure-sounding:
30_HZ_SINE_WAVE.wav

And these were fine:
40_HZ_SINE_WAVE.wav
50_HZ_SINE_WAVE.wav
80_HZ_SINE_WAVE.wav (and up)
 
Update:
Put in a Xonar DS Audio Card and the 30Hz test signal now plays clearly. Does music sound better with that card? I suppose so, but it's subjective.

20Hz test signal makes the woofer move but I can't hear it.
 
laidler said:
So how's restoring these going? Any progress?
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The speakers are sounding really good with the Dayton Classic woofers in them. Hence, I am not very motivated to try to repair the original woofers. I still have them in the basement in case I get more inspired to find out which drivers sound better. (I was almost going to throw them out until you guys intervened.)

It seems (from what I read here) that one has to replace the old capacitors, too, if one wants to have more original performance from antique speakers.
 
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89grand said:
I would DEFINITELY keep the originals, refoam them, and get the wrong Dayton's out of there as soon as possible. The t/s parameters are what make a woofer in a system function correctly. I'm sure the Dayton's are not exact replacements.

Refoaming is pretty easy so long as you can pay attention to detail and take your time. Go with Rick Cobb surrounds when you get some. They are the correct Boston surrounds, not generic ones that others sell.
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I finally took y'all's advice. With expert tutelage from Bostown, we cut off most of the gunk and refoamed them, plus couple of pairs of Infinity woofers (which I also used for practice before doing the BAs).

Rick Cobb surrounds were used, as instructed, for around $16/pr.

I think that the original A200 woofers from 1982 sound better -- more generous and looser with the bass than the Dayton Classics that were in there. What grand speakers they are!
 
truevis said:
I finally took y'all's advice. With expert tutelage from Bostown, we cut off most of the gunk and refoamed them, plus couple of pairs of Infinity woofers (which I also used for practice before doing the BAs).

Rick Cobb surrounds were used, as instructed, for around $16/pr.

I think that the original A200 woofers from 1982 sound better -- more generous and looser with the bass than the Dayton Classics that were in there. What grand speakers they are!
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Thats great to hear :) It's always best to stick with what was designed for them. Enjoy
 
Here is a graph measuring one of the A200 speakers with the repaired woofer in its room.
A200+in+room.png
 
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yeah Acoustic Suspension is not in vogue at all nowadays and therefore finding a proper woofer to replace with is near impossible. ebay is the best bet and some of the old Speakerlab woofers were among the best AS drivers made. Boston made their own woofers and so the upper bass is critical to match that midrange. on the low side, as you found, the original is better, being optimized for the AS alignment.

I like Parts Express, but they only have a couple woofers that work in sealed enclosures and then only in Subwoofers....
 
I used to work at Boston Acoustics and highly recommend using the original woofers ! Refoaming kits from Simply Speakers are easy to apply and fit perfectly.If the woofer is cooked/dead, look on E Bay for Boston 10" woofers from A 200s (obviously) or A 100 / A150 series 1&2 will work great.The woofers from A100 / A150 series 3 will also fit , but won't sound original (poly cones). Probably a little brighter and not as warm as the paper cones? Don't be afraid to refoam speakers ,just take your time and make sure the voice coil doesn't rub and you should be good !
 
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