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Castle Acoustics, what drivers?

MunkeyQ

MunkeyQ

Super Member
These are my third pair of Castle speakers - and I think I've got to add them to the "most underrated speaker" list.

Each cabinet weighs 50lbs and is the about the size of a Large Advent, with an 8" bass driver, 2" cone mid and 1" dome tweeter. All the baskets are cast aluminum, and the mid is in a subenclosure. There's four side-to-side braces and a front baffle brace...these boxes are solid!

Decent crossover too, backed with a sheet of bitumen.

Unfortunately, someone had replaced the bass drivers - probably due to foam rot - with some very nice vintage Wharfedale fullrangers. Awesome drivers, but not really suited to this at all! I'm considering making the Wharfies into a project...:scratch2:

I put in some B200's I had lying around but they didn't quite sound right, so I'm trying to get the specs of the woofer. Despite being a fairly small company, Castle made their own drivers so I don't think I'm in luck here...

Anyone have any methods for selecting replacement drivers? I guess I could go on approximate volume and work backwards, using the port length...

Also, I'd be intrigued to know if any of these beauties made it across the pond to the US. They're typically over-engineered with a distinctive look - the box looks out of proportion to the driver size.

I've put up a photo of the Wharfdales too if anyone's interested.
 

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Them thar woofers look like Wolfiedales. The x-over inductories resemble that of Leak-age.
 
ARRAY said:
Them thar woofers look like Wolfiedales. The x-over inductories resemble that of Leak-age.
Click to expand...
Sorry about the long post - I said that those are the woofers that came with the speakers, which are the wrong ones. :yes: They're coaxial fulllrange Wharfedales with a whizzer cone, which don't do that well as woofer duty for obvious reasons.

Boyt, I also said in my post that Castle made their own drivers. :D

I think I'll keep my posts short and sweet next time. :thmbsp:

Thanks for the replies.
 
Castle Woofers

Castle is back in business now!
http://www.castle.uk.com/
Quote from the website:
"The drive units form the heart of any speaker system, and their quality is the key to its sonic capability. Over 75% of the drive units used in Castle speaker systems are designed, engineered and built in Skipton. They have been developed to the highest standards, often featuring innovative technology normally found only in the most expensive designs"
There is a contact page on their site:
http://www.castle.uk.com/contact.htm
Maybe if you drop them a line they could give you a hand?
Great speakers I remember the Winchesters.
I am sure someone with more knowledge than me can can give an opinion but the caps in your crossovers look like they may need replacing.
I am wrong often though.
:tresbon:
 
Ah yes, if I can get hold of some drivers at a reasonable price I'm going to do a recap. They're Elcaps, as used in the Kefs of similar vintage and they do tend to die.

Thanks for the link too - I thought they went out of business in the late 90's! I'm guessing someone bought them out and got them going again. They made some very nice speakers.

Their contact form seems to be broken, so I'll give them a ring I think.
 
IIRC, May Audio Marketing was the Castle distributor in the USA through the 80's & mid 90's. I'd start my search with them as you just never know.

May Audio Marketing

The 80's & early 90's was the Last Gasp of British Hi-Fi manufacturers before they were all goobled up by the Chinese. Castle was well regarded and certainly worth hunting down the correct spares for.
 
MunkeyQ said:
Sorry about the long post - I said that those are the woofers that came with the speakers, which are the wrong ones. :yes: They're coaxial fulllrange Wharfedales with a whizzer cone, which don't do that well as woofer duty for obvious reasons.

Boyt, I also said in my post that Castle made their own drivers. :D

I think I'll keep my posts short and sweet next time. :thmbsp:

Thanks for the replies.
Click to expand...

Woops, missed that part about of the woofers from Worf. The eye skims posts but doesn't always catch it all.
 
ARRAY said:
Woops, missed that part about of the woofers from Worf. The eye skims posts but doesn't always catch it all.
Click to expand...
No problem. :thmbsp:

Success! I've just found and bought one driver, but it's in need of a refoam; I'm going to pick it up tomorrow. Still, the price was right and I'm hoping that another may turn up. Or I'm just being a tad optimistic.

There's just an answering machine at Castle, so I'll try again tomorrow.

Also, thanks for the link soundmotor.
 
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