simao
New Member
Hello everyone! Time to lazarus this thread as I've finally completed this refurb and build. Over the past two months or so I've refinished the cabinets and invested some time into basic speaker component knowhow, including continuity testing, measurements, and general familiarity.
I know members have said that these speakers are not worth the money put into them, but I did so for two reasons: one, because they are my father-in-law's and he bought them over in Vietnam back in the late 60s and it was my way of just kind of helping him preserve something that had been part of him during a difficult time. And two, it was a project that seemed fun to do and it would let me know whether I would ever want to do something like that from a kit from let's say Parts Express or other suppliers.
I've attached several pictures of the process including before and after of the cabinets, the baffles, and the burlap which was in dismal dried out condition.
I cheated a little and found another set of corals on eBay from which the seller kindly agreed to sell me the tweeters only for the same price as a speakers which was about 40 bucks total the original, rear-mounted tweeters were impossible to find or anything modern like it.
I replaced the capacitors with some new caps that Parts Express recommended for upgrades not high end but enough to make a difference and since the original capacitors were Now 50 years old or so just about anything would have been a good upgrade. I replaced all the wiring and found out that my soldering skills are a dismal. But again, it was a good project on which to practice. I glued quarter inch padding to the interior sides and added about 3/4 of a pound of acoustafil to each cabinet.
Finally, I upgraded The Binding post and found out that my acoustic Zen hologram Spades were not wide enough for them. So I had to go through the bare wire holes with just half the spade. Note to self: do not order this same binding post again.
I believe these are only rated up to 15 watts, so I played them very carefully when everything was finished. And they sound like budget, 50-year-old speakers. Still, they're clear and they resolve well enough and the music sounds good through them. Not sure what I'm going to do with these as I have something like five or six pairs of bookshelf speakers lying around the house.
Anyhow, thanks to everyone for the advice. And happy listening.
I know members have said that these speakers are not worth the money put into them, but I did so for two reasons: one, because they are my father-in-law's and he bought them over in Vietnam back in the late 60s and it was my way of just kind of helping him preserve something that had been part of him during a difficult time. And two, it was a project that seemed fun to do and it would let me know whether I would ever want to do something like that from a kit from let's say Parts Express or other suppliers.
I've attached several pictures of the process including before and after of the cabinets, the baffles, and the burlap which was in dismal dried out condition.
I cheated a little and found another set of corals on eBay from which the seller kindly agreed to sell me the tweeters only for the same price as a speakers which was about 40 bucks total the original, rear-mounted tweeters were impossible to find or anything modern like it.
I replaced the capacitors with some new caps that Parts Express recommended for upgrades not high end but enough to make a difference and since the original capacitors were Now 50 years old or so just about anything would have been a good upgrade. I replaced all the wiring and found out that my soldering skills are a dismal. But again, it was a good project on which to practice. I glued quarter inch padding to the interior sides and added about 3/4 of a pound of acoustafil to each cabinet.
Finally, I upgraded The Binding post and found out that my acoustic Zen hologram Spades were not wide enough for them. So I had to go through the bare wire holes with just half the spade. Note to self: do not order this same binding post again.
I believe these are only rated up to 15 watts, so I played them very carefully when everything was finished. And they sound like budget, 50-year-old speakers. Still, they're clear and they resolve well enough and the music sounds good through them. Not sure what I'm going to do with these as I have something like five or six pairs of bookshelf speakers lying around the house.
Anyhow, thanks to everyone for the advice. And happy listening.
