• The move to the new server is done. There are some software and database maintenance updates in process. This has us passing the hat around to help out. We appreciate any donations. Seriously, even a dollar helps. The payment page may be found here - https://www.audiokarma.org/support.html

DLK Model 3 Help

S

stg5clinger

New Member
I rescued a pair of DLK Model 3's this week from a guy who was ready to put them in the trash pile. I have seen these from time to time in the local ads, but had no idea how cool and massive these things are. Aside from a few minor scratches, the cabs are in almost perfect condition. They are missing the grills, but that's not a major concern. Long story short...I couldn't wait to get them home and plugged in. One of them sounds terrific and, unfortunately, the other is terrible. The surface diagnosis is that one of the tweeters and one of the mids are completely out. The woofer on the same speaker sounds like it could be on its last leg. Do these drivers simply need to be replaced or does this require a deeper dive into the crossover? I don't really have the expertise on the crossovers so just trying to figure out what to do next. Are these speakers worth a full restore? They look so cool I can't even think about pushing them down the road. Also, are parts even available to replace the drivers, if necessary? The only part I have identified so far is the tweeter....which is a Philips AD 0140 T4. Any insight from current/previous owners of these beasts would be helpful. Thx.
 
Register to hide this ad
That tweeter shouldn't be hard to find. For the rest, you'll have to remove them and determine the make and model number. But before you start looking into replacement drivers, swap all 3 drivers between cabinets and see if the problems follow the drivers or stay with the cabinet. Be sure to make note of which wire connects to which terminal on each driver.
 
Thanks for your reply. You are reading my mind with this approach. I will tackle that in the morning and report back on the result.
 
Went through and switched the drivers between cabinets. All drivers appear to be working on the "good cabinet"...so that's the good news. On the bad cabinet, the woofer is working properly, but getting nothing out of the tweeter or the mid. I am guessing the next step is to dig into the crossover? This should be an adventure coming from a speaker repair newbie lol.
 
Are there level controls for the mid and tweeter? If so, hit each one inside the control (worst case you can spray along the shaft, usually enough will drip down) with a shot of Deoxit D5 and work them back and forth a few times. Otherwise, yeah, post a clear pic of the crossover so we can see what's what.
 
Yes there are levels for the mid and tweeter. They aren't marked, but I figured that's what they are. I will give them a shot of Deoxit when I get back to them.
 
I recently restored a pair of fixer-upper Model 3's. The L-pads were all bad enough that I just went ahead and replaced both of them in each speaker. I also replaced all the crossover capacitors and replaced the spring terminals with modern binding posts.

Odds are good that cleaning (or replacing) the L-pads and replacing the crossover caps will cure at least some of your issues. It's what I would do first.
The mid is the same as used in the Model 2 and Model 4. They show up on the used market if you need one.
For tweeters, Midwest Speaker Repair says that this one is suitable for the Model 3, https://www.midwestspeakerrepair.co...ome/mw-audio-mt-4094-1-125-inch-dome-tweeter/

In my speakers, both original tweeters were blown (open circuit). I had a pair of used Peerless dome tweeters lying around, so I made some adapters and installed them.
 
Thanks for the info. Per the previous suggestion I used Deoxit and the level controls and I am now getting faint sound from the tweeter and mid, but nothing near normal volume. Attached is a picture of what I am looking at. If another round of Deoxit doesn’t start to clear the problem I will start looking at the L-lads, capacitors, etc. That just may be a little above my pay grade lol.
 

Attachments

  • 5AF1BBF0-EA57-4F44-BB1E-DEA0E11D2750.jpeg
    5AF1BBF0-EA57-4F44-BB1E-DEA0E11D2750.jpeg
    96.1 KB · Views: 33
If you have some clip leads (wires with alligator clips on both ends) you can take the level controls out of the circuit (basically connect one clip to the input and one clip to the output of the control) to see if that's the problem. But no matter what, I think you should be replacing the capacitors, on both speakers. There are plenty of threads here and elsewhere on how to do it. This is a great opportunity to learn to solder if you don't already know how.
 
Sounds like a recap is in order. Time to get the supplies/tools in order. Thx for the insight and guidance on this. I will update once I get into it.
 
I see two things in your photo.
First, that black electrical tape isn't factory. You'll want to see what sort of mischief is hiding underneath it.
Second, that big inductor appears to be hanging in mid-air by the wires. Originally, one of its round ends would have been glued down to the metal insert. You should check for damaged wires as a result.
 
Here's what I'd recommend:
Remove the tweeter and woofer from the cabinet. Label the backs with a sharpie so you know what wire color went to which terminal. You don't need to remove the mid. Just unplug the wires from the terminals where they pass into the mid enclosure.
Now, you can remove the four screws and pull the round metal terminal plate out of the back of the cabinet.
Now, you can easily check it over. To properly clean the L-pads, pop the shiny metal backs off of them.
 
I don't seem to have taken any before/after pictures of the DLK 3 crossovers that I recently rebuilt. Here are some before/after pics of the crossovers from a DLK 2 which is very similar. (This is the only time when I used that enormous 47uf film cap. On later pairs, I used a much smaller 47uf electrolytic cap.)

IMG_0489.JPG IMG_0490.JPG IMG_0491.JPG IMG_0492.JPG
 
Thanks. I appreciate that. I have it mostly disassembled now and can clearly see where some of the wiring has been modified and wrapped in electrical tape. The connections look solid so who knows what’s going on with all of that and if it’s correct or not. At this point I just need to find some time to do the heavy lifting.
 
mnrocketry said:
I don't seem to have taken any before/after pictures of the DLK 3 crossovers that I recently rebuilt. Here are some before/after pics of the crossovers from a DLK 2 which is very similar. (This is the only time when I used that enormous 47uf film cap. On later pairs, I used a much smaller 47uf electrolytic cap.)

View attachment 1937304 View attachment 1937305 View attachment 1937306 View attachment 1937307
Click to expand...
Do you recall the values of the capacitors? Have you ever seen a schematic of the crossovers with inductor values?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom