Dynaco A25 restoration complete

[onwardjames]

Hello everybody!

Back 5 years or so ago, @Pio1980 was kind enough to send a pair of Dynaco A25's my way, free of charge. He's like that, lol. Props, bro.

They had a bad tweeter, and both woofers were suffering from very saggy spiders. So they had to sit for some time.

2 weeks ago, I pulled them out, and at some point, I had slapped a pair of Morel MDT37 tweeters into the cabs, simply because they fit. Turns out, the match is seamless. I haven't read the spec sheet on these tweeters, but I can say that even with one of the woofers buzzing like mad, there was really good sound coming out.

I found some Cornell Dubilier caps that were a direct match, 5uf. Got those swapped, and GordonW was kind enough to replace the spiders and reuse the cones. How he does this, I will never know, but if you have speaker needs, hit this man up. He's top tier.

The cabinets were just sad. So, I started with 200 grit, and worked them over, going up to 1000 grit. Pretty sure I took off all the original varnish, sorry, I didn't take any before pics. Used a heavy application of restor-a-finish, and did that a few times. You're not supposed to let it sit, but I did. Live and learn.

Then I applied several coats of feed-n-wax, making sure the veneer was good and shiny. Used clamps, wood glue, and a cut-off straw to get glue in the tiny separated seams, worked fabulously.

Now, those grills. Lord, they were filthy. Peeled them off, certain they'd not come clean. Had globs of that black goo stuck, and the wife got it off with acetone. Barely perceptible now. Soaked in oxy-clean, where tar RAN out of them. Once 24 hours had passed, I figured that was about all I'd get out. Might be wrong on that.

Wife helped me somehow get them back on. Had no extra fabric, so it was very difficult, but we managed.

I am so happy with the sound these create. Lush, detailed, and holographic. Also, easy on my tinnitus.

Should you have a pair, I don't think you'd regret a refresh of these. @JesusChrysler time to get busy, bro.

Here's a few pics. Thanks for looking, and again, thank you, Steve.

 

[jcamero]

I have a pair that need recapping and the 5 way pot cleaned. Any tips to remove the crossover safely? Mine are stapled and I would assume glued in place. I already cleaned up the cabinets, and covered the grills. I used a grey fabric, (JBL Style), and moved the badge up just above the port and to the left. For the cabinets, I gave them a light sanding, and used tung oil for a light sheen. I did not re stain them.

 

[onwardjames]

I have a pair that need recapping and the 5 way pot cleaned. Any tips to remove the crossover safely? .

When you pull the woofer, it's a very accessible cap. Pull back (gently, it's old and crumbly) the fiberglass insulation, and the green plastic. I used snips to cut off the leads, and had plenty of room to pull old cap out, and solder new one in, as well as using Aleene's to secure the new cap. Mine as also stapled.

Those bitching about those terminals, and yes, they're very hard to use, please get some standard banana plugs for your speaker leads. They pop right in, clean as a whistle. No need to remove the old terminals.

 

[jcamero]

I guess you did not pull the crossover. "Solder in Place". I use banana plugs already.

 

[kermit z]

Wow!! Great job and AK Karma all the way

 

[onwardjames]

I guess you did not pull the crossover. "Solder in Place". I use banana plugs already.

It appeared a sure way to tear something up, so I didn't pull it. Really, I had far more space than some other jobs I've done. As for the banana plugs, it's a must. Those terminals have the tiniest holes, can't get much bigger than 18 gauge in there. PITA !!

 

[Lavane]

Nice restore. I wish all speakers with crossovers on the terminal plate used screws to secure the plate. Realistic did this with at least the Optimus and Nova line. I recapped a pair of optimus speakers and once the screws were removed the whole mess popped right out without harming the seal around the plate. I hate trying to pry off the ones that are glued on. If there is room
I just replace the caps through the woofer hole.

 

[Pio1980]

These, iirc, are the less common Peerless versions, so there are mainly crossover differences with most others. Congrats on the nice rescue!

 

[WaynerN]

I was wondering where the coil came from.

 

[tomlinmgt]

Nice work! Love my 25’s...have a second pair I’m about to give to a friend who is more passionate about music than I’ll ever be and has a knack for restoring stuff. I suspect he’ll show up on AK before it’s all said and done.

 

[Pio1980]

I was wondering where the coil came from.

Right, the common Scanspeak A-25 operates the woofer full-range to rolloff without the HF rolloff choke.

 

[Blue Shadow]

These, iirc, are the less common Peerless versions, so there are mainly crossover differences with most others. Congrats on the nice rescue!

Maybe least common Peerless version as the two common versions are the ScanSpeak and the SEAS.
But these are modified with the new tweeter. These came with that coil? No wonder they are less common, deleting that for half a million speakers adds up to real money.

The grilles look good. I replaced my grille cloth with a chunk of early off white Magnepan sock. You can do a lot of A25s with a pair of their socks. With the new tweeters these should be something sweet.

 

[Pio1980]

The Peerless A-25 came with the woofer choke, yes.
I found these at a HfH ReStore cheap several years ago, played with them a bit, and passed them on cheaper when I had a discount at FedEx. Their resurrection to enjoyment is gratifying.

 

[WaynerN]

Right, the common Scanspeak A-25 operates the woofer full-range to rolloff without the HF rolloff choke.

The common SEAS version has no cross-over component on the woofer. The A-25 version has a single 5iuf cap (6db/octave slope), the A25XL has a coil and an 8uf cap (12db per octave slope), (again, nothing on the woofer). The majority of Dynaco speakers are fitted with SEAS (of Norway) drivers. The A25 has a 5 position level control, the A25XL has a 3 level control.

 

[tomlinmgt]

The common SEAS version has no cross-over component on the woofer. The A-25 version has a single 5iuf cap (6db/octave slope), the A25XL has a coil and an 8uf cap (12db per octave slope), (again, nothing on the woofer). The majority of Dynaco speakers are fitted with SEAS (of Norway) drivers. The A25 has a 5 position level control, the A25XL has a 3 level control.

Oh wow...then my A25’s are XL’s? They have a three level control. All the pics I see of XL’s show them having a black front baffle.

 

[WaynerN]

Oh wow...then my A25’s are XL’s? They have a three level control.

View attachment 1837366 View attachment 1837367

No, that is a short term A25 model....sorry there are exceptions to the norm. The A25XL uses the H086 tweeter, the A25 uses the H087 tweeter from SEAS For most of the production years. There was a bunch of revisions to this speaker line at its beginnings, some driver changes, cross-over changes and even front baffle changes make the line kind of soupy.

 

[tomlinmgt]

So do I have the SEAS tweeter? You said “most of the production years”. Does that mean different tweeters were used earlier, or later? I presume my 25’s are later because of the three position level control. Correct?

 

[onwardjames]

The grilles look good. I replaced my grille cloth with a chunk of early off white Magnepan sock. You can do a lot of A25s with a pair of their socks. With the new tweeters these should be something sweet.

Thank you, those grills were an absolute mess. One can still make out the dark spots (3 or so) where that gunk was buried in the fibers. The wife really came thru to remove 50 years of what appeared to be cigarette tar. She's kicking herself that she didn't work with them more, but I told her these are functionally restored, I'm not worried about museum quality.

That we were able to get them back on the frames made me happy enough. No "play" whatsoever to work with.

And yes, much to my amazement, that Morel tweeter is fabulous. Never would have believed the woofer and tweeter would work together so very seamlessly.

 

[GD70]

Hello everybody!

Back 5 years or so ago, @Pio1980 was kind enough to send a pair of Dynaco A25's my way, free of charge. He's like that, lol. Props, bro.

They had a bad tweeter, and both woofers were suffering from very saggy spiders. So they had to sit for some time.

2 weeks ago, I pulled them out, and at some point, I had slapped a pair of Morel MDT37 tweeters into the cabs, simply because they fit. Turns out, the match is seamless. I haven't read the spec sheet on these tweeters, but I can say that even with one of the woofers buzzing like mad, there was really good sound coming out.

I found some Cornell Dubilier caps that were a direct match, 5uf. Got those swapped, and GordonW was kind enough to replace the spiders and reuse the cones. How he does this, I will never know, but if you have speaker needs, hit this man up. He's top tier.

The cabinets were just sad. So, I started with 200 grit, and worked them over, going up to 1000 grit. Pretty sure I took off all the original varnish, sorry, I didn't take any before pics. Used a heavy application of restor-a-finish, and did that a few times. You're not supposed to let it sit, but I did. Live and learn.

Then I applied several coats of feed-n-wax, making sure the veneer was good and shiny. Used clamps, wood glue, and a cut-off straw to get glue in the tiny separated seams, worked fabulously.

Now, those grills. Lord, they were filthy. Peeled them off, certain they'd not come clean. Had globs of that black goo stuck, and the wife got it off with acetone. Barely perceptible now. Soaked in oxy-clean, where tar RAN out of them. Once 24 hours had passed, I figured that was about all I'd get out. Might be wrong on that.

Wife helped me somehow get them back on. Had no extra fabric, so it was very difficult, but we managed.

I am so happy with the sound these create. Lush, detailed, and holographic. Also, easy on my tinnitus.

Should you have a pair, I don't think you'd regret a refresh of these. @JesusChrysler time to get busy, bro.

Here's a few pics. Thanks for looking, and again, thank you, Steve.
View attachment 1836805 View attachment 1836806 View attachment 1836808 View attachment 1836810

Pat yourself on the back! You did a terrific job, with the help of your wife of course! I hope she at least got a hug out of the deal! Anyway, enjoy the fruits of you labor!
Glenn

 

[Blue Shadow]

The morel MDT20 was a recommended upgrade back 15 years ago. The one you used is a bit different, but the resistors in the crossover will pad it down some if needed. I think it would be a great choice if it was still available.