Help with Snell E II

[Squirrel1]

Hey everyone, I have browsed this website for many years, but this is my first post. I recently got some Snell E II speakers and one woofer and one tweeter have been replaced. While the ohms are correct on these replacements (I tested the original tweeter with a multimeter), I feel like they're not the best fit for the speakers. I would like to get some replacements that are better, and I have a few questions. I've seen people talking about some NHT tweeters being very similar to the Snell Tonegen tweeters, and I was wondering if that would be a good choice. I'm at a loss for a 4 ohm woofer replacement that is similar to the original, so any suggestions are appreciated. I've seen talk of other Vifa woofers, but most of them are 8 ohms. I know that Atomic Hifi and Audio Note sell Snell replacement drivers but both are too expensive for me. Thanks!

 

[goodolpg]

If you are going to replace the drivers in the bad speaker you might as well replace the drivers in both speakers.
Their tonal balance and voicing will most likely differ from each other if only one speaker is altered.
Since I don't know your back ground or experience I don't know if that will bother you or not. No idea if these are your first speakers, your for ever speakers, or something you intend to pass along.
It will kill any resale value in the altered speaker, and listing that speaker after alteration as a Snell E II is a bald faced lie.
Atomic most likely includes the crossover parts needed to retain the original Snell "Voicing" as part of the price for their replacement drivers.
Repairing Snells with broken drivers can be done willy nilly with whatever parts but they won't sound correct evidently with out correct drivers and crossover pieces.

 

[Squirrel1]

If you are going to replace the drivers in the bad speaker you might as well replace the drivers in both speakers.
Their tonal balance and voicing will most likely differ from each other if only one speaker is altered.
Since I don't know your back ground or experience I don't know if that will bother you or not. Noidea if these are your first speakers, your fortever speakers, or something you intend to pass along.
It will kill any resale value in the altered speaker, and listing that speaker after alteration as a Snell E II is a bald faced lie.
Atomic most likely includes the crossover parts needed to retain the original Snell "Voicing" as part of the price for their replacement drivers.
Repairing Snells with broken drivers can be done willy nilly with whatever parts but they won't sound correct evidently with out correct drivers and crossover pieces.

Thanks for the reply. I'm not entirely sure if they're my "forever speakers" but I think they have the potential to sound better than any other speakers I have (JBL l26, JBL l36, and Cerwin Vega D2). I honestly don't have the money to replace all the drivers with stuff from Atomic Hifi, but maybe that's something I can think about down the road.

 

[goodolpg]

Thanks for the reply. I'm not entirely sure if they're my "forever speakers" but I think they have the potential to sound better than any other speakers I have (JBL l26, JBL l36, and Cerwin Vega D2). I honestly don't have the money to replace all the drivers with stuff from Atomic Hifi, but maybe that's something I can think about down the road.

If you already have two good OEM Snell drivers (hopefully in the same cabinet so only one crossover might need changes) you'd only need two drivers from Atomic.
Based on your images you're not afraid to go inside them so any crossover changes needed you might be able to do.
While not optimal, I suppose you could replace just the two bad drivers while waiting to be able to afford Atomic replacement parts.
I totally understand not wanting to spend the money now as other things may be more needed than speaker parts.

I don't know how the Snells would compare to the speakers you already have, maybe someone else can offer some insight.

 

[mcgjohn]

Hey everyone, I have browsed this website for many years, but this is my first post. I recently got some Snell E II speakers and one woofer and one tweeter have been replaced. While the ohms are correct on these replacements (I tested the original tweeter with a multimeter), I feel like they're not the best fit for the speakers. I would like to get some replacements that are better, and I have a few questions. I've seen people talking about some NHT tweeters being very similar to the Snell Tonegen tweeters, and I was wondering if that would be a good choice. I'm at a loss for a 4 ohm woofer replacement that is similar to the original, so any suggestions are appreciated. I've seen talk of other Vifa woofers, but most of them are 8 ohms. I know that Atomic Hifi and Audio Note sell Snell replacement drivers but both are too expensive for me. Thanks!

If you can't afford the real replacement drivers, you are likely better off not spending more money on drivers that are really not correct for the speaker. Each Snell was matched to a reference master when they were made. Peter Snell was one of the first to do this. The real replacement woofer is 204.00 and the tweeter is 124.00. You would also need the serial number of the speaker in question since the crossover parts may need to be changed. I have owned almost all of the Snell models over the years, but not the E-IIs. Would guess the EIIs would handily outperform the Cerwin Vegas, and JBLs but have not done the comparisons.

 

[trinhsman]

I’ve owned a lot of Snell speakers over the years. IMHO, if you’re not willing to spend the dollars on the correct drivers, or wait for a long time for correct used drivers to pop up, you’re wasting your time.
Atomic HiFi has exact replacements. Expensive, but worth it. HiFi Collective carries Audio Note drivers. For the money, HiFi Collective drivers are very similarly priced to Atomic HiFi’s Snell drivers.
I totally modded a set of E II’s. Ended up spending around 1,000 dollars total when done. I’ll never get my money back on them, but I would never sell them. A local Audio store owner I know calls them “my first born.”
Picture is with Audio Note hemp woofers, silver voice coil tweeters, and custom cabinets. I kept the rear tweeters. AK member @GordonW rebuilt the crossovers to match the originals exactly, only with higher quality parts.
I have since removed the felt around the tweeters. Ultimately I felt it didn’t do anything.
The E II’s can be made to be an amazing speaker, if you have the time and money.
I would put these up against anything under 5,000 dollars, IMHO.

 

[Squirrel1]

Thanks for the replies everyone. If I do go down the path of fixing these, I'll make sure to do it right. I think I'll just keep them for right now while I decide if they're worth the investment for me or if I'll pass them along to someone else as a project.