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Help with some Wharfedale W70s

Fishead

Fishead

Gone fishin' Steada just wishin'
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Just brought home a pair of very, very minty ca.1966 Wharfedale W70s that belonged to my Dad, who passed in 2001 and left them to me (just now getting them from KY to NM). They haven't been played in over 15 years and I'm wondering what I need to do to check that the crossovers are still working as they should. I don't have any test equipment so need a way to find out otherwise, if there is one. Any help would be much appreciated as I don't want to blow anything!

PS - Just tried taking the back off one of them to get some pics to include with this. I removed all screws but the dang thing is really tight.....how does one get this off without damaging finish?
 
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Step One would be to have a look at the crossovers and see if they have PIO or electrolytic caps. If PIO they may just need a little deoxit on the pots; if electrolytic I have yet to get a pair of speakers of that age that didn't greatly improve in sound by replacing the caps. Now do you use new electrolytics, foil, PIO, whatever, that discussion will never end :)

As long as you don't detect any coil rub and the DCR of the speaker assembly is reasonable, there's probably no harm in hooking them up to test. If the caps are bad, the highs will probably sound very rolled off, although bass will be excellent...
 
Fishead said:
how does one get this off without damaging finish
Click to expand...
You could run a slightly larger screw into one or two of the original screw holes. Put them in just deep enough to grab the back panel, not so deep that they enter the main cabinet. Use those to pull off the back panel.

If that doesn't work and if the woofers are mounted externally. Remove a woofer, reach into the cabinet and try pushing on the back panel.
Good luck and hope they are still in perfect n working order. I am sure there is quite some sentimental attachment. :thumbsup:
 
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It should open up. Just get something to cleanly pry it. Maybe give it a little tap around the edge to free it up.
If the screws stay screwed to the back before you unscrew it fully, pull on those. It's likely just a little stuck.
Post a photo of them anyway as much can be determined with that.

Here is what you are headed towards:
10111511.jpg
 
And careful when removing the back panel. The wires from the crossover to the drivers don't have much give and if the back is pulled off without realizing that you'll snap them for sure. Not that big a deal if soldering isn't a big deal for you, but if it is, then heed the warning.
 
Good point by sberger verified by the photo above. Just long enough to position the back propped up against the cabinet like it shows.
Those back panels are filled with sand so they are heavy and therefore can feel lodged in until you get it moving. May even be a sand particle or two in there making it tight.
There are so many different version of the W70 so don't be surprised if it is a little different than the photo. The one above is a b version from about 1966. Ceramic woofer. Ported. Thats part of the fun of these, determining exactly which version etc.
 
Thanks for all that, and I will try again later today heeding the above cautions. I will post some pics once I get the backs off so you might be able to tell me which model this one is.....thanks to smccrary for the tip to rotate the speakers 180 degrees.....I remember that being advised from a post some time ago and appreciate the reminder.
 
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Be very careful taking the back off. For some reason the wires on mine were very short and I couldn't pull the back off more than a few inches.
 
not sure but it's pre "D" for sure (Ds are 4-ways with the purple donut tweeters, bet those are Super 3s in those enclosures)

that looks like an electrolytic cap so I'd replace those for sure. After that just deoxit the pots and unless a driver is bad you should be good to go.
 
Thanks, would you have any suggestions on how I might source such a cap?
 
I just used a Dayton poly film cap from Parts Express of the same value (in microfarads, voltage doesn't really matter as the stock ones are probably 50V and new ones will be much higher), some will tell you you'll notice a nice difference in sound if you use surplus PIOs or motor run caps, just match the value to what is printed on the old one. Whatever you use should be non-polarized.
 
Nice and clean.
The woofer and mid will have the dates written on them so look for that.
The cap says 4uF, correct?
We need a photo of the fronts and back of the posts area.
 
Thanks, I'll bet they have NEVER had the backs off! My Dad ran these with a Scott 388B receiver and they sounded soooo very good! A lightning strike in KY killed the Scott and got a replacement, an Onkyo TX-8410, and things never sounded the same (not nearly as good). He took the Scott to a local repair shop that said it would cost far more to fix, if it could even BE fixed, than it was worth.....I hung onto that receiver for 10 years thinking I'd try to get someone to fix it but then my brother threw it out cleaning out the basement following his passing.....:-(
Woofer and mid dates are 6/66.
The cap says:
TOC
ELKOMOLD
12uF
50VDC REV
TYPE BR
British Made
TCB/WK 8621
See photos of the front and backs of things and more. If I replace the cap, is that ALL that needs to be done? Are there any other parts of the crossover that need renewing? I want to get this right. Thanks for all the help so far guys.
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I would invest in some Deoxit D5 (spray) or D100 (dropper bottle) and also some Faderlube (another Caig Deoxit product) and use them in that order on the pots. There's a how to somewhere around here if you don't know what I'm talking about.

If the drivers are still good, that and those capacitors should be all you need to do to have a good sounding, enjoyable pair of speakers.
 
Many thanks, N8Nagel.....I'm quite familiar with Deoxit D5 (have a can in fact) as I've rehabbed a number of old receiver pots/controls with it and it is superb for that. When you say pots, the only one I see is the tweeter volume control, would that be it? Seems like one would have to pull it out as the inside is covered and I see no way to get the Deoxit in there, or do you know of a way without removal? Done some reading on the caps and most say try to get identical ones as Wharfedale used these specifically for the W70s I have. Wonder how hard it would be to find some? Any info, as always, is greatly appreciated. Can't wait to get these hooked up and playing, but I am very cautious and since they were my Dad's, well, nuff said. :-)
 
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