Sam08861
Super Member
You did real good on the price. I got the very same all alnico w70s with the same capacitors. There's actually 2 2uf capacitors in each crossover wired to effectively be 4uf. (Broad arrow type from uk military use from what I've gathered). I paid the same as you but my cabinets were water damaged and pretty rough, but the insides pristine. Nonetheless the sound is very pleasing and smooth with tubes and I'm still very happy with the price paid. Can listen to them for hours on end and not feel 'burned out' or fatigued. Haven't tried them with solid state though, so not sure how that might sound.
I changed my caps to the kbg Russian type, but probably didn't need do. The put out plenty of bass when connected to my fisher 500b 8 ohm taps and I've never had need to turn the volume past 12 o clock as the seem to be pretty efficient. Unfortunately, no info on the rated efficiency from what I've run across but others might know better as I'm curious to know.
As others have stated these sound better and better with use and my experience has been the same. The bass has tightened up and the mids and highs seem to have gotten smoother and more detailed as time went on. Really sounded much better after about a month or so of nightly play for about 4-5 hours each night. Make sure the pots on the back are working. One test is to pull on the knob outward when fully clockwise and if you hear more treble, then they may need to be cleaned or adjusted. I run mine fully clockwise with the receivers tone controls at 12 o clock (neutral) but with the loudness switch on since I usually listen to them at moderate levels. (Volume knob at 11 o clock)
Also, getting them off the ground wakes up the upper end but reduces the bass, but tightens it up also.
Others have complained their early w70s sound muddy and there's a thread where someone did an analysis and found that the cabinets are way too small for the drivers, but that hasn't been my experience or perhaps I don't know any better.
Sam
I changed my caps to the kbg Russian type, but probably didn't need do. The put out plenty of bass when connected to my fisher 500b 8 ohm taps and I've never had need to turn the volume past 12 o clock as the seem to be pretty efficient. Unfortunately, no info on the rated efficiency from what I've run across but others might know better as I'm curious to know.
As others have stated these sound better and better with use and my experience has been the same. The bass has tightened up and the mids and highs seem to have gotten smoother and more detailed as time went on. Really sounded much better after about a month or so of nightly play for about 4-5 hours each night. Make sure the pots on the back are working. One test is to pull on the knob outward when fully clockwise and if you hear more treble, then they may need to be cleaned or adjusted. I run mine fully clockwise with the receivers tone controls at 12 o clock (neutral) but with the loudness switch on since I usually listen to them at moderate levels. (Volume knob at 11 o clock)
Also, getting them off the ground wakes up the upper end but reduces the bass, but tightens it up also.
Others have complained their early w70s sound muddy and there's a thread where someone did an analysis and found that the cabinets are way too small for the drivers, but that hasn't been my experience or perhaps I don't know any better.
Sam