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Norman Laboratories model 231

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wdbreedlove4

New Member
i recently pulled a pair of Norman Laboratories model 231 speakers down from my attic. i purchased them new back in the mid 80's and they're still a beautiful cabinet - a couple of minor scratches on the hardwood, but most will buff out w/ some good furniture wax. need to clean or replace the grill covers, and replace the the 10" woofers as they are crumbling. i can't find any specs on these anywhere to help inform my decision on the new woofers, does anyone out there have any recommendations?
 
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Woofers are crumbling?
Or the foam surrounds are crumbling?
Surrounds can be replaced.
 
everything was crumbling. my son actually replaced the original 10" woofers w/ some cheap JBL's from crutchfield about 10 years ago - i'd like to put something in them that's higher quality & sounds better.
 
wdbreedlove4 said:
agreed. i found a place in tulsa that can hook me up. he claims to be "what's left of norman labs" - http://www.speakerworkstulsa.com/ - said he can build the 10" drivers that would be identical to original. it's only 55/speaker, so at that price i'm going to give it a shot.
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That would be Dave Miller at Speakerworks in Tulsa. He bought out all of the remaining inventory from Norman Labs when they closed down and is the last hope for anything original. He is also a wealth of knowledge with Norman Labs plus tons of other stereo related things. I've known Dave now for over 30 years. Heck of a good guy.
 
avguytx said:
That would be Dave Miller at Speakerworks in Tulsa. He bought out all of the remaining inventory from Norman Labs when they closed down and is the last hope for anything original. He is also a wealth of knowledge with Norman Labs plus tons of other stereo related things. I've known Dave now for over 30 years. Heck of a good guy.
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that's reassuring - he sounded legit when i spoke w/ him, but you never know. it's great to hear from someone who's had experience w/ them. thanks
 
2nd on talk to Dave. Audio friend in Tulsa has been talking to me about him for a decade, marveling at how many speakers he repairs.
 
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Dave is just a great guy. I've known him since my early retail days from 1985 as the MEI and Coustic (car audio) rep, living in Tulsa for 14 years, then always going to see him whenever I was in Tulsa when I was a manufacturers rep. He still helps me out with woofer surrounds, parts, advice, and great conversation still. You won't find many out there with his knowledge on Electro Voice, Celestion, Peavey, JBL, Norman Lab, and many others.
 
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avguytx said:
Dave is just a great guy. I've known him since my early retail days from 1985 as the MEI and Coustic (car audio) rep, living in Tulsa for 14 years, then always going to see him whenever I was in Tulsa when I was a manufacturers rep. He still helps me out with woofer surrounds, parts, advice, and great conversation still. You won't find many out there with his knowledge on Electro Voice, Celestion, Peavey, JBL, Norman Lab, and many others.
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I talked to Dave about my NL 9s and asked him about recapping mine and he asked how did they sound and I told him they kick ass and he said well don't f**k with them and those was the best he's ever made. Mine was made in Jan 1977. And they have cts drivers and no lightbulb in the crossover
 

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James I Wise said:
I talked to Dave about my NL 9s and asked him about recapping mine and he asked how did they sound and I told him they kick ass and he said well don't f**k with them and those was the best he's ever made. Mine was made in Jan 1977. And they have cts drivers and no lightbulb in the crossover
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If they have those black caps with the red ends, I'd get rid of those quickly. They are always out of spec.
 
I looked inside but I did notice they don't have the lightbulb in it for a resistor but they all looked fine so I'm taking his advice if it ain't broke don't fix it but mine uses CST drivers instead credence
 
James I Wise said:
I looked inside but I did notice they don't have the lightbulb in it for a resistor but they all looked fine so I'm taking his advice if it ain't broke don't fix it but mine uses CST drivers instead credence
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James I Wise said:
I looked inside but I did notice they don't have the lightbulb in it for a resistor but they all looked fine so I'm taking his advice if it ain't broke don't fix it but mine uses CST drivers instead credence
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Suit yourself but I'm tellin' ya, those black caps with the red ends are crap. Pull one and put a meter on it if you have a DMM that reads capacitance. Then you can hear them for more what they potentially sounded like new.
 
For right now I'm going to not fix if not broke but soon I might tear them down because the cabs have few chips and I need to put new felt on one and get the glass tops btw does anybody know if they were clear or tinted. If someone has the original please send me a pic because I'd love to fully restore them I'm a carpenter and a cabinet maker is fixing them isn't that hard for me and also the insulation inside them looks almost new so who ever had them took really good care of them except for the chips scratches then I might recap them but they sound like they are new
 
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