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Snell Type Ai

Will2225

Will2225

AK Subscriber
Subscriber
I purchased these Snell Type Ai speakers yesterday for only 225. Has to be one of the better deals I've ever gotten. The surrounds in the woofers are completely gone. I decided to buy new Snell appropriate woofers from Atomic HiFi. Cost a pretty penny but I live locally and can save on shipping. Anyone have any thoughts on these speakers? Likes, or dislikes? Also anyone successfully recap these and is it worth the effort? The only damage besides the expected rotten woofer surrounds is the veneer is peeling of of the very bottom of the lower section. Looks like an easy fix though just need to find a veneer that matches the rest. Any thoughts or advice on restoring these would be greatly appreciated. Also anyone know what makes the Ai different than the standard type A.

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Woofers should have white cones and are made by Becker.

They face down best to rebuild with new spiders. I have done a few pairs. Misco is the company that Snell was purchasing replacement woofers from then weighting them with epoxy.

Good Luck!
 
goodolpg said:
Well regarded by many people.
Snell supposedly tuned each speaker crossover to a "master" speaker by crossover components, when buying individual drivers sometimes crossover parts are included to retain the factory voicing.
More info here.. https://audiokarma.org/forums/index.php?threads/speaker-help-request-snell-k-ii.756889/ if you do decide to recap them
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Thank you very much for a link to that thread. It was an excellent read. Interesting to hear that Mr. Snell hand tuned each Type A.
 
trinhsman said:
Even buying new woofers, your total cost is within reason for this speaker. Congratulations!
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Thanks, I feel I got a great deal.

Also SmitterDave, the woofers really looked in rough shape and from everything I read to get the speakers working as close to original it's best to buy new woofers that are modified and sold by Atomic Hifi. I think if I had bought the speakers for more I would have sent the woofers off to be repaired or attempted to refoam myself. I definitely went with the more expensive option but Im hoping it's worth it for these speakers. Once they're fixed up they might replace my Cornwalls, we'll see.
 
Will2225 said:
Thanks, I feel I got a great deal.

Also SmitterDave, the woofers really looked in rough shape and from everything I read to get the speakers working as close to original it's best to buy new woofers that are modified and sold by Atomic Hifi. I think if I had bought the speakers for more I would have sent the woofers off to be repaired or attempted to refoam myself. I definitely went with the more expensive option but Im hoping it's worth it for these speakers. Once they're fixed up they might replace my Cornwalls, we'll see.
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If working properly, they will,blow the Cornwall’s away, IMHO. Good luck!
 
Will2225 said:
I decided to buy new Snell appropriate woofers from Atomic HiFi. Cost a pretty penny but I live locally and can save on shipping.
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@ $275 a woofer with what you paid for the speakers it is at retail pricing for them. Enjoy! they are nice speakers.
 
One of my favorite speakers. I hope to own a pair one day.
They’re very musical and just do everything well in my experience with them.
 
trinhsman said:
If working properly, they will,blow the Cornwall’s away, IMHO. Good luck!
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Haha thanks, that's what I wanted to here!

Also Wes, I only listened to them briefly because at the moment my only amp is a decware mini torri. I have a Marantz 2325 that is ready to pick up from my tech that I think I'll power them with for now. Even with just that tiny amount of power, about four single ended tube watts they sounded pretty good. I'm going to wait until I get the new woofers and my other amps back from my tech and then I'll hook em up again. I'm looking forward to listening to them with the right amp and with some new woofers so I can hear the bass better.
 
Put the new woofers in today! It was a bit of a process to do it correctly. They sound really great now but I still don't have anything to power them with except the four or five watts from my decware mini torri. Any suggestions on good amps to pair with these? I was thinking of using the mini torri for the high end/mids and then buying a solid state power amp. I think I'd have to buy a passive pre though because the mini torii has a really low impedance rating and doesn't work well with my audio research sp 9mkii
 

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If on a budget, Emotiva is great. Really good bang for the buck. If you have cash to burn, Pass Labs. I have had both and still have the Pass X250 as my primary amp. You need some power on your Snells to fully appreciate what they are able to do. IMHO
 
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