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Speakerlab S7s Rebuild and Modding (Ribbon Tweeter Model)

markdi said:
What happened to your old midrange drivers
Can you have them fixed ?
Oh
Foam failed and you don't have the original drivers anymore
I hope you can find some new ones
Click to expand...

Exactly. I made a huge blunder and tossed the old 6.5" and 10" chassis after I bought what I thought were direct replacements from Speakerlab. Been kicking myself ever since.

Finding new mids has been in and of itself a learning experience, I'd like to avoid making the same mistake twice and ending up with another set of unsatisfactory speakers. There aren't all that many 6.5" midranges to choose from tho, and being 4 ohm really limits things further. Most of what I've seen I've rejected for various reasons, high Fs, wrong diameter, etc. So far I've narrowed it down to 3 choices that look promising.

The Wavcor WF168WA01 at €60 each, the Wavcor WF160WA-01 at €160 each, and the planned M654 replacements from The Loudspeaker Store at "$60 to $80" each.

If it works out to buy the M654 in the time frame that I have to get them transported back here by my daughters I'm leaning towards that option. When it's economically reasonable I like the idea of supporting a family owned business. But if I have to pay for shipping from the States and add 19% tax to that then I'll shift to one of the Wavcor's.

There's a "gulp" factor with the €160 speakers, but I'm liking them a lot and Might splurge on them. I can afford something like that about once a year. They look like a very good fit, right down to the recommended 7.5 liter enclosure size. And Wavcor also provides the info for a Zobel circut (3.9 ohm + 22mF).

The cheaper Wavcor fits the budget range if finances don't work out for something more expensive. In an ideal fantasy world I'd buy the WF160WA01 midrange and MHT-12 tweeters to play with. Reality or my dentist will most likely puncture that balloon.

Cheers,
James
 
nerdorama said:
If the Visaton model is for you a reasonable price, then maybe it IS a good way to go as you'd have all new. It looks like they are around a 90dB sensitivity, so they woud probably work ok with the original crossover. I'd use them at the original crossover point first. They are specified at rated power with a 4kHz @ 12dB high pass. A lower crossover frequency would put much more excursion on the ribbon and might increase distortion quite a lot.

John
Click to expand...

The price makes me shudder a bit, but at the same time I find them interesting. Looking at the frequency and impedance response graph it looks like they stay pretty flat down to about 2.5khz, and the impedance curve seems to be a flat line all the way across. At my age I seriously doubt that I'll ever be kranking these things even to the 20wrms rating of my current tweets, so the MHT-12's would seem to have a lot of headroom. And physically, they are the only drop in that I've seen so far, even to the mounting screw holes.

Looking at the original crossovers and speaker choices they seem to have taken the (ca) 94 db mids, padded them down to equal the 92 db tweets, and then padded them both down to meet the woofers? Am I looking at that right? So I'm thinking that 91db for a tweet and 91.5 (Wavcor) for a mid might be a good match with the midrange padding left out as I have it now, or perhaps even a tad less, changing the remaining 2 ohms to something smaller. I guess that that would need a little experimenting with.

Cheers,
James
 
Last edited:
I've been thinking that perhaps I put too much stuffing in the midrange enclosures. I almost made a post to ask about what would happen if I removed some of it, but then admitted that I was just being lazy. So I pulled the mids a little while ago and removed 1/2 of what was in there, which was 2 strips of polyester fill about 24"x8"x1", one going down the bottom, up the back and back across the top, and the second going around the sides and back. I left the top-to-bottom strip, held in place with brass nails.

Then I listened to Joe Bonamassa's "Black Rock". I feel that there is a little more clarity in the midrange now. I hope that I'm not just fooling myself into that feeling because I really want there to be more clarity, but at the very least it didn't make things worse.

Cheers,
James
 
nerdorama said:
A lower crossover frequency would put much more excursion on the ribbon and might increase distortion quite a lot.

John
Click to expand...

btw, I'm not ignoring this part of what you wrote. It's good advice. I've just about gotten myself talked into buying these tweeters, as well as the Wavcor mids, with my Christmas bonus at the end of the month. If so I'll definitely install them with unaltered crossovers and evaluate from there.

My wife might have pissy fits for 3 or 4 months, but when I think about that ordeal compared to improved speakers, well heck, that's not such a bad tradeoff. I'm fairly sure that the speaks can get louder than she can...

Cheers,
James
 
I hope you don't end choosing between your speakers or your wife.

Just kidding

They are great speakers

I am thinking about scoring a adcom gfa 555 from that auction site and recapping my crossovers.

Speakers like these in a apartment must make you loved by every one arround you. :D
 
markdi said:
I hope you don't end choosing between your speakers or your wife.

I am thinking about scoring a adcom gfa 555 from that auction site and recapping my crossovers.

Speakers like these in a apartment must make you loved by every one arround you. :D
Click to expand...

Nah. I'll just repeatedly remind her about the car that I bought her last year. At some point things will cancel each other out. :yes:

I'm very happy that I did the recap. Go for it.

I'm also very happy that when the Id10T's down on the 6th floor start buzzing my feet with their Dying Cat Music (TM) I can cancel them out without even having to go to the point of also pissing everyone off.
 
What i should do is remove the 10 and 12 inch drivers till i am done with the recap - stop me from just listening to them.

I have other speakers

Question

Are the speakerlab 7 series speakers considered rock and roll speakers or audiophile speakers or both ?
 
My first thought in reply is that they are a west coast rock speaker, and that the S30, S50 and Delta-1 Hybrid Type 5 were Speakerlab's work in the audophile direction in the early '80s time frame. But I'm also guessing that DaWoofer's S7WA probably sound better than the later models like mine. Which is something that I hope to correct. But in the end beauty is still in the ear of the listener, or something like that.
 
Yours are a completely new generation. They also probably sound better than my generation of 7. I'm sure that they're quite good. I hope that you take lots of pics of your crossovers, and write down all markings on them and your speaker chassis when you take them apart. I'm very curious about them.

Cheers,
James
 
I need to fix my laptop using a tablet right now.
I just need to finish updating windows.

After i fix it i can post pictures

Mine are a little different than yours

The guy that refoamed the 10 and 12 inch drivers
Said they were very nice and made by pyle

Long throw and huge magnets

The 12 inch driver is in the back of the speaker

I went to the library and looked at the link you provided
To the speakerlab 1986 catalog page

Mine seem to be a little different or the midrange mounts differently.

Mine have a port with a tube inside the back of the speaker.

My dad will be helping me fix a few things around here tomorrow and i will
Borrow his tape measure.

I probably have 10 tape measures cant find one

My dad heard them playing sail - awol nation - at about 50 wpc
He was impressed but he said more power will get me in trouble :D

I wonder how 2 pair would sound stacked :D
 
markdi said:
I need to fix my laptop using a tablet right now.
I just need to finish updating windows.

After i fix it i can post pictures

Mine are a little different than yours

The guy that refoamed the 10 and 12 inch drivers
Said they were very nice and made by pyle

Long throw and huge magnets

The 12 inch driver is in the back of the speaker

I went to the library and looked at the link you provided
To the speakerlab 1986 catalog page

Mine seem to be a little different or the midrange mounts differently.

Mine have a port with a tube inside the back of the speaker.

My dad will be helping me fix a few things around here tomorrow and i will
Borrow his tape measure.

I probably have 10 tape measures cant find one

My dad heard them playing sail - awol nation - at about 50 wpc
He was impressed but he said more power will get me in trouble :D

I wonder how 2 pair would sound stacked :D
Click to expand...

In the old days, Speakerlab built the woofers inhouse. I'm not exactly sure when they started using other's components for them.

It'd be interesting to hear 2 pair stacked, but I don't think I'd use any of my amps for this. The various model 7s are nominally 4 ohm, aren't they? 2 ohm nominal load.... no thanks.
 
I read somewhere that they had the drivers custom made for them by pyle


Would run them in series or use 2 stereo amps :D
 
I graduated high school in 1984, and lived in Steilacoom Washington. I used to ride my bike up to the Speakerlab store on Bridgeport and check their stuff out. Your Super 7 were my dream speakers, as were the S80. I just loved looking at them, and they always sounded nice.

When I was 20 or so, I got a part time job as a salesperson at the audio store across the street. The Stereo Shoppe. Great times working there, and got to play with some fun gear.

Thanks for the memories.

Regards
Mister Pig
 
Mister Pig said:
I graduated high school in 1984, and lived in Steilacoom Washington. I used to ride my bike up to the Speakerlab store on Bridgeport and check their stuff out. Your Super 7 were my dream speakers, as were the S80. I just loved looking at them, and they always sounded nice.

When I was 20 or so, I got a part time job as a salesperson at the audio store across the street. The Stereo Shoppe. Great times working there, and got to play with some fun gear.

Thanks for the memories.

Regards
Mister Pig
Click to expand...

The Bridgeport store is where I bought my 7s. I have to thank you also for the memories also because I'd forgotten the name of that place across the street. That's where I bought my Adcom crosscoil MC cartridge, and where I was first introduced to MFSL. I bought my Rolling Stones box set there as well as a couple UHQR disks and many "normal" 1/2 speed masters there. Good Times.

Cheers,
James
 
markdi said:
I read somewhere that they had the drivers custom made for them by pyle
Click to expand...

I've also heard that at some point in time SL started farming out their woofers and mids. And you've just given me an idea that I missed up till now. If Pyle was producing woofers for SL back then then perhaps they make a decent replacement for the W1208R now. I'll have to look into that...

Thanks,
James
 
I just sent an email to Pyle asking them if they have a possible replacement for the W1208R. I'll post any info that I get.
 
I have not looked at pyles driver lineup.
Does pyle make mids too ?

Maybe pyle will have a mid that will work for you
 
I looked through their website and have only found woofers for sound reinforcement. Downloaded their home and auto catalogs next. No raw speaker chassis in the home catalog. LOL, in the auto catalog actual speakers don't start till page 37. Nothing that I saw there looked interesting or usable for what I want.
 
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