I like the Auto Parts City car the best here.
Speakers with questionable "upgrades"... post your findings here.
- Thread starter leesonic
- Start date
I think these are better than the original SM series
Romeo Wolf
Super Member
I built a pair of open-back cardboard enclosures for some 4" x 6" peerless drivers that I had on hand. They certainly deserve a better home but these will have to do for now.
Corrugated cardboard is an underrated enclosure material. I used multiple layers to make a surprisingly rigid yet non resonant enclosure. But I didn't think to brace the walls.
Are these open back, or simply to show what they looked like before sealing them up?
You are surprisingly modest - I don't see where you say that these blow every other speaker out of the water...
Are these open back, or simply to show what they looked like before sealing them up?
You are surprisingly modest - I don't see where you say that these blow every other speaker out of the water...
Son-of-Vere
Super Member
Well at least the cat can't take out the surrounds...
It seemed odd to me that Marantz used wood grained vinyl, (and of a different color) on the front baffle rather than the wood veneer they used on the rest of the enclosure. Obviously their drivers were made to be looked at with those fancy Marantz logo trim rings, so grills were not expected to be used.
leesonic - I don't recognize the four ways above. What are they, and which drivers are original? I assume the philips tweeters are, but are the (what look like) KEF midranges original, and if they are, why does one seem to have a second flange around it? And the domes - what are they? And which, if either of the woofers is orginal.
A lot of questions for one post, but inquiring minds want to know...
A lot of questions for one post, but inquiring minds want to know...
They were advertised as Rectilinear 5a. A simple search found the 5s pictured below. I don't know these speakers well, but I would guess with you that the only original components are the tweeters. The KEF midrange aren't original, someone could make some money just on these. The big mid-domes don't look original, and I wouldn't be surprised if neither of the woofers are either. Just because the woofer foams rot out, that's no guarantee that they will be replaced with a pair of the same type woofers.
I was thinking the same thing, that they looked cut down, specifically the one on the right, it looks like the top and bottom "flats" aren't parallel.
Is it just me, or do the KEF mids look like they have damaged cones? To me, it looks like the cones are creased around the dustcaps/cone apex.
maxhifi
Addicted Member
Kind of looks like the coating on LS3/5A drivers to me. If those are B110 drivers and they're good, and the price is right, maybe those aren't such a bad deal after all.
maxhifi
Addicted Member
"Older B110 SP1003 often show a white ring around the central dome and these have become known as White Belly LS3/5As. Many enthusiasts believe these White Belly LS3/5As are desireable but it’s one of many urban myths about the LS3/5A. The white ring is indicative of a problem, and is due to the glue delaminating. So it is a fault. As old B110s age the LS3/5A develops a peak in its frequency response at around 1.5kHz. If this peak is only slight it can sound nice and gives the speaker an airy transparent mid-range sound. This may account for why some enthusiasts like older LS3/5As so much. I’ve certainly heard many older LS3/5As sounding lovely, but I have also seen & heard nasty sounding examples where the peak is extreme, sometimes as high as 10dB! Read what Falcon Acoustics have to say about this White Belly Disease."
B110 - ls35a.org
The KEF B110 The bass/mid drive unit used in legacy LS3/5As and the current Falcon model is the KEF B110 version SP1003. Legacy 15 ohm versions of the LS3/5A made between the start of production and 1987 use the B110 version SP1003. The drive unit design and crossover was revised by KEF in 1987...
ls35a.org
No, I don't run a shop exactly. It's just my hobby to restore and listen to vintage audio equipment. I get a lot of requests to do restoration work for people, and I do do some. But I only really have evenings and weekends, so my time is limited. Maybe I should retire, and do this full time.
But because of this hobby, I find myself looking at eBay and FB Marketplace for things, and that's where a lot of these pictures show up from.