Substitute for Speakerlab S3 Midrange Driver

[blipco]

I seem to have opened my voice coil on my SL midrange driver. The cone section measure roughly 4 1/2 inches and the outside of the frame measures just over 5 inches.
I'll send it off to have it repaired at the Loudspeaker Guy if he ever gets back to me but I'm wondering what would be a good substitute off-the-shelf driver. Speakerlab claims 100w rating.

 

[pauldrewry]

There wouldn't be. If I'm correct Speakerlab made their own drivers. I guess as a temporary fix, but it won't sound as good.

 

[kfa888]

can you post a picture? Might be that same CTS driver as in the Bose 901 series I and II.

 

[kfa888]

There wouldn't be. If I'm correct Speakerlab made their own drivers. I guess as a temporary fix, but it won't sound as good.

I dont think so. Almost ALL the drivers I have seen from SL are sourced. My Speakerlab 7 uses Rola woofers and EZ horns.

 

[kfa888]

Look like this?

 

[blipco]

If I recall, there may be something to the 901 theory.
Here it is. It was fried by my Adcom GFA1. The first time for the midrange but the tweeters got zapped before.
I also had to repair the crossover. There was one exploded cap.
It caused the S3 to have low impedance when the bass kicked in. My poor Adcom tried to drive it and wound up frying itself. I just now replaced it with a Parasound A23+.
It was when the Parasound started shutting down I realized the damage to the speaker. I built them in the early eighties.

 

[whoaru99]

Parts Express and Madisound have lots of drivers to wade through that might make acceptable subs.

 

[kfa888]

If you do a search for M608R mid range you can find some for sale

 

[kfa888]

If I recall, there may be something to the 901 theory.
Here it is. It was fried by my Adcom GFA1. The first time for the midrange but the tweeters got zapped before.
I also had to repair the crossover. There was one exploded cap.
It caused the S3 to have low impedance when the bass kicked in. My poor Adcom tried to drive it and wound up frying itself. I just now replaced it with a Parasound A23+.
It was when the Parasound started shutting down I realized the damage to the speaker. I built them in the early eighties.

Similar but not the same.

 

[kfa888]

 

[blipco]

It is listed as m608r and in their catalogue as a six inch midrange. It is not.
I have a catalogue dated a couple of years after the kit I bought.

I emailed the Loudspeaker Guy and he says he'll have a substitute ready at the beginning of March, which I may do as he also said that he may have trouble with the parts for mine.

My whole downstairs is a disaster with my stereo in pieces in the front room and my motorcycle project taking up the other two rooms,LOL.
I disassembled the carburetors on the kitchen table and the place stinks like gas.
Oh, and I have to do my taxes.

 

[pauldrewry]

I stand corrected, Speakerlab did produce some of theit own drivers but also sourced them too.

 

[Bratwurst7s]

I'm at work right now and don't have access to all of my info but I believe that the M608R is a Phillips driver.

Cheers,
James

 

[blipco]

They did build at least some of their speakers. I bought the kit in late 1970's maybe 1980.
I have receipts for when they rebuilt my tweeters in 2007.
I remember the phone conversation.
The guy said that they should have handled the power from the Adcom so they repaired them free of charge. 27 years later!

 

[Bratwurst7s]

It is listed as m608r and in their catalogue as a six inch midrange. It is not.
I have a catalogue dated a couple of years after the kit I bought.

I emailed the Loudspeaker Guy and he says he'll have a substitute ready at the beginning of March, which I may do as he also said that he may have trouble with the parts for mine.

My whole downstairs is a disaster with my stereo in pieces in the front room and my motorcycle project taking up the other two rooms,LOL.
I disassembled the carburetors on the kitchen table and the place stinks like gas.
Oh, and I have to do my taxes.

Sounds like you do not have a Wife in the house.

Your photo looks like photos that I've seen of the M608R. Some people have said that the S3 used a Phillips AD5061/M8, but that doesn't look like what you posted, and has a rubberized cloth roll surround rather than a rubber surround.


Waiting until next month for Paul (the Loudspeaker Guy) to supply a substitute would be a pretty good choice. Paul is a stand-up guy and used to work at Speakerlab back then. Btw, if it was me, I would probably buy 2 from Paul to be sure that both mids ended up sounding 100% the same.

Cheers,
James

 

[kfa888]

My whole downstairs is a disaster with my stereo in pieces in the front room and my motorcycle project taking up the other two rooms,LOL.
I disassembled the carburetors on the kitchen table and the place stinks like gas.
Oh, and I have to do my taxes.

Hello brother from another mother ha ha ha. I have piles of motorcycles and vintage gear. He whom dies with the most toys wins.

 

[Pete B]

What is the measurement straight across and along the diagonal.
Can you measure the DC resistance of the other mid? I take it works?

 

[nerdorama]

It's an Audax driver. The HIF13 family. There were several versions indicated by a letter suffix. They also had 4 and 8 ohm versions. I have a pair of the Speakerlab M608R version. The Audax part numbers are faded but I Believe the suffix is J and they are the 8 ohm version. Speakerlab coated the cones with some sort of damping glue so getting original Speakerlab versions is he best way but you can sometimes find this Audax version at auction as well.

Here is the original Audax data for the J version:
http://www.audax.com/archives/HIF13J2CA12 - Catalogue 1986.pdf

Good luck,
John

 

[blipco]

To all,
Kfa888, Yes, no wife but a female friend in my house yesterday said my house looks like my garage now.

Bratwurst, I will ask Paul what he thinks about buying two. That makes sense to me as well. It's just that I've had them so long, and I built them, nobody can convince me at this point there's a better speaker in the world. I'm both sentimental about them and stubborn. I thought it a butyl surround but on close inspection I'm seeing fibers in the surround.

Pete B, Overall dimensions, which is measuring the frame, is 5 1/8 inches across. 6 inches diagonally at the screw holes. And pretty much 4 1/2 inches diameter at the outside of the surround.
I have not yet taken apart the other working speaker to measure the midrange resistance, (I only have a vom).

Nerdorama, yes. My suffix is J.
HIF13 J2CA12 8 ohm (as best I can read it).

 

[Bratwurst7s]

View attachment 2136476 To all,
Kfa888, Yes, no wife but a female friend in my house yesterday said my house looks like my garage now.

Bratwurst, I will ask Paul what he thinks about buying two. That makes sense to me as well. It's just that I've had them so long, and I built them, nobody can convince me at this point there's a better speaker in the world. I'm both sentimental about them and stubborn. I thought it a butyl surround but on close inspection I'm seeing fibers in the surround.

Pete B, Overall dimensions, which is measuring the frame, is 5 1/8 inches across. 6 inches diagonally at the screw holes. And pretty much 4 1/2 inches diameter at the outside of the surround.
I have not yet taken apart the other working speaker to measure the midrange resistance, (I only have a vom).

Nerdorama, yes. My suffix is J.
HIF13 J2CA12 8 ohm (as best I can read it).

Nerdorama to the rescue with the correct info! Good work John.

blipco, I truly do understand about starting with something good and sticking with it to the finish line. I bought my S7's back in 1983 and they are still the center-of-gravity of my system. They have been heavily modded over the years but they just keep getting better with each step. Eventually my kids will inherit them because they are not going anywhere before I pass.

A request. Can you please take several good resolution photos of your crossovers while you are in there?

Btw, if nobody has said it yet, welcome to Audiokarma.

Cheers,
James