Does anybody know what tweeters were in the Norman Labs Model 8 speakers? I have been doing a lot of searching and can't come up with the manufacture of the tweets. Some say it was the Belgium made Philips tweeter, but I did see a picture and they didn't look like the Philips tweeter.
Tweeter for Norman Labs Model 8 ??????
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Not sure about the Model 8 but the Phillips is what was inside my Norman Labs 432's.
tensleep
Addicted Member
My 10B speakers have the same tweeters as yours. I don't know what brand right off hand. I will go back and reread a couple of my threads to see if the information is there. In the meantime, I can send you a .pdf of the sales brochure that came with my speakers. It identifies the tweeter as a 1" polycarbonate dome with some kind of fancy metallized fluid in the voice coil gap. That information may help identify what is in these speakers.
EDIT: Here is a link to the big Norman Lab thread. Start with post #64 and read to the end - most of the discussion centers around the tweeter and possible sources.
EDIT: Here is a link to the big Norman Lab thread. Start with post #64 and read to the end - most of the discussion centers around the tweeter and possible sources.
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avguytx
Lunatic Member
Are those the square tweeters in the Model 8's? If so, a pair of those just sold on Ebay for $32 and that's the first I've seen of those on there in quite some time. It may be hard to find the source of those since the company is long gone and no NOS parts are left.
My Model 9's have the round Phillips tweeters in them which were used in the middle generations of NL.
Hey, tensleep....does your sales brochure show the Model 9's too? Heck, I'd love a copy regardless!
My Model 9's have the round Phillips tweeters in them which were used in the middle generations of NL.
Hey, tensleep....does your sales brochure show the Model 9's too? Heck, I'd love a copy regardless!
dc270
Now Off the Reservation
This was a popular tweeter with several of the Norman Lab models. It sported the ferro-fluid cooling and pretty darn good sound. I still think many of the Norman Labs models to be very good efforts that were well made and good sounding. They were among the first to use the 12 volt lamp bulb for a tweeter protection circuit! Many of those delicate Polycarbinate Phillip tweeters would simply burn up with out the protection in place- especially when crossed over close to their theritical. Good luck finding an exact match, they are quite good tweeters.
DC
Are those the square tweeters in the Model 8's? If so, a pair of those just sold on Ebay for $32 and that's the first I've seen of those on there in quite some time. It may be hard to find the source of those since the company is long gone and no NOS parts are left.
My Model 9's have the round Phillips tweeters in them which were used in the middle generations of NL.
Hey, tensleep....does your sales brochure show the Model 9's too? Heck, I'd love a copy regardless!
Yes, they are square or at least the mount is square, but I don't know about the speaker/tweet itself.
Well, the reason for my question is that I won a pair of Norman Labs 10" woofers and a set of those "bulb" crossovers for a model 8 speaker set, but didn't get the tweeters. I might just look for a close replacement tweeter of very good quality to use when I build these speakers. I'd really like to at least find something that was very close to the original tweeter if I can.
Thanks for the brochure Bill! It looks like the model 8B uses a newer tweeter(probably Philips) than the plain model 8. Maybe I can just use the Philips tweeter as a replacement?
dc270
Now Off the Reservation
I have used Morel soft dome tweeters several times as replacements and found them to be exceptional soundaing. The MDT 30 tweeter being my favorite. Very smooth and natural sounding. While not really cheap they are super nice.
DC
I might have to go with something like that, but really wanted to put a "bragging cheap" pair of speakers together. I got the 10" Norman Labs woofers and crossovers for a very fair price and was planning on making my own cabinets. I wanted to get the whole project done for under $100.00 so I will probably have to go with some used tweets instead of new to stay under $100.00, but I don't want to stick in a set of tweeters that would be inferior to the originals. I'm in no hurry on this project so I can shake the bushes for a while until a set of nice tweets fall out.
dc270
Now Off the Reservation
Hmmmmmm- might look at Parts Express and see what the "deal of the day" has to offer. I know a few of the Dayton soft domes and even some of the Tang Band types are known to be good values!!
Look for an 8 ohm rated model, 1"~1.125" with a low "FS" suitable for two way designs.
DC
Look for an 8 ohm rated model, 1"~1.125" with a low "FS" suitable for two way designs.
DC
That's some good advice and I have a PartsExpress cat.. I'm just not to familiar with Dayton brand speakers, but I'm sure there are some very good models and some not as good. Just wonder if their price is how you judge which ones are better than the others.
tensleep
Addicted Member
If you read the big Norman thread, there is a link to a parts supplier that has tweeters that are very close, if not identical to the original, Phillips drivers. I'll dig up the link.
EDIT: Here it is:
http://www.zalytron.com/
$10 is mighty cheap for a great Phillips soft dome tweeter.
EDIT: Here it is:
http://www.zalytron.com/
$10 is mighty cheap for a great Phillips soft dome tweeter.
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Bill,
Thanks for the tip/link. Those are a lot like the ones in the later Normans, but they are 15ohm. I just got off that big auction site and picked up a pair of brand new Philips soft dome tweeters for $9.98 + $6.45 for shipping. They are 8ohm with a 3/4" voice coil(little small, but usable) Belgium made. I think I can slide these in and use them for a while until I can maybe find the originals.
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Got 'em
The Norman speakers and crossovers arrived today and I'm playing with them at the moment. I hooked the crossovers to a JVC JR-S61 receiver, added the Norman woofers and then the cheap Philips soft-dome tweeters. They sound fantastic! I then swapped the Philips tweets for two Klipsch K-72-K's and listen to those for a bit. Well, I like the Philips much better. I can't believe these sound this good just sitting on my bar with no cabinets. Now all I need to do is make a nice set of cabinets and I'll be in heaven. I like my Advents, EPI's and Infinity speakers, but these are really first class sounding speakers. I'm not even going to change the caps out in the crossovers on these and take a chance of screwing something up. Now, I got to figure out how to build the cabinets? JohnW
The Norman speakers and crossovers arrived today and I'm playing with them at the moment. I hooked the crossovers to a JVC JR-S61 receiver, added the Norman woofers and then the cheap Philips soft-dome tweeters. They sound fantastic! I then swapped the Philips tweets for two Klipsch K-72-K's and listen to those for a bit. Well, I like the Philips much better. I can't believe these sound this good just sitting on my bar with no cabinets. Now all I need to do is make a nice set of cabinets and I'll be in heaven. I like my Advents, EPI's and Infinity speakers, but these are really first class sounding speakers. I'm not even going to change the caps out in the crossovers on these and take a chance of screwing something up. Now, I got to figure out how to build the cabinets? JohnW
I don't know if it's called restoration or just plain building. I don't really care if they look cool or not. I just want them to sound cool and so far it looks like a promising project. I have a friend that works for a place that has all kinds of exotic woods for homes and I might see if he can help me out on building cabinets for them. They really do sound good enough to warrant a nice well built home. JohnW
heroesunplugged
Member
In case you're interested - here are the dimensions for the original cabinets 23 1/16 H x 12 1/16 W 9 1/4 L. The 1/16" could be once the laminate is applied.
I have also included a few pics so you can see how it is designed. The tweeter is raised from the face of the cabinet and the woofer was mounted flush. The hole in the back for the x-over is 3 3/4" Square. They mounted it with glue and a few (6) staples to hold it in place.
BTW they didn't cross-brace the cabinet either. It is a pretty heavy box and it appears that they used 3/4" MDF for every side of the box. Might actually be 1" as it is more like 7/8" thick according to the tape.
The speaker covers were also the same thickness and I've included a pic of the backside of it so you can see what how it is designed too.
Hope that this helps with you redesign!
I have also included a few pics so you can see how it is designed. The tweeter is raised from the face of the cabinet and the woofer was mounted flush. The hole in the back for the x-over is 3 3/4" Square. They mounted it with glue and a few (6) staples to hold it in place.
BTW they didn't cross-brace the cabinet either. It is a pretty heavy box and it appears that they used 3/4" MDF for every side of the box. Might actually be 1" as it is more like 7/8" thick according to the tape.
The speaker covers were also the same thickness and I've included a pic of the backside of it so you can see what how it is designed too.
Hope that this helps with you redesign!
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Westy56
A symphony of paradox
Damping your woofers with DS will help immensely. :yes: 1Lb per woofer
I wish I had put cross braces in, but the DS is good enough for now.
Steve