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Wharfedale Melton pickup

titanstats

titanstats

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Wharfedale Melton info?

Hi all.

Desperate for something to buy, and there being nothing else today, I scrounged up an old pair of Wharfedale Melton 2-way speakers today. Thought that the vc's were seized at first, but then realised that the (formerly) rubber surrounds had turned into something like formica, which was keeping the cones from moving. Once I cracked them free, the cones moved just fine.

My real question (although I'd like to know if anyone else here has encountered a pair), is about the surrounds: is foam an acceptable substitute for rubber on a sealed box speaker? I know it's not ideal, and if these were prize pieces I'd take the time to dig up some proper ones. But I can get some foam surrounds tomorrow and be trying them out in a couple of days if I go the foam route.

Don't know if these are worth much effort, but they do have cast 12" Wharfedale drivers and the grills are in absolutely perfect shape -- they even still have the badges. What the hell. :)
 
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could you post a pic?
i just got an old pair of wharfedales (no model number) and someone suggested they might be meltons (see my other posts for pics)
 
titanstats said:
Hi all.

Desperate for something to buy, and there being nothing else today, I scrounged up an old pair of Wharfedale Melton 2-way speakers today. Thought that the vc's were seized at first, but then realised that the (formerly) rubber surrounds had turned into something like formica, which was keeping the cones from moving. Once I cracked them free, the cones moved just fine.

My real question (although I'd like to know if anyone else here has encountered a pair), is about the surrounds: is foam an acceptable substitute for rubber on a sealed box speaker? I know it's not ideal, and if these were prize pieces I'd take the time to dig up some proper ones. But I can get some foam surrounds tomorrow and be trying them out in a couple of days if I go the foam route.

Don't know if these are worth much effort, but they do have cast 12" Wharfedale drivers and the grills are in absolutely perfect shape -- they even still have the badges. What the hell. :)
Click to expand...

That's very strange?? I recently bought a pair of 12" Melton 'Red' woofers off eBay and they were virtually perfect - the rubber surround was excellent. I didn't think these would ever get hard - unless they were exposed to ultraviolet light or something. Very odd.

Paul
 
Yep those meltons are almost identical to mine....... beats me why mine have no model stamped on them :dunno:

are you sure the current rubber surround isn't salvagable? perhaps if you try to break the speakers in for a while (play them 24/7 at low volumes with the bass turned up) they might start to loosen up? my bass cones were pretty stiff at first but thats 'cos they hadn't been used for about 30 years :D.

btw - quite nice sounding speakers, VERY well built, good treble and bass, perhaps a bit lacking in the midrange, but i guess you can't have it always! :)
 
kenwood_lover said:
btw - quite nice sounding speakers, VERY well built, good treble and bass, perhaps a bit lacking in the midrange, but i guess you can't have it always! :)
Click to expand...

I was wondering about that as i like the mid sound on my W60 and they would sound a lot different without it.
 
yeah its strange. that's two pairs of speakers i've got now with midrange absences, the Wharfedale Meltons and the Goodmans Mezzos, and yet my KEFs and Kenwoods are the complete opposite! Its incredibly difficult finding an 'in between', but luckily enough i've got enough well balanced speakers to keep me satisfied for the moment :)
 
There are a couple of places that sell butyl surrounds -- I think one of them deals mostly in PA stuff. I heard about them on AK, I think. I may be able to dredge up the name if I check my computer at work, or maybe the guy who suggested them originally will chime in.
 
Yes those are the Meltons, though someone did the bloody plant thing on one of them. Strangely enough, though, it's on the bottom of the speaker..??

The surrounds on these puppies are the damndest things that I've ever seen -- hard and brittle like a kind of plastic. First I thought the vc's were burned, like I said, then I noticed that the surrounds were rock hard. Smashed them out, almost like glass, and the cones moved just fine. Very odd, have never seen rubber turn like these did.

On a sad note, it appears that both the groovy purple tweets are shot on these, which brings to mind another question: does anyone know the impedance of Wharfedale's purple tweeters? I have a couple of nice Phillips tweeters hanging around with nothing better to do...

Sitting here at work now, contemplating refoaming the woogers instantly, but these drivers do look decent enough that I may stop being so bloody lazy and track down a set of rubber surrounds. Then again, I have two surrounds, some glue, and some time right now to do it! ;)

Good thing that I only pad 10 bucks for these hard luck speakers. :)
 
these are for sure rubber and not coated cloth surrounds? I have seen the coating on cloth surrounds get hard.
 
titanstats said:
Yes those are the Meltons, though someone did the bloody plant thing on one of them. Strangely enough, though, it's on the bottom of the speaker..??

The surrounds on these puppies are the damndest things that I've ever seen -- hard and brittle like a kind of plastic. First I thought the vc's were burned, like I said, then I noticed that the surrounds were rock hard. Smashed them out, almost like glass, and the cones moved just fine. Very odd, have never seen rubber turn like these did.

On a sad note, it appears that both the groovy purple tweets are shot on these, which brings to mind another question: does anyone know the impedance of Wharfedale's purple tweeters? I have a couple of nice Phillips tweeters hanging around with nothing better to do...

Sitting here at work now, contemplating refoaming the woogers instantly, but these drivers do look decent enough that I may stop being so bloody lazy and track down a set of rubber surrounds. Then again, I have two surrounds, some glue, and some time right now to do it! ;)

Good thing that I only pad 10 bucks for these hard luck speakers. :)
Click to expand...



I've allways thought that rubber should be used on a sealed speaker myself.
But I've now seen factory sealed cabinets with foam and have been told it's fine.
I would just refoam with what you got and get'ur done!

On the purple tweeter deal, funny you should ask as one of mine was bad to and I had a pair of the Dayton
silk domes handy, to my suprise they are exactly the same size with the same bolt holes! Whoohoo! I had
tested the one good purple tweeter for dc resistance and found it to be identical to the Dayton so in my
estimation the originals were an 8ohm and the daytons sound wonderful in there!

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=275-070
 
Kinda hard to tell as I only had one good one and no real way to compare.

But if I had to venture a guess I would say yes the Dayton has a very good chance of
sounding better and in my estimation is a better quality tweeter, plus the fact you do
have the tweeter adjustmant on the back to get it right where you want.

Funny thing on mine (W60E) the tweeter adjustmant is right in the middle with the dayton
in there. It's a quick and inexpensive change if you want to try it. The drivers are $30 for
a pair and if by some chance you like the originals better these are great for projects with
a ton of info out there on them.
 
Kegger said:
Kinda hard to tell as I only had one good one and no real way to compare.

But if I had to venture a guess I would say yes the Dayton has a very good chance of
sounding better and in my estimation is a better quality tweeter, plus the fact you do
have the tweeter adjustmant on the back to get it right where you want.

Funny thing on mine (W60E) the tweeter adjustmant is right in the middle with the dayton
in there. It's a quick and inexpensive change if you want to try it. The drivers are $30 for
a pair and if by some chance you like the originals better these are great for projects with
a ton of info out there on them.
Click to expand...

Good info, thanks :thmbsp:
 
kfa888, the surrounds were rubber at one time, but had turned rock hard and brittle -- truly bizarre, even made a 'tinkling' sound when I smashed 'em.

Thanks for the tweeter info, kegger. The Philips ad 0160/t8 tweeters that I have are 8ohm as well, and the same size. I had to drill two new holes in the tweeter ring to get them to mount, but as they are rear-mount, that doesn't matter.

I refoamed one last night at work, installed the tweeter and put the woof back in, and it sounds pretty decent. Can't give it the volume test until tomorrow morning, though. I'll refoam the other woofer tomorrow evening, as I'm at work again. ;)

I'll tell you, though -- these are the toughest drivers I've ever tried to do, and I've done a fair number. The vc tolerance is so tight that I thought I was going to be screwed, even using a power supply to manipulate and align the cone to the surround. Definately could NOT have done this one without a power supply. If I ever do a pair again, I'll be taking off the caps and shimming them, that's for sure! Makes the EV drivers that gave me a pain look like candy!

Think I'll refinish these as well, as I don't have enough projects on the go already. :scratch2:
 
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