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wharfedale super3

well just a little update, speakers are still minus the super 3s, been loking for ages now with no success, still wnt give up thoe, mozmax
 
I own four pairs of the Super3. Two need refoam/felt. Two pairs are currently functioning. The first has a ceramic "motor" with felt surrounds. It is very good but nothing like the second pair which are the 1956 felt surround version. These do not have a spider but rather some kind of foam or felt centering pad. The bottom plate is thinner than the late 60s models like the one Troels assails, and the cone is thinner with a slight sheen. Dust cap is metal as mentioned above. I can't say for certain that they came from a SFB model as this tweeter was also used in a corner 3way cab and several other Wharfedale models from that era (see "A Pair of Wharfedales" history of the company.
This second pair does some amazing things. I use it in a 3 way open baffle firing up.
Great imaging, good detail without fatigue, and exceptionally deep soundstage, unlike any of the other tweeters( jbl le26, bozak, leak, coral horns, coral full range holey basket, huge russian kinap hf compression drivers). Briggs stayed away from horns for good reason. Paper cones have a more natural timbre that reproduces acoustic music quite well perhaps at the expense of some detail. I use a super tweeter ( fostex/realistic) over 10 kHz.
The Super 3 s are crossed at 3 kHz via russan pio 4uf caps. Vanarn at DIY audio is an infinite source of information on these and many other drivers of the era. I have learned
Much from him. Incidentally he is the source of information regarding production challenges when wharfedale was exporting drivers on Troels' site. Rank wanted to assemble the parts in the US and other countries to speed up production as demand for Wharfedale speakers grew in the 60su. Briggs apparently knew that this would lead to shoddy craftsmanship, which it did. There are some transitional super3s that ave the large bottom plate but no spider and a paper dust cap if memory serves me. I say hold out for the earliest models. I waited two years and found an unmatched pair stamped 1956. These are what Briggs and Cooke who was his engineer and later founded KEF speakers wanted people to hear. Everything else was a compromise to meet production cost limits and supply problems in my opinion.

Regards,

Jason
 
While I have not heard every tweeter in existence, the SuperTweeter3 is the best overall; 2nd only to the JansZen e'stat tweeter. As much as I like Bozak, the tweeter is not as good. I found the Bozak midrange to be about as good as it gets and always wanted to see if it were capable to ate it to a set of the SuperTweeter3s amd 4 of the Bozak 12" woofers. I think if they could be married in a CG it might be one of the best of the best. A set of JansZen e'stat tweeters could crossover to carry the high end say above 14kcs.
 
My Bozaks have the metal cones. Too harsh for my tastes. So do my tweeters from a pair of Leak Sandwich speakers. (They are super3 clones) While perhaps more flat, they are also somewhat dead no doubt due to the polystyrene part of the sandwich. I'll have to check out the janszen e'stats. Thanks for the info.

J
 
What Bozaks do you have? A problem with some that can make them harsh is the latex can flake off with time. The latex was used to reduce and eliminate the harshness of the metal cone. Others had tried this approach but, Rudy got it to work.

The JansZen add on tweeter array was a popular addon for Bozak. The addon array, the I30 crossed over at 800 hz. The AR-1w was designed to use them as was the original KLH Model One speaker. They were a very popular addon for AR, KLH and Bozaks.

Years ago I tried the Leak Sandwich and rated it up there with those Fisher picture panel speakers Dead is a very kind description.
 
Can't remember which Bozaks those tweeters came from. It is likely that any latex that was applied has flaked off since I could not detect any and latex is a very fugitive material, at least the natural variety. I thought I would mention that the difference in cone type with the super 3 is plain as day if you look at the two examples above. The one from the SFB is shiny like mine while the one troels knicked from the Internet is dull and seems to have some fibrous material likely wool, as used by Bozak whose drivers have the same meaty appearance.
 
Foam surrounds for Wharfedale sfb 3's

bacinani said:
I own four pairs of the Super3. Two need refoam/felt. Two pairs are currently functioning. The first has a ceramic "motor" with felt surrounds. It is very good but nothing like the second pair which are the 1956 felt surround version. These do not have a spider but rather some kind of foam or felt centering pad. The bottom plate is thinner than the late 60s models like the one Troels assails, and the cone is thinner with a slight sheen. Dust cap is metal as mentioned above. I can't say for certain that they came from a SFB model as this tweeter was also used in a corner 3way cab and several other Wharfedale models from that era (see "A Pair of Wharfedales" history of the company.
This second pair does some amazing things. I use it in a 3 way open baffle firing up.
Great imaging, good detail without fatigue, and exceptionally deep soundstage, unlike any of the other tweeters( jbl le26, bozak, leak, coral horns, coral full range holey basket, huge russian kinap hf compression drivers). Briggs stayed away from horns for good reason. Paper cones have a more natural timbre that reproduces acoustic music quite well perhaps at the expense of some detail. I use a super tweeter ( fostex/realistic) over 10 kHz.
The Super 3 s are crossed at 3 kHz via russan pio 4uf caps. Vanarn at DIY audio is an infinite source of information on these and many other drivers of the era. I have learned
Much from him. Incidentally he is the source of information regarding production challenges when wharfedale was exporting drivers on Troels' site. Rank wanted to assemble the parts in the US and other countries to speed up production as demand for Wharfedale speakers grew in the 60su. Briggs apparently knew that this would lead to shoddy craftsmanship, which it did. There are some transitional super3s that ave the large bottom plate but no spider and a paper dust cap if memory serves me. I say hold out for the earliest models. I waited two years and found an unmatched pair stamped 1956. These are what Briggs and Cooke who was his engineer and later founded KEF speakers wanted people to hear. Everything else was a compromise to meet production cost limits and supply problems in my opinion.

Regards,

Jason
Click to expand...
Hello,
I'm in the process of buying a pair of Wharfedale sfb super3's ..what kind of foam did you end up using for the surrounds? The surrounds will be replaced in my pair and i want to get them repaired to as close to the original sound as possible..any advice will be greatly appreciated!! thks!...Andy
 
Yeah, there were at least two versions of the alnico Super 3, which I love dearly (as well as that later, ceramic one, which is what they used on that great W12FRS model). Described back in the day as being very-ribbon-like. The earlier one with the metal dustcap doesn't have as many "lines", for whatever that's worth, than the later alnico one that was used in the early W90's and W70's. One thing I've noted is the way it handles the various kinds of distortion found in classic-rock/pop recordings. It's like a musical car wash. The recording goes in one end all dirty with noticeable mic-distortion, power-tube/preamp-tube breakup, guitar speaker breakup, tape hiss, etc. and comes out the other side all clean and sparkly. Weirdest thing, but I love it. And as Brian really set me straight on, the early W70 and W90 models are much more-accurate than I ever thought. With a clean, clear, open space between listener/speaker, my W90's have nary a bump now (I'm playing Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On", the MFSL gold CD... "Inner City Blues" is on at the moment... Those early Wharfies were made for this stuff... Kinda' funny when you consider the fact that Gilbert Briggs hated rock/pop music). I always knew there was a ton of potential in these things, just waiting to come out, but it's way, way-beyond what I had imagined.

And I agree about the natural timbre of cone-drivers. They do horns, guitars, and Hammond organs spooky justice, so of course they're great with any music that features those instruments.

I bought a single SFB3, part of my plan to put a pair together, so I will find out soon enough. I figured they might be a wee bit sweeter, but not quite as extended. The ones in the W90's are silky-smooth though, especially with four of them going. The W90 probably has a more-'70's-friendly sound than the early SFB/3's with foam surrounds. It's different from the W60 in it's tone. Part of it is the higher-extending tweeter, but I think most of it is due to the woofer-configuration and especially that right woofer with the diaphragm over the cone (It can nail the most-in-your-face James Brown funk and then turn around and dish out the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" like nobody's business). But I bet the SFB/3 has a nice, solid low end too though. That midwoofer is really a woofer.
 
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help ive got 2 sets now.........the misses is going mad

finally got a full set of airedales but they dont have the gold super3 just the other type with the smaller magnet...

will upload pics later today.... wanted to know was there any way of splitting the crossover so they can be bi wired?, been looking at the crossover but looks a bit baffling upto now, anyone got any ideas.... thanks in advance
 
mozmax said:
help ive got 2 sets now.........the misses is going mad

finally got a full set of airedales but they dont have the gold super3 just the other type with the smaller magnet...

will upload pics later today.... wanted to know was there any way of splitting the crossover so they can be bi wired?, been looking at the crossover but looks a bit baffling upto now, anyone got any ideas.... thanks in advance
Click to expand...

:headscrat :dunno:

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:D
 
I think you would need a schematic to get that answer. Those are a couple of very serious inductors sitting there. From the photo, you look like you have the same input jacks I do. What are you going to do with them? I was lucky that I got a set of wires with the plugs soldered on when I got the speakers.
 
Brian said:
I think you would need a schematic to get that answer. Those are a couple of very serious inductors sitting there. From the photo, you look like you have the same input jacks I do. What are you going to do with them? I was lucky that I got a set of wires with the plugs soldered on when I got the speakers.
Click to expand...

Until I get another woofer to make the pair complete, I'm going to try these out.
Probably not the best match for the Altecs, but I'll find out, shortly. At least the woofer holes line for easy install.

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