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Wharfedale W90 - Radio People - Complete picture Set

Progducer

Progducer

Active Member
Finally getting around to opening up my W90s. These are 1965 (atleast all the drives are marked as such).

This pair seems to be unique in that there are 3 controls and the mid array has a baffle to further separate from the tweeters.
I believe these to be alnico mids and Super 3 Ceramic tweeters.

I am confused about the 12" woofs. Are they both passive radiators? Other pics Ive seen online show one 12" with the stryofoam glued to it and the other looks like a normal driver.

Here is the full pic album: https://picasaweb.google.com/1067474...RadioPeopleW90

Any recommendations on high-end caps to use as replacements? See pics for Cap values.
 

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Life's little pleasures :) yeah, the condition of the grills and cabs is flawless. Love the sound now, but hoping the top end opens up a bit after I clean the pots and find some good caps.
 
Im assuming Radio People took some liberties with their assembly process. They basically imported all of the parts from Wharfedale to Asia and did assembly there. I bought them from the original owner and he has never even opened them up since 1965.
 
I think one's a woofer and the other is a passive radiator, which helps couple the bass into the listening area. Good luck with those.
 
getter365 said:
I think one's a woofer and the other is a passive radiator, which helps couple the bass into the listening area. Good luck with those.
Click to expand...

They appear to be identical. Even the patent #s on the magnet are the same. I would expect only one to be a radiator, but there are 2 and I'm puzzled. Wonder if there are any other designs like that out there. Or should the be identical, yet one functions differently? They have separate compartments in the cab. One side is completely sealed while the other has vents.
 
Your W90s look very like mine. Right down to knobs, although I've only got 2 per cab. I'm pretty sure mine were built up in Canada. No reference to Radio People, no mahogany plywood. And a different (mini/micro) banana jack hookup. Mine were made in '63 I think. I have the same badges, and similar cloth (not the glitzy U.S. stuff). And I lack the giant adhesive (U.S.) label with all the info. My cabinets have slotted backs on one bass bin (per cab).

Note, neither of the LF drivers is passive. They're each driven, in their own bins. My woofers with the styrofoam bung are mounted in the (sand-filled) back bins.

I've recapped with big GE motor-runs. SWEET!
 
Sorry I've been busy the last couple days. Can't remember if I already asked, but I assume those W90's each have the one sand-filled rear panel and one with horizontal vent slots, yes? If no, then that would be VERY-interesting.

Thoseo are perfect candidates for some vintage n.o.s. oil caps. Should open them up and emphasize the smooth, musical, and engaging qualities. The W90 is capable of a WIDE soundstage, and it has LOTS of depth when placed right. And thanks to the dual 3-way design, there's no need to worry about mirror-imogene (Or imaging... Whichever... It's cool).

The mid and tweeter pairs in each W90 are impedance-matched, which was probably a necessity for that model to fly, but that's why it's important to keep those mid and tweeter pots cleaned, otherwise the driver levels go all buggo.

The W90 was designed in England, and like with other W*0 models, they were usually assembled in the country where they would be sold. So, Radio People in Hong Kong really isn't much different than B.I.C. in the US. I've seen mention of W*0 models down in Australia even, and they had a Canadian distributor as well.
 
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Progducer said:
They appear to be identical. Even the patent #s on the magnet are the same. I would expect only one to be a radiator, but there are 2 and I'm puzzled. Wonder if there are any other designs like that out there. Or should the be identical, yet one functions differently? They have separate compartments in the cab. One side is completely sealed while the other has vents.
Click to expand...

Are both woofers electrically connected ?? The Styrofoam "spitball" ( Smaller Advent term) may help in the lowest bass production.

It would be a serious waste of magnet if it wasn't connected
 
Harvey/ Ga said:
Are both woofers electrically connected ?? The Styrofoam "spitball" ( Smaller Advent term) may help in the lowest bass production.

It would be a serious waste of magnet if it wasn't connected
Click to expand...

Absolutely... What he said... Yeah, they're both true, amplified drivers for sure. Otherwise, you'd have some kind of wacky, push/pull thing going on, and that would be weird, I guess. Nope. Real drivers. Definitely for shizzle. On the real (Ride or die... Eastside Hustlas'... What!)

Hey there, Harvey... Good to see ya' . :D

The W12 with the polystyrene diaphragm (known as a "bung"... Those kooky Brits) got it's start in the W2, W3, and W4 models. That woofer was called the W12/PST, and I think the W90 woofer uses the same basic driver on that one side. On the W90C, I think one woofer enclosure is sealed, and the other is vented like I mentioned. I believe the bung diaphragm was something that Raymond Cooked up.
 
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Just to be clear, the W90, as far as I know, never had a passive radiator. In fact, by 1964, it was a 4-way design, so it couldn't be. The polystyrene diaphragm on the front of the woofer is for anti-resonance/backwave-cancellation purposes, that's all. In your version, one woofer should handle upper-bass and the other the low-bass, if my memory serves me correct about the W90C
 
Gang-Twanger said:
Sorry I've been busy the last couple days. Can't remember if I already asked, but I assume those W90's each have the one sand-filled rear panel and one with horizontal vent slots, yes? If no, then that would be VERY-interesting.
Click to expand...

I removed both rear panels, one is solid and the other is slotted. I'm not sure how to tell if it stand filled however.

Do you have a brand recommendation for PIO caps? I'll go buy em now if you point me in the right direction! Thanks
 
Gang-Twanger said:
Just to be clear, the W90, as far as I know, never had a passive radiator. In fact, by 1964, it was a 4-way design, so it couldn't be. The polystyrene diaphragm on the front of the woofer is for anti-resonance/backwave-cancellation purposes, that's all. In your version, one woofer should handle upper-bass and the other the low-bass, if my memory serves me correct about the W90C
Click to expand...

They are identical woofers for sure, you can hear sound out of each so confirms both active. Plus, if there was a passive radiator, the bass cabs would be individually sealed right? It would be open to create the push-pull effect?

I can't tell if the woofers are receiving different frequencies by ear, can anyone tell my looking at the Xover? Sure would be sweet to find a schematic of these things!

So is it the type of tweeter, and the fact that one of the bass compartments is sealed and the other being vented is what makes this the W90C model?
 
I ended up going with Sonicap Gen1 24uf and 8uf based upon Bob Crites recommendation. Only recapped one speaker so far and the difference is very pleasing. The sound is more detailed, like the tweeters are now properly functioning even though I didnt really mind the dark sound of them before! The L-pads are in bad shape and only work in a few areas despite lots of working them with deoxit. I cant figure out a way to open them to really get the stuff in there. Any pointers?
 
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