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Wharfedale W90's (should they replace my Altecs???)

Also get a dust mask when you open them up. Mine were in a dry climate and still that white corrosion was thick on the Lpads and speaker magnets. You dont really want to breath that or have the dust pumped ino the air through the ports. It wipes up easily with a damp cloth. It may not be bad in the ones you are looking at, but worth a peak inside.
 
The W-90's are fantastic speakers. As others have mentioned, a different flavor than the Altecs. Be careful- don't blow the tweeters- the purple ones are getting scarce and they reportedly already have issues due to glue eating through the insulation leading to the voice-coil.
 
Well I just got them home and plugged them in and lo and behold there is a dead tweeter in the top left corner of one speaker. They play terrific otherwise and I had to hold my ear up to the speaker to realize it. Maybe it's a crossover issue but I have a feeling I'm in need of finding an apparently rare tweeter now.....

DAMMIT!
 
Well that sucks:(. I'm thinking there should be some compensation from the seller since he claimed they were "mint with fully operating drivers and tweeters." ?
 
mr. biggles was doing some thing with super 3s a while back. he might have some ideas there. but definitely rule out the x-overs 1st. you need to recap them anyways.
 
At the risk of asking a dumb question, can I install a tweeter of a different Wharfedale speaker until I find a super 3 for sale? I see there are several vintage Wharfedale tweeter models for sale on the bay but no super 3s.
I'm obviously not going to fix these myself but does anyone know if any other options will work to get that top left tweeter replaced if it turns out that the tweeter is dead?
 
I will have the crossovers checked and possibly install new caps when I take these to my local speaker repair guy. I was hoping I could hit the ground running today and save cleaning these up till later, but such is life. They do sound absoluely phenomenonal and I almost can't tell the tweeter is out, everything else seems to be working great and the sound is big and authoritative, but I do notice the warm laid back sound coming through everything. I got to say I love these, and I'm really hoping to find a temporary or permanent fix for that tweeter. If anyone has any info on other tweeters or super 3s I'd appreciate it.
 
Yeah, let's see that tweeter. I have some I believe around here and maybe one is a match. Gotta keep 90's alive.
 
Hey thanks for the helpful responses. I was playing them this morning and suddenly my amp went into protection and the sound started breaking up in the left channel speaker (Same speaker that was having tweeter issues). I powered them back on and everything started playing fine again, but I'm pulling these from my system until I have had a tech completely fix these up. Regardless I will definitely have to get these repaired at this point, and I will talk to the seller about a partial refund for these, since I do want to keep these and fix them up.

Here is the picture of the tweeter, located in the upper left hand side of the attached photo. Please let me know if you anyone has a similar tweeter that they could sell me or at least reccomend me a replacement option that would be easy to buy.
 

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You really need to remove (or at the very least disconnect the tweeter) and check it with a ohm meter before we get too far.
 
Letthe tech go through them. If the crossovers are original, the should be checked or rebuilt. No sense blowing drivers one by one as the crossover fails.
 
I'd either be bringing them back or I'd be looking for a substantial refund. You've got more problems than a blown tweeter or 2 if it puts your amp into protection. I'm betting they were getting abused and more than likely cooked something in the crossover at the same time. Can you smell any burnt smell from the voicecoils or the crossovers?
 
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Crestwood23 said:
Wharfedale w90’s to Altec horns is really an apples to oranges comparison. The W90’s will not be able to compete with the horns ultra efficiency and stop on a dime dynamics. They will be a totally different flavor, much smoother and more laid back in nature, less of an edge of your seat listening experience than the horns. I find the w90’s to be fantastic with jazz and classic rock and soul, with an addictive midrange - especially for electric guitars. I use mine with a Marantz 8b and 35 tube wpc is a perfect match. As others have said, you need both! :D
Click to expand...

Have you heard 890Cs?
 
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