Simplex W's in da house!

**analog addict** · April 2nd, 2008, 04:12 PM

Just had to post this one....

Couple of my buddies came and helped out unpacking and setting up....Thanks guys!

Just remember you get what you pay for and I paid with beers!.... forums

**bowtie427ss** · April 2nd, 2008, 05:07 PM

Cool!

The diaphragm replacement instructions cover cleaning and aligning the coil/gap;

http://www.greatplainsaudio.com/LgDrvrDiaRepl.pdf

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Howdy Bfish and Allan! forums

If i may be so forward, i believe the concern is this.

He's not installing a "new" phragm and doesn't have a locating shim.

So long as he replaces the diaphragm in the same orientation it was removed, can't he simply skip steps 8 thru 13 in the GPA instructions?

Can the centering shim be purchased seperately from GPA in case of misalignment??

I have no experience with these earlier large format drivers, i'm familiar with the adjustable locating pins, and in the newer drivers you can pull the existing phragm for inspection/cleaning and replace it without the worry of upsetting allignment.

I've done this in the past with 291's with no trouble.

Do the earliest 288's use this same method?

**analog addict** · April 2nd, 2008, 05:23 PM

I have no experience with these earlier large format drivers

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Heh, I was actually thinking about trying to talk you into looking at this one via mail...Feel like giving it a go?

**bowtie427ss** · April 2nd, 2008, 06:27 PM

Heh, I was actually thinking about trying to talk you into looking at this one via mail...Feel like giving it a go?

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm flattered and i'd gladly help you Allan, but there's nothing i can do, that you cannot do yourself with a steady hand, a careful screwdriver, and a little guidance. If you can successfully mount a cartridge in a headshell and align it, you can handle the inner workings of a compression driver.

Honestly, if you're going to risk shipping something like that, there's only one place to send it, to GPA.

IMO, you have some very valuable and worthy collectibles, they should only leave your possession for one of two reasons, either to GPA to the most competent professionals to deal with them, or to their next caretakers.

**Old Guy** · April 2nd, 2008, 08:01 PM

Hmm- interesting- what was known as Simplex "w" bins around here were actually a w-bin, similar to a single 155" version of the Shearer bass horn...Those were known commonly as "RCA" w-bins in these parts.

A while back I pointed out a sey on FleaBay, Steve S. Seemed to think they were made for IPC by Jensen.

**bfish** · April 2nd, 2008, 09:52 PM

I think these came along with Cinemascope installs in sets of 3 with a manual changeover switch to accomodate various sound formats.
House EQ was accomplished by swapping caps in the changeover box instead of the XOs. Similar-sized Altec installs useds A1s.

**analog addict** · April 3rd, 2008, 03:42 AM

...well OK, the garage

Finally got my set of 3 Simplex W LF horns with 515's and 3 288B/1005B tar filleds... forums

Pix are here...

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/sho...d.php?t=157376

or here....

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/s...ead.php?t=9168

I do have one question. Well, one question at the moment. One of the 288's is distorting, and I am wondering how difficult/risky it would be to take the driver apart and see if it is just some dust or grunge in the unit, or a bad 'phragm. I would hate to F it up, and am considering having a more knowledgeable individual actually do this for me. Is it simple enough to handle myself, or should I bow to greater wisdom and experience?

Thanks....
A.A.