Is it really worth it to recharge my AlNiCo mags

[Elitopus1]

I have a pair of Urei 604G that I got from different places. Not a matching pair and of unknown history. They have similar cone numbers (both recones), but the suspension compliance is much softer on one than the other. I want to get them reconed so they match.
I really enjoy the 604G, and I?ll be keeping these for a long time. So resale value isn?t super important. Sound is number one.

So I have two options. I can send them off to GPA where they can recone and remag them, or I know a guy much closer to me (like one state away) who could recone them but not remag them. The guy close to me is GordonW from AK. He has reconed drivers for me in the past and does excellent work. He could even use GPA cones if I wanted.

So my question, is it worth it to pay like an extra 100$ in shipping, and also pay GPA?s now very expensive prices just to have the drivers remagged?

Thanks guys
Don

[Phil-G]

Gordon's house is closer to Oklahoma.

[GM]

When did he move? He use to be within 'shouting' distance from me.

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Anyway, as Pano can attest, as they weaken, Qts rises and next thing you know you got a 'flabby'/'bloated', etc., performer only suited for OB instead of a 'heart attack fast' one, and that's before you put it in a box, so how much you willing to gamble?

Ferrite, you normally can assume they're 'close enough' as long as they're not cracked [chipped normally is no big deal], but not AlNiCo, especially if they were in prosound where they were kept heated up for long periods.

Someone posted that dropping them would need remagging [and by 'remagging' I mean they get completely drained before a new charge, something not always done, making it a waste of time/$$ IME], which I find interesting since 'we' had numerous AlNiCo motors that would get cracked/broken into pieces that actually got obviously faster to the point where we did a lot of testing, but never figured out any 'rhyme or reason' as to how we might take advantage of it.

GM

[Elitopus1]

Aw that’s too bad Gordon isn’t in GA any more. He was my go to guy.

I wonder about the drivers and my use for them even. I’m using them with some Ashly MOSFET amps (each driver has its own Ashly FTX-2001). They get driven to some high levels, but usually not for too long. Maybe an hour or two at a time. Nothing like a recording studio would do.
I’ve often thought if I would be better off with ferrite drivers for high volume playback.

Maybe it’s time to get a nice tube amp. It would take up less space than the rack of Ashlys. Lol.

My biggest concern with the Urei drivers is the plastic horn. I think if one were to ever get broken/chipped I could never find a replacement. And they will get brittle as they get older. Maybe in the day of 3D printers it wouldn’t be too much of an issue to get a copy made. But a pain it would be regardless.

[Phil-G]

wait a minute Don. what i meant was Gordon's house is closer to Oklahoma than yours. and it might be slightly cheaper to ship from there.
are the horns removable?

[Elitopus1]

And here I?m thinking damn, Gordon and Phil must be good friends, Phil knew he moved before anyone else.

AFAIK the horns are not removable without tearing into the woofer cone. I know on the later Urei (when they stopped using an Altec driver), the horns came off easily. Or so it looks like that from pictures I?ve seen.

I had considered swapping the horns out for the standard 604G horns at one point and Bill said he could do it during the recone, but in his opinion the Urei horns sounded better than the standard metal horns on the 604G.
I think the standard horns would have a slightly higher resale value though. Seems like the Ureis don?t go for as much money.