Upgrade Woofer in Model 15?

[fini]

Howdy! I ran into a pair of Altec Model 15's yesterday. The woofers are in need of a re-foam. I was not able to test them, just visually inspect them. Doing a bit of online research, I found the original woofers to be the only real downfall of this model speaker system (according to some). Since these would need to be reconed, would it make more sense to upgrade to a different Altec 12" woofer? Which ones might work in the 15, and would I have to modify the crossover, or the port? As far as testing these speakers, with the surrounds trashed, would it be a mistake to try to listen to them as-is? I'm sure they've already been played in the current condition, as someone tried to do a (very funky) surround repair. Thanks, guys. Happy New Year!!

[GM]

No, don't try to drive the woofers. Disconnect them before powering up the horns.

With a 1700Hz XO, if they can be reconed with OEM kits, this would be my choice. This is a design specific woofer and at a glance, only the 417-16LF looks like a drop in with possibly some minor vent tuning to suit your room/preference, but check with Great Plains on all this first.

GM

[fini]

GM, Thanks for the suggestion. I called Great Plains today (nice folks), and it's their opinion that the original woofer is of high quality. Refoam runs $40 each, and rebuild runs $75 each. Very reasonable. Now I just have to come up with a price to offer the seller! Any tips?

[GM]

No, not really, I don't keep up with vintage pricing. Since you're going to have to spend $150+ on woofer repair, and IMO the Model 15 isn't worth but maybe half of what Valencias go for, this doesn't leave much for the seller, so it may boil down to how bad you want them.

GM

[fini]

I got a chance to go back to the store today, and attempted to test the 15's. Bill at Great Plains gave me the go-ahead to play the woofers as-is, at LOW volume for a SHORT time. Hard to find anything in the shop that worked (!), but was able to rig-up a radio. Thw woofers worked, but no sound out of the horns. I pulled the horns, and found the wires attached, so I would assume the diaphragms are toast (or worse? I guess one scenario is a shifted magnet? That happened with some K77-M horns in my Cornwalls). I'll give Bill a call in the morning, to get his opinion. Could it be a problem with the crossover?

Also, nowhere on the HF drivers does it say "Altec" or "802-8G." There is a number, 33952, which corresponds to the number in a copy of an Altec oprating instructions for their Studio monitor speaker systems (models 15 and 19).

fini

[MikeInNH]

I've owned a pair of model-15's for 25 years now. Great plains refoamed my seakers for me a few years ago and i also bought new diaphrams from them at the same time.

Those are the 802-8G drivers. Mine don't say it either. They have the same number as the one you posted.

Personally i wouldn't pay a lot for speakers that you're going to have put some money into. $100 TOPS. You're probably going to have to get new diaphrams and I would have the 802's remagnatised. New foams for the woofers...You're talking close to $500. But when done (by Great Plains) they'll be as good as new. Which in my opinion are EXCELLENT speakers.

[fini]

Update: I tested the HF drivers with a VOM. Showed open. Bill said probably it's the diaphragm. Owner wasn't there, I'll have to get back to him later. Maybe he'll pay me to take 'em, once I explain all this...

[fini]

I talked to Bill at Great Plains, he said diaphragms with conversion kits run $90.40 for each driver, no extra charge for installation and remagnetizing. So your estimate is not too far off. This is assuming there's nothing wrong with the crossover, too. At $400-500 into them, I guess I'd be able to get my money out of them (barely) if I didn't like them more than my Cornwalls. This is depending on how low the seller is willing to go, too.