newandold

I was 63 when I saw an ENT specialist and had my hearing checked by the audiologist. I have a hearing loss in my right ear...not terrible, mostly less sensitivity in that ear, but what you describe is what I hear and It doesn’t matter which speaker I listen to. The result of an inner ear infection, it did improve but not quite what it was. Bill

Even more interesting to me would be how many IC 10’s we’re actually built back in the day. The cabinets were outsourced just as the 20’s were, and the 20’s were 100 cabinets in total. The IC 10 probably wins the prize for the most unknown and least produced loudspeaker ever to come out of the company. As seen here in the thread, there was a printed spec. sheet on the loudspeaker, available from the factory, but never the typical sales brochure that could be had of any other model. Bill

Hi Lance, The biggest difference with that gear will most likely come from swapping the preamps and not as much the amplification. Not better or worse (different for sure). I would want to live for a while with the Carver preamp and the Quads. If that combo yields the better result, you’ve got amplification backup and that’s great with older gear to avoid down time. Bill

With social distancing in play, probably sending them out is still your best bet. MillerSound had said recently no more Allison repairs, but perhaps he would still do woofers, since that is the most generic service of those 3 driver types. I had also used Simply Speakers for an Allison. Sorry I’m taking you even farther away. They’re in Florida but similarly priced to Legall. Bill

It would be a great match for the AR but I agree, the age may be working against you. If you can get it with a money back guarantee and not over 250/300, You should get your money’s worth out of it. I ran Bridged Carvers for 13 years with Big Allisons ( very similar in power demands to the AR. That’s only a part of my 43 years Using Bob Carver Amps. Bill

It’s been around 22 years now since the writing was on the wall for Allison Acoustics. back then, I needed a woofer for an Allison One and realized the company was failing. Six weeks of waiting and inquiring, then finally, two woofers that looked nothing like the originals showed up here. Fast forward, I got familiar with the Ebay marketplace around the same time. What a wonderful thing in retrospect, that I was able to keep an ongoing search there for anything “Allison” , until I built up a satisfactory stash of parts (mostly drivers) to keep the sound going for a lifetime beyond the demise of the company. Currently, I’m maintaining a 29 driver surround system that’s all Allison, except for one which is the Velodyne Subwoofer. Velodyne is dead also....that company has left audio and put their resources into autonomous vehicle technology of all things! Bill

Ebay is your best bet, though even there, whatever’s left that’s Allison has slowed to a crawl. Bill

What speakers are you using in place of the A4’s?

I’m not sure there are enough of us left to form a consensus! (Just kiddin) On the surrounds, if your intention is to do it yourself. Foam not rubber and roll radius as close to original as possible but don’t sweat it. You have damaged cones? Bill

www.millersound.net You need to talk with them first. They say no longer repairing Allison but they’ll probably handle the woofer reconing without an issue. The big deal with the Fours are the 4 tweeters. So rare and hard to find replacements. I would want to be sure I have 4 running tweeters before I recone the woofers which are easier to have repaired.

I had the same problem with a different model, but worth considering. Low frequency rattle driving me crazy. Turned out to be the crossover (glued to the cab. Interior) had come away an was flapping away inside, causing the noise. Bill

What did Yogi say?? “Deja VU all over again?” AR was so far ahead of the curve. and affordable to boot. Bill

I meant 120’s in general, not the surrounds on your particular pair. The pictures are pretty good, and yours look to be intact, but time is against you. After 20 years or so the foam really starts breaking down. Once you loose the air seal of the surrounds the bass deteriorates along with them. Bill

Hi Jill, Those AL 120’s are in the 32 year plus age range. The woofers (the larger of the two drivers) are installed with one reversed, to smooth the bass with the lowest possible distortion. Allison had 5 models that I know of (I’ve got one of them) that used the same arrangement. The two problems with those speakers are the surrounds on the woofers, and the availability of a tweeter, should one blow out. How far you need to go with those systems right now, depends on “how hard you play”. If you don’t drive them terribly loud, you COULD go for a while yet without having the woofers redone. Bill

Jill, If the sound is “good” as you say just continue to enjoy them, regardless of what you do about the TV ?. One has nothing to do with the other. I’ve replaced my TV 3 times while still keeping the old Allisons. Mine are 33 years old. My “newer” Allisons, similar to yours are babies at a mere 26 years of age! Bill