newandold
-
Posts
568 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Events
Posts posted by newandold
-
-
On 7/19/2020 at 7:09 AM, arken said:
I have one speaker louder than the other. Switched speakers all good with the amp. pre-amp ………….. I really don't want to tear them apart. I'm good with a three way speaker but this looks like a complicated circuit. If it's not an easy fix I may take them to New York if he will let me. Anyone ever have this problem? I know one midrange wasn't sounding right(it would pop) in that speaker but no other problems. Also the switch in the front needs to be cleaned. I got the deal of a lifetime on a near perfect set of AR-LST's (cosmetically) from an older gentleman in Oklahoma who crated them and got them to me in the same perfect condition. I refuse to mess these up!!! I had the woofers redone (the surrounds were falling apart) Anyone have any thoughts? Thanks
I would also try the fuse swap as suggested by the previous poster and also run the spectral balance control all the way in both directions and listen for a smooth transition.
However beyond that, you (or someone familiar with the LST,) will need to evaluate each driver and array to determine where the drop in output is coming from. Not as complicated as it is methodical with all those drivers. The sound you describe from the midrange is indicative of a driver failing (or possibly the fuse).
Bill
-
8 minutes ago, Jordac said:
Thanks, Bill. Interesting information. PVA is a good moisture barrier, so maybe that’s part of it. I live in Alabama, so I guess that will make my surrounds a high humidity test. Also interesting...I’m an original owner of a pair of LC 110s from the mid-late 80. They have the cone coating. Thanks again for your reply. Best, Chris
Hi Chris,
You’re right!
I had the older, original lineup of Allisons in mind. (None of the cones from my A1’s (1977) were coated.
All of the smaller woofers I’ve seen and Owned from the eighties and nineties were coated. I have the AL 115s, close in age to your LCs and the newer NL1440.That being said, it’s always the surrounds that go.
Spiders get weak and loose compliance also. I have had both spiders and surrounds replaced in all my systems between 2012 and 2016.
The quest to stay “new” continues.,...
-
Really, I never saw the Allison woofer cones coated until I bought a replacement woofer for an Allison One around 1994. Big changes by then within the company and that woofer (though it sounded perfectly fine) had the entire surface surround and all shiny coated. It looked different from the originals but not nearly as far of a departure as what happened later in 2000 when David Faulkner bought the company and tried to jump start it.
From what I’ve seen over the years, any coating applied to the surrounds has done nothing to add to the longevity, only wishful thinking. Just a gooey mess with the surrounds rotting and the coating separating from the foam.
Right now, I’m a “ crash test dummy” for all new surrounds on my current Allison’s with no coating on any of the woofer surrounds. They range between 2012 and 2016. We’ll see....
Can’t speak to the tweeters. If you’re happy with the sound then that’s all that matters.
For what it’s worth, the foam surrounds of today chemically are supposed to hold up better than the foam of the 70’s and 80’s.... If true that would be the REAL ticket!
Bill
-
18 hours ago, RayDP said:
I’m restoring a pair of Allison Nines. I replaced the surrounds with Simply Speaker foams but one of the woofers is generating a bad grating sound which I haven’t been able to eliminate. im considering sending it in to Simply Speakers but saw a 10” Allison One dated 1982 for sale.
Does anyone know if this is essentially the same as the 10” woofer in the Allison Nine?
The A1 woofer is 4ohm and the 9 is either 8 or 6 (pretty sure)
I would send it in...I have sent work to them. They are honest and very reasonable.
This way for sure you know what you’ve got! -
3 hours ago, intrique45 said:
Thanks I will try that They are CD8 I am also thinking that if its possible the ferrofluid dried up and may cause the problem
Let’s hope the simplest answer (dirty contacts) is the correct one.
your midrange uses ferrofluid but the tweeter is cooled with silicone grease.
It is true that crackling sounds can be indicative of a driver failure, but see how the cleaning goes before sweating it.If it’s cooling material dried up causing the problem, I’m toast too!
Not including the subwoofer I’m running 28 Allison drivers in my system.....so far so good.
Bill
-
46 minutes ago, Jordac said:
Thanks, Bill. I would certainly prefer original tweeters. No sign of corrosion...maybe was just a dud. Hopefully can get a return/replace. . BTW, what is “NOS”? Another thought... I have a few Allison tweeters in various states of functionality. Is it possible for someone skilled to restore working units from various cannibalized parts? For instance, can sound paper cones be removed from dead coils to fix other units?
NOS= “NEW” old stock! (30 plus in your case.
The only professional guy I knew Who attempted tweeter repair with no warranty is Long out of it.
Some enthusiasts on the forums have done SOME repairs with limited success depending on the issue.Even Allison Acoustics, in their heyday, did not repair tweeters Or midrange drivers for end users. Replacement only.
-
14 minutes ago, Jordac said:
Thanks, Bill. I’m awaiting a response from the seller. We’ll see!
Are there any recommendations for non-Allison replacement tweeters? I’m considering something as a stop gap, until I can get the real thing. I found these... any thoughts?
I recall on the Yahoo forum some guys went for the Madisound tweeter as an alternative.
I personally wouldn’t go there....the Original Allison tweeter and midrange define the “Allison” sound. Without that, it’s no longer an Allison Loudspeaker.
The seller should make good to you.
Putting aside the “autosound” debate, those labels show the point of origin as the Framingham Ma. Location and nothing Allison has come out of there in over 30 years, so you’ve got some seriously NOS on your hands.
Is there any evidence of corrosion around the protective screen? Yours may have deteriorated simply by being in a box for decades.
There are many Used versions Of the Allison two way tweeter (some without the screens) that are interchangeable with the 110.
They’ve been listed many times before, but I’d be happy to list them again if the seller fails you.
Bill
-
13 hours ago, Jordac said:
Thanks, all. So, will the ACD-2 tweets labeled for "autosound" sold from (link below) theoretically work in the LC-110 and /or AL-120? I'm trying to determine whether the item I ordered from below is defective or incompatible. It does produce sound but at about 1/2 the volume (or less) than the original tweeter. Before I go through the hassle of haggling with said vendor for replacement/return, I just want to be sure this should work, theoretically. Thanks so much, Chris
Chris,
Have you contacted your Ebay seller to explain to him what’s going on with that tweeter and the system you’re using it in?
Bill
-
19 hours ago, intrique45 said:
Hello again to all I have a set of Allison 8 speakers that may need a cap job Seems at certain bursts/spikes at mid volume the speaker looses volume and crackles There about 35 years old now
Does anyone have a schematic of what caps I need to replace?
Doesn’t sound like a capacitor problem.
Are these CD 8’s or the original Allison Eight?
Any restoration done on the drivers?
Before trying anything with caps., the slope switches should be cleaned first. The symptoms you describe are indicative of poor contact within those switches.
You’ll need some Deoxit and Dust Off or equivalent.
The Original Eight has a slider switch that is virtually self clearing by sliding back and forth many, many times.
If you do this with soft music playing, you will hear the sound “recover” to normal.The CD8 has toggle switches that could be tricky to clean, but the same kind of operation applies.
You can also pull a driver to get to the backside of the switches.
-
48 minutes ago, bboylesjc said:
Bill,
Going to have to disagree with you. There was a discussion in the Allison Group that Allison did in fact make speakers for auto sound. Check the link and look at the first picture.
Brian
Hi Brian,
That Ebay seller has been out there for a number of years with his NOS inventory of Allison midrange and tweeter drivers with that infamous “automotive” designation.
There was never an Allison full range automotive loudspeaker, or loudspeaker system (example, like a Bose branded system) that ever got off the ground.
Bill
-
10 hours ago, Jordac said:
I have a pair of Allison LC110s from the late 80s. One tweeter died (no sound, although it looks fine), while the other is slightly crushed in the dome, but still works. I did find a replacement from said “major auction site” for one, which works great. I have since found a replacement for the other from an automotive audio company, the same as what Stubotny posted, the ACD-2. This has the grill. When hooked up, it hardly produces any sound. I suspect this model is incompatible with the LC110, perhaps because it is for an automotive system? Thank you in advance for your help. Chris
Allison Acoustics was never involved with anything thing “automotive”.
That being said, when the company went out of business MAYBE someone outside of the company decided those tweeters fit another spec. close enough and bought them up for resale (pure speculation).
You probably just got a lemon....try swapping it out with the tweet in the other cabinet and you should have your answer.
Bear in mind those NOS tweeters have been sitting around for 20 years at least and could very well be older than that. Look for signs of corrosion/rust where the screen attaches....some tweeters fell victim to that.
Bill
-
On 2/15/2016 at 2:40 PM, Capitol C said:
I've been listening to my restored AR-3a's for some time now, and noticed something interesting. On chamber music and jazz, things sound great. On orchestral recordings, things are more mixed. I have done a lot of fiddling with positions in the room, the speaker-back midrange and tweeter controls, and the receiver tone controls. There seemed to be a slight lack of fidelity on high-pitched notes and sharp transients--flutes and piccolos are not sibilant, triangles get lost in the orchestra, etc. I thought it might be the room, or the replacement tweeters, or just my 63 year old ears (and 40 year old memories!). Turning the midrange and tweeter controls to the max helped, and so did some use of the treble control on the receiver, but different recordings seemed to want different adjustments. Oddly, a local radio station recording of a live National Symphony Orchestra concert seemed very good without fooling around with controls.
Today I listened to the mid-1950s recording of Daphne and Chloe by Charles Munch and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. I have a record of it, but ordered a re-release on SACD, which I listened to on a CD player. It was originally a two-channel recording, and the liner notes say that the master has splices in it, but otherwise wasn't mixed or otherwise altered. A few minutes into the CD, I turned the treble control on the receiver back to flat, and heard the speakers as I remembered them. The detail is remarkable, everything sounds right. So maybe I didn't mess up the restoration after all!
As I knew decades ago, it is very hard to record an orchestra, and often less is more. The old RCA and Mercury recordings with minimal miking and mixing, or an FM live broadcast with a couple or three fixed microphones, are often superb. Nothing profound in this post, but I am really enjoying the music!
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
-
5 hours ago, lance G said:
Thanks for the replies, both John (?) and Bill. Really good information and somewhat reassuring support .
Partially on the back of these replies (no potential future subsequent blame will be attributed !), I have gone ahead and it looks like I may have snagged and await the impending arrival of the following;
Carver PM-1200 and a Carver PSC-50 pre-amplifier.
To reiterate, I am hoping as previously stated, that they (and more particularly the PM-1200) will be a good match for my AR 9 speakers ? I currently bi-amplify them with a pair of British Quad 606 amplifiers, and Quad 66 pre-amplification.
A couple of things, I may be on the lookout for a remote control for the PSC-50, I believe it's a RH-5 ? If someone has one lying in the bottom of a drawer, please let me know !
Also, I have managed to download an owners and a service manual for the PM-1200, but have only found a service manual for the PSC-50. Does anyone possibly have an owners manual that I could have a (scanned). copy of ?
Also, again any further advice greatly appreciated. I am thinking these things are well over 20 years old now, the previous owner has allegedly had them for the last 22 years, I doubt he bought them new. Although, again allegedly, he has used them very little, and it appears thay are coming from a domestic environment so hopefully not flogged to the point of death, I am wondering what preventative maintenance aspects I should perhaps be considering. I have taken on board the power supply capacitor advice (thanks johnfalc), but without being overly paranoid is there anything else likely to be critical that I should consider with either amplifier ?
Thanks again.
P.S. I appreciate that this is the Acoustic Research speaker area of the site, but if you could all (maybe admin' ?) bear with me for the moment before you throw me off somewhere else, I would appreciate it !
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
-
1 hour ago, npt3 said:
Hey! Glad to see the forums back up and running. I've just starting using my Allison Threes again (the home office routine!) and have discovered that both of the the surrounds have finally bit the dust. I had Bill LeGall at Millersound fix my midranges a couple of years ago, and he's amazing and wonderful, but I'd like to try to find someone local in MA who's worked on the Allison 12" woofers before and can fix them. Any suggestions??
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
-
On 5/5/2020 at 2:06 PM, lance G said:
In the U.K. Carver equipment is pretty rare, as are AR 9 speakers. I am lucky enough to have a good pair of the latter, and may now have the opportunity to get hold of a carver amplifier to drive them with.
Specifically, it's a Carver PM-1200. From researching this forum over time I perceive that Carver amp's can be a good match for the AR 9.
Could I kindly ask what opinions people/users may have ?
I do have some reservations, as I believe all of the Carver amp's are fairly old now, and that some models can be a pain to repair due to their complexity. I don't know who could now be relied upon to repair a failed amp', certainly more so in the U.K.
Any reply will be appreciated.
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
-
19 hours ago, PJ Emerson said:
My Allison 4s are long gone but I still have an Allison Electronic Sub-woofer any ideas how best to use it?
What speakers are you using in place of the A4’s?
-
On 2/2/2020 at 2:01 PM, Jon S said:
I have 4 Allison 7s in need of reforming as well.
Is there a consensus on where to source the foam? Or cones that are either original in design or better?
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
-
4 hours ago, Hooper said:
I stumbled upon a pair of 4s that a friend was getting rid of that I thought needed new foam, but now realize they need cones AND foam. I see MillerSound mentioned above but no contact info.... any help on that ???
I would rather get these up to snuff than part them out. tweeters look good but as to sound I have not tried to hook them up. cabinets could use a reform but who cares about look!!
I am eager to see some advice on where to look for reconing and foaming from a quality provider if anyone has recommendations... thankswww.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.
-
On 12/9/2019 at 1:32 AM, klhhead said:
I have a pair of restored model 20s that are fantastic but unfortunately one of them has developed a rattle when playing low frequencies at high volume. The speaker doesn't sound blown, but its almost as if something has fallen out of place and is vibrating against the cone. At lower volumes the sound disappears. Pulling off the grid there is no visible damage and the foam looks to be in good shape. Any ideas, advice, or suggestions would be very much appreciated. I don't really want to open this baby up until I know what I am planning to do.
Cheers
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
-
On 1/23/2020 at 11:20 PM, xpat said:
I thought the forum members may find this excerpt interesting. I pulled it from the Stereophile Magazine (Feb 2020). The speaker being discussed is the Magico M2 - a speaker currently selling for $56K !
What did Yogi say?? “Deja VU all over again?”
AR was so far ahead of the curve.
and affordable to boot.
Bill
-
4 hours ago, Jill said:
Thanks, Bill. What do you see wrong with the surrounds on the woofers?
Jill
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
AR-LST problem
in Acoustic Research
Posted
They are very old, so it should not be surprising to find more than one driver failing.
The least invasive way to figure it out is to remove the grilles and allow music material to play softly enough to get your ear close to each driver, to figure out which ones are low, distorting or dead.
For my part, I would want to pull the drivers and check every internal connection.
Bill