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Allison Nines (almost) of my dreams - questions


npt3

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So I'm moving my listening room upstairs.  I found a near-mint pair of Nines and brought them home tonight.  They were in a wall unit where the cabinets were built around them, so the oak (the "almost" part, I was looking for walnut) was in perfect condition, as were all of the drivers and the woofer grilles.  The front grilles had minor damage, but with a little judicious repair should not evidence anything amiss to the casual viewer (I got me a pair of Alex B's replacement front grilles just in case.)  Going to give them a spin shortly and will post pics for the curious.

Two minor 'restoration' questions for the group:

  • the bases are scratch-free, but have some, I guess, pitting.  Any suggestions on how to clean those up so they look nice and clean (short of repainting them)?
  • these are the oak finish - as I recall this veneer has a clear finish on it.  Has anyone tried to stain the oak veneer to have it approach (but for the different grain pattern) walnut?  Like I said, the finish on these speakers is perfect, so I'm reluctant to do anything to it, but still.

Yayyyyyyy!

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On 10/3/2018 at 7:25 PM, npt3 said:

So I'm moving my listening room upstairs.  I found a near-mint pair of Nines and brought them home tonight.  They were in a wall unit where the cabinets were built around them, so the oak (the "almost" part, I was looking for walnut) was in perfect condition, as were all of the drivers and the woofer grilles.  The front grilles had minor damage, but with a little judicious repair should not evidence anything amiss to the casual viewer (I got me a pair of Alex B's replacement front grilles just in case.)  Going to give them a spin shortly and will post pics for the curious.

Two minor 'restoration' questions for the group:

  • the bases are scratch-free, but have some, I guess, pitting.  Any suggestions on how to clean those up so they look nice and clean (short of repainting them)?
  • these are the oak finish - as I recall this veneer has a clear finish on it.  Has anyone tried to stain the oak veneer to have it approach (but for the different grain pattern) walnut?  Like I said, the finish on these speakers is perfect, so I'm reluctant to do anything to it, but still.

Yayyyyyyy!

Congratulations on your latest find!

 The older these things get the more impressed I am when somebody comes up with a pair as nice as you describe.

 I would Just rub out the oak with lemon oil and leave it.

Metal pitting is tough.

 If you want those bases really sweet you could bring them to an automotive body shop that does powder coating (perhaps) if they can match the color closely, all computer done these days, they would look awesome. Grant it, that might be a bit pricey.

 I would replace the spider in both woofers at some point even if they look fine. After 30+ years the woofer can run past the intended excursion limits and bottom more easily.

 I’ve got 8 Allison woofers in my system. Had the 4 10 inch refoamed and the spiders replaced in 2012 and the 4 /8 inch done the same in 2016.

Bill

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Thanks Bill.  As it turns out, one of the midranges is bad, but at least I've got a spare.  :)  And, I cleaned up the bases and the pitting really isn't visible unless you're about 2 inches away from it.

I rubbed some Howard's Feed & Wax onto the finish, and the veneer looks super now. 

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2 hours ago, newandold said:

Last time I saw a pair of 9’s that sweet was in a Hi Fi store...Brand New. Back in the Eighties New York. 

We had two local dealers back then that sold Allison. I bought my first pair from the other called Harvey Sound at the time.

 

Bill

I really lucked out with these.  Back in the day I auditioned a pair of Nines and LOVED them, but couldn’t swing the $$ for them, and bought a pair of CD7s instead. So, it took a while, but I finally got a “new” pair ?

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5 hours ago, npt3 said:

I really lucked out with these.  Back in the day I auditioned a pair of Nines and LOVED them, but couldn’t swing the $$ for them, and bought a pair of CD7s instead. So, it took a while, but I finally got a “new” pair ?

Yes!

 I went through the ups and downs of affording Audio gear.

 The original flagship Allison One that I bought new in 1977 were 760 for the pair. The CD 9, containing half the drivers were selling for around 1100 I believe.

You know better than I most likely.

 I brought the A1’s into the marriage and ran out of toy money for quite a while....I had enough trouble spending on a woofer repair let alone anything else.

 

Bill

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Haha!  I got my Threes from the original owner 18 years ago for $350 (a princely sum for me at the time) and I'd say I got a fabulous deal all these years later.  You can't get two pairs of mint tweeters, mids and woofers for that price today!

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On 10/16/2018 at 5:26 PM, npt3 said:

Haha!  I got my Threes from the original owner 18 years ago for $350 (a princely sum for me at the time) and I'd say I got a fabulous deal all these years later.  You can't get two pairs of mint tweeters, mids and woofers for that price today!

One of the best “corner loaded” systems in the world for 350 bucks? Can’t beat that.

Still have them?

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