Allison 9 mid range driver

[guyver11469]

New to this forum.

I have been given two Allison 9 speakers. They are the early bi-amp versions.

 

The previous owner stated that one of the drivers was cutting out and sounding fuzzy. Once I got the brittle grills off it was quite obvious which one due to the white, foam, double sided tape and multiple places where the rubber membrane is torn off. 

 

I dug into it a little bit and noticed a tear in the dome which was also pressed in. Since there was already a tear I used it to get a q-tip (with no cotton) under the dome and gently popped it back into place. Avoiding the attachment of the leads in the process. I then took some very light fabric batting and made a patch. Using black Plastidip as the binder and covering of the patch. Plastidip stays very flexible after it's cured so this worked very well. See the pictures attached please.

 

In addition one of the blade (male) terminals is missing so someone before myself has attempted repair. I had to solder (carefully with low heat) the wire to the driver to test it.

 

The end result is a good looking driver that still does not work properly. It still sounds fuzzy and cuts out. I am guessing the voice coil is rubbing.

 

I contacted Bill LeGall because of some very high recommendations. Here is his response...

 

Greetings Scott,

 

Sorry to report that Allison is one of the 3 brands dropped from our service for 2019. There’s no way we could make a profit, for there are so many issues. Most, the owner is not even aware of.

 

It hurts, for we were friends with Roy Allison, and we did love the sound of them when they were much newer.

 

I’m certain that one of the nice people on the Allison forum, may know of a semi-retired technician, that would have the time.

 

Bill LeGall

 

Can anyone help regarding repairing or replacing this driver? I know they show up on ebay occasionally. Can anyone also tell me which other models used this driver? The descriptions on ebay are somewhat vague.

 

Thank you.

 

[newandold]

Scott,

That driver is used in models 1,2,3, both versions of the Eight, yours and the IC 20.

Your tale is s heartbreaker...Bill did a ton of work for me over the years.

The earliest mids with front leads and no rear spades would be the toughest retrofit, but not impossible.

 

Bill

[Chaz]

I just replaced a Nine mid-range, so I have an old driver. The cone wiring is broken, so it may be a good parts items for you, since you have a good cone but bad driver.