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Old Allison speakers


Jill

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No good. Give them to me ?

Seriously though. Welcome to CSP.

Maybe you could post a picture of a whole speaker, preferably with grille off. Do you know what model number? Looks like they are floor standers and they are excellent speakers. You'll want to confirm that the woofer surrounds are good--they are probably rotted or just holding on with a gooey coating. They should probably be refoamed. Relatively easy to DIY, and we'll provide guidance, or you can send them to Bill LeGall at Millersound in PA for expert re-foaming.

The other thing is you want to be sure your amp can handle a 4 ohm load. Many AV surround receivers are only rated for 8 ohm loads, maybe 6 ohm but 4 ohm speakers can damage the amp. Some receivers have outputs to attach an external power amp for the front speakers (my Onkyo does).

So please give us a little more info and we'll be happy to help.

Kent

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14 hours ago, Jill said:

Hi! My husband bought a pair of Allison speakers at an estate sale about 20 years ago. We’d like to know if they’re worth keeping now that we’re buying a new TV. The sound quality is good.

Should we keep them, sell them or throw them out?

Thanks

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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

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Thanks for the info.

The sound quality is good, as I said. I had the crazy idea that the Allisons were too old and we needed a sound bar for the best audio for the TV.

Apparently we don’t. LOL

I’d love to know more about our Allisons: approximate age, value, etc.

Here are some better pics:


 

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61CF0A37-16F6-4B1C-80F2-2BB4D8146D12.jpeg

DFC31A18-171F-47BE-8D58-89AFDC3EDA7C.jpeg

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I think what you have are Allison AL120 speakers. I don't have first-hand experience with them but maybe other members here do. Here's a link to the brochure from 1989. http://www.classicspeakerpages.net/library/allison/other/allison_speakers_in_1983_an/allison_speakers_in_1989.html#previous-photo

You can google "Allison AL 120" but there doesn't appear to be a whole lot of info.

Kent

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On 1/18/2020 at 6:37 AM, Jill said:

Thanks for the info.

The sound quality is good, as I said. I had the crazy idea that the Allisons were too old and we needed a sound bar for the best audio for the TV.

Apparently we don’t. LOL

I’d love to know more about our Allisons: approximate age, value, etc.

Here are some better pics:


 

1512D0B4-6D3D-4D8C-82E7-460BA543B6E7.jpeg

61CF0A37-16F6-4B1C-80F2-2BB4D8146D12.jpeg

DFC31A18-171F-47BE-8D58-89AFDC3EDA7C.jpeg

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

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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

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  • 2 years later...
14 minutes ago, tibo said:

Hey every one, 

i Inheritate allison speaker from my grand father wich sound litteraly amazing.

However, i have to restore them and her's the problem:

 

It's said Al 120 s behind but it's only got two woofers 


Should look like this….1 tweeter and two push pull woofer arrangement

 

 

C3171908-E24D-4E5B-BBE1-0A038336F53F.thumb.jpeg.1f43b76ffb607af3ffe3af1645c49818.jpeg

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  • 1 year later...

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