Avid 80a

[Guest markbausch]

...and the link to the AVID brochure posted here, I have a handle on the loudspeakers that my father-in-law has given us. They're Avid 80a's (two of them), and, not surprisingly, both suffer from foam rot.

I remember listening to these speakers in what I believed was a better-than-average audio store in the Chicago area...so I'd like to rehabilitate them.

I have successfully refoamed my own large Advent loudspeakers...and was very pleased with the results.

I was less successful with some old smallish Infinitys...after refoaming the woofers and reconnecting the wires I got no sound out of either one of them (perhaps I hooked up the wires backwards?).

So I'm interested in one of two paths:

(a) refoaming the 80a's...requires a bit of labor and 25 dollars or so on the 'net for the surrounds and glue etc;

or...

( simply buying a pair of 8" woofers (ebay) and sliding them in

Here is what I've identified as possibilities:

http://cgi.ebay.com/8-INCH-WOOFERS-AR-CLAS...6QQcmdZViewItem

the pic of these looks very similar and the total price would be 35 dollars or so (no labor other than the screws)

There are others on ebay...I have but little experience with this sort of thing and would appreciate all advice (first post).

[RoyC]

So I'm interested in one of two paths:

(a) refoaming the 80a's...requires a bit of labor and 25 dollars or so on the 'net for the surrounds and glue etc;

or...

( simply buying a pair of 8" woofers (ebay) and sliding them in

It is not possible to randomly choose any like size woofer and expect it to achieve anywhere near the performance of the original system. The only way to be sure you will get reasonably close to the original sound is to re-foam. Generally speaking, original woofers in better old acoustic suspension systems (like Avids) should be retained if at all possible.

I have found the Bose301/JBL116H 8" surround to work very well on AR 8" woofers. These are very compliant, have a large roll, and are not porous. It is likely they would work well for your Avid woofers. Parts Express or Ebay's "M-Sound' are both good sources for these particular surrounds.

Roy

[Guest dcsleeper]

It is not possible to randomly choose any like size woofer and expect it to achieve anywhere near the performance of the original system. The only way to be sure you will get reasonably close to the original sound is to re-foam. Generally speaking, original woofers in better old acoustic suspension systems (like Avids) should be retained if at all possible.

I have found the Bose301/JBL116H 8" surround to work very well on AR 8" woofers. These are very compliant, have a large roll, and are not porous. It is likely they would work well for your Avid woofers. Parts Express or Ebay's "M-Sound' are both good sources for these particular surrounds.

Roy

I would also vote for a refoam. The speakers in Avids were of excellent quality, and were what made them sound good.

I sold Avids as a teenager.

Your refoaming of the Infinitys likely did not cause the problem, look for broken wires and leads on the crossover components.

[Guest IReilly]

I refoamed an Advent/1 woofer, and it didn't play when I re installed it. I took it out, measured the resistance - it was infinite. The obvious conclusion - I'd severed the voice coil when I was jostling the woofer cone during the process of scraping off the old foam from the cone. Doing it again on a replacement woofer, I made sure to keep the cone from moving around during the scraping, by being careful, and stuffing some paper towels between the cone and basket.