CD8 Woofer replacement

[John]

I have owned a pair of Allison CD8 speakers since the mid 1980's. They are in mint condition. I have never had to replace the 

grills on the speakers. The only issue that I have  been concerned with was the replacement of one woofer that the rubber surround

had rotted but at the time I did not realize that it could be repaired. I contacted Allison when they where located in Kentucky and going

through financial issues which in the end resulted in closing, sad to say. I had purchased one woofer from Allison and did not realize until

much later when I had the other woofer's surround repaired that it was different from the original. The speakers work fine but as someone

who is concerned about the speakers being a match, it remains on my mind. Is there anyone on this forum that could give me info on finding

a pair of CD8 speakers or info on a pair of replacement 8 inch woofers for the CD8. Maybe this is not an issue and I may be asking a lot but I'm

old school and would like to keep it that way. It just sounds good to me. Thank you.

[JeffS]

Welcome John!

I believe your CD-8's employ the same 8" woofer that Allison used in the :Five, :Six, :Seven, :Eight, CD-6, CD-7, so you could try looking on ebay for woofers from any of those. If the woofers need new foam you'll want to buy sloped foam.

 

[newandold]

On ‎2‎/‎24‎/‎2016 at 3:04 PM, John said:

I have owned a pair of Allison CD8 speakers since the mid 1980's. They are in mint condition. I have never had to replace the 

grills on the speakers. The only issue that I have  been concerned with was the replacement of one woofer that the rubber surround

had rotted but at the time I did not realize that it could be repaired. I contacted Allison when they where located in Kentucky and going

through financial issues which in the end resulted in closing, sad to say. I had purchased one woofer from Allison and did not realize until

much later when I had the other woofer's surround repaired that it was different from the original. The speakers work fine but as someone

who is concerned about the speakers being a match, it remains on my mind. Is there anyone on this forum that could give me info on finding

a pair of CD8 speakers or info on a pair of replacement 8 inch woofers for the CD8. Maybe this is not an issue and I may be asking a lot but I'm

old school and would like to keep it that way. It just sounds good to me. Thank you.

Hi John,

There is no need to be concerned about the woofer not being EXACTLY the same as the other, so long as they were both from Allison (you got if from Kentucky before they folded, do I have that right??)

The real key to the performance of those CD8's is in the original Allison Tweeter and Midrange units. Without those, the performance cannot be matched. Those woofer surrounds are foam by the way, not rubber. So long as they both have a similar roll radius, you should not be having any problems.  (you feel you actually hear a difference between the pair?)

I also had mixed woofers in my Allison Ones (when I had them) and there were no problems with those that had the same voice coil diameter as the original

Bill

 

 

[John]

Thank you very much for the quick reply to my question. Yes, I did get the woofers from Kentucky before they folded. I do not feel that I hear a difference as much as I

know that there are different woofers in each speaker. It is more a mental thing of knowing that two different woofers reside in each speaker. The tweeters and midrange

drivers are original and I have never had any issues with them. I use a 200 watt amp with clipping indicator lights which help in being assured that both the amp and

speakers are driven cleanly. In my original post I had tried to download photos of the two woofers but was unable to include them. I do come to the site to read posts but I

am new to posting so I may have done something wrong. Thanks again and I will sit back and enjoy critical listening of music and not be critical of my speakers.

[newandold]

9 hours ago, John said:

Thank you very much for the quick reply to my question. Yes, I did get the woofers from Kentucky before they folded. I do not feel that I hear a difference as much as I

know that there are different woofers in each speaker. It is more a mental thing of knowing that two different woofers reside in each speaker. The tweeters and midrange

drivers are original and I have never had any issues with them. I use a 200 watt amp with clipping indicator lights which help in being assured that both the amp and

speakers are driven cleanly. In my original post I had tried to download photos of the two woofers but was unable to include them. I do come to the site to read posts but I

am new to posting so I may have done something wrong. Thanks again and I will sit back and enjoy critical listening of music and not be critical of my speakers.

Hi John,

The only other thing I would suggest is to watch the used marketplace for speakers and/or parts that fit the CD8, specifically, for a spare tweeter and midrange driver. Again, those woofers never have to die as there are several excellent sources out there for repair /rebuild of the woofers. I have used Simply Speakers in FL. and Miller Sound in PA.

However, the tweeters are nearly impossible to fix if they blow out. The midrange can be repaired in some instances unless it totally blows out (voice coil rubbing can be fixed as an example).

Our only option for those drivers is the used marketplace.

Here's the list of models that use your tweeter and midrange: A1, A2, A3, A8, CD8, the Nine and CD9 and the IC-20. On those, only the very oldest of the originals that have front connections and NO rear spade connectors would not be suitable.

 

Bill