Allison Eight Inch Rebuilt Woofers

[newandold]

 

The Allisons pictured here are the center channel and rear surrounds. (From my "Allison Home Theater")  They have been in place since October of 2000, and after all that time, plus 3 of the units were new old stock, the surrounds were deteriorating.

Actually, I started getting a buzz from the left rear surround that started my latest project. There was some restricted movement of the voice coil and on closer inspection I found not only that but the surrounds were nearing the end of their useful life.

Before Allison went out and reorganized, I bought 3 of these units direct from the company. After doing some "homework" It was clear that they COULD be at least 22 years old now, being mfg. in 1994.

Already, the 10" woofers in the main front speakers were rebuilt in 2012 complete with new spiders by Miller Sound, the time had now come to address the (4) eight inch drivers.

So I sent all 6 out that I have to Miller, two at a time so I could get done with no down time.  One pair of the six were from a backup pair of AL 115's that I purchased years ago on Ebay.

Started in June and now all complete with the last 2 (backups) arriving just this afternoon.

I do regret not taking photos (before and after) to illustrate how wonderful the work Bill L. does truly is (I got lazy, or just anxious to get them out and get it done.

Bill

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DavidDru]

NIce!

Also nice to have an Allison theater sound set-up.

[newandold]

12 hours ago, DavidDru said:

NIce!

Also nice to have an Allison theater sound set-up.

Hi David,

Yes and the real challenge has been maintaining it.

Allison Acoustics went out of business just as I was setting up my multi channel around 2000.

Like so many others, I've kept my eye on the used market place, trying to collect enough spare parts for the long haul.

I'm in good shape with that now, but this last episode sort of caught me off guard.

Guilty of having a "good memory" I was not expecting to find those 8 inch drivers in need of work. 

Bill

[DavidDru]

Always good to keep eyes peeled for available unobtainium parts/drivers - at least for the special speakers.  I need to be more aware of back-up needs for my Ones.

[newandold]

1 hour ago, DavidDru said:

Always good to keep eyes peeled for available unobtainium parts/drivers - at least for the special speakers.  I need to be more aware of back-up needs for my Ones.

Yes...viable used drivers for the ones are becoming more like the Holy Grail every day.

l still have some spares from my Ones, as they COULD be used as IC20 replacements. What I lose would be aesthetics since the older drivers are sans screens. My newest 3way spare tweeter for the One has the bezel with the groove that would allow me to attach a screen from a dead tweeter to maintain the original appearance.

Bill

[DavidDru]

What do you drive your Ones with?  I have mine in my home office connected to a Pioneer SA9100 that has been recapped and they sound great.

[newandold]

10 hours ago, DavidDru said:

What do you drive your Ones with?  I have mine in my home office connected to a Pioneer SA9100 that has been recapped and they sound great.

The 9100 is a very nice unit.

When I bought my Allison Ones in 1977, I first drove them with the AR integrated amplifier. it was rated the same as the Pioneer at 60 watts per channel, but I think the build quality of the Pioneer was better.

I only used the AR with the A1s for a month or so. That amp. was used with my original speakers, being the AR2ax.

Then I went to separate components; a Phase Linear 400 amplifier and the Phase 2000 preamp. Despite the notorious reputation for those amps. failing, I did get nearly 11 years of perfect service from it, and I drove it hard nearly every day back then. In 1988 I replaced that Phase 400 with a pair of Carver 1.0t's that were bridged internally.

The Allison Ones were used by me until 2012, and then sold them off when the opportunity to buy the IC20's came up. The last amp. I drove the A1's with was the Sunfire Signature 5 channel amp. that drove the A1s and my surround speakers. I also have a subwoofer, A Velodyne HGS 18 that I added when I went to surround sound.

The surround preamp was also a Sunfire, the Theater Grand 2. It has a great sound, but I started having an odd issue with it regarding the LFE for the sub. Too old to get some parts for, I replaced it with Emotiva's XMC 1 AV processor in 2014. So now I have the advantage of HDMI switching and all audio and video processed thru HDMI.

The IC's sit in place of the A1's. I only have the one system that I do it all with and had no room or use for two pair of such large speakers.

I attached more pictures below. Ironically, I found one that also shows those eight inch woofers in their original condition before they were rebuilt by Miller Sound.

 

Bill

[DavidDru]

Great!  Looks like you got the IC's placed very well on that wall as we all have been instructed to do.  That XNC-1 is a good looking piece.  I use their DAC.

What's real cool about that set-up is that the scale of it will allow you to insert a larger TV and it will still look good!

[newandold]

On August 16, 2016 at 8:51 AM, DavidDru said:

 

"What's real cool about that set-up is that the scale of it will allow you to insert a larger TV and it will still look good!"

The tv was lowest on the priority list but yes maybe 70 when this one quits.

Bad luck with flat screens but Samsung covered it (replaced my set free twice.)

This one is 55.

Bill

[bboylesjc]

Hey Bill,

 

I see those surrounds and center speakers are your NL 1440s. What's with the marble looking finish on the surround? I have a pair and they are a smooth lacquer finish.

 

Brian (From Yahoo Allison Group).

[newandold]

9 minutes ago, bboylesjc said:

Hey Bill,

 

I see those surrounds and center speakers are your NL 1440s. What's with the marble looking finish on the surround? I have a pair and they are a smooth lacquer finish.

 

Brian (From Yahoo Allison Group).

Hi Brian,

That one with the "marbled" finish is an AL 115....refinished in black to match the 3 1440's. When the grille is on you miss it unless you're looking real close. The 115 is a few inches taller.

Early on I was only using 1 1440 as a center channel. When I decided to add the second center, the hunt was on to find another 2way cabinet. So,I came up with that singular 115 on EBay (30 bucks). I painted it up to match and got a new grille and the last new tweeter I ever got from the ill fated company.

So it's true I have a "mismatch" (sort of on the rear surrounds), but not really..... Bill legall matched the woofers on the rebuild and the rears are equalized with the processor.

Great to see you over here! You may have guessed by now.....I jumped ship. Wonderful bunch of guys over there but I can't deal with Yahoo any longer.

Bill

[bboylesjc]

Cool. I didn't know the AL 115 came in a marbleized version. Is that a KY AL 115? By the way, a few people baled from the Yahoo group about the same time you did. Also, I scored a Electronic Subwoofer through a fellow member. He picked up an A1 on CL and he didn't the want the ESW that the seller had. Paid a little more than I wanted but supposedly it's new old stock. Expecting delivery tomorrow, 9/6. We'll see.

[bboylesjc]

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I have AL 115s as my side surrounds and an AL 110 as my CC. Looking to use the second AL 110 as a single rear surround but haven't set it up yet. Need to move some things around in the basement listening room. 

[newandold]

13 hours ago, bboylesjc said:

Cool. I didn't know the AL 115 came in a marbleized version. Is that a KY AL 115? By the way, a few people baled from the Yahoo group about the same time you did. Also, I scored a Electronic Subwoofer through a fellow member. He picked up an A1 on CL and he didn't the want the ESW that the seller had. Paid a little more than I wanted but supposedly it's new old stock. Expecting delivery tomorrow, 9/6. We'll see.

Hi Brian,

Pretty sure that one is from Natck.

My pair of 115s in storage are Kentucky and are smooth (never noticed that until you pointed it out.) finish.

Good luck with the ESW.

They sold many of those even overseas 220 volt

Bill

[newandold]

"By the way, a few people baled from the Yahoo group about the same time you did."

Hopefully they will pick up the discussion here.....a superior forum in every way. 

In addition, I started out as an Acoustic Research guy before Allison so, much more of what interests me is right here.

Bill

[newandold]

15 hours ago, bboylesjc said:

Oh yeah, forgot to mention. I have AL 115s as my side surrounds and an AL 110 as my CC. Looking to use the second AL 110 as a single rear surround but haven't set it up yet. Need to move some things around in the basement listening room. 

There was an NL 654 that was similar to the 110 (six inch woofer) made at the same time the 1440 was around.

Bill

[bboylesjc]

Yes, Bill, I am aware of the NL654. I recently posted the NL brochure on the Yahoo website. There was also the NL 5400P subwoofer of which there was one recently posted on CL but someone must have bought it because the posting is already gone.

[newandold]

12 hours ago, bboylesjc said:

Yes, Bill, I am aware of the NL654. I recently posted the NL brochure on the Yahoo website. There was also the NL 5400P subwoofer of which there was one recently posted on CL but someone must have bought it because the posting is already gone.

Understood.....David Faulkner also sent those brochures along when I bought those close out 1440's.

Did you get the 75 dollar deal also on those speakers? The tweeter alone (especially now) is worth that.

Bill

[bboylesjc]

No, I bought  a pair of AL 125s and a pair of 110s from Allison, KY back in 2000. I did not get them for that good a price. The AL 115s I bought off of CL but they are KY editions. My NL 1440s I bought from a store in Canada that sells used audio gear. I found them on a Google search. The price was great because of the currency conversion but the shipping brought up my final payout. I have the NL 1440s on bookshelves in my LR.

[ra.ra]

Hi Bill (newandold),

I was just reminded of this earlier thread of yours, and I had always been hoping to see some close-up pics of your 8" Allison woofers, particularly the backside. It occurred to me that I have a very nice pair of custom hybrid speakers with woofers that look nearly identical to yours, and I was hoping you might be able to confirm or ID these drivers that have no tags or labels. Two pics attached show both front and backside of woofer.

(Backstory: these speakers were put together by a very knowledgeable speaker guy - - a former employee of a/d/s. The cabinets are AR-4x's; the tweeters are from Sequerra Met 7's (see third pic); and I'm now thinking these woofers might be Allisons.)

  

 

[newandold]

31 minutes ago, ra.ra said:

Hi Bill (newandold),

I was just reminded of this earlier thread of yours, and I had always been hoping to see some close-up pics of your 8" Allison woofers, particularly the backside. It occurred to me that I have a very nice pair of custom hybrid speakers with woofers that look nearly identical to yours, and I was hoping you might be able to confirm or ID these drivers that have no tags or labels. Two pics attached show both front and backside of woofer.

(Backstory: these speakers were put together by a very knowledgeable speaker guy - - a former employee of a/d/s. The cabinets are AR-4x's; the tweeters are from Sequerra Met 7's (see third pic); and I'm now thinking these woofers might be Allisons.)

  

 

Looks identical (the backside) to the Allisons.

I will post in a few days some shots of the spares that were redone this summer to compare. The backs also.

 

Bill

[newandold]

17 hours ago, ra.ra said:

Hi Bill (newandold),

I was just reminded of this earlier thread of yours, and I had always been hoping to see some close-up pics of your 8" Allison woofers, particularly the backside. It occurred to me that I have a very nice pair of custom hybrid speakers with woofers that look nearly identical to yours, and I was hoping you might be able to confirm or ID these drivers that have no tags or labels. Two pics attached show both front and backside of woofer.

(Backstory: these speakers were put together by a very knowledgeable speaker guy - - a former employee of a/d/s. The cabinets are AR-4x's; the tweeters are from Sequerra Met 7's (see third pic); and I'm now thinking these woofers might be Allisons.)

  

 

[newandold]

[newandold]

It does appear the woofers in the AR cabs are Allisons, but not a certainty.

Even within Allisons the drivers went through various changes in appearance.

Bill

[ra.ra]

Thx for the pics, Bill, and yes, I agree that these are probably the same woofer, yours and mine. One thing I find unique about these woofers is the surrounds - - - not only do they seem to have the inner lip with the fillet profile, but they are also about the thinnest foam I have ever seen.

Your pics of the backsides are pretty dark so it's a little difficult to discern the detail, but did you mention in another thread that these woofers have had some added mass applied to the baskets by Miller Sound? If so, what is the material - - -  acousti-mat?...lead tape?