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Allison CD Seven Floor Speakers


JamSessions

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Hi. I have a pair of Allison CD sevens. 10 years ago my two oldest children were horsing around and toppled one speaker over, destroying the speaker grate cover, inverting the tweeter cone and tearing the fabric. I could not find replacement parts, so with a heavy heart I boxed them up and put them away. Last week I discovered a fellow who custom makes replacement grates for all of the Allison CD models and ordered replacements (they are sturdier than my originals, but black instead of brown). While waiting for my grates to arrive I found a brand new allison tweeter from 1986 for sale on ebay (which I failed to win). When my grates arrived, I excitedly pulled my Allison 7's out of storage. When I took off the grates for the woofers I discovered the foam rings rotten. When I examined the busted tweeter I saw the fabric tear (1/2 the cone) and was able get the cone inverted and lay the ripped fabric down in place. The tweeter is now working. I read that a tweeter fabric tear can be repaired using a piece of coffee filter and elmer's glue... Is this accurate? Can a fabric tear effect the sound quality? I can not hear a difference between the two tweeters. Also, should I attempt to refoam the woofers myself, or have them professionally done? ($25 vrs $100). The grates fit perfectly and look great. The speakers all work. The woofers are covered with dust... How can one clean them... If even necessary? I am also interested in another pair of Allison CD speakers (4 ohms) if anyone has any leads. Thank you for your time and attention.

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12 minutes ago, JamSessions said:

Thanks, Bill. I have actually located the Allison Sevens several times, but no one ever wants to ship them! Lol Of course my finds have all been in the deep south or out west... You were fortunate to find yours in Massachusetts.

So you've had an eye out, that's good......eventually you will hit pay dirt if you get notifications from Ebay.

For years I collected some perfect Allison drivers from Ebay, but passed on tons of "junk" in between. It's a tough process and getting harder as time passes.

I've got a good stash now and need it, since my system involves 28 Allison drivers, plus one Non Allison Subwoofer.

Did you know Sumner Bennett when you were at Allison?

 

Bill

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Hi Jam and welcome to CSP!

Looks like no one has actually answered your questions.

Yes—a tear can be repaired using a piece of coffee filter and Elmer’s glue, at least it works on paper cones (like woofers). How well will it work on your tweeter? I dunno, but you may as well give it a try.

Re-foam the woofers yourself. It’s not difficult. I recommend getting a kit that includes WHITE glue, new dust caps and shims. The white glue is water-soluble and MUCH easier to work with, especially for a first attempt. Cutting the dust caps and shimming not only keeps your voice coil from rubbing, it also makes it easier to work on the woofer because you can raise and lower the cone and it stays put.

Where to buy the kit? I would not use SimplySpeakers because of the solvent-based glue they use. Although I have no experience with ebay seller looneytune2001, many people praise him. I just don't like the fact that he sends a "test tone" CD instead of shims and caps. I've had good success with SpeakerWorks but I don't see the Allisons listed there so you'd have to email them for guidance. PartsExpress also sells speaker foams and dust caps.

Allison woofers have a dust-catching sticky coating. Not much you can do about that except wipe off the dust, I think. You “could” try wiping them gently with an alcohol-soaked cloth.IIRC that's how I cleaned off the Allison: Fors pictured below.

Good luck with them.

-Kent

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Hi Kent. A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Thank you for the welcome and for providing me with some answers and direction. The Allison CD Four is a gorgeous system! I am now going to follow your advice. I will keep you posted concerning my results! Thanks again!!

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