Vintage speaker match

[eratosthenes]

A stroke of good fortune has placed a pair of vintage Knight KN-800A coaxial/triaxial speakers with Allied KN-1266 cabinets into my hands. Wired up to my Bottlehead SEX and my playlist of favorite tunes and I'm having more fun than ever.

They're easily the most sensitive speakers in my collection. I don't know how much use they've had in the last few years. I expect a little break-in time.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

That is a super cool pair of vintage speakers! 

 

[Grainger49]

Extremely cool speakers.  I'd give the woofers a 180 degree rotation just in case they have some sag after all these years.

That sounds like a good combination.

 

[eratosthenes]

Unfortunately, I had to cut my listening session short. The one speaker sounded wrong. It has seen some kind of trauma prior to my possession. The cone is torn almost completely along the surround.  :-[ The surround is paper and will need some attention before I play them again.

I'll attempt some work with tissue and PVA glue. Worst case would be a recone or seek a matching replacement.

 

[2wo]

Ah pity, a piece of nylon stocking can be used to reinforce some of the larger tears...John 

 

[eratosthenes]

I repaired the speaker. It isn't pretty. Like bad surgery. (I took pictures, but like Frankenstein's monster, it isn't for public consumption.) It took all week, working by inches and knowing when to stop. There were some weak spots that only showed up under torture testing, but have been cured with extra glue.

Fresh crossover caps and five-way binding posts have been ordered to finish the job.

That said:

The SEX really benefits from a sensitive speaker. Not until now has it really shown what it can do with dynamics and imaging. These speakers are probably about 95-96db. I'd love to try 100-105db to see the difference.

 

[eratosthenes]

Update: My own repair didn't work. Debris and coil rubbing was evident with further listening. Further investigation showed cracks and eventual splitting of the surround on the 'good' speaker. I decided expert work would be needed for this repair.

I sent them off to be re-coned and only got them back last Saturday (17 January, 2015). They sound very good. If break-in is a factor, I hope they improve over time.

I also just received the iron upgrade and plan to upgrade the amp this weekend.