So I've got some time and have plucked up the courage to restore these old ladies (or have them restored by competent people 
ray. These were top of the Philips passive speaker line up in the early 70's and seemingly pretty expensive (info says the equivalent of EUR800 in 1970).
9 drivers per 80 litre cabinet (4 x AD0160/T8, 4 x AD5060/M8 and 1 x AD1256/W8) with a maximum power handling of 50w, a virtually flat frequency response from 25Hz up 20kHz and a db@1m somewhere in the high 90's. These can move a lot of air and play orchestral and big band genres to fantastic levels.
Drivers: all in excellent condition including the original rubber surrounds which are nearly 50 years old (pre-planned obsolescence era ;D )
Crossovers: I really would like to have these properly restored / re-worked. I did have a stab at replacing the old caps but I'm not happy with the quality of what I've done.
Cabinets: this is the the crux of the matter. At 50 years old these are looking tired, especially the front bezel which is at a 45 degree angle and showing a number of deep chips. The front grill cloth is not removable (actually it is but I think I'll destroy it in the process) but the cloth is in good condition. This morning I removed all the drivers, crossover and fiberglass wool in preparation for the cabinetry work.
Now I need to find an expert, one option is Stolze Pianos in Pretoria (suggested by [member=18]Timber_MG[/member] ) by who could fix up the blemishes and finish in a piano lacquer (expensive). Another option would be to sand them down (remove the veneer), fix the damaged areas and paint in a high quality gloss via a local cabinet maker. I would love some input / advice from those who have done something similar.
On the crossovers, should I replace with new ones or restore these ones? Any recommendations as to who I could contact for this?
ray. These were top of the Philips passive speaker line up in the early 70's and seemingly pretty expensive (info says the equivalent of EUR800 in 1970). 9 drivers per 80 litre cabinet (4 x AD0160/T8, 4 x AD5060/M8 and 1 x AD1256/W8) with a maximum power handling of 50w, a virtually flat frequency response from 25Hz up 20kHz and a db@1m somewhere in the high 90's. These can move a lot of air and play orchestral and big band genres to fantastic levels.
Drivers: all in excellent condition including the original rubber surrounds which are nearly 50 years old (pre-planned obsolescence era ;D )
Crossovers: I really would like to have these properly restored / re-worked. I did have a stab at replacing the old caps but I'm not happy with the quality of what I've done.
Cabinets: this is the the crux of the matter. At 50 years old these are looking tired, especially the front bezel which is at a 45 degree angle and showing a number of deep chips. The front grill cloth is not removable (actually it is but I think I'll destroy it in the process) but the cloth is in good condition. This morning I removed all the drivers, crossover and fiberglass wool in preparation for the cabinetry work.
Now I need to find an expert, one option is Stolze Pianos in Pretoria (suggested by [member=18]Timber_MG[/member] ) by who could fix up the blemishes and finish in a piano lacquer (expensive). Another option would be to sand them down (remove the veneer), fix the damaged areas and paint in a high quality gloss via a local cabinet maker. I would love some input / advice from those who have done something similar.
On the crossovers, should I replace with new ones or restore these ones? Any recommendations as to who I could contact for this?
