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My Realistic Mach One Restoration
So I just bought a pair of 4024 realistic mach ones from a local that are beat, i mean BEAT. looking like they came outa si-fi movie.
Now im just playing, there not bad.
I do have sorta a plan of what needs to be done.......,.,.,.,.,.
They are the originals so they do have the long lasting surrounds, but there long past there day so they need to go...
So were...
Re-surrounding
Wet-looking the woofers
Re-Insolating
Possible internal wire/crossover work
Pulling out a indented dust cap
If even possible....putting in a banana plug port in the back.
Fixing the huge chunk missing in on the side
Sanding down inperfections
Re-finishing
Sealer
Sanding edges of board to stain as well.
try and find a mint l-pad, mine has cracks everywhere
this should be a living hell, but its worth it seeing that they sound fantastic!!!
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Howard's Restor-A-Finish and 0000 steel wool will bring back most cabinets without the need for sanding and re-staining. Howard's Feed-N-Wax will keep them that way. About 20minutes worth of work versus a couple of hours.
http://www.minksemporium.com/Demonstration.html
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
So I just bought a pair of 4024 realistic mach ones from a local that are beat, i mean BEAT. looking like they came outa si-fi movie.
Now im just playing, there not bad.
I do have sorta a plan of what needs to be done.......,.,.,.,.,.
They are the originals so they do have the long lasting surrounds, but there long past there day so they need to go...
...
Free, sorry, but I think you are wasting your time restoring this junk. It will be a lot of work to get a nice result, and I'm not sure how you will repair the missing venier on the corners (for example). Even it you succeed, the resale value will be minimal
-- Not to mention the sound quality. I remember the Mach I when it was the latest thing from RS; I didn't have the least interest at the time despite the relatively low price.
My earnest advice is to hurl these POS in to the nearest trash receptical. Get yourself some other vintage speakers of greater inherent qualty -- Advent, Dynaco, AR, KLH, JBL, KEF -- and spend your effort to restore them instead.
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i think they sound quite good, thank you very much. im young and have all the time in the world to have a fancy stereo system. These are going to be for load, jumping around the house fun. and they sound quite pleasant at low levels.
thanks for your kind input though.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
... These are going to be for load, jumping around the house fun. and they sound quite pleasant at low levels.
thanks for your kind input though.
They might work in the garage or basement.
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there going in a second bedroom when im finished with them, there not for critical listening or anything serious, just a blast from the past!
they honestly dont sound that bad
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Feanor is only echoing the sentiments of a lot of members here. I believe you have started a thread about this at AK under the name PrestonP. I know you will get a different response there. Most of those guys are more concerned with vintage than sound quality. There are quite a few people there who have Mach Ones and like them. I don't really understand that at all. Mach Ones, Cerwin Vega's and other "Frat House" speakers make lots of noise on a few watts. To my ears that's the only thing they have going for them. Contrary to Cerwin Vega's ad; Loud is not good no matter how clean it is when it doesn't sound like music.
A pair of AR's, Advents, KLH's or JBL's will walk all over those Mach Ones. The time and money you are going to sink into Mach Ones would be better spent on a pair of those I just mentioned.
It might be an ear opener for you to go somewhere and listen to some good gear. Doing that would give you an idea how good gear sounds. At the very least it would give you some kind of target to aim for sound quality wise. On a personal level, I don't like any speakers in a box but I'd take any of the ones I mentioned over Mach One's.
Save your money and buy some decent gear. It will sound better and you'll be more satisfied in the end. People that are satisfied with the sound of their system stop tweaking and play music. Most of the posters at AK change gear like I change socks. I have a post there that politely raises the question.
Could it be?
"People that are happy with the way their system sounds just play music. People that tweak and constantly swap speakers and other gear in and out are basically not satisfied with their systems."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeE SP9
Feanor is only echoing the sentiments of a lot of members here. I believe you have started a thread about this at AK under the name PrestonP. I know you will get a different response there. Most of those guys are more concerned with vintage than sound quality. There are quite a few people there who have Mach Ones and like them. I don't really understand that at all. Mach Ones, Cerwin Vega's and other "Frat House" speakers make lots of noise on a few watts. To my ears that's the only thing they have going for them. Contrary to Cerwin Vega's ad; Loud is not good no matter how clean it is when it doesn't sound like music.
A pair of AR's, Advents, KLH's or JBL's will walk all over those Mach Ones. The time and money you are going to sink into Mach Ones would be better spent on a pair of those I just mentioned.
It might be an ear opener for you to go somewhere and listen to some good gear. Doing that would give you an idea how good gear sounds. At the very least it would give you some kind of target to aim for sound quality wise. On a personal level, I don't like any speakers in a box but I'd take any of the ones I mentioned over Mach One's.
Save your money and buy some decent gear. It will sound better and you'll be more satisfied in the end. People that are satisfied with the sound of their system stop tweaking and play music. Most of the posters at AK change gear like I change socks. I have a post there that politely raises the question.
Could it be?
"People that are happy with the way their system sounds just play music. People that tweak and constantly swap speakers and other gear in and out are basically not satisfied with their systems."
ive heard good gear. ive heard great gear. I never said that the machs sounded like god pee'd but they are cool and retro, im socking fifty bucks into them not a million. throwing them into a bedroom with a okay receiver for when the guys are over playing xbox. def not for critical listening, thats what i plan to put my money into a dedicated 2 channel system. and the jbls i traded for these on a sonic note were quite worse in my eyes/ears. there nore brassy tin to the machs but at low levels...which they will always be at, they sound quite okay for the 80 dollar eqiv of what i paid for them.
Ive heard b&w, martin logan, paradigm, jbl, klipsch and all different types of speakers. and ill agree 100% that they are in a whole other world then the machs, but they will fit well in my planned retro room im setting up, just for ****s and giggles.
hays for horses sir!
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[QUOTE=JoeE SP9]
Save your money and buy some decent gear. It will sound better and you'll be more satisfied in the end. [QUOTE]
I strongly agree with this, and Feanor's comments. My initiation to this business was my 14-year stint at Lafayette Radio (Radio Shack's major competitor), whose private label speakers were sold under the "Criterion" brand. To me, restoring either a Realistic Mach something or other makes about as much sense as restoring an old Criterion: none were that good to begin with, so why bother?
Still, my primary objection to the initial poster isn't the question about restoring speakers, but his appalling English. He may be only 19, but I too was 19 (a looonnngggg time ago!) and at 19 I knew how to use capital letters, apostrophes when printing a conjunction, and knew the difference between "their," "there," and "they're."
I find it a bit insulting to read something written in a manner that ignores standard English as a matter of "style." We are not very young teenagers here texting to one another, but (hopefully) mature individuals attempting to communicate with one another. Let's try to write the language we speak as it was meant to be written.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emaidel
I find it a bit insulting to read something written in a manner that ignores standard English as a matter of "style." We are not very young teenagers here texting to one another, but (hopefully) mature individuals attempting to communicate with one another. Let's try to write the language we speak as it was meant to be written.
weigh to much werk, ware wood the instant gratification be doing things wright :D
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Chill out, im just trying to fun with something older then me. I'm not rolling in money like alot of you are. This Is just something to do for fun, not for any real reason. It's fifty bucks not a million.
And I'm young, I don't have to spell everything right or make a perfect sentence. This is a forum not my college thesis paper.
Relax, as I said, I'm building a real two channel for the living room, this is only for fun. You can feel free to buy me a good speaker to restore, and i kindly will.
Until then, I'm going to mess around with my mach's
Enough proper english?
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First, it's "Trying to have fun". "Trying to fun" is unbelievably bad grammar.
Most of us are not rolling in money. A lot of us have kids your age who are going to college on our money. In my case I've been paying >$25K a year for my son's education. This is his senior and last year I'm paying for. Finally, I'll have some discretionary income!
We have been involved with this hobby for a while. In my case for 41+ years. Consequently, we have knowledge acquired over time about things relating to decent sound. Those same years have allowed the accumulation of some pretty good sounding gear. Please note, none of us started with the kind of gear we have now.
The time and money you intend putting into Mach One's would be better spent on something worth it. The JBL's you sold would be a better project than the Mach's. They would also sound much better after the work is done. Bear in mind, JBL's are nowhere near my favorite speaker. AR's, KLH's, Advent's or NHT's are all higher on my list.
Sure this is a forum but it's not twitter, texting or a site where poor grammar and misspelling are the norm. The members here write as if they were holding a conversation with a friend. Although I've never met any of you guys I feel as if we are friends. At the very least we are certainly kindred spirits in our mutual addiction.
If you want advice and camaraderie from the members here it would behoove you to write in a manner that will make us want to respond. We try to compose and write our posts in a literate and intelligent way. It's simple courtesy that should make you want to respond in a like manner.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeE SP9
First, it's "Trying to have fun". "Trying to fun" is unbelievably bad grammar.
Most of us are not rolling in money. A lot of us have kids your age who are going to college on our money. In my case I've been paying >$25K a year for my son's education. This is his senior and last year I'm paying for. Finally, I'll have some discretionary income!
We have been involved with this hobby for a while. In my case for 41+ years. Consequently, we have knowledge acquired over time about things relating to decent sound. Those same years have allowed the accumulation of some pretty good sounding gear. Please note, none of us started with the kind of gear we have now.
The time and money you intend putting into Mach One's would be better spent on something worth it. The JBL's you sold would be a better project than the Mach's. They would also sound much better after the work is done. Bear in mind, JBL's are nowhere near my favorite speaker. AR's, KLH's, Advent's or NHT's are all higher on my list.
Sure this is a forum but it's not twitter, texting or a site where poor grammar and misspelling are the norm. The members here write as if they were holding a conversation with a friend. Although I've never met any of you guys I feel as if we are friends. At the very least we are certainly kindred spirits in our mutual addiction.
If you want advice and camaraderie from the members here it would behoove you to write in a manner that will make us want to respond. We try to compose and write our posts in a literate and intelligent way. It's simple courtesy that should make you want to respond in a like manner.
I was afraid I'd get angry responses from other members telling me not to be so critical, and to leave this poor lad alone. The above-quoted posting said what I felt better than I could have, or did. Thanks!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by emaidel
I was afraid I'd get angry responses from other members telling me not to be so critical, and to leave this poor lad alone. The above-quoted posting said what I felt better than I could have, or did. Thanks!
You and Feanor gave me the courage to write that post. The "dumbing" down of America is something I'm not to happy about. My post was just a protest against it. It's good to know I'm not alone in my feelings. Thanks to both of you!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeE SP9
First, it's "Trying to have fun". "Trying to fun" is unbelievably bad grammar.
Most of us are not rolling in money. A lot of us have kids your age who are going to college on our money. In my case I've been paying >$25K a year for my son's education. This is his senior and last year I'm paying for. Finally, I'll have some discretionary income!
We have been involved with this hobby for a while. In my case for 41+ years. Consequently, we have knowledge acquired over time about things relating to decent sound. Those same years have allowed the accumulation of some pretty good sounding gear. Please note, none of us started with the kind of gear we have now.
The time and money you intend putting into Mach One's would be better spent on something worth it. The JBL's you sold would be a better project than the Mach's. They would also sound much better after the work is done. Bear in mind, JBL's are nowhere near my favorite speaker. AR's, KLH's, Advent's or NHT's are all higher on my list.
Sure this is a forum but it's not twitter, texting or a site where poor grammar and misspelling are the norm. The members here write as if they were holding a conversation with a friend. Although I've never met any of you guys I feel as if we are friends. At the very least we are certainly kindred spirits in our mutual addiction.
If you want advice and camaraderie from the members here it would behoove you to write in a manner that will make us want to respond. We try to compose and write our posts in a literate and intelligent way. It's simple courtesy that should make you want to respond in a like manner.
I guess things are just not the same when your used to having things that make things more simple. Texting without having to use correct words or whole words as that. My bad If I was not as proper as I should have been. I guess I can blame the age I am living In for that.
And as for the Jbl's, they were far to muddy and the tweeters were screamers. I didnt feel that they were worth my time to try and fix. I also was not able to open them up, as the speaker was for some odd reason sealed in place. I was scared to damage them by tearing the woofer out.
Was this really that bad of a move? They have better seperation then the jbl's had, but the jbl's had more of a fidelity to them. So i agree they were a better speaker, but i was bored with them and thought It would be fun to fix something of random.
Could I have some model numbers to some REAL vintage speakers worth my time? I must have been really dooped If you guys hate them that much.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
I must have been really dooped If you guys hate them that much.
As you've probably seen mention here, the folks at vintage-oriented forums are not nearly as hard on the Mach One as some of us here at this forum. I thought you like the sound of the Mach One speakers better than your JBL's. If so, why worry about the criticism they get here?
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im just curious of the way they would sound next to a vintage "hi-fi" speaker. I've never heard a quality old speaker.
I wanna hear what what makes them better, so if i had model numbers of some i could watch for stuff on craigslist and go take a listen if I could. I dont have a good speaker to put next to these to know what I'm missing.
Thats all, I'm keeping them no matter what anyone says.
They look cool as hell!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
im just curious of the way they would sound next to a vintage "hi-fi" speaker. I've never heard a quality old speaker.
I wanna hear what what makes them better, so if i had model numbers of some i could watch for stuff on craigslist and go take a listen if I could. I dont have a good speaker to put next to these to know what I'm missing.
Thats all, I'm keeping them no matter what anyone says.
They look cool as hell!
If you like them that's all that really matters. They just happen to be "Frat House" type speakers. That is, they like Cerwin Vega's (another "Frat House" speaker) will play loud with little power. Lots of beer as an anesthetic is needed to keep listening fatigue away.
Vintage speakers from that era tend to fall into two approaches. The "East Coast" school represented by AR and KLH are smooth and laid back with very good deep bass. The "West Coast" school represented by JBL have an in your face mid-range with very aggressive highs. Personally the JBL sound has never appealed to me. AR's and KLH's I can listen to for a while. Mach Ones to my ears are very similar to Cerwin Vega's. They (once again) to my ears combine the worst of both schools.
Other speakers contemporary to Mach One's
Original Advents, Smaller Advents (no model numbers)
Acoustic Research AR-3, AR-2
KLH 6, 23, 17
All of the above sound better than Mach One's in my opinion.
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At least he's not trying to restore a pair of Mach 1 4029's or the Mach 2's the 4024's were at least half decent in their day (much better than the 4029's introduced in 1982) and seem to have a bit of a cult following.
The surrounds look good enough to me...if you get replacements chances are they wont fit well and they'll be cheap foam...might just ruin a perfectly good woofer...if there are no holes leave them alone.
as for the cabinets...just bondo the corners and re-veneer the whole thing. You can buy oak veneer at home depot.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by MikeyBC
At least he's not trying to restore a pair of Mach 1 4029's or the Mach 2's the 4024's were at least half decent in their day (much better than the 4029's introduced in 1982) and seem to have a bit of a cult following.
The surrounds look good enough to me...if you get replacements chances are they wont fit well and they'll be cheap foam...might just ruin a perfectly good woofer...if there are no holes leave them alone.
as for the cabinets...just bondo the corners and re-veneer the whole thing. You can buy oak veneer at home depot.
Agreed, the surrounds do look good. Bondo would work. Plastic wood may be even better.
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the surrounds just look nasty, I might not even fix the corner, when there on the floor you can not see the missing part. I would love to just buy/build a grill and call it a day. It's going to cost 18 bucks to restain them, thats a bette route then whole new shabang. Not to handy here.
I made sure they were the 24's or I was not going to take the trade. I ready that these sound alot better and have a better build then the 29 and 2's. They sound quite fanstastic at low levels, about as clear as my jbls were but with more depth and seperation. It might be bad to say, but I've never heard a song where you could tell which side of the set the cymbol was hitting. It's quite nice I must say.
My paradigms I had were so warm you could fall asleep listening to them. It was to damn relaxing. Then these on the other hand your jumping to turn down when louder songs come on. Very straight forward sound, but not always a bad thing. I think my Int. amp just Is not powerful enough to power them after notch 2 out of 10, I can for sure sence a clip.
I just don't know If It's worth spending money to power them more. I need a new receiver and or Integrated amp soon as my lamps are going out so mise well.
Oh and I had a pair of cerwin vega ls-12's about 3 months ago and these sound 43454543393450345304 times better then they did. I could not take the tweeter one more second so off they went. I only paid 30 bucks for them and sold them for 75 so i was happy!
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JoeE SP9
Agreed, the surrounds do look good. Bondo would work. Plastic wood may be even better.
Bondo?
Please excuse me, single mother child.
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I apologize in advance for offending some of the established members here but I feel obligated to respond to some things that have been said here.
I recall FA posting a thread a few weeks back on the topic of how to revive this site. My response to this thread was that IMO new blood gets chased away because of overly critical responses or inter-member flame throwing that ignores the OP.
Here in this thread we have a perfect example of what I was trying to say. The newbie here has been told that he is wasting his time with these and his grammar is poor. Would anyone be surprised if he decided not to come back??
I just remember my own initial experience here was different and even though I waxed poetically about a pair of RtR speakers and my Bose 201's I was generally given enough information and encouragement to come back and learn a more (though I am still a relative naif re gear) and pursue this hobby. Had the responses I had received to my mediocre gear and newbie questions been along the lines of some the responses here it may have been different.
I am not saying we can not be honest but there are ways to provide information and encouragement w/o seeming to be judgemental or harsh. I appreciate the members here everytime I flip the power switch to one of my many pieces of gear that I have picked up since those early. Let's give the new faces in the crowd the same opportunity.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
Bondo?
Please excuse me, single mother child.
Is that because you don't know what Bondo is? It's sort of "plastic wood" for car dents. It's easy to work with. You can mold it, sand it and put veneer over it. It's available at most auto supply stores. It's also reasonably priced.
One of the good things about Mach One's is, they don't need much power. How much power does your integrated produce?
One last comment. Almost any speaker that's not a tower type or panel will sound much better on stands. A stand that raises the speaker high enough to put the tweeters at ear level when listening is highly recommended. If you are economizing you could use one or two cinder blocks under each speaker. wrap black plastic trash bags around the block. Tape them shut and tuck the ends out of site. Even if you don't like the results the cost is virtually nil.
Raising speakers makes the treble cleaner and clear. It also firms up the bass and removes the muddy sound floor placement causes.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thekid
The newbie here has been told that he is wasting his time with these and his grammar is poor. Would anyone be surprised if he decided not to come back??
Agreed.
I peruse the speaker forum every now and then just incase there are any interesting DIY threads going, and was quite saddened to read most of this post. :nonod:
I do have to agree that those Mach One's are not worth a lot of money and effort as far as resale value goes, but if a person was wanting a good set of speakers on which to practice restoration technique, it may as well be these. I don't know exactly how old this young dude is, but if we remember right, we all had different tastes in gear when we was youngins. Hell, I'd still rather own a set of Klipsch Cornwalls than any speaker I've heard since...if I were inclined to buy speakers instead of build them myself. Those Mach Ones with the flaired horn are going to sound different from a lot of current designs, especially in a world where DSPs determine imaging as much as design. Sometimes its not always about sounding better, just different, and in audio, its ok to keep a harum.
Finding exact replacement drivers for that particular speaker, speaking of the horn mid/tweets, could be somwhat of a challenge. It depends on whether or not the midrange driver unit can be seperated from the back of the big horn (if its threaded that'd be great). The smaller tweeter might be replaced with a tad bit of alteration to panel in which its mounted, and L-pads are easy to replace. Any of these drivers can be sourced at Parts Express dot com. We could talk Theil/Small parameters later, but I doubt the crossovers in these things are anything more than 1st order capacitors, making driver replacement a lot less complicated. Some older Ratshacks' cabinets are actually pretty good. Back in them days, double-sided veneered cabs were the cheap cabinet of their day, but in these times, a sheet of double-sided veneer will cost you pert near $70-$80! Few mass market speaker manufacturors use anything that expensive today. Too bad that these have corner damage. If its just impact damage, then you could fill it and stain it to serviceable effect, but if the cabs have water damage, then any repairs you perform is just, well...chasing your tail. If particle board gets too wet, its history.
As far as correcting grammar goes, I understand where this is coming from... we want to help, but we have wonder to what extent we'll be listened to anyway, given that attempting decent grammar within a text is usaully (not always) a good indicator of a person's apptitude and comprehension. Nobody wants to spin their wheels, nor watch someone else spin their wheels. However pertinent the advise on grammar was, such things are better suited for a PM. None of us here practise perfikt grammer anyhoo.
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Im not going anywhere. I am starting to understand why these are not getting such high accolades. I am watching a movie as we speak and I'm hearing nothing but tweater and midrange distortion. I think im going to get rid of them as soon as possible. Kinda upset I fell for a couple good reviews.
Is this my integrated amp or the speakers or the crossover caps?
Once again, I'm sorry about my spelling. I honestly did not think It was a big deal.
I am here like everyone else to learn. And learning takes time, mistakes and wasted money.
And my Integrated amp 50x2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
Once again, I'm sorry about my spelling. I honestly did not think It was a big deal.
I am here like everyone else to learn. And learning takes time, mistakes and wasted money
Take it all in context. A lot of us are nearing or are at our "Arctic Blonde" stage of life and we were raised a bit differently. Stick around, lots of very knowledgeable people here. I came here a couple years back with a very mediocre system, many thousands of dollars later and still not completely content.
:23:
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
Im not going anywhere. I am starting to understand why these are not getting such high accolades. I am watching a movie as we speak and I'm hearing nothing but tweater and midrange distortion. I think im going to get rid of them as soon as possible. Kinda upset I fell for a couple good reviews.
Is this my integrated amp or the speakers or the crossover caps?
Once again, I'm sorry about my spelling. I honestly did not think It was a big deal.
I am here like everyone else to learn. And learning takes time, mistakes and wasted money.
And my Integrated amp 50x2
When you get an almost unanimous "diss" of a speaker it should tell you something. Over at AK the response is completely different. As I said earlier, many of the members over there are more interested in vintage than sound quality.
Yes, it's probably the capacitors in the crossovers.They are old and are probably failing or have failed. Rebuilding them would definitely improve the sound. Since you already have them you might consider doing a direct replacement of the crossover parts. It would not be expensive, would improve the sound and would be good practice if you are going the vintage route speaker wise.
Most of us have made mistakes with speakers and other gear. That's why we were so adamant about Mach speakers. It's gratifying to know that you are hearing why most of us think they don't sound very good. We're just trying to save you money!
Ported or horn type speakers tend to be more efficient than sealed box (acoustic suspension) speakers. 50 WPC should be more than sufficient for efficient speakers in a small to medium sized room. Of course, if you are listening at "head banging" levels 50 WPC may not be enough.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
I'm hearing nothing but tweater and midrange distortion.
Is this my integrated amp or the speakers or the crossover caps?
I guess if you can unload them fast, then I'd do so, but if you can't, don't trash 'em, crack them open and use them as a learning tool. It's best not to fuss with something if yer afraid of breaking it.
It could be the caps in your x-over, it could be the drivers, it could be the L-pads. Old drivers tend to dry out and are more prone to distortion that before. If the sound of the horn presentation suits you, then by all means, keep the large horn - surely the driver is replacable. The smaller tweeter may have a replaceble diaphram, but I doubt it. It may even be a simple piezo (I'd have to see it). The woofer is easily replaced with a "budget woofer" or a slight upgrade, but it should be replaced by a woofer that will operate under optimum performance that cabinet. Take those drivers out and take pictures of those and lets have a look at them.
The L-pads are usually speayed with a lubricating oil from the factory and over a period of years, will turn to something similar to varnish. This will cause poor conductivity resulting in dropouts and distortion. Take that panel off and see if the pots have a tiny hole or opening anywhere - spray some electrical contact cleaner in them a work the control knob(Ratshack used to carry it). *try this first*
Most x-over caps are rated to around 60v to 70v, giving them an effective wattage rating of 100watts. That supposed to mean that that cap will maintain its effective crossover property at 100watts, even with a new electrolytic caps, rated at 100v, can still lose effectivness at high volumes, resulting in distortion. You can keep it simple, as I'm sure RS did, and stay with the -6db x-over, but use at least a 400v poly cap, which will never break down at high volumes and in my experience, introduces no significant artifact.
I'd be surprised if that woofer had an inductor (also called a coil or choke) for a x-over. Most manufacturers and designers rely on a woofer's natural rolloff, but if your midbass and/or midrange soounds muddy, that be why. Unless it was a two way and I were crossing in a mid or tweet around 7khz or 8khz, I'd never leave off a coil to aid in woofer rolloff (I'd never do anything like that anyway unless it were a PA speaker). But, i'd use at least a 18g, open aircore coil, and right now, they're a tad pricey, depending on their size (open aircore inductor have the least resistance, and are therefore more efficient).
And this is all contingent on whether or not the cabinet is salvagable. Try cleaning the L-pads and see if they sound more better.
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I opened the L-pad yesterday and the corners snapped off most of the plastic. Everything think looked clean in there, there was screws holding in the "mid-range" driver so i do think it could be replaceable. My camera Is not here at the moment so I shall tape pictures later.
Everything looked clean and the corner of the speaker is not through the board. This just surface damage. And no, these speakers do not have water damage. Just cup marks and drunken party damage (from what I picked up from the last owner).
I took out the woofer last night, and boy is it light. For how large the surrounds were i figured it would be a monster.
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today, I hooked them up to a Aiwa mini Hi-Fi Receiver/cd player. This receiver Is 6 ohm. I lost alot of low end boom/slam but cleaned up the highs and mids alot. I am really starting to think that theres something wrong with my Integrated amplifier.
Any thoughts why a garbage stereo would sound better then a stereo I once loved?
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Me time Read?!! Since when do i have time! Of cous=rse i have time, As much i like to say taht i dont have time to do much of any thing because im a single parent. But i like to read about others perspective of music production thru stereos. Hell i take time to do that. negative comments or not. I do the things i do because i enjoy the hobby. Nothing more nothing less.
Take a look in my sig and youll understand. you cant hear what i hear thru my ears when i am listening to music.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freewillisdead112
today, I hooked them up to a Aiwa mini Hi-Fi Receiver/cd player. This receiver Is 6 ohm. I lost alot of low end boom/slam but cleaned up the highs and mids alot. I am really starting to think that theres something wrong with my Integrated amplifier.
Any thoughts why a garbage stereo would sound better then a stereo I once loved?
There could be something wrong with your integrated amp. Try the mini speakers on it. If they give the same kind of results, you have found the problem.
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I don't have the speakers to the mini, It was a garbage day find.
I dont have access to anything really to try and fix this.
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Free
Hang in there and chalk these up as a learning experience, I have more than a few learning experiences sitting in my garage....
If you have been bitten by the vintage gear bug you might want to try some of the thrift shops in your area or Craigslist you'd be surprised what you can find. Vintage speakers there often run $20-$25 so you can roll the dice a little w/o spending a lot of coin and enjoy the thrill of the hunt. With a little patience and research you can find some good vintage speakers such as early KLH,Advents or Dynaco's. You can also find vintage gear that can be brought back to life with some cleaning and a few bulb replacements.
Good luck and good hunting!!
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kls's are on there all the time, not so much advent and dynaco. At least I didnt spend a wazoo!
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I see those all the time on cl. Ima have to get me a pair. People are greedy here on CL, they wanna charge insane amounts for old, crap things. I am going to pay for audiogons blue book so I can kinda get a jist on what I should be spending.
And I got the jbls for my birthday, so I really didnt loose a penny.
Some guy wants to trade me his mirage M-190i for them?????
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I have been getting alot of hits on these from CL so I think they shall be gone very soon. For a decent pair of bookshelfs that is!
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Mach One for all, and all for.... a CRAZY rant!
Hi all. Okay.. I know this thread is a several days old.. But it is still smoldering enough to warrant MY two cents. After reading this thread it seems that there are questions pertaining to the Radio Shack Mach One speakers that need answering, and hopefully someone will find this interesting. The ORIGINAL Thompson Electronics version of the Mach One, RS model 4024a, after thirty two years with no attention paid to the dried up ELECTROLYTIC capacitors in the crossovers, does and should sound like crap. Later the same box dimensions were used to produce similar looking 4029s in various countries for much less. Fewer screws, inferior drivers, much CHEAPER.. (Not to be confused with less expensive.) I digress.. So you have, or had a model "4024(a)" Mach One .. FYI, Without changing model numbers, Radio Shack (Tandy Corp.) slowly and quietly "de-contented" these 4024 speakers between '77 and '79. Yes, they all had the same model number.. 4024.. The original Mach Ones actually had veneer on the BOTTOM of the cabinet. (check yours?) By mid '78 the bottoms were spray painted brown .. to cut costs? ;) Of course we all know what happened later with the cheaper drivers, and x-over parts. I am here to tell anyone that gives a hoot, that you need to hear an original pair of 4024's complete with the veneer on the bottom, and the original drivers. I have a pair.. here's what I did to get them into shape for actual LISTENING. New MUNDORF 10 watt resistors, to replace the cheapie sand filled wire wounds. New CLARITY CAPS for the signal path into the horn and tweeter, and SOLEN caps everywhere else. I left the original air core inductors intact. Yes the inductors are cheap, and I may replace them eventually, but so far this simple upgrade has taken these speakers from "FRAT HOUSE" to actually being very listenable. This was just a project.. I am always tinkering.. I have owned these speakers for decades. I actually have two pairs. Yes pairs, .. there are two of them. They are just for display.. they see some use when I am feeling sentiMENTAL. They are pushed by a Sony TA-N77ES for power, and they can really SOAK it up. The tweeters and horns are Phenolic dome compression drivers. Much like police sirens. Amazing that the tweeters can get all the way up to beyond 20Khz! I did spend a bit more on the crossover parts (Madisound.com) than $50, but every penny was money well spent. I would put them up against ANY consumer grade big box store speaker at ANY price. They of course will not hold a candle to my line arrays, and will never be for really critical listening.. Sometimes you drive the restored '65 Stingray, instead of the new Porsche 'cause you like the feel of a big V-8. I do not like Cerwin Vega, and never will. Sloppy , greasy , muddy, kid stuff. Not even in the same league with the original RS Mach one. Trust me, I know. .. .. On another "note".. I just finished going through a $4000 pair of Salk Sound V3's. You would think that for that much money, not only would they sound GREAT, (unimpressed) but the crossovers wouldn't be mounted on masonite peg board with components siliconed and wire tied into place.. You would think that for $4000, the screws holding the drivers in place would be tightened into threaded inserts of some kind.. T-nuts anyone? Wood screws, just tightened down into bare wood? (PARTICLE BOARD) Are you kidding me? My Mach Ones are certainly more well made than that! Even if they are also particle board boxes. BTW.. The horn section is completely sealed.. pry off the back panel, and take a deep breath of some thirty year old asian air! This concludes my CRAZY rant! Comments? Are I usin' bad words and stuff and junk? All in fun! Cheers!
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Mundorf resistors, Solen and Clarity caps is a lot of money to try to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. In they end they are still sows ears.
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