Been trying to decide

[burnedkitty105]

I got a hold of a pair of acoustics Model 4120 4-way speakers a while back, and set them aside thinking nothing of them.

Knowing they were broken I recently tried to repair them to find that one of the midrange speakers were missing and that the foam around the 12" sub woofers were deteriorated. I looked and looked on the web but could not find one bit of information about these speakers.

I need to know the frequency response of the missing speaker and the specs on the woofers to decide if i want to repair or replace them. Also if they are really worth the money to fix. Could someone please help?

[sub780lime]

I have nothing to contribute to your thread except to say welcome to the forum

[chlngr1970]

I'm asuming you are talking about Home Speakers. Do you have a better name that accoustics? I'm thinking we need more information here...

j

[Taxi]

I looked this up a little bit. Acoustics actually is a name of a speaker. (I saw a pair for sale on Craigslist in Spokane...) But there is very little info on this manufacturer, and I found nothing on the model specified.

I think you might be better off getting something newer.

[chlngr1970]

Ahh, I did a google search and came up empty. I think Taxi is right on this one.

j

[burnedkitty105]

acoustics(yes all lowercase) is the brand of speaker. My dad who was around when they were still in business said that they were in the top tier right below bose for a little while but didn't seem to last long, and he didn't know why.

The speakers seem well put together and I am not liking to throw them away. It will cost me roughly 40 bucks between replacing the mid ranges and fixing the foam surround on the woofers.

Also in reply, thank you for the welcome. I know its a bit quick to join to ask a question but I wasn't sure if there was some underground database of old speaker specs or something.

I have a feeling that the 40 dollars would be well spent on these speakers although eventually I would like to upgrade. I'm kind of a music nut, high bitrates and crisp clear audio for me. I don't really have the money to just drop on a bose system right now though.

Also as a quick question. For the price range what do you guys think about the Sony STR-DG510? I like the entry level reciever, and it seems a bit expandable for the time being.

[chlngr1970]

One thing to consider. If you just replace one, for the sake of argument 4" driver, and not the other, it will change the sound of the one, while the other has its origional sound quality. You should replace drivers in pairs for that reason.

I have a pair of Boston Acoustics A120s that my cat use to love sitting on to look out the window. Needless to say, the 12" Passive Radiator was ruined ( I sure do miss that cat ) Right now, they sit in a closet, but I am looking at repairing them to use in another room. Two radiators are something like $80ish each.

You COULD stop by Radio Shack and see if they have anything you could use, or do a search on line for the size and impedence of speaker you need...

j

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by burnedkitty105

Also as a quick question. For the price range what do you guys think about the Sony STR-DG510? I like the entry level reciever, and it seems a bit expandable for the time being.

The only issue I would have with it is no HDMI Audio, or 5.1 input. If you decide to go HD DVD or Blu Ray, you will miss out on half the experience. If you can muster the coin, I say go with at least the 710, witch looks like it could do HDMI audio.

j

[Taxi]

Originally Posted by burnedkitty105

I don't really have the money to just drop on a bose system right now though.

Nobody ever has the money to wasted on bad audio equipment.

Don't buy into the slick marketing. Avoid Bose like the plague.

[Iguana Man]

Kitty', dom't listen to these dudes when it comes to BlOSE.

Trust ME. They are by FAR better than most speakers out there. The fidelity and range of these speakers are leaps and bounds above others in that price range.

Many sites have BlOSE haters, it's common and don't think it isn't since they ARE the bestest speakers out there. I'm probably risking getting banned from this site by stating this, but hey...marketing rules, and marketing dollars rock!

Go with BlOSE! You won't be dissapointed. Trust Mr. Iggy.

(pm me on this...I can get it cheap too!)

[chlngr1970]

Iggy, go to your room!

Sometimes it is hard to tell when he is kidding...

I understand what it is like to not be able to drop $3K on an audio system. If you go the upgrade route, you can get some nice equipment. I started with Pawn Shop equipment more than 10 years ago. A JVS Pro Logic receiver, then a DD Ready, then DD Built in, then dts...

Now, I have a Pioneer Elite VSX-82TSX, HD DVD, Laserdisc, DVD Recorder, HD DirecTV, all bought a piece at a time.

So, for the $3K that the Bose LS 38 costs, you can pick up:

Onkyo TX-SR605for $499.
Klipsch Quintet SL for $799
Klipsch Sub 12 for $469
Toshiba HD A3 HD DVD player for $199
Sony PS3 Blu Ray Player, anywhere for $499.

This gives you a complete HD capible HT ( Sans TV anyway ) for $500 less than you would spend on a LS 38.

j

[burnedkitty105]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

One thing to consider. If you just replace one, for the sake of argument 4" driver, and not the other, it will change the sound of the one, while the other has its origional sound quality. You should replace drivers in pairs for that reason.

Actually I included the price of this in that 40 dollars, I know a little about fixing speakers, but not enough to figure out frequency responses without the manual or specs.

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

You COULD stop by Radio Shack and see if they have anything you could use, or do a search on line for the size and impedence of speaker you need...

Actually I have looked all over online and found nothing about these speakers. I do know from the back of the speakers that the 12" woofer is 8 ohm, and that the total impedance of the speaker is 8 ohms. The 12" woofer is wired in parallel with the other speakers in the box so I can only assume the 5" mid ranges are 8 ohms also, and I can also test the one i have with a multimeter to make sure.

I actually am close to a store that specializes in speakers and audio equiptment. This is the place I have found my prices for repairing these speakers, http://www.partsexpress.com. It seems like a place that won't really rake me over the coals too badly although I assume that if I am buying anything but replacement parts I should be weary

[Ruined]

How do you expect Parts Express to get a hold of drivers from an old speaker from a company that went out of business a while ago? They will probably just slap in some generic drivers that fit the openings in the speakers and the speakers will likely sound nothing like what they originally did.

My advice, save up for a pair of these:
http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/...Alpha-T1-Tower

or, for less money:
http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/...pha-B1-Monitor
http://www.psbspeakers.com/products/...ge-B25-Monitor

None of them are all too expensive but they all have quality sound that has some punch to it.

[burnedkitty105]

Actually the plan was to select drivers that were of the same frequency response, impedance, etc. But since I cannot find the specs on the drivers I'm replacing, I will have to go with what sound the best. And I plan on installing them myself not having Parts Express doing it. They just happen to have a very large selection of replacement drivers. And are also local for me.

[firestorm]

Partsexpress is definitely a good place to start. However, the very first thing I would do is switch the "bad" midrange driver between the two speakers, and see if the driver really is bad. I had the same problem with an old set of speakers, and it turned out to be a bad crossover. You may actually have better luck with repairing an old crossover vs. finding a "matching" replacement driver (emphasis on "may").

IMHO, Bose is merely OK. AFAIK, they've always been a little better than average, but with high end pricing. That's certainly true now, and, as illustrated, you can get one hellava system for the cost of a new Bose system. But that's beside the point. I believe the last "decent" speaker from Bose was the 901 in the 70s, and even that is said to be lacking in the qualities that audiophiles look for. If you can repair the acoustics for $40, it's may be worth a shot. But, if they were compared to Bose, I doubt they'd touch anything you can get for a few hundred bucks, especially if their original sound is compromised by repairs.

If you haven't already, I'd chat with the folks in the Tech Talk section at Partsexpress. There's some very knowledgeable people in there.

[burnedkitty105]

So I made it down to parts express today, figured out to replace the 12 inch subs with anything quality, and the 5 inch drivers to match it would be about 80 bucks. I said hell with it ill put them back in the closet and i picked up a pair of these babies with a sub for about 30 bucks more and really good sound.

I would recommend those bookshelf speakers for anyone looking for a good pair that are easily worth the money. I know I'm probably talking to a bunch of guys that wouldn't spend less than 150 bucks per speaker but for a budget like mine these things were perfect.

Following that I picked up this guy on ebay and had it apart, fixed the display problem, and put it back together in an hour after receiving it. Again my budget is nothing compared to a lot of peole on here, but it fits me for now. Plus I have the knowledge to fix most amp problems if something arises, but until then it sounds great.

[Iguana Man]

Cool beans BK105'! When you get it all setup be sure to post pics in the Your Home Theater thread.

[chlngr1970]

Originally Posted by burnedkitty105

So I made it down to parts express today, figured out to replace the 12 inch subs with anything quality, and the 5 inch drivers to match it would be about 80 bucks. I said hell with it ill put them back in the closet and i picked up a pair of these babies with a sub for about 30 bucks more and really good sound.

I would recommend those bookshelf speakers for anyone looking for a good pair that are easily worth the money. I know I'm probably talking to a bunch of guys that wouldn't spend less than 150 bucks per speaker but for a budget like mine these things were perfect.

Following that I picked up this guy on ebay and had it apart, fixed the display problem, and put it back together in an hour after receiving it. Again my budget is nothing compared to a lot of peole on here, but it fits me for now. Plus I have the knowledge to fix most amp problems if something arises, but until then it sounds great.

The important thing is, you are happy with your purchase. You can spend any ammount you like on gear, and still not be happy with it. Sometimes simple is better. Later on down the road, if you can get fundage, you can step up which ever piece of equipment you like. My next upgrade is going to be amps, so I can move to separates. Now that I am getting full days at work, I can afford to put money aside to upgrade.

The next question is, do I upgrade my HT, Car Stereo, Car performance, or start on my restoration...

Decisions, decisions

j

[Iguana Man]

Originally Posted by chlngr1970

or start on my restoration...

Decisions, decisions

j

Dust off that Duster! I vote restoration! (I assume you mean the car?)