Overhaulin'

Should I repair or replace my 70s era loud speakers?

When I purchased them in 1978, they were among the mid priced state of the art speaker systems. I have a pair of Ohm L loud speakers. The cabinets are solid walnut and weigh as much as two concrete blocks. At their optimum, these speakers make music and voices sound life like. When I crack up the speakers, friends have remarked that it sounds like the band is playing live in my living room. Now here's the thing. These speakers are very old. Do the math. Take 1978 away from 2011. What's that? Thirty three years, right. The speakers come with two tweeters and at least one of the two tweeters in both speakers is blown. In the woofers, the cones have deteriorated and I believe that a re-coning job is needed or simply replace the woofers. I am being lazy but my best guess is that the woofers are a ten inch diameter and the two tweeters are about a one inch diameter. If these are pretty standard in the industry, I could see about simply replacing the woofers and tweeters with some compatible components. Or I could simply dump the 33 year old speakers in the dumpster and see about buying a new pair of speakers at a Hi Fi store or get them on Ebay. What are your thoughts? Have you had to part with old stereo equipment? I feel like a guy who has to part with a classic car because he doesn't have the skills to maintain it. Here are some of the stats on my speaker. Look at some of the prices to replace the parts. In this case, it would be cheaper to simply buy a new pair of speakers. http://www.ohmspeakers.com/store_item_detail.cfm?item_ID=25

Public Comments

1. Personally, I would recone the speakers. At 33 years old, the foam surrounds are going to be very deteriorated. You're not going to find anything out there for what it would cost to recone and replace the tweeters that's going to sound as good. Good luck. Greetings from Austin, TX Ken