LE15A restoration

[Fangio]

Got two LE15A's, 8 ohm. Not sure if they could be called a pair

serial #15385 - cone #50319
serial #26344 - cone #21513

Anyone able to determine their age, or to shed some light on the background of these numbers?

Thanks

[Val]

I've got two LE15A's from 1977 s/n 19804 and 19867. Neither have any cone ID's.

[Fangio]

So, probably reconed? Both have a yellow chalk mark saying "15A" on the back. Seems at least both cone ID's are correct for LE15A, suggested by these threads, one being the earlier version but who knows which one.

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=17189&highlight=50319
http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=12893&highlight=21513

A few pics of the shape I got them in, would say "improvable" (some progress in the interim). Reminds me of the "find the 10 differences" puzzle in my sunday paper – most are just cosmetical and quite subtle though.

[Fangio]

The gaskets were savable.

[Fangio]

Further investigation revealed the more important things they have in common, fortunately. Under the hood spiders were dusty but hale and hearty, pretty straight. They metered at 8.2 & 8.8 ohms which suggests they are both within specs for 16 ohm units – no matter what the foilcals are saying:

http://audioheritage.org/vbulletin/showthread.php?p=190950#post190950

Decided it's better to refrain from any repainting attempts for the frames and leave them well enough alone. These woofers will go into cabinets again, to spruce them for collector showcases is not the goal here. Instead, if neccessary positive terms like "have genuine patina", "are authentic" and "does not affect the sound" will always apply, and suffice for their description... :)

[Fangio]

Ok centering went smoothly, everything has cured – ready to move some air.

[spkrman57]

Tell us how they sound after break-in!

Regards, Ron

[Rolf]

A 30 Hz for 48 hours (on mid level) break in should do it.

[Fangio]

Tell us how they sound after break-in!

No audible difference between these two. Sound is fabulous, gets better and better, well-defined and tight, excellent midbass too. May well be my 2231A's go a tad lower anyway these LE15A's with their bigger magnets have decidedly PUNCH.. :yes:

Noticed that with 2215A's already.