locojoe
04-12-2010, 09:18 AM
I have (kind of) inherited my father's stereo system from the early to mid 70's. C50 speakers and mcintosh tuner/preamp/amp. Growing up I always loved this stereo, had amazing sound in our home which had a large music room (for instrument practice and music listening/ socialization).
Well both he and I now live in smaller houses and his equipment has been sitting in a corner for some time because of lack of space and a dedicated room (for example mom want to watch tv, not listen to music). So I have been thinking about buying them from him for restoration and see if I can get them to work with my house, or get them ready for sale.
The first item I need to address is refoaming the woofers., the surrounds are intact but are cracked. The passive radiators are in perfect shape. I don't want to try refoaming myself, although tempted. I don't want to test the speakers in this condition t in fear of damaging the voice coils if the cones aren't supported axially (I don't know this for sure, just asuming). My dad has had the surrounds replaced twice previously, professionally for about 300 bucks each time (having his dealer pack them up, ship 'em off, reinstall, etc.). I had some cheap altec lansing's reconed once at a local electronics repair shop, but don't know if I should use local repair talent on these or ship them off somewhere. The aluminum tweeter cones have pitted somewhat from dust sitting on them, I don't know if this is a problem.
The enclosures are functional, but the humidiity in Miami where my dad lived, even though air conditioned, along with surviving a couple of moves, has the particle board banged up in a few places with a couple of scratches. Can you fix particle board? He also had his master carpenter trim the wood top to get rid of the flared lip to make them fit in better with his modern house, and to save space in his music room library/ bookcase/ entertainment center.
I cleaned them up somewhat, but was gentle to avoid "destructive" cleaning.
Any tips on the refoaming materials and service, as well as general tips for cleaning and repairing would be greatley appreciated! I was really please that I found this forum and have already learned a lot from browsing & reading. In this age of 7.1 surround home theater, it's nice to see that there are folks who appreciate the older home stereo.
Well both he and I now live in smaller houses and his equipment has been sitting in a corner for some time because of lack of space and a dedicated room (for example mom want to watch tv, not listen to music). So I have been thinking about buying them from him for restoration and see if I can get them to work with my house, or get them ready for sale.
The first item I need to address is refoaming the woofers., the surrounds are intact but are cracked. The passive radiators are in perfect shape. I don't want to try refoaming myself, although tempted. I don't want to test the speakers in this condition t in fear of damaging the voice coils if the cones aren't supported axially (I don't know this for sure, just asuming). My dad has had the surrounds replaced twice previously, professionally for about 300 bucks each time (having his dealer pack them up, ship 'em off, reinstall, etc.). I had some cheap altec lansing's reconed once at a local electronics repair shop, but don't know if I should use local repair talent on these or ship them off somewhere. The aluminum tweeter cones have pitted somewhat from dust sitting on them, I don't know if this is a problem.
The enclosures are functional, but the humidiity in Miami where my dad lived, even though air conditioned, along with surviving a couple of moves, has the particle board banged up in a few places with a couple of scratches. Can you fix particle board? He also had his master carpenter trim the wood top to get rid of the flared lip to make them fit in better with his modern house, and to save space in his music room library/ bookcase/ entertainment center.
I cleaned them up somewhat, but was gentle to avoid "destructive" cleaning.
Any tips on the refoaming materials and service, as well as general tips for cleaning and repairing would be greatley appreciated! I was really please that I found this forum and have already learned a lot from browsing & reading. In this age of 7.1 surround home theater, it's nice to see that there are folks who appreciate the older home stereo.