I have finally got a chance to open up my Heathkit AS101/Altec Valencias up and see what makes them tick. Unfortunately what makes them tick is all wrong. It quickly became obvious that all I was getting was the bass driver and not the compression driver. So I opened up the compression driver and low and behold the very fine leads that connect the diaphragms to the drivers binding posts were burnt through. Whether this happened before I got them or as soon as I tried to fire them up is impossible to know. I am completely rebuilding the crossover anyway so if the old crossover was the culprit it really doesn't matter. What matters is fixing the drivers. Is is possible to just solder a fine piece of good quality hook up wire in the place of the tiny leads? I am an OK solder monkey but certainly nothing special. Can I do this myself or do I have to send the drivers out to get this done? The diaphragms themselves look completely pristine, so I suspect there is no damage to them at this point.

Dan
Ontario, Canada