Altec Lansing Model 19 troubleshooting

[naoki]

This is my first post. I just got a pair of Model 19 from a person who is the original owner of the speakers since 1978. I didn't know how heavy they were until I went to pick them up, and it was a struggle to get them into my house.

Unfortunately, the high freq. drivers don't make any sound in either L or R; woofer works. He said that they are working well... Oh well. The HF and MF dials don't make any difference, neither. Does this mean broken 802-8G's? Or could it be something wrong with the cross-over? I looked at the cross-over, and the wires seem to be attached to 802-8G. I also didn't see any blown caps or resistors.

Is the next step to pull out 802-8G and to bypass the crossover by directly connecting it to an amp?

Since both sides have broken 802-8G, I'm guessing that the previous owner played it too hard and blew them.

If the problem is broken 802-8G's, can I just replace the diaphragms? Or should I send them to Great Plains Audio? What would be an approx. cost?

Thank you for any help!
Naoki

[naoki]

OK, I went ahead and tested the horn driver by directly connecting it to an amp. No sound. After disassembly, I found that the wire near the diaphragm was broken. I temporarily soldered it, and it works. Soldering was pretty difficult; I managed to make a connection, but it isn't strong (solder doesn't stick to the flat wire easily). So I'm going to get replacement diaphragms from Great Plains Audio (about $90 ea). I hope they are worth $400 (paid $200 for the pair of model 19)...

[gdmoore28]

I hope they are worth $400 (paid $200 for the pair of model 19)...

Ha! They are worth much, much more than that. If the cabs are in good condition, you could likely sell them for three times what you will have in them. I'd say that would be a good investment, yeah?

Blown diaphragms are quite common. If these are the originals, they've been working for about 29 years now. That's a good reliability record.

It goes without saying that you should likely replace the original crossover capacitors with new ones of equal value if there is any doubt of their condition. Most folks change them regardless of how they look simply because capacitors age and degrade.

Anyway, you made a great buy for a steal of a price. How about posting some pics of the cabinets and the drivers/crossovers in them?

GeeDeeEmm