ALTEC 848a SPEAKERS NEED REPAIR. HELP!

[60yearAltecfan]

My Dad brought home some Altec 848A speakers about 50 yrs ago, and I inherited them. I heard the Beatles for the first time on these speakers, back in the 1960's and have been listening to them at high volume ever since. They're the ones with the oak cabinets and the spanish style plastic grilles in front of the speaker cloth.
About a year ago they started putting my Sony Amp into its 'protection' mode whenever I cranked them up.
I soon discovered that one of speakers clearly has a damaged speaker (not sure which part) but it sounds like crickets compared to the other one.
I love these things, would never want to replace them with something modern unless all hope is gone.
Is there anybody out there that can recommend a qualified repair source for these speakers? I'm in New Jersey, close to Manhattan.
Would love to get diagnoses, replacement parts, and repair.
Thanks to anyone who can help
Tony in Jersey

[jlyons]

Great Plains Audio has a good reputation here, and their website is alive. I have read that it is best to call by phone. Can you take the speaker apart yourself? Have you exchanged connections from stereo source? Get started, in order to diagnose the actual problem, and keep us posted, please.

[turnitdown]

Though I am no expert compared to others here, what I might do is gently push the offending driver cone in, evenly around the dust cap to find out of there is any rubbing in its travel indicating a misshapen voice coil from the heat of high volumes. Also inspect the driver out of the cabinet for any anomalies like torn paper cone, tinsel wire hanging by a thread etc. Connect an audio source to the speaker without the crossover attached and see if it displays the same behavior. After that, report back and we/me/someone will have an answer as to your next step. There a repair companies and this site to help,as long as we know the exact nature of the problem.

[60yearAltecfan]

Thanks fellas, for these two helpful replies.
I looked a bit more carefully yesterday, and think, without taking it apart or having any expertise, that it is the 15" woofer that has gone silent. Too much Grateful Dead over the years, I suspect, lol.
I did a little googling and found a place called Gabriel Sound that seems to specialize in speaker repair, and is only about a half hour away.
They said if I brought it over they would put it on a bench and diagnose the problem and make a recommendation for a fix.
My question to all of you Altec purists would be what are the acceptable protocols for repair and restoration of these units without going too crazy. Are parts still available for these speakers? Are modern substitutes acceptable, if that is what they recommend? I'm certainly not in a gigantic hurry and willing to put some time in researching and asking questions to get the best outcome. Mainly, I just want to get them up and running again. Something about having the same speakers from the time you were ten years old or so and enjoying them your whole life!

Thanks again for any help!

Tony in Jersey

[maxserg]

Again you should call Great Plains Audio. They are probably the only one that still have original parts...

(405) 789-0221