Welcome to New2USpeakers
Located in Rochester, NY and Stuart, FL.
We love vintage audio and are buying, selling, servicing and repairing high quality loudspeakers and assorted audiophile equipment.
* Do you just need new foam surrounds for a woofer or replacement grills or cloth?
* How about a blown tweeter repair or an upgrade to your caps or crossovers?
* We can also rebuild, refinish or apply a new vinyl wrap to cabinets, or go further to upgrade your existing boxes with your choice of real wood veneer.
*Moving, or just need to clear out some space? We will buy your speakers and vintage audio electronics for cash, even if broken!!!
Whatever it is, let me know and I'll get you set up. We take the time to ensure high quality loudspeakers are given the TLC they need to get back into use to extend their useful lifetime.
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Hey there! Thanks for this video. I am trying to repair a tear in my Rega speakers, but I cant seem to get the unit off in order to access the back, I removed the screws but it seems to be glued on also. Do you have any tips for either taking the unit off the housing or repairing the cone if you cant access the back? Thanks in advance :)
If the drivers were screwed to the box from the front side, and you can’t pry them out because you think they’re stuck, that likely means they used a butyl sealant between the speaker frame and the box. It will come out, but you have to use constant, steady pressure to lift up one edge with a Corner of a putty knife or a screwdriver. Need to be careful not to damage the wooden edge of the box cut out. Slow steady pressure butyl will start to pull away and separate and then you work your way around the rim of the basket. Rega makes some great speakers so it’s worth the attempt.
@@new2uspeakers Thanks so much for the in depth reply! I'll give it a go
My Dad had and pair of Monarch speakers that he bought in southern California around late 1959 or early 1960 a long with a Pioneer SM-B200A receiver and a Voice Of Music turntable. He handed it down to me in the mid 70s. I refinished the cabinets that stood about 24 inches tall with a inch and a half deco stand that was attached to the bottom of each cabinet that seem to be popular around that time. and put new power cords on the active crossovers for the 4 tweeters. The woofer was an odd size, if I remember correctly about 9 inches. There was a broach and a light that stayed on when the crossover was plugged in. The cab was ported in the front and the terminals to hook them up to an amp were on the lower back witch was screwed on. The metal tag above the terminals was silver and had the Monarch name and model and a + & - mark. I have been searching for years to find a pair but had no luck. I would be curious to learn some background on this model of speakers and why they are so rear. I do have photos of them at different stages from when they were new and after I got the. Unfortunately I never photographed the inside of the enclosure.
There’s certainly nothing wrong with that kind of hand me down. I’m glad you got to enjoy them. I did sell this pair so I no longer have access to them to check anything else for you. Thanks for watching and commenting!!
I make upgraded crossovers for these.
It seems that people know that vintage audio gear may be worth something, so they storedit away. As long as they store it properly, it shows up eventually and can be rescued. I’ll do a follow up Instagram post once I complete that Panasonic unit as it is very cool. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Really interesting video for me to watch, I'm English and some of the gear you show I've never seen before. That Panasonic receiver & turntable is so cool 👍
I bought a pair of Boston Acoustics VR940s without knowing one had a completely inoperative tweeter. When I pulled it I was hoping the wires had somehow pulled off, but no. No output whatsoever. Not strapped with cash for a replacement and the tweeter looks brand new practically. Hope its repairable.
It’s fiddly work, but you may want to consider taking it on. Unless you have a near perfect match of the replacement diaphragm with the original, it’s unpredictable how close the sound output will be to the original. So be prepared for that outcome with a next step. Good luck. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Can't you just buy new cones? I got a couple of old Celestion silver series with torn cones. At least I assume that's what they are. They're not greenbacks or vintage 30's. They're from a 1978 Orange 4X12 cab. It still sounds fine, to be fair. It just bugs me knowing the tears are there
@@ashscott6068 the answer is “maybe” as far as buying replacement cones. It really depends on each speaker model. There aren’t that many places that sell cones anymore. The dimensions can be quite unique for each model so you have to be careful when buying online. In addition, the time, and therefore the cost, is quite a bit higher to do a reconning job because it’s a significant amount of work to remove the cone, reattach it to the spider, center the voice coil, and refoam the surround. In fact, it’s usually cheaper to find a replacement driver on eBay that is not damaged. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Yes, this repair holds up very well over time. And compared to the cost of reconning a speaker it’s very affordable even if you have to have someone else do it for you. The thinned out glue works like the lignin in the paper making process and the key is using a minimal amount of glue. As long as you pull off the tape before the glue is totally dry, You’ll have no problems.
That the clear adhesive tape doesn't stick to the glue makes this an easy repair. I assume the repair holds up over time; have you had any fail? Nice job!
It's not just a looker but it is also a player. Sometimes a person just needs a system that is simple and relaxing. Sure it's not made for hard rock or hip hop but someone who wants it today to play that type of music on it is just being silly. For 'beautiful' music, lite classical and jazz/vocals it's perfect.
That is the right way to think about it. I agree. There is a right tool for every job and this one knows its job. I sold it to a hipster who had exactly your kind of thinking. Thanks for watching and commenting.!
I have two APM speakers wired up to one connection and they sound great together.
I’m glad you’re getting a chance to enjoy them. Not enough people seem to. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Read the MV Labs article.
Yes, absolutely that is a “must read”article for anyone with a pair of Pioneer HPM 100 speakers. That is actually where I learned about the wiring conflict in the documentation versus what many people have in their box. Thanks for watching and commenting.!
@@new2uspeakers I was the person with originally unaltered crossover HPM-100As who contributed to his article, specifically the inverted driver issue, But, because I'm dyslexic, I'm now second guessing whether both the mid and the tweeter were inverted polarity or just the mid. I'm currently retracing my steps to confirm. I ended up disconnecting the supertweeters and building MV Labs crossovers but with 3.3uF caps in lieu of 4.7uF. My speakers are still in showroom condition.
Bravo! Absolutely Brilliant Sir!
I was thinking about a project to see if I could get some of these linaeum tweeters and attach them to top of my JBL towers and remove the JBL tweeters.
JBL‘s, especially vintage ones do tend to be heavy on the base side, so that’s a great project I think. There’s a lot of the Linaeum dipole tweeters around out there so you’ll find a pair. I have two pairs available for sale right now. this pair of towers and the LX5 bookshelf version. But I don’t do shipping. look locally to where you are and you’ll find some. Especially the 5, as they made a lot more of them. Thanks for watching and commenting! Good luck on your project.
@@new2uspeakers Thanks so much for all the info! They are JBL ES80 towers. Great bass and mids as you said. I think mounting those tweeters on top would work perfect for them. If you shipped, I would buy your for sure. You never know the condition those things are really in, when you buy offline. I will certainly have to take my chances. It should be fun.
@@jamiethornton6101 here is a link to the pair I have for sale. Where are you located.? facebook.com/share/ho7335aCv2RzjPUQ/?mibextid=79PoIi
@@new2uspeakers Memphis
@@new2uspeakers I keep clicking on the link, but the page wont open.
Tongue sucking. Gross
What type of glue do you use sir...?
And where can I get a Tone Generator... Ty for your video ,Bro.
Most of the US companies that provide glue for refoaming surrounds ship M-3035 glue with their replacement surrounds. You can use that, but it is expensive,. I’ve had good luck using Aileen‘s tacky glue and I know other professional speaker repair folks that do as well. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Sorry I missed your other question. There are many ways to source a tone generator. I just use a simple app on my iPhone, or you can get something similar for any phone. In the comment section, I list everything I use on my videos and for diagnostics, I use the audio tool set from Studio Six Digital. I find their audio tools to be easy to use, and it’s free. Hope that helps.
quick dry or original aileen’s?
I use Aileen’s turbo tacky glue. I do believe that is the quick drying formula.
Wooden clothe pins do a good job to attach your cone and let it dry
Agreed, I use them often. It can depend on the type of basket frame that the manufacturer has used and the type of clothes pin you have, but for many they do work quite nicely. I know, professional refoamers that use them exclusively and have different sizes and Gap spanning reach to be able to clamp onto just about any design.
It’s actually a good idea to show that in a future video. Thanks for watching and commenting.
🟥Those are not planar magnetic drivers.🧐 I've heard these speakers, not that good sounding.
You are absolutely correct, they are not "planar magnetic drivers" as can be found in many headphones and some other driver manufacturers. I rechecked the video, and I'm pretty sure I didn't state that, as I would not not want to confuse anyone. Hopefully you learned a bit about the Sony technology of the planar honeycomb using a traditional voice coil as described in the patent. Planar magnetic driver technology is a good idea for another video, and thanks for watching and commenting!!!!
I have a pair of APM-20ESs, they actually sound pretty awesome if they are connected to the right amp. I am using a late 80s Technics new class A midi system and the addition of super bass really makes these small speakers come alive. They have the 4 coil design as the woofers have four dust covers in a square pattern on the woofer. I believe some of the larger ones had five. I've also got a couple of Aiwa systems with flat diaphragm woofers and AFBS (Acoustic Feedback System), which actually mikes up the speakers to ensure what's coming out of them is the same as what is going in. I found the description of the "advantages" of FD speakers interesting, as I have noticed the sound is excellent when equidistant, but quickly loses bass if you move from the centre position or are elsewhere in the room. Perhaps there are advantages to _not_ having all the sound reach your ears at once, although I am comparing against newer, floorstanding models that are no doubt superior.
Thanks for sharing your experiences as we all have so much to learn from each other. I'd love to find a pair of ES's sometime. Thanks for watching and commenting!
@@new2uspeakers I found an article on the 66ES speakers that shows the back of the woofers, turns out they use a single coil with the diaphragm supported by several posts. I won't link as YT will probably delete the comment, but if you search "amazing sony apm-66es" the first results should be the Sound Oddity blog. 😀
Thanks for providing this extra link. It is very informative for anyone interested in this design and for the ES series. @@jasonschubert6828
I've got the bigger brother of these, the 77s, I'm thinking of buying a pair of these-theres a pair on fleabay at the moment. They need new cloth so I'm glad I found your video. Thanks for uploading 👍
The right grill cloth, Patience and a lot of staples is all you need. Thanks for watching and commenting!!
I had a pair of 77s as well back in the day that I bought new. I thought they were terrific.
@@johnm3544 I think they're a good speaker, I have them on some nice stands and use a vintage Cyrus One with them 👍
Great job on the cloth. I have and I prefer them to modern speakers. Really forward lively sound and bass comes on when you turn them up. I had to re glue the cone surround on one speaker and I redyed the black veneer. I had have quite a few speakers, but ended up with the 70s as I heard them back in the 80s and liked them then.
i'm glad this video triggered you to comment. They are certainly a pair that most everyone would want to have , if they heard them. Thankd for watching!!
I just met a lady that has some monarch sp-42p speakers for sale. I hope to pick them up on Sat. Its a collectable brand of speaker and ofcourse desirable. Thanks for your lovely video
I hope you get them. They are nice all around vintage speakers. Thanks for watching and commenting!!
What kind of value would one pit on them. What do the monarch’s sell for? Ideas?
It is a supply/ demand question. Condition matters. If working, price could be $50 up to several hundred, (if you have someone that really wants them)
Replace both crossovers. Design a new one with poly caps and aircore inductors
I certainly think that’s a reasonable next step for this pair and the customer may do that on his own. Could he have save some money overall by just going straight to that step? Yes, but he loved the concept of keeping them original and yet sounding decent. Seems that’s a conflict for a lot of people. Originality versus superiority is a tough Trade-off for some folks. Thanks for watching and commenting!!
33:16 you forgot one pieces
Hmmmm. I checked the video a few times and I don't think I forgot to add anything at this point. You mentioned I forgot one piece, but it was supposed to be a piece of what? If it was the electrical tape to cover the lead wires, there are 2 pieces installed and that is all that is needed. Let me know what piece is missing. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
4:18 triangle isolating sheet. Oh in the end this sheet was installed, but I see not when you installed it. Sorry, it’s my error. Your video ist very good. I repaired last week the coil and this was very hart beause the wire is soooo thin. God thank, the wire was broken on the first insert to the coil. Now working.
It is important to put in this sheet in because it will change the nominal location of how deep the voice coil is positioned in the magnet recess and you could limit the coil travel. You have good eyes since I think I forgot to re-install it initially.
You’re a life saver. I had bought those speakers at a Goodwill for $20. I had them listed at eBay, and an interested party wanted to see the condition of speaker and wires. I actually had no idea how to remove them, until I came across your video. I can’t thank you enough. I actually thought they came off the wood seam. It would’ve been horrible. They’re in excellent condition. Thank you kindly.
For me was a great job
I'm not sure that the coil is glued concentrated in the gap. You have not taken action for the centers.
I think you are saying that I did not assure the new diaphram/coil was concentric to the magnet recess. The answer is Yes and No. The black plastic triangular piece controls the precise location of how it is mounted to the magnet. So it is critical to ensure the new diaphram/coil is mounted precisely to the black plastic. Fortunately there was easy to observe very small mold line ridge in the black plastic that was able to be used to visually check the OD of the aluminum diaphram was located well. Certainly the factory would have a tool/jig to do this , but in my opinion your eye is very sensitive to checking to see that such a concentric alignment is "good enough". As you know voice coil rubbing in a tweeter can be hard to detect, but I think we were sucessful enough. Thanks for watching and commenting!!!
@@new2uspeakers I think you could have made a channel for the wire on top of the black plastic. Then a new opportunity opens up! You can use paper inserts between the core and the coil before assembling the speaker. Glue the dome using the center (paper liner). Next, remove the paper insert and install the black plastic in its place, there are pins there. The metal dome has an anodized layer and does not conduct electricity. Therefore, the wire can be safely led from above.
I do love that idea. This is what’s great about KZread. We can all learn from each other and build a fantastic community. Thanks for sharing. Hopefully it’ll help the next person down the road who needs to do a similar repair.
@@new2uspeakers🤝
Thanks for posting this, these are some rare speakers for sure. I can't find anything more about these speakers than you have but I have a question. How do they sound, and do they sound similar to any of the more well known vintage speakers? Also have you tried to power them with a similarly aged Monarch receiver?
They actually sounded "as expected". I would say "average" for a 3-way of this vintage. Warm, but not a lot of Bass. Mid and High was as you would want for a modern speaker. I sold them already, but if you are looking for a pure vintage system, I would consider to look for something else. I never tried a Monarch receiver.
@@new2uspeakers Thanks for the reply. Its an interesting company but as you know there is not much history currently to look up. I saw a Monarch receiver on Craigslist recently and I never heard of the company before. When I searched Monarch on Google your video came up., that's how I got on the Monarch trail. Anyway have a good day and keep having fun with obscure audio, I know I do. =)
New drinking game, take a shot everytime you hear a 'tut'.
Thanks for your feedback, since we should all improve. Glad you enjoyed the video!!
I have actually come across a set if these, that I am sure I will have to refurbish. What was the set of drivers you had chosen from PartsExpress? Would you stay with those or pick something different if you could do it over?
They are a fun project. At 12:55 in the video I describe the exact Visaton models I bought from PE. If money were no object, I'd always try to get direct replacements and keep the original design intact. Good luck. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Some people just have zero finess when working with funny shaped things going through funny shaped openings.
That is a fact. It’s important for everyone to know their limits, but sometimes people do venture a bit too far. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Great job Dave. I'm curious as to your plan to fix the woofer dust cap issue (if at all). Simply replace with a larger sized cap?
The customer decided he was going to do that repair himself. It’s a pretty straightforward process with a sharp, X-Acto knife and a new dust cap. These were the mesh screen style dust cap. They’re fairly forgiving to work with. The key is to clean up the old glueand I think only a 1/8th inch diameter larger dust cap will cover up the old sins that were exposed from the prior repair attempt. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Oh wow. I'll admit the replacement woofers don't look terrible. Stamped frames and baskets, but the vented magnet looks good, and a good size magnet. But these things ain't British any more. Like to get a better look at the tweeters though. Think B&W has spoiled me with big magnet tweeters. As for the cloth? Mate, veneer them! Paint them! Whichever. Put cloth in the driver holes and hammer the emblems in the front! Urgh!
They are not British anymore- but they sounded very pleasant. Glad you enjoyed this adventure of opening up a speaker and getting a surprise like I did. Thanks for watching and commenting. The guy who ended up buying them loved the veneer!!!!
I've just replaced the foam surrounds on my pair of LX5's with one slight difference. Instead of replacing the surrounds with foam, I've opted to use rubber surrounds. Let me tell you folks, the bass response is way better than before. I put this down to the stiffnes of foam vs rubber. I bought both foam and rubber surrounds off EBay and was able to make a side-by-side comparison before replacement, the rubber surrounds were way more pliable so on they went.
Congratulations on a helpful solution. I'm a bit disappointed I didn't think to check on using a rubber surround instead of foam, as I know they are often sized differently. Thanks for watching and commenting. If you enjoy them, it doesn't matter if they are not like the OEM.
I just ordered some. Did they go under the cone or on top like in this video for the inner diameter?
@@claddagh1000 I put mine under the cone
I also replaced foam with rubber, and the sound is much cleaner. I also bought a pool noodle at dollar tree, and cut it slightly larger than the case, and jammed it in horizontal to reduce the metal case vibrations. I didn't test them separate, so I don't know if it is the rubber surrounds, or the pool noodle, or both, but the muddy reverb is greatly reduced.
Just wondering, why didn't you show the complete removal of the tweeters before painting the boxes? How does that work with these?
Thanks for your question. As I mentioned in the video, the tweeter is connected to a soldered spade terminal, and that spade lug goes down to the crossover. I had extreme difficulty removing this female spade, lug from the terminal, and I did not want to risk breaking the soldered wire, so I actually did not fully remove the tweeter prior to painting the boxes I just Masked off the parts that I didn’t want to get painted. It was a compromise, but the tweeters are costly item to replace, and I did not want to risk it for this pair. Thanks for watching and commenting. If you have a pair and you need to fully remove everything, then you need to disconnect that spade lug, and then pry up the dipole And the sub plate has to also be removed from the box. Good luck!
I have a pair of these in like new condition, but the foam is falling apart on one speaker. Can I replace one speaker or am I better off replacing both?
Unless the other Speaker was already refoamed, it’s likely that its lifespan is short and it is going to degrade shortly as well,. Therefore, I’d suggest you replace the foam surrounds in both speakers once you sit down to do it , since that will ensure that they’re both returned to optimal condition. The video should give you everything you need, once you get your hands on some surround foams. Thanks for watching and commenting.
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I have a pair of beautiful Snell Type A IIs that have a similar 'fabric over box' grill design though on a much larger scale than the Missions. Fabric replacement, especially how to stretch it without folding it over itself and creating seams, had always been a mystery to me until I viewed this video - nicely done! The technique should be the same on the Snells and in particular paying attention to proper orientation of the 'stretch' and how to get things going on the corners. I now feel fairly confident in doing the job which before, frankly, had me stumped how to do it!
Good luck. The key is to go slow and use lots of staples. Thanks for watching and commenting. I’m glad the video gave you what you needed.
I am re-capping a pair of Scott 196B from 1984 msrp $569 a pair and 96 db spl 3 way acoustic suspension (sealed) 12" woofers 3 ways so there loud and i like them a lot.
The Scott products were definitely top-of-the-line for their day. It’s nice to keep them going for the future, so your recapping is certainly a worthwhile activity. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I have a pair of those I am considering replacing the woofers with the FaitalPRO 5FE120 5" (about $50 each as of 2023). I predict they will improve the low end of these speakers to 69Hz 3db down. The internal volume of these speakers is around 0.13ft3
The Faital drivers have a good reputation, so it’s certainly worth a try to see what else you can do with the Optimus Pro LX5’s. If you’re gonna open them up, I would encourage you strongly to put some vibration dampening mat on the inner walls of the box before re-assembly. It will do a lot to take out resonance from that aluminum can. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Does the 5" fit OK? I thought the original speaker was a 4.5 inch?
You do have to be very careful on what you order. Don’t go by the marketing name of the driver size or the marketing name of the replacements surround size. Get out of metric ruler and take millimeter based measurements for the OD and the ID of the foam surround. The ones I used were 116 mm OD and 72 mm ID. Even these measurements are a bit subjective because the inner diameter is usually based on a angled measurement. Not a flat measurement. So be careful.
Nice job. This is the one job I've not yet attempted in the speaker repair I've accomplished. I'm curious as to what ratio of magnetic material vs. mineral oil you mixed, if it can be quantified in some way. Also, how was it assured the voice coil is centered in the gap?
You need a lot less magnetic toner than what you would probably think. I would use 10 parts oil to one part magnetic toner ratio. You can always buy the small tubes of premixed commercial fluid if you are hesitant. Thanks for watching and commenting. Good luck in your repairs. We all need a little luck sometimes!
With that type of coil, it’s very difficult to have 100% assurance that the voice coil is centered. You have to rely on the plastic mounting hardware to do that job for you. And since I’ve reused the mounting hardware and installed a replacement coil, it is not assured. It is chance, and just careful attention to detail while you work. To be honest, I don’t recommend it, and I don’t take on jobs that require that type of replacement because they are usually not 100% successful for the exact reason you’re thinking.
@@new2uspeakers Great, thank you
Nice work, and great tips! I've got this work ahead of me (re-foaming, that is) for the two pairs I purchased as the original owner years ago. The cosmetics are still like-new as I've taken good care of them, so that work won't be needed. One set of speakers hangs over my electronics workbench, and I recall having to reposition them just-so in relation to where I sit at the workbench, as they are very directional off-axis vertically in the high frequencies. But angled properly in that way they are wonderfully balanced and enjoyable to listen to as I toil away on more audio stuff! Subscribed.
I’m so happy you kept them around for all these years. I’ve been enjoying them while I have them as well. We all need a little tips in life to make things go better for us , so I’m glad you picked up a couple. Thanks for watching and commenting.
Alcohol destroys foam surrounds. Do not use to clean drivers!!
Generally, I would agree that alcohol should not be used on foam surrounds. I hope I didn’t do that in this video, I don’t think I did. I would prefer to use a water-based cleaner in such a case. I do use alcohol frequently on other components of drivers such as cones, baskets, spiders,etc…to be able to clean and remove contamination and prepare for gluing. Like with any project , start in a small area and do a test if you’re not certain of the compatibility of your solvents, consumables and the materials you’re applying them to.
I have 4 of them that I bought new. I had to refoam mine and I did them under the cone. I still use them.
What a treat to have four originals of your own. Glad you took the time to stay “under the cone”. That’s the right thing to do. Thanks for watching and commenting.
I remember seeing these on the shelfs at my local radio shack about 1992. they had some great gear then still some realistic but the optimus label was taking over, mostly rebranded pioneer I think at that time....these were heavily marketed seemed cool pretty expensive at the time for bookshelf speakers.
I’m so glad the video brought back some good memories for you. These certainly are a very interesting Speaker in a couple of different ways. Thanks for watching and commenting.
The ferrofluid has gone bad in mine and im lost how to clean and replace the fluid without hurting them. Ive been trying to find help on this.
Well….. I’m going to have to get back to you on that, as I am on vacation right now, and not able to check them closely. Once I get back to Florida after New Year’s, I’ll research this a bit and message you back again here.
@@new2uspeakers that would be nice. Enjoy!
I didn't know ferrofluid goes bad.....
@@adammarsden2643 it dries out and gets gummy
Parents had these growing up, absolute trash sound/construction.
I really didn’t hear significant problems with the drivers, although the tweeter is nothing special. If they don’t sell soon, I was thinking of actually repurposing the drivers into a newly constructed box. I think that could improve them a lot. Thanks for watching and commenting!
I'd like to replace the crossover in my POLK bookshelf, what ya got on that?
Well, I have done some crossover capacitor updates in my other videos. But what I really need to know is what model do you have and whether or not the crossover is currently working or not working at all. Then I can give you some guidance.
These tweeters really have to be heard !
Isn't that the truth. A video about audio doesn't really communicate the true story. Thanks for watching and commenting!
Its like the X-balance speaker technology of today at that time
It seems so. Sony keeps sticking with a theme consistent with their brand and history. Thanks for watching and commenting.