Vintage Toshiba (seas) Driver Replacement

[dimebucker]

Hi all, i recently purchased this:

It's a vintage Toshiba 330 system, but shortly after i got it home i had a driver failure, (which was strange because I had the volume below half-way), I guess they are just very old speakers.

Anyway there was suddenly exessive rumbling coming from one of the drivers, and, sure enough, when i went to inspect by gently pushing the diaphram in and out, there was a creaking/scrtching noise.

I take it the driver is ruined beyond repair, so I am trying to figure out what would be a good replacement.... and will i have to replace the other driver to match?

Driver details: "Seas" 30 FE SOLV 111703-2 3Ohm

Any help would be greatly appriciated 🙂

 

[Dougal1331]

Yes, it's always a good idea to replace drivers in pairs.

But my black-belt in Google-fu has turned up nothing. I've found info on the system, but nothing on the speakers... Wilmslow Audio may be the people to ask, but I would think another pair of speakers would be the easiest route.

Is there a particular model number on the speakers, rather than the driver itself?

 

[chebby]

Hi all, i recently purchased this:

It's a vintage Toshiba 330 system, but shortly after i got it home i had a driver failure, (which was strange because I had the volume below half-way), I guess they are just very old speakers.

I am guessing the system dates from around 1977 / 78.

What was the appeal of a 35 year-old rack system? Nostalgia?

I recommend you get the entire system serviced and not just the speakers. (At the very least the pre and power amplifiers to begin with.)

 

[dimebucker]

oh yeah, forgot to say, it has been serviced recently by the previous owner, problematic transistors replaced etc..

I suppose the appeal is that to me it sounds amazing, really rich or something.. But also it looks fantastic!

Here's some more info on the driver:

 

[Al ears]

Might be worth contacting SEAS themselves. A quick Google gives their main dealer in the UK as (see link below). Contacting them may help.

http://www.seas.no/index.php?option=com_contact&view=contact&id=67%3Aaudio-components&catid=53%3Adistributors-seas-lotus&Itemid=73

 

[dimebucker]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, but I found the answer on another forum, simple fix!

There's one thing you can try, before you proceed any further. With time, the spider (the accordion cloth that centers the voice coil) can sag, causing the voice coil to rub inside its course in the magnet. Sometimes, flipping the driver 180 degrees will correct the problem well enough to get years of additional service.

 

[davedotco]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone, but I found the answer on another forum, simple fix!

There's one thing you can try, before you proceed any further. With time, the spider (the accordion cloth that centers the voice coil) can sag, causing the voice coil to rub inside its course in the magnet. Sometimes, flipping the driver 180 degrees will correct the problem well enough to get years of additional service.

A ha........ the old 'Spendor sagging bass driver syndrome', used to be very common on BC1s and BC2s back in the day.

Another point worth mentioning is that varying the tightness of the fixing screws (better yet fixing bolts) can slightly alter the shape of all but the strongest baskets and allow the coil to realign with the gap, an old trick but worth knowing.

There was a time when buyers were encouraged to tighten up the fixing screws on their speakers drive unit to improve the sound, if done to energetically and perhaps asymetrically this could cause the coil to rub, even in brand new speakers.