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Linn Isobarik tweeter replacement options

Mr Pig said:
All of the prices I've seen for his services and products have been off the scale crazy high. Am I missing something?
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Those prices do seem fantastical im not sure of the reasoning behind it,maybe click bait? All I do know his he's a top bloke sorted me out for a couple of hundred squids fitted and I got to hear his twelve pack activ system with both naim and exposure crossovers,
Made the titan 808s sound small!!
 
I am tempted to change all 4. After all two of those still working are approaching their 44th birthday. One other was replaced about 4 years ago and could be kept as a spare if I stick with Scanspeak. These speakers were an inheritance so investing in them is not really an issue.

Musicman19 said:
Try contacting Simon hammnett
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. According to Google he is 6 1/2 hrs away or more like 8 hrs the way I drive
 
cctaylor said:
I am tempted to change all 4. After all two of those still working are approaching their 44th birthday. One other was replaced about 4 years ago and could be kept as a spare if I stick with Scanspeak. These speakers were an inheritance so investing in them is not really an issue.

. According to Google he is 6 1/2 hrs away or more like 8 hrs the way I drive
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Yeah he's in Preston im in Kent though he does travel i just coincided it with a stay at my mums in West Yorkshire.
 
@Musicman19 The chances of him being anywhere near the North East of Scotland are remote. I know my father took the Isobariks back to the factory for an upgrade but I don't see me taking them down to Preston.
 
cctaylor said:
@Musicman19 The chances of him being anywhere near the North East of Scotland are remote. I know my father took the Isobariks back to the factory for an upgrade but I don't see me taking them down to Preston.
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DIY it is then I did watch him do it looked pretty straight forward though he did use a neat trick to prevent damage to the baffle certainly don’t want to try and prise it out with a screwdriver.
Good luck
 
I have 2 pairs of Linn Saras, one with Hiquofon OW1-92 (originally had Linn branded D20-LP-1) and the other with Scanspeak D2008/851100 (originally Linn fitted D2008/????), when replacing the tweeters I tried to stay as close to original as possible.

The Scanspeak are a bit brighter and a bit more forward, the Hiquofon are much smoother and gentle. Honestly I like them both but they do sound quite different. One caveat is that I can no longer hear above 14KHz (probably like most of us on this forum).

As for your briks I would imagine that just the orientation of the top/forward is going to give you different sound characteristics anyway so you could try just replacing the forward pair and see what you think.
 
Musicman19 said:
DIY it is then I did watch him do it looked pretty straight forward though he did use a neat trick to prevent damage to the baffle certainly don’t want to try and prise it out with a screwdriver.
Good luck
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The best way I know of getting the tweeters out without damaging the baffles is to take a small woodscrew and drive it into the tweeter plastic body about 1cm out from the dome...leave some of the screw out for leverage. Place a thin piece of wood (to spread the load) covered in a soft fabric to one side of the plastic tweeter body. Best to cover over the mids with something as a protective precaution beforehand . Then take a claw hammer and gently pull the screw up placing the head of the hammer on the cloth covered mini board.... Maybe advisable to carefully score around the tweeter with a scalpel... But only ever so gently... Aim is to cut any silicone between the tweeter and the wood socket of the baffle... Very gently. Also it may be required to insert another screw onto the tweeter on the opposite side and lever that in the same way..... Until the silicone seal gently breaks.

I would not recommend leverage with a screwdriver against the baffle.... You will definitely damage the baffle.

Sorry, but I wouldn't even try and save the good tweeter as the possibility of baffle damage is too high.

Some very old Bricks don't have silicone and just removing the screws and levering from inside the screw hole carefully with a pointed tool will work.... But I recommend the replacements are siliconed in.

Plan everything carefully... Put the Bricks face up on the floor with carpet or rug underneath for the fronts and stand up for the tops... Remove from stands .... You'll need to be feeling strong that day or better still get someone's help.

Good luck!
 
cctaylor said:
These Isobariks are so old that there is no veneer behind the grills, it is just chipboard!
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Aaaah... The MFI variety. Still I would treat them gently, you never know, they may become collectable soon.

Perhaps even give them some veneers... Lots of great veneers type materials are available these days... Just cut and stick on. But the collectable factor would go.
 
In the end I decided to go with the Hiqufon OW2-92s.I am very happy with the sound though I feel that a bit of running-in is taking a little edginess off the sound. 4 Hiqufons definitely beat 3 Scanspeaks, especially when one of the fronts is not working!

I emailed Oskar and spoke to Dave at Willy's HiFi before commiting. Both said that using the OW1 I would have to turn the treble up quite a bit and that it would be preferable to use the OW2 and turn the treble down if required.

My speakers were assembled with mastic rather than silicone so removing the old tweeters was not too difficult

I have installed the tweeters using the gasket material supplied by Willy's but may go back later with the silicone.

I haven't adjusted the NAXO yet, I think it may need the treble turned down a fraction I have bought a UMIK-1 and installed REW on my laptop so that I can have some control over the adjustments.

I always wondered what changes were done when dad took the speakers back to Linn, I think it may have been sealing the tweeters with hot melt glue. The backs of the tweeters are clarted in the stuff and it looks like it was done after the speakers were built.
 
Very interesting indeed. It seems Oskar's advice hasn't changed in over 20 years. I guess you bought them off Willy's (pretty much the same price). I do believe they come in matched pairs with a signed spec sheet from Oskar.

In my experience, the hot glue just covers the soldered joints where the wire feeds into the terminal.

As for the UMIK and REW, I would use that as a backup and would use my ears to adjust the treble to taste. A couple of favourite tracks with some nice treble. In my experience measurements are fun but can take you down a rabbit hole from which it may take you while to return.

Great to hear it's all going well.... You're an official 'Bricks' fan now. Keep us posted with how you adjusted the treble.... I'm very curious. (especially as you didn't heed my advice on the OW2s...;) ).

Edit: The gasket stuff is fine, just need to ensure there is a good seal all the way around.
 
My Scanspeaks all have a rim of glue round the back where the fibreboard panel with the terminals fits into the main body. On the original tweeters it looks like an epoxy resin. On the newer replacement one has hot melt.
 
martin dawson said:
I had a dry joint on one of the two crossovers causing a loss of supply to the tweeters.

Regards,

Martin
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I'm impressed with your fault finding skills, not to mention the ability to get the
crossover out, especially if you have the older model, where its sandwiched between the bass drivers.
 
No no the work was carried out by John Chinnock he worked for Spalding’s of Croydon for over 33 years till they went into receivership. He used to do all the Linn speakers repairs in house plus the Naim servicing.
I’ve put his name forward a couple of times with PFMers. They were also agents / sales for Nakamichi. He serviced my Nakamichi 581 prior to sale.

Regards,

Martin
 
One of my front Hiquphon D20 LP1 tweeters has gone( playing very erratically often cutting out and sounding crackly ). The direct replacement of a pair of OW1 is very costly. If I replaced the front pair with Scanspeak D2008 and left the tops as Hiquphons has anyone any idea if that would work soundwise or would it spoil SQ ? Its a £200 difference in cost.
 
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