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One for the Isobarik Experts

Good Morning All,

The potential problem with buying replacement drivers for the Isobariks is making sure you get the right drivers and then which black goo do you apply?

Happens Simon was selling what were clearly ex-Brik B139’s and at an appropriate price.

The speakers are now indoors so I will shortly prise one driver out and have a look see.

Regards

Richard
 
Good Morning All (again),

Well that's the first driver out, unsoldered and definitely very open circuit. The two thin wires leading from the terminals and disappearing into the voice coil are intact so I'm assuming this is a very dead B139.

John - Full set of what exactly - must go eBay'ing - you mean the set of 4off B139's - yes that is Daryl I think who I'm in contact with. I think he's used Keltik drivers.

Regards

Richard
 
I'd seriously consider the falcon drivers. They are superb and much less likely to fail going forward.

I'm assuming you have gasketed bariks and have sourced the appropriate neoprene to remake new?
 
Mr Pig said:
Fair enough but I'd look around before committing to buying everything from him.
Click to expand...
Isn't that the guy who sells so- replacement Naim CB fascia on eBay and claims that they improves sound quality?

http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/710-5...0001&campid=5338728743&icep_item=292382320302

"A prize to anyone who can tell which fascias are Original and which are Non original. Clue - I can't tell by looking and I fitted them! But you can tell by the improvement in sound quality over original fronts."

Call me a skeptic...
 
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Good Afternoon All,

You can clearly see the broken wire here.

qVY3eMy.jpg


Here is the ohm reading before a solder repair -
ZEEYTTb.jpg


Ohm reading after repair -

mx9h3WC.jpg


Bag "silicon'd" on -

bP7sdHd.jpg


I'll watch the England - Wales match now over lunch while the silicone dries some.

The Isobariks are still silicone sealed in place..... no gaskets to be seen.

Regards

Richard
 
hp1 said:
I have some of the black goo that the units are coated with.
Click to expand...

I think it's just bitumen paint. You're going back to the seventies remember, there were no magic potions. The coating on the fronts of the driver cones is PVA.

booja30 said:
Isn't that the guy who sells so- replacement Naim CB fascia on eBay and claims that they improves sound quality?
Click to expand...

I've read his proclamations and looked at his prices and just thought, na. This isn't a guy I'm going near. He sells Isobarik grilles at £800 a set! What the heck? I imported a set from South Korea and including shipping it was only £160. He claims his are 'original spec' but he doesn't show them in enough detail to be able to tell. Whatever, I reckon he's got at least five or six hundred pounds of profit on those grilles.
 
Good Afternoon All (again),

Going back together again.......

KNinzhL.jpg


Biggest challenge will be getting them on the stands......

Regards

Richard
 
For the coil repair, did you just solder the ends back together or attach them mechanically as well?
 
Have you redesigned the crossover to suit those drivers? They look like high quality units, be interesting to hear about how they sound.
 
sq225917 said:
For the coil repair, did you just solder the ends back together or attach them mechanically as well?
Click to expand...
Just crudely soldered the ends together - a mechanical repair would have required the right sized ECW to be available and a whole lot of faffing about. Given a replacement pair of drivers will arrive in Aberdeen tomorrow I simply wanted to get things up and running.

I'll go out and get some black silicone when I head into town tomorrow to pick-up the drivers - I just used what was in the house.......

The 'old' Isobariks (Serial No's 007159/ 007160) were man-handled out into the hall and the 'new' (Serial No's 007583/ 007854) wrestled on to the stands, de-wobbled (technical term!!) and accurately measured back into the 'correct' location.

What do they sound like? The easiest way to describe things is to say that the old pair will be staying out in the hall pending being sold (along with the original pair - yes there are currently three pairs of Briks in the house) - absolutely no doubt and no hesitation their performance is significantly improved over what was there before.

The sound made by these speakers is poles apart from the 'standard' one just removed from the room. There is an overall improvement in detail in the mid-range which obviously has to do with the replacement Scan-speak units but something has improved in the deep bass as well.

I note in Simon Hamnett's blurb accompanying his eBay sale he made reference to the drivers he was selling as having a "vented pole piece of later 'B' MkII latest spec. B139's". I didn't inspect the drivers I was repairing this morning so don't know if they are this later type.

I thought I was happy with the performance of the outgoing pair but the ones what I drove a 762 mile round trip to collect are in a different league. The fact that the Scan-speak mid-range left the B110 for dead is no real surprise but clearly the Scan-speak tweeter is significantly superior to the Hiquphon unit as well.

The overall 'sound stage' of the Isobariks is still there.

I'm looking forward to the opportunity to try replacing the B139's with the Elac units (once another pair turn up). At this point I'd have to say that Simon Hamnett isn't wrong insofar as the utilisation of alternate drivers.

I don't know whether further advantages are to be gained by altering the SNAXO 3-6 - one step at a time.

The median price for a set of 8 Scan-speak drivers is about £1970......

Regards

Richard
 
Good Evening All,

Well the 'new' Isobariks have been listened to over the last 24hrs and I like what they're doing.

I now understand why the PO questioned what setting I had on the pre-amplifier. He asked what level I would use to go 'loud' and I answered that I would have the volume control at the 12 o'clock position and he advised that he found the 10 o'clock position to be sufficient. Obviously 'loud' is subjective but I have found that these speakers are much 'louder' and setting the volume control at the 12 o'clock position now is frankly just too loud to be comfortable. I guess this means the replacement midrange and tweeter must be more efficient?

The mid-range is definitely more open and detailed.

There is something 'new' going on in the upper bass/ lower midrange area, I'm assuming this must be the new midrange units at play?

The bass is definitely still there. I was concerned that with turning the overall volume down it would impact on the bass but it seems almost unaffected.

I'm a pretty happy bunny at the moment and am really keen to find another pair of Elac bass units..........

Does the SNAXO need adjusting is a question? Changing the drivers doesn't seem to have substantially changed the sonic balance as far as I can tell so if it ain't broke don't fix it I guess. I have asked Simon Hamnett if he has found it necessary/ desirable to alter active crossover settings, he may or may not choose to answer the question (which I can understand) but I have asked. I'd welcome observations from anybody who has direct experience in this area.

The replacement B139's arrived in Aberdeen this afternoon and I'll be collecting them tomorrow. I'll have a check on the damaged units to see if they are the later type with the ventilated pole pieces now I know what I'm looking for.

Regards

Richard
 
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