Source
r/diyaudio•
Ferwerda

Using 50 year old Wharfedale cabinets as basis for new speaker

I've come into possession of a pair of Wharfedale Glendale 3 speakers, dating back to the early 1970s (as pictured https://www.petervis.com/gallery/Vintage%20Advertisements/wharfedale-hi-fi/wharfedale-glendale-3.html ) One speaker has a bad woofer that I think is beyond fixing.

I've been following second-hand sites for months hoping to snag a golden deal but I've not found any steal. I'm considering repurposing these cabinets with new woofers/tweeters/crossovers as I do like audio and diy.

I'm asking mostly for a sanity check: is this a good or bad idea? Are there any proven designs that I might be able to get great results with in these cabinets?

Posted Apr 10, 2021, 4:43 PM UTC

43
bongoloid1•

It's a great idea if the cabinets are in good condition. Acoustic suspension means sealed boxes so no need to calculate port size or length.
I did a similar job with some Linton speakers and bought drivers that matched the size and range of the spec sheet. Crossovers were ordered on line and they sound sweet with a valve pre amp and class d power

2
JackAttack219•

I think it boils down to how much effort you wanna put into it. You would have to find the Thiele-Small parameters of the original woofer and cabinet, and find drivers that all work well together and design a new crossover. But, in the time it takes to do all that, you could just wait for a new woofer and slap it in there, and recap the crossovers if you haven’t already. That alone would make a big improvement. Either way, you’ll end up with good speakers.

FWIW, I remember hearing that old Wharfedale woofers had a tendency to sag and rub on the voice coil, and could be fixed just by reinstalling them upside down in the cabinet. If that’s you issue, I would try that first before even considering replacing the woofer, let alone all the drivers.

2
JonRadian•

IMHO, unless you are a well-experienced speaker builder, the chances of you ending up with a great-sounding speaker with entirely different 3 drivers and crossovers is extremely slim.

If you are very motivated, you can research and learn the art of speaker building, spend lots of time learning from mistakes, waste a bunch of money on wrong choices, and *maybe* come up with decent speakers.

Or, one can start with one of the well-respected speaker kits instead..

1