Hello,

I have been out of the "stereo loop" for almost 18 yrs and am returning
and wishing to rebuild/replace my existing system. I have a pair of Allison
Ones, circa 1984, that need the woofers re-foamed. I need to replace one
mid-range and one tweeter as well. I am hoping someone can point me in the
right direction for re-foaming and quality replacement parts. I have given
up on the Allison company making it back from the grave and am now looking
for outside help. Thank you in advance for your help.

Marshall

dugger4 wrote:

Hello,

I have been out of the "stereo loop" for almost 18 yrs and am returning
and wishing to rebuild/replace my existing system. I have a pair of Allison
Ones, circa 1984, that need the woofers re-foamed. I need to replace one
mid-range and one tweeter as well. I am hoping someone can point me in the
right direction for re-foaming and quality replacement parts. I have given
up on the Allison company making it back from the grave and am now looking
for outside help. Thank you in advance for your help.

You can get supplies for refoaming your speakers at:

http://www.newfoam.com/video.asp

http://www.simplyspeakers.com/2doityourself.htm

I recommend a kit which includes a new dust cap and shims. You cut off
your old dust cap and use the shims to positively center the cone while
the old surround is removed, its residue cleaned off, and the new
surround is glued into place and the glue allowed to set. Then you glue
on the new dust cap. Without the shims, there is a chance that you will
wind up with a crooked cone that will rub. You will have to do the job
over again. You will have a long face. Don't ask how I know.

-GP

If that much is gone with your Allison loudspeakers, then I recommend
you consider them to be history. If you really like the cabinets, you can
buy new drivers from Madisound and populate the enclosure. I'd also
recommend talking to the folks at Madisound and telling them what
you're planning to do. They can make suggestions as to what drivers
would work well together in that size enclosure and would be able to
provide you with a suitable crossover as well.

Be sure to measure the internal dimensions of the enclosure and have
that ready for the people at Madisound.

Madisound Speaker Components
http://www.madisound.com/

(608)831-3433 - voice


I've been buying components from Madisound since 1978. They're
highly knowledgeable and helpful.

Russ


dugger4 wrote:
Hello,

I have been out of the "stereo loop" for almost 18 yrs and am returning
and wishing to rebuild/replace my existing system. I have a pair of Allison
Ones, circa 1984, that need the woofers re-foamed. I need to replace one
mid-range and one tweeter as well. I am hoping someone can point me in the
right direction for re-foaming and quality replacement parts. I have given
up on the Allison company making it back from the grave and am now looking
for outside help. Thank you in advance for your help.

Marshall

Try he
http://www.allisonacoustics.com/
http://www.allisonacoustics.com/parts.html

--
DG

"dugger4" wrote in message
...
Hello,

I have been out of the "stereo loop" for almost 18 yrs and am returning
and wishing to rebuild/replace my existing system. I have a pair of
Allison
Ones, circa 1984, that need the woofers re-foamed. I need to replace one
mid-range and one tweeter as well. I am hoping someone can point me in the
right direction for re-foaming and quality replacement parts. I have
given
up on the Allison company making it back from the grave and am now looking
for outside help. Thank you in advance for your help.

Marshall

Russ Button wrote:

If that much is gone with your Allison loudspeakers, then I recommend
you consider them to be history.

As do I. Getting OEM replacement drivers for those systems
is just about impossible.

If you really like the cabinets, you can
buy new drivers from Madisound and populate the enclosure. I'd also
recommend talking to the folks at Madisound and telling them what
you're planning to do. They can make suggestions as to what drivers
would work well together in that size enclosure and would be able to
provide you with a suitable crossover as well.

Be sure to measure the internal dimensions of the enclosure and have
that ready for the people at Madisound.

I doubt that Madisound can really help that guy. Here is
why.

First, we have the problem with the tweeters he needs to
replace. Yes, tweeters (plural(, because if he goes the OEM
route and gets an other-brand replacement he will have to
replace all four (two in each system). Unfortunately,
getting a proper impedance and efficiency match (and size
for the cutout match, too) is going to be just about
impossible. Yes, standard one-inch tweeters will work OK,
although not as good as those convex Allison jobs, but they
will still be OK. Unfortunately, the problems I noted will
probably dominate. Replacement tweeters from OEM outfits
will probably play either too loud or too soft.

Second, the midrange. Well, the Allison midrange is a
sealed-back dome design that cannot be duplicated in the
Model One by mounting a standard cone midrange that requires
an open space behind it. That enclosed space will also be
occupied by the woofers and the result would be an
acoustic-pressure disaster. Consequently, the only option is
to get a sealed-back driver of some kind that is able to get
down to the 350 Hz crossover point to the woofer. In
addition, it will have to be a four-ohm-rated driver with an
efficiency match to the originals. Not likely.

OK, the woofers are the only area where something can be
done that will work, because the foam surrounds can indeed
be replaced. What's more, an outfit like Eminence (who for a
while at least was making the woofers in the new-company
Allison models) will be able to come up with something.

However, given that the tweeter and midrange problem is not
going to go away, that solution to the woofer problem is
academic.

I suggest that the man keep hammering away at the new
Allison outfit to see if they can come across with
replacement drivers. They were making them themselves for a
while and I read somewhere that they might have some other
OEM outfit now making versions that are very similar to the
originals. If they can get this man new drivers, ALL of the
midrange and tweeter units will have to be replaced to keep
the performance balanced. Yep, the replacements will
probably not be quite the same in terms of behavior as the
originals. Still good, but not quite identical.

Unfortunately, my experience has been that the new Allison
outfit is not up to the task of either duplicating the older
Allison drivers (especially the midrange) and is also not up
to the task of supplying them, even if they can build the
things.

Howard Ferstler

dugger4 wrote:

Hello,

I have been out of the "stereo loop" for almost 18 yrs and am returning
and wishing to rebuild/replace my existing system. I have a pair of Allison
Ones, circa 1984, that need the woofers re-foamed. I need to replace one
mid-range and one tweeter as well. I am hoping someone can point me in the
right direction for re-foaming and quality replacement parts. I have given
up on the Allison company making it back from the grave and am now looking
for outside help. Thank you in advance for your help.

Marshall

I suggest that you start scoping ebay and see when someone
puts up a pair of three-way Allison models for sale.

These could include the Model 8, CD-8, CD-9, Model 9,
AL-125, AL-130, and of course the earlier Model Two and
Model Three, and the Model One. If you see such systems for
sale, even if they are listed as being in somewhat beat up
condition, you can purchase them as parts mules. (Store for
potential future use the drivers you do not need.) This is
because the tweeters and midrange drivers in any Allison
three-way system will perform the same as those that are
used in the Model One.

This approach assumes that at least some of the tweeters and
midrange drivers in those systems are OK, of course. Note
that later midrange and tweeter drivers had plastic mounting
plates instead of mdf, and still later ones had protective
screens built over the domes. However, they still perform
the same as those early versions.

As for the woofers, you would probably be able to get a
foam-replacement kit from an outfit like Simply Speakers and
do the fix yourself, assuming you are willing to do the
rather tedious procedure. (Simply Speakers will do the work
for you, if you want, but at extra cost.) Another option
would be to contact Eminence (an OEM driver builder) to see
if they have any Allison-type 10-inch woofers available.
They were building the woofers for the "new" Model One for a
while, so they might just be able to handle that problem for
you. Check with them, though, because I am not sure if the
magnet structure on the Eminence woofer will fit into the
tight space behind the mounting plate on a Model One. The
later Model One, produced by the "revived" Allison outfit
had a greater clearance that allowed for that woofer to be
used. I am not sure about the older model, with its somewhat
smaller interior enclosure space.

Howard Ferstler