Avance Concrete 190 Loudspeaker Renovation

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ListeningEar

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Thought you guys might be interested in my latest renovation project, these are Danish loudspeakers in the Concrete range (models were 170, 180, 190 and 200). I have the 190's which use a Vifa M21WG-19 bass driver and matching Vifa M21 bass radiator. The midrange is a SEAS 11F-M H143 driver with a Scanspeak tweeter.

Crossovers are fitted into a recess in the base of the loudspeaker so might opt for external crossovers, internal cabling actually seems very good quality so will determine whether there is any benefit to changing this.

The Vifa and SEAS drivers all have perished driver surrounds but new OE stock has bee sourced and is coming so these will all have new surrounds.

I have seen another web page online where an owner has added internal damping sheets, not sure if I will go this route as the speakers really need to be setup properly with refurbed drivers to see if that's necessary.

Will keep you posted...;)

(Pictures to follow soon)
 
Never really looked at concrete for cabinets. Can see pros and cons so very interested in what you come up with.
There was company making concrete 'speakers back in the 90s IIRC.
 
RobHolt said:
Never really looked at concrete for cabinets. Can see pros and cons so very interested in what you come up with.
There was company making concrete 'speakers back in the 90s IIRC.
Click to expand...

There were a few companies actually going back to the 70's when Avance started making them in Denmark. I remember a high-end audio shop in Norwich on Unthank Road in the 80's selling concrete speakers, I think it was their own brand, plus there was a large independent audio store on Duke Street that stocked concrete speakers too and I am pretty sure Avance was one of the lines they carried.

I noticed in one of the recent show reports (can't remember which one) that there were some new concrete speakers being demo'd.

I will be interested to see how these sound when they are fully restored,...watch this space ;)

10065_586045678142847_770084501_n.jpg
 
Speakers have now been stripped down ready for new surrounds in the drivers. Cabinets will be sanded to smooth finish and repainted in gloss white per the original finish. Crossovers are pretty poorly made so these will be totally reworked and placed externally.

10006971_381527201988756_828885191_n.jpg


1509252_381527161988760_109036410_n.jpg


1243455_381527205322089_10249566_o.jpg


1606441_381527181988758_1841066507_o.jpg
 
RobHolt said:
Never really looked at concrete for cabinets. Can see pros and cons so very interested in what you come up with.
There was company making concrete 'speakers back in the 90s IIRC.
Click to expand...
Faraday Sound; Very-well-received bookshelf-sized 1-2cu ft speakers using Morel drivers and a 'lightweight' concrete mix - iirc they used vermiculite in place of aggregate (which is a very old trick to drop density without significant loss of flexural strength)

And don't overlook the Jordan-Watts etruscan vase speaker!
 
felix said:
Faraday Sound; Very-well-received bookshelf-sized 1-2cu ft speakers using Morel drivers and a 'lightweight' concrete mix - iirc they used vermiculite in place of aggregate (which is a very old trick to drop density without significant loss of flexural strength)

And don't overlook the Jordan-Watts etruscan vase speaker!
Click to expand...

I could very easily overlook those. Ghastly looking things!
 
ListeningEar said:
Speakers have now been stripped down ready for new surrounds in the drivers. Cabinets will be sanded to smooth finish and repainted in gloss white per the original finish. Crossovers are pretty poorly made so these will be totally reworked and placed externally.

10006971_381527201988756_828885191_n.jpg


1509252_381527161988760_109036410_n.jpg


1243455_381527205322089_10249566_o.jpg


1606441_381527181988758_1841066507_o.jpg
Click to expand...


Excellent stuff and looks like a fun project.
Keep us posted.

The crossovers look fine to me. Heavy inductors and decent poly caps, with plenty of copper on the tracks. I've seen far far worse than that.
 
Update: April 1, 2014

No, it's not an April fools,...these really are concrete cabinets and I really have been stripping them lol.

I started to sand the original paint finish but it was a very strange paint, almost impossible to key into with grade of grit and when you did it rolled up into little balls. Decided to use hot air gun and strip cabinets completely bare. Not a bad idea as I can get a super smooth finish now with my diamond polishing gear.

1510989_385691964905613_605467718_n.jpg
 
I worked in a hifi shop in the 80s in Norwich, not the same one as mentioned earlier in the thread. But we also sold this range of avance speakers. I liked them, they undoubtedly are low distortion but to me sounded very dry, but paired with a warm amp, possibly valve or class a they were really nice.
Hope this helps a little. I think we sold the range from around £300 to £600
 
ListeningEar said:
Thought you guys might be interested in my latest renovation project, these are Danish loudspeakers in the Concrete range (models were 170, 180, 190 and 200). I have the 190's which use a Vifa M21WG-19 bass driver and matching Vifa M21 bass radiator. The midrange is a SEAS 11F-M H143 driver with a Scanspeak tweeter.

Crossovers are fitted into a recess in the base of the loudspeaker so might opt for external crossovers, internal cabling actually seems very good quality so will determine whether there is any benefit to changing this.

The Vifa and SEAS drivers all have perished driver surrounds but new OE stock has bee sourced and is coming so these will all have new surrounds.

I have seen another web page online where an owner has added internal damping sheets, not sure if I will go this route as the speakers really need to be setup properly with refurbed drivers to see if that's necessary.

Will keep you posted...;)

(Pictures to follow soon)
Click to expand...
 

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