Vintage HiFi Audio Forum

Audio Discussion => General Discussion => Topic started by: treos33 on March 10, 2013, 09:10:06 PM

Title: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on March 10, 2013, 09:10:06 PM
So I found these Fried A/3s at goodwill. They were pretty beat up but I figured I'd risk it for $14.

Upon further inspection the woofers have been replaced with some goldwood drivers:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=290-315 (http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?partnumber=290-315)

I'm not sure how to figure out if these drivers are appropriate replacements for the originals.

I also know that Rev just had a pair of the much rarer A/2s. I'm not sure what happened to those speakers but if Rev/anyone happened get some information about Fried replacement drivers I'd be very interested.

Picture!...
http://i.imgur.com/yq6xJRm.jpg (http://i.imgur.com/yq6xJRm.jpg)
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: Reverend on March 10, 2013, 09:32:33 PM
Tom has the A/2's now and bought a second parts set recently.  I'd talk to him.  Love those speakers, Fried's sound amazing.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on March 10, 2013, 10:06:13 PM
Thanks Rev! I do remember being very impressed by the A/2s when they were set up at the shop.

Hopefully Tom can chime in with some more information.

Did you ever decide if they sounded better with the foam in or out of the port?
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: Reverend on March 11, 2013, 08:43:04 AM
Did you ever decide if they sounded better with the foam in or out of the port?

I don't really remember.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: OCCD on March 13, 2013, 02:47:20 AM
Thanks Rev! I do remember being very impressed by the A/2s when they were set up at the shop.

Hopefully Tom can chime in with some more information.

Did you ever decide if they sounded better with the foam in or out of the port?

I have ONE original woofer  that is re-foamed.     I also have 2 extra tweeters.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on March 13, 2013, 10:50:09 AM
Alright, sounds awesome. I'm gonna have to tear mine apart this weekend and see if they're even worth saving. For some reason there is a heavy ring of hot glue around the binding posts on one of the speakers. I'll have to do some exploring to see what the previous owner has done to them internally, hopefully not much. Worse comes to worse I might have an extra set of tweeters for you to part out.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: Reverend on March 13, 2013, 11:16:38 AM
Worse comes to worse I might have an extra set of tweeters for you to part out.

Fried Line Arrays!!!
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: OCCD on March 13, 2013, 04:19:09 PM
Might have a second woofer
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: OCCD on March 14, 2013, 12:12:12 AM
You are a lucky dog.   TWO proper woofers are ready.   >:D >:D >:D >:D
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on March 17, 2013, 07:33:04 PM
Ok, I opened them up today and the crossovers look untouched, I just had to replace the binding posts but I had a set lying around so that went pretty smoothly.

Tom, I'll give you a call tuesday or wednesday about the woofers.

In the meantime anyone have some advice about how to refinish the walnut veneer? It's in pretty rough shape. I was thinking of using some danish oil and then a coat of poly.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on September 08, 2013, 08:25:20 PM
Time to revive this ancient post. I finally got around to setting up the Frieds today and.. just my luck, it turns out that one of their tweeters is shot.

Tom, do you still have those extra tweeters around? and if so how much would you want for one?

I'm not sure these speakers are worth the trouble at this point but let me know whatcha got.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on September 08, 2013, 09:09:35 PM


I'm not sure these speakers are worth the trouble at this point but let me know whatcha got.

If you already did the woofers then the battle is almost won.   Change the tweeter for sure IMHO.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: treos33 on September 08, 2013, 09:53:56 PM
The problem is the veneer is in pretty bad shape and the grills aren't much better. So while they're one tweeter away from sounding great, they would still need a ton of work before they're worth anything and I don't know if I want to put more money into them.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: Sir Thrift-a-Lot on September 08, 2013, 10:13:10 PM
Refinishing and new fabric involve more time than money.   Give us some pics so we can see how bad the veneer is.
Title: Re: Fried A/3s in need of TLC
Post by: OCCD on September 09, 2013, 11:46:08 AM
I have 1 tweeter left