My Gale GS 301 Refurbishment Project Begins!

[Sean Gibbins]

Hi All,

I picked up my �20 GS301s today and have had a brief chance to take
stock of what I've got.

A pleasant surprise was the 7m of vintage Naim Audio NAC A4 speaker
cable (C 1981) that came with them. Since I was considering purchasing
some cheap cable to replace the 2-core electrical flex that currently
passes for speaker cable in my bedroom, it was probably worth the price
and effort for that alone.

The speakers themselves are pretty much as described. The foam surrounds
are literally on their last legs with cracks appearing in them, although
they are still intact (which is better than those on my 401Cs which had
disintegrated by the time I got them). The cones on the bass drivers
look thin on the lower aspect, and if I am to retain them I suspect I
will have to consider doping to reinforce them. The tweeters look okay.
The cabs are various scratched, faded and in one instance slightly split
at a join, although I think they can be salvaged and made to look
reasonably good again. The metalwork is all pretty good apart from the
screws, bolts and spacers, which are all showing at least some signs of
rust as I suspect that they have spent at least some of their life in an
outside shed - ideally I will need to replace these.

I had a quick listen and the good news is that they are firing on all
cylinders. Like Steve said, a bit of a come down from the 401s, but they
have /something/ that interests me, and will be interesting to see what
they sound like when I have re-foamed them.

Sean

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[John Mayberry]

Good luck.

Photos always appreciated. Take some befores!

John

Hi All,

Sean

www.funkygibbins.me.uk

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[Mark Brumby]

Those Peerless woofers have thin cones, hence light cones, which is why the 301's have such snappy bass despite the high system Q.  Look for any damage behind the dust caps.

 

I replaced the grille fixings with stainless button-heads, which gives them just a little bling.

----- Original Message -----

From: Sean Gibbins

To: gale-...@googlegroups.com

Sent: Sunday, January 23, 2011 2:36 AM

Subject: My Gale GS 301 Refurbishment Project Begins!

[Sean Gibbins]

On 22/01/11 17:46, John Mayberry wrote:
> Good luck.

Cheers John, with my level of expertise I'll need it! :-)

> Photos always appreciated. Take some befores!

Here's the story so far:

http://www.funkygibbins.me.uk/?page_id=3194

I still have to purchase some foam surrounds and make some decisions
about how to repair the cosmetic damage.

[Sean Gibbins]

On 22/01/11 21:54, Mark Brumby wrote:

Those Peerless woofers have thin cones, hence light cones, which is why the 301's have such snappy bass despite the high system Q.  Look for any damage behind the dust caps.

I'll be honest and say the thought of slicing away at the dust caps with a scalpel worries me somewhat, and I shied away from removing the ones on my GS401Cs for that reason. What sort of damage might I expect to find Mark?

 

I replaced the grille fixings with stainless button-heads, which gives them just a little bling.

Good idea: any chance of a link or a picture of said button-heads?

I thought about getting some rust remover on the bolts and spacers, then spraying them with some black Hammerite. I might do the same for the grilles too.

Cheers,

[Sean Gibbins]

On 22/01/11 17:46, John Mayberry wrote:

> Good luck.
>
> Photos always appreciated. Take some befores!

Hi John,

There are some before, during and after shots here:

http://www.funkygibbins.me.uk/?page_id=3194

The re-foaming was, as ever, a breeze.

The soldering part was passable - my soldering skills and equipment are
exactly top-notch!

The painting, however, was a bit of a pain. They were in a state to
start with, so I decided to sand them down and start over, and the first
coat of Dulux Satin Black went on fine with a gloss roller. The second
coat did some weird bubbling thing that required me to sand it back
again and apply a third coat with a brush, which looks passable if you
only look at it in passing! And whilst the end result certainly looks
better than when I started out, but it's not the finish I wanted and I
am pondering starting over on the top and sides. On the positive side,
the grilles came up nicely with some Hammerite Gloss spray paint though.

Sound-wise they are, as suggested, a lot brighter than my GS401s which I
suspect have probably spoiled me for everything else now. The bass is
also somewhat lacking in comparison, but then I expected that anyway.

I'm thinking about passing them on to an impoverished friend who has
just moved house and could do with an upgrade to the 20 year-old Castle
bookshelf speakers I gave him years ago; they're not as good as the 401s
he so admired, but they are a step up from the Castles.

[John Mayberry]

They look spectacular.

How do they sound?

John

[Sean Gibbins]

On 14/02/11 17:04, John Mayberry wrote:
> They look spectacular.

Thanks, I chose my angles carefully! ;-)

> How do they sound?

I am really not the best person to judge, since sadly my hearing is on
the decline and, as I say, the GS401s have ruined me for pretty much
everything else!

That said I'd say they certainly sound okay and I'd happily live with
them if I had to, although the somewhat bright treble would take a
little getting used to. Fortunately, as things stand, I don't need to
live with them <looks lovingly at the GS401s>, so I am happy for my
friend to get the benefit if he likes them.

[Malcolm]

I notice they use a Seas tweeter and it reminds me of a problem I'm having
with a pair of 401's that I put Seas 27TFF H831 tweeters into as I haven't
been able to find a reasonable pair of HF2000's
They were recommended to me by Wilmslow and I recently mentioned to them the
problem of them being too toppy.
they recommended putting a 2.2 ohm resistor in series and a 22.0 ohm
resistor in parallel to reduce the tweeter by 3db
I haven't tried it yet
Anyone have any thoughts. I know the Seas sensitivity is rated at 92db spl
but have no idea what the old Celestion would have been.
If anyone comes across a pair of HF2000 pleeeeeaselet me know I'd love to
get this pair back to original Had the ends rechromed and they look awesome
so I'd like to get them right before recovering
Mal

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[Steve Ford]

Hi Sean - do you want the good news or the bad news ? - Dulux satin is rubbish paint , and it sounds like there was some wax contamination on the speakers , what happens is when you put the first coat on the wax is melted by the solvents in the paint and come to the surface , you apply the second coat and the wax lies between the two coats - problem . The way round it would have been to dewax and then spray some matt or satin black acrylic car paint on in thin coats !! Sorry - I take it the cabs were too bad for the black wax ?

[john shaffer]

unbeliveable job man I'm inpressed  john s        Not many people figure in cost of restorations to make them work and look beautiful. Paul H just finished 6 units for me and the cost was more than obtaining the items !   But what a JOB

[Sean Gibbins]

On 14/02/11 22:48, Steve Ford wrote:
> Hi Sean - do you want the good news or the bad news ? - Dulux satin is rubbish paint , and it sounds like there was some wax contamination on the speakers , what happens is when you put the first coat on the wax is melted by the solvents in the paint and come to the surface , you apply the second coat and the wax lies between the two coats - problem . The way round it would have been to dewax and then spray some matt or satin black acrylic car paint on in thin coats !! Sorry - I take it the cabs were too bad for the black wax ?

Hi Steve,

Yes the black Turtle Wax Color Magic did nothing at all for them, so I
went for plan b, i.e. sanding them right back.

Oddly enough, the water-based Dulux stuff was the only black satin
finish paint I could find at my local store. Like I say the first coat
went on /really/ well and was a joy to apply and didn't stink the place
up. As for the wax issue, it's not something that would have occurred to
me, but live and learn, eh? And the end result is passable, plus I am
pretty sure it can be improved upon if I get the urge to do so.

[Sean Gibbins]

On 15/02/11 02:34, john shaffer wrote:
> unbeliveable job man I'm inpressed john s Not many people
> figure in cost of restorations to make them work and look beautiful.
> Paul H just finished 6 units for me and the cost was more than
> obtaining the items ! But what a JOB

Well, thanks John, I'll accept high marks for effort, but as I say I
think I deserve a high C or low B at best for the end result!

I'd totally agree that finishing speakers expensive business if you
don't already keep the materials needed around the house. Paint is
incredibly expensive at the moment. I guess a professional would have
plenty of materials on hand but charge a considerable amount for their
time, so I doubt if there would be savings there.

I quite enjoy this aspect of it anyway, since I am /truly/ inept at the
soldering and electronics side; I just need to team up with an impatient
electronics wizard!

[Steve Ford]

Oh water based !! I assumed it would be oil based ! Yes they are solvent free but the water acts as a carrier for the acrylic resin , and they are very tricky to apply , it needs only a few hours to dry but needs 48 hours to cure before re-coating , I think that's what happened ! Sorry about the wax but they didn't look too bad from the pictures .

[Sean Gibbins]

On 15/02/11 08:23, Steve Ford wrote:
> Oh water based !! I assumed it would be oil based ! Yes they are solvent free but the water acts as a carrier for the acrylic resin , and they are very tricky to apply , it needs only a few hours to dry but needs 48 hours to cure before re-coating , I think that's what happened ! Sorry about the wax but they didn't look too bad from the pictures .

No need to apologise Steve, I'm grateful for the advice and it's not
like I can't fix it and pass on the knowledge gained to the list.