Meadowlark Nighthawks

I had to replace one of the drivers which were damaged in shipping when I received a new pair way back when. I don't recall for certain (perhaps Seas?) however I am quite sure if when the driver was removed, there was a sticker of the model number and manufacturer on the magnet.

Also pay attention to the amount of torque on the screws - as Pat McGinty used a layer of keldamp between the actual driver mounting plate and the wood of the front baffle. This acts as a gasket material and can be over tightened upon driver replacement.

It appears the stock driver is a Vifa, but is no longer aviailable. I’m researching right now, as I am picking up a pair that had a hole in the dust cover.

I suppose i could just repair the dust cover, but ideally i’d replace the whole driver.

Anyone else know? Maybe available branded as something else now?

After some research, it appears these are Vifi Premium Line 7" woofers. There are 8ohm and 4 ohm versions, both of which appear to be sporatically available. I'm not sure which one is in these speakers, so i'll pull the damaged one when I get it and do some mearements with my meter.

OK, here’s what I’ve got so far, so maybe someone can make a recommendation.

I believe the OE woofer is a Vifa Premium Line model PL18WO09-08. Its an 8ohm woofer, with a 5.8 ohm resistance at static. This is exactly what i measured off one out of the Nighthawk. These are available for about $80 each.

Scanspeak makes a replacement woofer, model 18W/8434G-00 from their discovery line. These are about $67 each.

Now, anyone have experience with this Scanspeak woofer?

Now, off to find the correct midrange driver, which is also a Vifa 4.25". Static resistance is 5.6...

OK, just to close this out for anyone in the future who needs help....since finding information on Nighthawks is about near impossible due to the start of their production and the untimely closing of Meadowlark.

My Nighthawks came from Craigslist. They were purchased for $200, and functioned 95%. Nearly every driver dust cover was pushed in (besides the tweeters). There was some tuff stuff expanding foam glued onto one of them, and the other was a very expensive cat bed in the bass port. I must have vacuumed out 5 lbs of furr....lol. Because of how cats are, they rub on everything and claw stuff...both speakers needed some love. Both were overall very dirty too. 

I'm currently in the process of restoring these beauties. The quality of the materials is exceptional, so the restoration is actually going really well. Amazing the transformation that is possible when using good materials. Its laborious, and I suspect it'll take me another couple weeks to finish the cabinets. 

Tracking down the replacement drivers took a little doing. Meadowlark put self adhesive vibration damping material on all the drivers, and that covered the labels on the driver's themselves. Remove the damping material, and the labels come with it...and are not readable...so hopefully this info below helps someone in the future. 

Now, for woofers and midranges, here's what you need:

Woofers: 
Original: Vifa  PL18WO09-08
Replacement: Scanspeak18W/8434G-00 (direct drop in replacement)
MIdrange:  
Original: Vifa M10MD39-08 (but with a slightly different cone)
Replacement: Scanspeak10F/8424G (frame is about 5mm smaller diameter, so you can notch the mounting holes, or modify the cabinet...or maybe make a mounting ring. 


If anyone would like to see the progress or finished project, jsut let me know and I'll share. Again, hopefully this helps someone down the road. 

http://www.patmcginty.com/nighthawkold.htm 

You will find the drivers here.