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Which Snell Type A do I have? A-I or A-Original?

Any Snell afficianados out there? I have owned many pairs of Type As over the years and now have a superb pair. The tweeter, if memory serves, is different than I remember from my first set of Type As, though I am pretty certain they are original. I have read that there may be two early versions, the Type A-I and the Type A-Original. Is this true, and if so what is the difference? My pair is serial  numbers 243/244. Separately fused tweeter/mid/woofer. Ugh this won't allow me to add a picture! Well the round plate surrounding the tweeter is white, and a dispersion bar across it diagonally. There are no felt pads near the tweeters but they may have been removed by previous owner. It does have the insulation pads hanging inside the speaker grilled.

How can I tell which model I have, assuming there really is such thing as a "Type A-Original"?

Thanks for any thoughts!
montaldo
mofimadness's avatar
mofimadness
5,084 posts
 
I was a Snell dealer back in the day.  Became really good friends with Peter.

The way I remember it was there was a Type A, then the A/II, then the A/III, then the last version was the A/IIIi.

IIRC, there was only one version of the original (Type A).


http://www.snell.no/the_archives_type_A.htm

erik_squires
16,398 posts
 
Among my favorite speakers of all time, but the woofers unusual construction led to early failures.

They added mass in the form of a poured resin which, over time, would  cause the suspension to sag.

Best,

E
montaldo OP
202 posts
 
I thought there was only one original type A as well! But I have seen reference to two of them. It could be wrong because they're is a fair amount of incorrect information floating around about the Type A. But I would swear the original As I had twenty years ago had a different looking tweeter.

Erik: yes the woofers can sag over time. I am fortunate living in St Louis that there is a top-notch speaker guy named Lloyd Faulkner. He was able to rebuild my woofers, replacing the spiders as well as the surrounds with no problem. 

Does anyone have a picture of an original type a tweeter? I am also interested to know if they all had felt pads attached next to them.
Stu
montaldo OP
202 posts
 
And before they poured resin for woofer mass Snell used a heavy clay! That's what mine have.
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
Yes $395 was too good a price to pass up! But shipping to me in Florida was not cheap - $400 + for the four boxes required! That's why nobody wanted them! Still less than I paid to have a pair of Quads sent from Rhode Island! 
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