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Duntech repairs?

Hello, I just acquired an early pair of Marquis. The previous owner says they are all original but one driver is clearly different. I contacted Duntech and they said they had NOS Vifa recone kits but did not give me pricing and would only recommended I sell the old Marquis and buy the new Marquis model from them when released. I have asked for information (removal proceedure) to verify drivers and repair/recone pricing three times but they have not responded. Any advice from vintage Duntech or Dunlavy owners?
sugarshed
sugarshed OP
3 posts
 
Hello, thanks for the info and big thanks to Pryso for the removal instructions. You must know the speaker better than Duntech, which did respond after a 4th email but told me they should come right out unless the previous owner used adhesive for some reason. They also said the original drivers were Vifa (not Dyn) in this model. I will try the removal tomorrow and see what's what.
rleff
1,065 posts
 
I would contact Bill LeGall at Millersound for his opinions;he is very highly regarded in the speaker repair industry and a nice guy to talk with.
pryso
1,959 posts
 
Sugarshed, I'm not familiar with the Marquis but I assume it has 2 woofers per speaker in a D'Appolito array since John Dunlavy favored that design. I would examine the other three woofers to identify their brand and model number, then find a replacement based on that.

Duntech made a big deal over matching and measuring individual drivers and keeping that information on file. This would allow them to match any given driver if a replacement was necessary. I suspect, but am not certain, that crossovers were then tailored so that response measurements fell within their specs. Fortunately for you, this may be less important for a woofer than for a mid or tweeter.

So the point is, even without matching the original woofer for factory specs, a replacement should at least be the same brand and model as the original. Your odd matched woofer is likely compromising the potential sonics of a fine speaker.

From what I know, Millersound is as good as any speaker repair facility you can find. But I would not bother replacing the surround on one driver that didn't match the other three.
sugarshed OP
3 posts
 
Thanks. Pryso, I completely agree. I pulled the drivers which appear to be the same except that one looks much older and possibly was not reconed (assuming the other three were) or was possibly a "used" replacement. The cone fabric and foam is different and the dust cap is smoother and less spherical than the others. There are no markings on the driver that I found other than a sticker (covering another identical sticker) which read "M21WN-09 08OHM711B". The sticker on the apparantly newer speaker read "M21WN-18 08OHM807". Can anyone decipher this?
pryso
1,959 posts
 
I would send a note to both Madisound (since they previously sold Dynaudio) and Dynaudio, asking about the model numbers. The similarity of the numbers suggests they are all the same manufacturer.

If all else fails, you might contact Millersound, explain the situation, ask if he will evaluate all four woofers, and then rebuild as necessary to make two matched pairs.

This may all seem like a great deal of trouble but I suspect you will find it worthwhile once you have your speakers performing up to spec.
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