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

A friend had the original Type A back in 1978 or ‘79. Shortly after I heard them I bought my pair. They looked identical except my pair had 2 rear cutouts for the woofer. His earlier pair was sealed behind the woofer cabinet. 
Also, his pair had felt or something similar attached to the inside of the grill cloth directly in front of the tweeter. 

Pater Snell made a number of early prototypes, playing with possibilities. I had never heard  of the rear facing woofers!

Yes the little pad hanging from  the grille cloth in front of the tweeter was a production feature to knock back the treble slightly. It appears to be standard house insulation with light fabric sewn around it with black thread. Very homemade looking. But the speakers work like few others I have heard..I just compared head to head my Snell's and some $8k Wilson Benesch that have gorgeous fit/finish, and the Snell's were clearly superior in musicality, realness, meatiness of sound. The Wilsons had more treble energy but not nearly as convincing. 

What is the white dope that is on the back of the woofer frame where it attaches to the wood? I have my woofers out to get the foam replaced and noticed the white stuff, kinda like plumbers putty.  By the way, how do I know if the spider needs to be replaced?  When I pulled the bottom off to see the foam gaskets gone, I note the date written:  19 and 20 July 1979.  Just got these Type A's from original owner.  The top half's sound good but Im trying to figure out how to take the fabric housing off to replace the old fabric.  I replaced the bottom wood veneer and stained to match the rest.   

I'm not sure what the white stuff is. It has been awhile since I've been inside of my snells. I assume you are not talking about white putty around the woofer itself around the dust cover... That is mass loading that needs to be replaced if you have the woofer spiders worked on.

when you say the foam is gone I assume you're talking about the woofer surround foam. If so I highly recommend you have a professional replace it. The woofer has tight tolerances and I've heard many stories of people putting surrounds on them and things don't align quite right. I've heard others who seem to have no problem with it but I know at one point Snell corporation stopped providing resurrounding services, and someone suggested it was because it was very difficult to get right.

There is a guy here in St Louis named Lloyd Faulkner who is a guru and he can do it. anyway when you find someone you trust to do it they can assess the need for the spider to be replaced. These speakers are totally worth fixing. More musical than 80% of the speakers on the market today.

Regarding removing the fabric covers, two things:
1. They can be removed if you're very careful and use a dull knife to insert where the grill meets the baffle and gently pry a little tiny bit at a time all the way around. Go around and around gradually and try not to damage the cabinet. If you search on the forums there are a couple of people who describe this process a little bit better than I just did.
2. Be aware that replacing the grille fabric is no easy task. It requires sewing so the fabric turns at a right angle on the corners of the grill. it's not just stretching fabric around it like most speakers. Pain in the neck especially if you don't know how to sew.
Stu

That’s putty to help seal the woofer to the cabinet. Leave it alone! It is probably still pliable! If not you can buy something similar at Home Depot or Loewe's. Regarding replacing the grill fabric - don't! It is too difficult to do and get right! Unless of course it is totally trashed!