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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
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
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!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
@montaldo : I'd rather have and listen to my Snell's than ANY of today's over-priced five-figure marvels!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The Snell Type A was $1390 back in '77. Beat out in price then by the Quad 57's at $1780/pair. And we all thougt then that these were expensive speakers! Little did we forsee the prices of speakers today rising into the five and six-figure range!
roberjerman
4,319 posts
 
The truth remains that high-qualty speakers can still be made and sold for a mid four-figure price. Witness the commercial success of Tekton! 
montaldo OP
202 posts
 
Agree on all counts Roberjerman! I have heard plenty of six figure systems that sound like hifi. The Snells, even driven by modest electronics, sound like music.

Yes now I remember the white stuff... Putty to seal the woofer chassis. I remember peeling it off, re-rolling it into an even rope again, and putting it back to seal well. Yep just reuse it.

 And don't rethink anything about the speaker... Like removing the little fabric square hanging on the grille, or removing the diffraction bar from the tweeter, or pushing down the insulation to fully expose the mid-range driver. I have heard people on forums say they have done all these things because they thought it would improve the sound. Each is needed. The insulation I believe was intended to reduce floor bounce -- that effect where mid-range sound bounces off the floor AND comes directly at you, and the timing difference causes cancellation that makes the mids sound thin and sterile. I have always believed this is one of the secrets to the Type A having one of the best midranges of any speaker I have ever heard, regardless of cost. Scary real. Peter Snell had ears and brains, not to mention a lot of patience to experiment!

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