Coming back to the rebuild. Using a circle template cut from card (same diameter as interior of surround), I glued the surrounds to the cones and let them dry thoroughly. The template is positioned dead centre on the cone and the glue applied just outside that, around the rim. One of the images shows an inverted glass weighting down the surround on the cone as it dried. Large cereal bowls were used to do the same with the bass units.
Next was to glue the surrounds to the chassis. The crucial thing here was to make sure they were dead centre and avoid any rubbing of the voice coil. These bass drivers are known to do quite a bit of travelling! The surround kit came with a set of paper shims which require removal of the dust cap (surgery) and inserting them around the vc, ensuring a gap. I bottled on this one. I glued the surround to the rim of the chassis (glue on chassis and surround), and with four fingers gently depressed the cone to find centre with no rubbing. They were then left to dry thoroughly. All six drivers bonded perfectly and with none of the dreaded rubbing! I should add that it's not necessary to weight down the surrounds to the chassis. The outer edge of the foams should not be forced or restricted in any direction. They need to find centre. A gentle rub of a thumb is enough to smooth contact between surround and chassis. Again, leave to dry for a few hours, overnight preferably.
With that done I masked up the cones and surrounds and sprayed the chassis fronts satin black. Don't want bare metal catching light through the acoustic cloth.
And so to test! I wired each driver individually to the crossover and gave Eric Clapton's 'They call me the breeze' a spin. Mercifully all was good. Each driver was doing what it should. Phew! Time to reassemble and hear what everything sounded like together.
Inserted the crossovers, not forgetting the gaskets between xo and rear baffle. Replaced the fibre glass, threading the cables to the front and out the relevant port. Placed the individual speaker gaskets and soldered the drivers/cable ends. Screwed everything home but not too tight in case all had to come asunder!
Next concern was what amp to use? I'd read that the Gales, with the bass units wired in parallel, are notoriously difficult to drive and are responsible for the premature death of many an amp. I also read that one way of knowing your amp may be up to the job is to lift it! If it's heavy enough (transformer), there's a strong chance it just might work. Well my Croft weighs a ton. So fingers crossed!
Joy of Joys! Cue Cheshire Cat grin. Gale force!!! Unbelievable stuff. Played Cash American IV - 'Personal Jesus' and 'The Man Comes Around'. Played them ten times, twenty times. Emptied the house! Tight, deep, deep, tuneful bass, no boominess. Air, space, atmosphere. BIG soundstage. Depth.
So, time to tighten up those screws (with a drop of varnish on the threads). Then off to the beauty parlour for the speaker cloth and chrome ends.
