Hi folks
Ive posted a introduction but it doesn't appear to have been added yet.
Im in the process of rescuing a pair of Castle Kendal 2 speakers and was wondering if anyone had any teaks to recommend for them whilst they are in pieces?
Having spent far too much money on systems in the past, im now paying through the nose for a mortgage - and my poor bank balance (and girlfriends protests) means I have to be creative about things now!
Im trying to get the best system I can for next to nothing, its quite fun and rewarding in a "necessity being the mother" kind of way.
Currently using a "new class A" technics amp - freebie from the inlaws, sounds fine and weighs a ton.
A pair of Atacama nexus stands - £4.50 from ebay.
My phone and a pure i20 dac as the source, with flac and Apple lossless files.
And these Kendals.... free from ebay (were £8.50 but when I received them - they had no foam surrounds on the bass speakers, so I got a refund and the buyer said keep them as the return fee's were so much).
Ive taken the Kendals apart, sanded the cabinets (be uber careful if you do this - the veneer is half the thickness of a human hair) and French polished them - except the fronts which are now matt black.
I have no experience of Castle speakers, so don't know if the bass speaker cones should have some sort of a layer of varnish on them? anyhow, it was peeling off so ive extremely carefully peeled all of this away, to leave matt, clean cones. Will these need recoating at all - and with what?
Ive also got new foam surrounds on the way from Holland which im looking forward to glueing on.
So....having briefly tried the speakers without the foam, im delighted with the set up so far, and know that when they are glued etc i'll be smiling further.
My quest for advice then, is can these Kendals be improved?, I listen to mostly classical and Nora Jones, Katie Melua type music.
I like a warm but detailed sound - if that's not a contradiction, not too bass heavy.
Please throw ideas and experiences at me - im quite happy to solder, brace and whatever else.
Thanks very much
Daemon
Ive posted a introduction but it doesn't appear to have been added yet.
Im in the process of rescuing a pair of Castle Kendal 2 speakers and was wondering if anyone had any teaks to recommend for them whilst they are in pieces?
Having spent far too much money on systems in the past, im now paying through the nose for a mortgage - and my poor bank balance (and girlfriends protests) means I have to be creative about things now!
Im trying to get the best system I can for next to nothing, its quite fun and rewarding in a "necessity being the mother" kind of way.
Currently using a "new class A" technics amp - freebie from the inlaws, sounds fine and weighs a ton.
A pair of Atacama nexus stands - £4.50 from ebay.
My phone and a pure i20 dac as the source, with flac and Apple lossless files.
And these Kendals.... free from ebay (were £8.50 but when I received them - they had no foam surrounds on the bass speakers, so I got a refund and the buyer said keep them as the return fee's were so much).
Ive taken the Kendals apart, sanded the cabinets (be uber careful if you do this - the veneer is half the thickness of a human hair) and French polished them - except the fronts which are now matt black.
I have no experience of Castle speakers, so don't know if the bass speaker cones should have some sort of a layer of varnish on them? anyhow, it was peeling off so ive extremely carefully peeled all of this away, to leave matt, clean cones. Will these need recoating at all - and with what?
Ive also got new foam surrounds on the way from Holland which im looking forward to glueing on.
So....having briefly tried the speakers without the foam, im delighted with the set up so far, and know that when they are glued etc i'll be smiling further.
My quest for advice then, is can these Kendals be improved?, I listen to mostly classical and Nora Jones, Katie Melua type music.
I like a warm but detailed sound - if that's not a contradiction, not too bass heavy.
Please throw ideas and experiences at me - im quite happy to solder, brace and whatever else.
Thanks very much
Daemon
Hi Daemon, well done on getting some bargains 🙂
A first upgrade I've also found good is better quality loudspeaker cable, even inside the loudspeakers. I'd recommend Chord cable, nice smooth sound with no added brightness to sound.
Of course a pic of crossover would be great, there's lots of people on here who can help you get better sound from crossovers. How much wadding does your loudspeakers have inside and where is it placed?
In terms of the 'varnish coating' on the woofers I would re-coat them I've heard varnish works yet am sure someone on here will know a better product. It does actually effect the sound and possibly sound reflection from inside the speakers.
Good luck and enjoy!
A first upgrade I've also found good is better quality loudspeaker cable, even inside the loudspeakers. I'd recommend Chord cable, nice smooth sound with no added brightness to sound.
Of course a pic of crossover would be great, there's lots of people on here who can help you get better sound from crossovers. How much wadding does your loudspeakers have inside and where is it placed?
In terms of the 'varnish coating' on the woofers I would re-coat them I've heard varnish works yet am sure someone on here will know a better product. It does actually effect the sound and possibly sound reflection from inside the speakers.
Good luck and enjoy!
Hi
I have some Castle Kendall speakers and another pair of Castle speakers. The foam surrounds always seem to disintergrate. I have replaced mine a couple of times.
As you have already found the Castle speakers are best for classical music. I have always liked the very detailed sound that is produced. I think if you varnish the speakers and make them heavier you will probably find them less sensative ans less detailed.
Don
I have some Castle Kendall speakers and another pair of Castle speakers. The foam surrounds always seem to disintergrate. I have replaced mine a couple of times.
As you have already found the Castle speakers are best for classical music. I have always liked the very detailed sound that is produced. I think if you varnish the speakers and make them heavier you will probably find them less sensative ans less detailed.
Don
Castle was a fine small manufacturer. I was struck by the consistency they got in their product design. Based on review curves, every product looked very carefully voiced for a neutral balance. Should be great, especially for classical or jazz.
I don't think varnish is what you pulled off. If it was thin, milky white and a bit stretchy then it was likely a PVA glue. You might thin out some white glue (Elmers) with water and brush it on in a thin cote. Don't get the cones too wet.
If you don't feel confident in doing this, then leave them as is. Frequently the thin coatings were more cosmetic than functional.
David S.
I don't think varnish is what you pulled off. If it was thin, milky white and a bit stretchy then it was likely a PVA glue. You might thin out some white glue (Elmers) with water and brush it on in a thin cote. Don't get the cones too wet.
If you don't feel confident in doing this, then leave them as is. Frequently the thin coatings were more cosmetic than functional.
David S.
Hi,
Replace any electrolytics with modern equivalents
from Falcon. PVAing (wood glue) the cones before
fitting the surrounds is your call, its hard to say.
FWIW there is no way PVA will peel off a pulp cone,
unless the cone is coated before the layer is added.
You can (deeply unfashionable) damp the cabinet
walls, and you have to be creative nowadays to
find the damping from roofing or flooring supplies.
rgds, sreten.
Replace any electrolytics with modern equivalents
from Falcon. PVAing (wood glue) the cones before
fitting the surrounds is your call, its hard to say.
FWIW there is no way PVA will peel off a pulp cone,
unless the cone is coated before the layer is added.
You can (deeply unfashionable) damp the cabinet
walls, and you have to be creative nowadays to
find the damping from roofing or flooring supplies.
rgds, sreten.
Kendals
Thanks guys - really nice of you to help.
Ive been busy.
1). Re-wiring the speakers, thanks for the advise - based on your recommendation ive literally just finished doing this (5 minutes ago) - I hear what you're saying about chord wire - but ive used some QED wire that I had handy, no idea what spec but a lot thicker and I know QED is a decent brand, so we'll see how that works out, I can always undo it.
2). Cones, i'll leave them for now and see how they sound, ive got PVA, varnish and all sorts handy if I change my mind - what peeled off was almost like black spray paint?! No idea what it was but if nothing else the cones look neater. I would imagine originally they had some sort of coating though, or do cones come as bare paper / card too?
3). Foam insulation - the cabinets are already lined throughout with inch thick foam, i'll play with adding / taking away to see the results.
4). Electrolytics - currently on the xo's they are Elcap - the falcon website says its a straight swap to Alcap, so I guess that is easy enough.
Not sure about the other "cotton reel" bits on the xo's, are they inductors? I don't know anything about them im afraid - I wouldn't have a clue what value to replace them with?
Time for bed now anyway, thanks again.
Daemon
Thanks guys - really nice of you to help.
Ive been busy.
1). Re-wiring the speakers, thanks for the advise - based on your recommendation ive literally just finished doing this (5 minutes ago) - I hear what you're saying about chord wire - but ive used some QED wire that I had handy, no idea what spec but a lot thicker and I know QED is a decent brand, so we'll see how that works out, I can always undo it.
2). Cones, i'll leave them for now and see how they sound, ive got PVA, varnish and all sorts handy if I change my mind - what peeled off was almost like black spray paint?! No idea what it was but if nothing else the cones look neater. I would imagine originally they had some sort of coating though, or do cones come as bare paper / card too?
3). Foam insulation - the cabinets are already lined throughout with inch thick foam, i'll play with adding / taking away to see the results.
4). Electrolytics - currently on the xo's they are Elcap - the falcon website says its a straight swap to Alcap, so I guess that is easy enough.
Not sure about the other "cotton reel" bits on the xo's, are they inductors? I don't know anything about them im afraid - I wouldn't have a clue what value to replace them with?
Time for bed now anyway, thanks again.
Daemon
So....
Ive received and fitted my new foam surrounds to the Kendals - very happy with them, in fact the company sent out two lots so that's nice.
The next issue ive encountered - and you'll like this - one of the tweeters is dead, ive checked other speakers against the crossover terminals and they all work, so its definitely the tweeter.
Thinking I'd be clever, ive taken a very similar sized tweeter from an old set of JVC speakers, and fitted that, and as the two tweeters don't match visually I thought I'd take the broken tweeter apart and fit the aluminium cover plate back on - to mask the differences.
Cue a bent, twisted and creased aluminium plate.
Pliers and hammer....far worse than before - however a brain wave struck me, have you ever passed aluminium speaker parts through a pasta roller to straighten them out?? well it works a treat, thank goodness!
My next piece of advise from you folks, is can anyone recommend a good set of 2.5" tweeters as a permanent fix? - not bank breaking.
Cheers
Ive received and fitted my new foam surrounds to the Kendals - very happy with them, in fact the company sent out two lots so that's nice.
The next issue ive encountered - and you'll like this - one of the tweeters is dead, ive checked other speakers against the crossover terminals and they all work, so its definitely the tweeter.
Thinking I'd be clever, ive taken a very similar sized tweeter from an old set of JVC speakers, and fitted that, and as the two tweeters don't match visually I thought I'd take the broken tweeter apart and fit the aluminium cover plate back on - to mask the differences.
Cue a bent, twisted and creased aluminium plate.
Pliers and hammer....far worse than before - however a brain wave struck me, have you ever passed aluminium speaker parts through a pasta roller to straighten them out?? well it works a treat, thank goodness!
My next piece of advise from you folks, is can anyone recommend a good set of 2.5" tweeters as a permanent fix? - not bank breaking.
Cheers
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