[Vintage-Audio] Re Foam Suspension Speaker Rebuilds

[Duane Fischer, W8DBF]

I was talking by telephone today with Judith Fulkerson in Oxford, Michigan who
has been rebuilding speakers since 1976. She commented to me that Electro-Voice
had made some very good speaker systems using the foam suspension back in the
sixties and seventies. The foam has broken down over the years and people
contacted EV for help. They were told by the company that repair was not
possible, parts were not available and to throw out the old speakers. 	
	
She has rebuilt many of them and the story from EV was just simply not the
truth. They wanted to sell new speakers, obviously. Unfortunately, many people
did throw them away and she has seen very few of these systems over the last
five years. A real shame, as some of the systems had excellent performance
dynamics.  	
	
She cam rebuild the EV, the JBL and others who did use the foam suspension. She
can get generic parts to replace some of the originals that are no longer
obtainable. If you have some good quality speakers and want them rebuilt, this
woman knows her stuff and can do the job.	
	
I was somewhat shocked today as I called around Michigan trying to locate anyone
who dealt in old vintage mono/stereo gear. I learned from a man who rebuilt
James B. Lansing systems, John Wolff in Brighton, MI, that the Century L-300 I
want will likely sell for $1,500 for the pair. Working, but NOT rebuilt! He gave
me some other prices for different comparable and better quality systems and I
was literally taken aback by the prices. Some were from $3,000 apair to as much
as $10,000 a pair. They were rebuilt, however. A real bargan, heh?  Ha Ha. 	
	
He faults the electronic auctions. He gave up trying to locate speakers and
rebuild them, because the electronic auctions were selling everything from
quality to absolute junk for all sorts of prices, most of which were way out of
line. Hence, most of the good gear is on the electronic auction sites and you
are at the mercy of the seller as to their 'real' condition and authenticity.
Let's face it here, most of those selling are not knowledgeable about what they
are selling. Although they may not be intentionally misrepresenting an item, it
may nevertheless be not as advertised because of simple ignorance on the part of
said seller. It is this huge risk factor that makes an electronic auction
purchase a real crap shoot roll of the dice. 	
	
If any of you would like to have Judith Fulkerson do some speaker rebuild work
for you, please contact me for her telephone number and address. I have always
been impressed by her candor and openness. She is more concerned over telling
you the truth about what you have than she is in making a sale. A rare quality
nowadays in any business.   	
	
Duane Fischer, W8DBF	
dfischer@usol.com