Sonab OA-14 Woofer replacement options

[TR6man98]

Hello,
I recently acquired a pair of Sonab OA-14 speakers cosmetically in great condition but with no original woofers. Original tweeters are in great condition. I know I can get direct replacements at www.hifikit.se but the price with shipping to USA is high for me at the moment and I’m considering some other cheaper, albeit temporary options. Do you think these Peerless India drivers from Parts express are good option?

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=299-063

Excellent midbass driver for music playback or home theater systems. Parameters are
optimized for closed box designs. Buyout, limited quantities. Specifications: *Power handling: 40 watts RMS/80 watts max *
VCdia: 1" *Le: 0.73 mH *Impedance: 8 ohms *Re: 5.0 ohms *Frequency response: 55-6,000 Hz *Fs: 67 Hz *SPL: 85.1 dB 1W/1m *Vas: 0.63 cu. ft. *Qms: 3.32 *Qes: 1.43 *Qts: 1.00 *Xmax: 3 mm *Dimensions: Overall diameter 6-1/2", Cutout diameter 5-3/4", Depth 3-5/8".
Sturdy stamped steel frame
Vented pole piece
Aluminum VC former
High gloss treated paper cone w/rubber surround
Large diameter spider for improved excursion
Magnetically shielded

I really don’t know much about speaker design to understand all the specifics, all I build was a few DIY projects using plans etc… What stands out in description is quote “Parameters are
optimized for closed box designs” and low efficiency.
What do you think?

Thank you.

Igor

[Villee]

I prefer NOT to use the element you suggested.

Sonab OA-14 has a frequency response down to 25hz, and your upgrade unit goes to 55 hz...
SO, sorry, but your replacement unit would sound absolutely horrible and it´s not suitable for following reasons:
It´s not sensitive enough (SPL 85 dB compared to original units about 89 dB)
It has very different frequency response compared to original Peerless SC-165 used in Sonab OA-14
It´s magnetically shielded
And it´s a way too cheap to really sound good

You can try to find original Peerless SC-165 (has to be refoamed) somewhere but to you, I recommend that just ordering correct replacements from hifikit (although I know it´s expensive) but then you can get a wonderful sounding pair of Sonab OA-14!

Ville

[Martin Dellstig]

Hi

Like Ville said, looking at the small signal parameters they would sound bad in the speakers.

I know that the B65oa-II is not cheap but I think that if you buy a woofer that is not suitable yuo will only get dissapointed in the whole speaker.
Perhaps placing an ad for a second hand, re-foamed original, pair but I doubt the savings would be big due to shipping.

In what state are the tweeters?

Best regards

martin

[jansch]

Use SilverFlute W17RC38-08 (Madisound or Solen) if it's impossible to find any SC165.

[TR6man98]

Thank you for your response.
I should provide few more details. I’ve bought these speakers really cheap, few months ago as cabinets were in great condition, although I think veneer was leaguered or covered with polyurethane. I believe originally it was just the oil as on some high quality Scandinavian furniture I like.
Anyway, original tweeters are (all 8) in good operating condition and speakers just needed some good cleaning. Previous owner, sometime in the past, removed original drivers and replaced them with automotive coaxial units; I removed these and just installed some inexpensive 6” Jumo drivers I’ve got from friend, I believe those come from Parts Express.
Anyway, sound was not bad at all and highs with all those tweeters were really good, albeit somewhat harsh comparing to my KEF104/3 I normally use. Specifically, percussions sounded really great listening Brubeck’s Take Five and Grant Green recordings.

I plan to use Sonabs in my study with vintage Marantz or B@O receiver and I really didn’t want to spend $$ at the moment. I do plan to upgrade to original drivers at the time.
I read about SilverFlute W17RC38-08 from Madisound but I was under impression diameter is to large, even so slightly. It seems that might not be the case. The other concern was low power handling.

One question, though. I can not find specification for Peerless 831881 on the web but someone stated SC165 would have power handling of 150W but then speakers have max handling of only 40W, I assume continuous (DIN 45573).
I say this is quite discrepancy, so could someone tell me why is this?

Regard,

Igor

[jansch]

The new B65oaII is specified for 150W (not refering to any standard).
Compare also with the Sonab speaker OA116 (50W, DIN45573). OA116 has one SC165 for the bass (5,3ohms) and one SC165 (16ohms) for the midrange and 6 Peerless MT24 tweeters.
I have not seen any powerspecification for SC165 but I should guess that 50W is more than enough for that speaker.

The SilverFlute (4ohms) as basspeaker can produce 1-2dB SPL more than the SC165 mounted in a Sonab OA116 before it sounds bad IN MY EARS(!)
I have not done any A/B power handling test with OA14 with SilveFlute versus SC165.

The SilverFlute will fit (snug) and you only have to split the cable shoes on the SilverFlute. NOTE! "Plus" and "Minus" are revers.

where are you living?

[Villee]

(Off-topic) I have to say that when you have a pair OA-14 with proper replacement woofer/mid you have a need to buy another Sonabs, for example OA-6 type 2, OA 116, OA 2212 etc...

Ville

[TR6man98]

I can see most of Sonab speakers use SC165 (831881) and according to some old Peerless specs power handling was high. That is why I found strange Sonab specifies 40W for OA-14.

I was searching through Board and someone mentioned Peerless 833599 driver (WR165). I am not sure if that can be used as replacement for 831881. Is this different but similar driver and are all versions of SC165 used in Sonab speakers marked as 831881 by Peerless?
Carlsson B65-OA on Hifi Kit's has the same p/n as well, how different are these iteration of drivers and are any of those close (identical) to 833599?

Reason I am asking is that currently someone is selling those new on eBay and price seems good, 90 USD. If someone has experience with those, i would really appreciate.
I’ll search the Board as well for info with heavy use of Google translator. Great!

Btw, I live in Seattle, WA, quite a few Swede descendants here and still few Saabs, including mine.

Igor

The new B65oaII is specified for 150W (not refering to any standard).
Compare also with the Sonab speaker OA116 (50W, DIN45573). OA116 has one SC165 for the bass (5,3ohms) and one SC165 (16ohms) for the midrange and 6 Peerless MT24 tweeters.
I have not seen any powerspecification for SC165 but I should guess that 50W is more than enough for that speaker.

The SilverFlute (4ohms) as basspeaker can produce 1-2dB SPL more than the SC165 mounted in a Sonab OA116 before it sounds bad IN MY EARS(!)
I have not done any A/B power handling test with OA14 with SilveFlute versus SC165.

The SilverFlute will fit (snug) and you only have to split the cable shoes on the SilverFlute. NOTE! "Plus" and "Minus" are revers.

where are you living?