I remember those being shown in the 1978 JC Penney Christmas catalog and always wondered how well they performed.

Any idea who manufactured them?

They were made by united speaker. I had a set briefly and gifted them to another AKer. He refoamed the woofers and I believe they are his daily drivers. He did a step by step refoam thread here a while back. I’m sure a search will turn it up. Not many 8228s out in the wild.
 
They were made by united speaker. I had a set briefly and gifted them to another AKer. He refoamed the woofers and I believe they are his daily drivers. He did a step by step refoam thread here a while back. I’m sure a search will turn it up. Not many 8228s out in the wild.


Yeah those might be very good, I found this http://techtalk.parts-express.com/f...47-us-made-speakers-phase-technology-speakers It's hard to tell how speakers sound from an image(my hearing is not "that" good"), but the drivers have that solid look to them. They might not be your model but should be similar. It's stated there that they were high-end speakers but "not successful". I take that as meaning they were well made but the marketing, for some reason, failed to get people's attention. It's possible they are great speakers but they discontinued making them because they were too expensive to make, which might be interpreted as, "rare, nice sounding high quality speakers, good for you if you get a pair." Yeah, I would keep those and give them some attention, see what's going on there, test them out.
 
Practice refoaming some junk woofers before working on the keepers.
This is definitely a great idea. Micah, you've got lots of stuff to practice on. Get some generic surrounds from Hospitality Electronics Supply, get some Ailene's tacky glue from Amazon or your local crafts store, find some refoaming instructions on Youtube and practice until you get it right. I wouldn't use the generics on the better speakers, though, contact Rick Cobb (rcobb (at) tampabay.rr.com) to get the exact replacements.
 
I managed to identify the unknown realistic- apparently they’re Optimus-10’s. Not super excited about them after the let down of the Optimus-9’s.
My next step is to follow peoples advice and buy some generic surrounds to practice and then properly do the surrounds on the keepers. Also, I need to order a bunch of caps to redo the keepers- no need to practice on that one, I’ve been soldering and building circuits for 20+ years. I’m not gonna refinish the cabinets yet- currently I’m more concerned about function over form.
Then, I need to start pulling and selling stuff I don’t want to keep to fund a decent tube preamp and amp (I really wish I hadn’t walked away from everything I owned during my divorce- I just took my motorcycle and whatever I could fit in my bags and went on a long motorcycle road trip). I also need to fund the rebuild of the tweeters on the L810s.
After that, anything that I can’t get rid of will turn into cat condos/shelving. Yes.
I’ll update this post again once I order and dive into surround repair. Thank gods for the awesome tutorials on this site.
 
Soldering that wire that close to the dome will be difficult. You need to protect the dome from the heat. I would use a small piece of wax paper first as it shouldn't stick to the dome that much, cut a slice and slip the wire through the slit sticking up, then add a piece of thin cardboard from a cereal box, also cut a slot to slip the wire stub by the dome into so it sticks up above the cardboard. Once both ends of the original wire are prepped for soldering a quick little dab of solder is all you should need. You can also make a little jumper extension to join the two ends. If that doesn't work, then send it, actually both to Richard So for rebuilding. I say both so both will be equal with equL output.
Refinishing the cabs shouldn't be too difficult. Let's see detailed pics of the cabs and see what they will need. Great speakers worth restoring.
Glenn
I found a type of glue that is conductive and works on a wire that broke close to the dome. No heat.
 
I have some of that in a box somewhere, I bought it before my last move. I think it’s an epoxy with silver, but I never trusted it enough to use it. I think I viewed it as flimsy as a paper printed circuit board. I suppose I should actually test it prior to writing it off,
 
Okay. I’ve ordered surrounds for the baby advents and the the MCS 8228s. For some reason the 8228s have caught my attention. Probably cause I don’t think I’ve ever felt a woofer that weighs as much as they do. Regardless, they shall become functional again. I suppose I should also order a generic and practice on one the scrap speakers.
 
I have some of that in a box somewhere, I bought it before my last move. I think it’s an epoxy with silver, but I never trusted it enough to use it. I think I viewed it as flimsy as a paper printed circuit board. I suppose I should actually test it prior to writing it off,

Be sure to let it dry and cure before testing for continuity:)
 
Could the Unknown, small M or W plaque be wharfedale ?.

Congrats on your find, should keep you busy for some time.
 
Be sure to let it dry and cure before testing for continuity:)
I would put some super glue on top of the silver glue to make it stronger. I think the stuff I have is carbon ground up in white glue and the company suggesst doing this too.
 
I have some of that in a box somewhere, I bought it before my last move. I think it’s an epoxy with silver, but I never trusted it enough to use it. I think I viewed it as flimsy as a paper printed circuit board. I suppose I should actually test it prior to writing it off,
If you find any celestion tweeters in there, let me know.
 
I can attest to the sheer, amazing build quality and superb sound of those RCA's. Believe me you will enjoy them very much, just wait until you pull the drivers and inspect them and the crossovers and you'll see what I'm talking about. They can be tricky to find the correct surrounds for and if you're interested I can dig through my files and find the correct manufacturer in part number for the surrounds that were a perfect fit for mine. It was a trial and error process going through three different companies to find the correct size and thickness surrounds. They turned out amazing and I have been running them as my main speakers for a little over a year now. They are definitely keepers I've been looking to find a second pair myself for some time and a pair of the smaller SPK 375 model as well . Congrats on a great score and the many outstanding pairs of speakers you have just inherited. Good luck and enjoy the journey!
 

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Okay. I’ve ordered surrounds for the baby advents and the the MCS 8228s. For some reason the 8228s have caught my attention. Probably cause I don’t think I’ve ever felt a woofer that weighs as much as they do. Regardless, they shall become functional again. I suppose I should also order a generic and practice on one the scrap speakers.

MKG,

You may of jumped into the deep part of the pool but there is enough combined knowledge & wisdom here to keep you from drowning. If you have been building circuits for 20+ years, you already understand the sense of satisfaction when you build something yourself. Refinishing wood speaker cabinets, or most wooden items like furniture, is very rewarding. Its not hard and with minimal investment in materials, you will be off and running.

You can get Watco Danish oil or Howards restor a finish online. Most antique malls will have a vendor for Howards and they offer a large line of wood refinishing products so check them all out. I would suggest buying some foam backed sanding pads in various grits but also grab a sanding block. I use a piece of aluminium bar stock cut to the size of a deck of cards. That way you won't sand a divot into the wood.

Just follow the instructions and since you have lots of junk stock to experiment with, feel free to make your own color blends. I've stained a few kitchen tables with a custom Watco color blend that looked great. I would also suggest buying some Jasco stripper (in the gold can) so you have a clean wood canvas to start with. Home depot carries this stuff


As for the surrounds, start with the blown ones and learn from your mistakes there. I remember the first pair i ever did (Fisher DS-825 12" woofers) They came out with a slight voice coil rub but for just the cost of surrounds, i paid for my education that evening. Now i don't sweat them at all. Just keep things clean and follow the provided instructions.
 
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Before parting out and trashing speakers, here's a few thoughts:

Blow (uh, invest) $25 in an AK subscription. There is a thread in Barter Town called Orphan Speaker Bingo. Search for speakers you have one of, and post ones you have, and maybe make some matches.

BT is also a great place to find drivers. Post a pic of the make and model of speaker, and front and back of the driver, including numbers. Someone may have one laying around they will hook you up with. We literally have hundreds of drivers sitting around!

Someone earlier said 'scrap out the copper' from crossovers. I would keep any inductors intact and sell them on BT or save for other projects if you think you might ever build speakers. They're kinda pricey due to the cost of the copper. Much more valuable on the used market than as scrap.

If a mid or tweet isn't playing, it could be a bad connection at the board OR an open capacitor. Always check the driver itself and if it's a cap, consider repairing and then selling on CL for a few bucks.

Finally, and I think someone said this, with cheapo speakers often a garage sale type buyer doesn't care if the tweeters match as long as they make noise. So swap out spare parts if you can, just to keep em out of the landfill.

Sounds like you got a whole toy box to play with!
 
3635A18F-817B-4E9B-B3F8-82D5B6BF9A93.jpeg 8C7CCE20-65F2-465A-9190-C62E281052C8.jpeg B332FE84-579C-4892-B030-20E8A5A0720C.jpeg 7E6C0AC6-B0CF-4773-A2B5-22087C0D6416.jpeg 7CD7B290-4E7F-4F4C-979C-CA3B2BAF4D29.jpeg I think I’ve decided that my keepers will be the MCS 8228, ADS L810, and one other undetermined pair. I’ll still audition and repair many of the others before finding them a new home or purpose, but I really only have use for 3 sets.
I’m impatient, and I really wanted to hear the 8228s, so I went against everyone’s sound advice and against my better judgement and did them as my first refoam. I used the battery method- rick sent me a 30hz cd but I didn’t have a good way to play it out in the shop. I was afraid that one of the woofers was shot because prior to the refoam the VC was scraping regardless of how I moved it, but afterwards there’s no scraping. Win! Unfortunately, While going through everything else I then discovered that one tweeter is dead. So now I’m on the hunt for a replacement. I know that I have plenty that I could pull and toss in there, but I really don’t want to put something non-original in there unless I know that it’s as good as or better than the original.
Next up is refoaming the baby advent II’s just for funsies.
 

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View attachment 1206135 View attachment 1206136 View attachment 1206137 View attachment 1206138 View attachment 1206139 I think I’ve decided that my keepers will be the MCS 8228, ADS L810, and one other undetermined pair. I’ll still audition and repair many of the others before finding them a new home or purpose, but I really only have use for 3 sets.
I’m impatient, and I really wanted to hear the 8228s, so I went against everyone’s sound advice and against my better judgement and did them as my first refoam. I used the battery method- rick sent me a 30hz cd but I didn’t have a good way to play it out in the shop. I was afraid that one of the woofers was shot because prior to the refoam the VC was scraping regardless of how I moved it, but afterwards there’s no scraping. Win! Unfortunately, While going through everything else I then discovered that one tweeter is dead. So now I’m on the hunt for a replacement. I know that I have plenty that I could pull and toss in there, but I really don’t want to put something non-original in there unless I know that it’s as good as or better than the original.
Next up is refoaming the baby advent II’s just for funsies.
I get that! Patience is your friend though. Those look like they will be outstanding once singing again.
What size are the woofers?
Carry on!
Glenn
 
"Advent Legacy II vs MCS 683-8227" is a thread you could read mainly for the tweeter. It uses the same tweeter as the 8228. It may only be a broken wire. The 8228 uses a 12" woofer GD70.
 
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Since you did such a great job with the woofers, you may be able to fix the dead tweeter as well, if you're up to it. Assuming there are screws holding the mounting flange to the magnet, if you remove those screws you can (carefully!) separate the two. You can then check to see if there is a broken wire - if so, you can try to resolder; if necessary you can unwrap one revolution of wire from the coil without significantly affecting the impedance. Do a search on tweeter repair to find other threads where people have done this.

ETA: here's the thread referenced above. Shows repair of the tweeter. Have you measured the tweeter with an ohmmeter?
 
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