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Old 15th Aug 2017, 6:06 pm   #1
RojDW48
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Default Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

I got these from Steve in Bath, who posted about them a couple of years ago. Both drivers are no more, though strangely one of them measures 8 ohms on my meter! They are of a most curious design and I wondered if anyone here had managed to disassemble one without destroying it? The cone appears to nestle in foam which fills up the cast metal box encasing it. Messrs Jordan and Watts have clearly put a lot of thought into this unit - I understand there is some kind of cantilever suspension at the back which allows for greater cone excursions, so I would like to have a look at least....without wrecking it preferably!
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Old 15th Aug 2017, 8:42 pm   #2
Edward Huggins
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

These were meant used as multiples of these modules.
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Old 15th Aug 2017, 11:23 pm   #3
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

There was just a single one in the Jordan-Watts 'Jumbo' speaker. They also did a sort of pottery flask with one in it. (Shades of sticking a bulb holder into the neck of an old wine bottle as was common in the same era)

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Old 15th Aug 2017, 11:37 pm   #4
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Quote:
Originally Posted by Edward Huggins View Post
These were meant used as multiples of these modules.
There's only one in each of these.
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 8:27 am   #5
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

I assume you've seen this for a bit of history:

http://www.ejjordan.co.uk/about-ejj/jordan-watts/
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 9:23 am   #6
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Crikey Roger, you have been acquiring some classic speakers recently!

You might find the pics here interesting - they show a module which has been taken to bits. From the look of it the voice coil and cantilever assembly is installed in the chassis prior to the cone and surround being glued into position.

https://mdcarter.smugmug.com/Walbers...ular/i-J77D7pj

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Old 16th Aug 2017, 10:04 am   #7
Ted Kendall
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

The record shop where I did Saturdays n years ago sold J-W loudspeakers, and Quad gear as well. They sounded all right to me at the time, and the customers liked them. The idea was that a single unit was enough for a basic loudspeaker, but two could be (and were) used in a larger cabinet for greater power handling.
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 10:52 am   #8
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

The Haymarket Theatre in Leicester (now a stripped-out abandoned shell) had about a dozen of those installed around the auditorium walls as effects speakers.
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 10:54 am   #9
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Yes it has been quite a week or so for tripping over interesting examples of hi-fi history! That set of pics is really helpful Steve and confirms my fears that the whole thing is glued together - as in.... will it all get so badly distorted during disassembly that it will never go back together properly? On the other hand - with that curious suspension system I suppose it is possible that the speech coil has become disconnected rather than burned out. Every cloud...eh? I shall scoop one out and report back.
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 11:25 am   #10
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Beryllium cantilever ?

Some alloys are OK, like Beryllium/Copper but worth check what these are actually made of ...

dc
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 8:33 pm   #11
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Well, I went ahead and did it! So here is my guide to getting one of these apart, which might usefully be entitled Handy hints that the amateur audio engineer will probably never ever need!

Pic 1 shows the glued driver-to-batten foam seal pulled off

Pic 2 shows the thin aluminium(?) plate to which the cone surround is glued. Very careful levering up will release it from the chassis to which it is glued without distorting it (glue, you might have gathered, is a significant component of these drivers)

Pic 3 At this point you get to peek into the interior to see how it all goes together. There are 3 wires (a bit like thin brazing rod) connecting the speech coil to 3 points in the chassis. 2 of these are used to connect the coil to source via bolted solder tags. It is just possible to reach in with a soldering iron to detach them without wrecking anything. It's a bit rich to describe this arrangement as a cantilever. There is no mechanism as such - just the tension in the wires to control cone excursion.

Pic 4 shows the cone and faceplate with the wires attached

Pic 5 shows what's left inside.

I checked for continuity in the speech coil at point 3 - sadly there was none. On the other hand I would hate to have to put it all back together again.
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Old 16th Aug 2017, 9:35 pm   #12
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Go on...... rewind that coil.... you know you can't resist trying to resurrect something as unloved as that!
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Old 17th Aug 2017, 6:48 am   #13
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Maybe the coil has become stressed where the rod attach's, try unwinding a turn, strip enamel and recheck continuity.

Andy.
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Old 17th Aug 2017, 10:44 am   #14
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Strangely enough, Chris - it is tempting and I have been thinking along Andy's lines as well. It is surely quite an adventurous sort of design that relies on soldered joints for the suspension of a cone that is going to perform millions of excursions! Stress might very well have played a part.
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Old 18th Aug 2017, 11:23 pm   #15
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

Sorting out your croaky B139s will be like a walk in the park compared to this!!!

Cheers,
Steve.
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Old 19th Aug 2017, 10:40 am   #16
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Default Re: Dead Jordan Watts Mk111s

I hope you are right, Steve! I haven't had a go at the B139s yet but I did scrape off a bit of laquer on the JW and, as Andy suspected, the speech coil is OK. The problem seems to be inside the collar above the coil in pic 4 where some kind of invisible connection is made. I am in the process of getting organised for a week in sunny Mansfield just now but when I return I shall post some close-ups and hope that sheds a little light.
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