Castle Avon speakers (from 1997/98)

[Going Grey Now]

Would appreciate help/advice from anyone who either owns, or has previously owned, these speakers.

Having acquired a pair of Avons which have been unused for 2/3 years, I’ve discovered one of the mid range/bass drivers isn’t working. Am currently investigating repair/replacement (I realise there are no OEM new parts - NOS - for these old Castle speakers).

They were never intended to be my main speakers (which are Celestion 44s) but I was looking forward to having a play and connecting them up in a second system. Consequently, I can’t justify spending big on a pair of speakers which might only be used now and then.

I’d appreciate any comments from anyone who knows these speakers whether or not they’d be worth getting repaired. I appreciate this is subjective. I don’t think there is any way that they’d ever replace my Celestions (although visually they’re more acceptable to my OH and don’t look as monstrous as the 44s!).

For what it’s worth, I also own a pair of Castle Severn 2s and am very familiar with how these sound.

Bit of a atch22 really. I need to spend some money and get them working again, but it’s pointless doing so if all i’m going to do is prove that they’re not really any better than the Severns and I simply end up selling them on, possibly at a loss.

Thanks.

 

[Orobas]

Would appreciate help/advice from anyone who either owns, or has previously owned, these speakers.

Having acquired a pair of Avons which have been unused for 2/3 years, I’ve discovered one of the mid range/bass drivers isn’t working. Am currently investigating repair/replacement (I realise there are no OEM new parts - NOS - for these old Castle speakers).

They were never intended to be my main speakers (which are Celestion 44s) but I was looking forward to having a play and connecting them up in a second system. Consequently, I can’t justify spending big on a pair of speakers which might only be used now and then.

I’d appreciate any comments from anyone who knows these speakers whether or not they’d be worth getting repaired. I appreciate this is subjective. I don’t think there is any way that they’d ever replace my Celestions (although visually they’re more acceptable to my OH and don’t look as monstrous as the 44s!).

For what it’s worth, I also own a pair of Castle Severn 2s and am very familiar with how these sound.

Bit of a atch22 really. I need to spend some money and get them working again, but it’s pointless doing so if all i’m going to do is prove that they’re not really any better than the Severns and I simply end up selling them on, possibly at a loss.

Thanks.

Give Wilmslow Audio a call to see if they can give them a service if you like the speakers and want to keep them and use them If nothing else.. you can get a quote and decide from there.

They were a very nice speaker, the Avons and used a Transmission line to tune the bass and they worked nicely. . bit recessed in the mid.. but very pleasing

TDL perfected this form of bass tuning and really made it sound good!

Which Avon's do you have as they had several models..

 

[Going Grey Now]

Give Wilmslow Audio a call to see if they can give them a service if you like the speakers and want to keep them and use them If nothing else.. you can get a quote and decide from there.

They were a very nice speaker, the Avons and used a Transmission line to tune the bass and they worked nicely. . bit recessed in the mid.. but very pleasing

TDL perfected this form of bass tuning and really made it sound good!

Which Avon's do you have as they had several models..

Thanks for the reply.

I may be getting myself a bit confused here because I didn’t think that my Avons were transmission lines. Although I’m no expert, I thought they were bass reflex.

Wilmslow audio have been as helpful as ever but the quote for drop in replacements is £117 per unit. With theses speakers typically selling for around £150/180 at auction, I simply can’t justify the cost.

 

[Orobas]

Thanks for the reply.

I may be getting myself a bit confused here because I didn’t think that my Avons were transmission lines. Although I’m no expert, I thought they were bass reflex.

Wilmslow audio have been as helpful as ever but the quote for drop in replacements is £117 per unit. With theses speakers typically selling for around £150/180 at auction, I simply can’t justify the cost.

Thats why i asked which Avon's they were.. as Castle did transmission lines on some of their range
the bass reflex was this one..

These were the transmission lines

Sorry to hear on the driver cost though from Wilmslow .. if anyone was going to be able to help it would be them.. or Falcon Acoustics..
Parts for Castle these days are nigh impossible to get even used.. there are no breaking units on auction sites

It was worth a shot though

 

[Going Grey Now]

@Orobas
Thank you for this info. My speakers are the ones in the first picture. I didn’t realise there were later ones.
I’ve sent messages to a couple of people and posted on two forums - mainly in the hope of either finding someone to repair the driver or to locate a used, but working, original unit.
As a last resort, I’ll strip out the tweeters (which look in excellent condition) and use them as replacements for the ones in my Severns which have seen better days.
I’ll then strip out the working mid range and crossovers and see if they’ll sell at auction.
Thanks again.

 

[Orobas]

@Orobas
Thank you for this info. My speakers are the ones in the first picture. I didn’t realise there were later ones.
I’ve sent messages to a couple of people and posted on two forums - mainly in the hope of either finding someone to repair the driver or to locate a used, but working, original unit.
As a last resort, I’ll strip out the tweeters (which look in excellent condition) and use them as replacements for the ones in my Severns which have seen better days.
I’ll then strip out the working mid range and crossovers and see if they’ll sell at auction.
Thanks again.

The only other place i know if Falcon Acoustics cant help or are cheaper is err.. Blue Aran... they are based in Southhampton and might be able to help with a re-cone or something.. Or "The Speaker Store" ..
There are a few places if you google that offer Speaker Re-coning services

 

[Going Grey Now]

The only other place i know if Falcon Acoustics cant help or are cheaper is err.. Blue Aran... they are based in Southhampton and might be able to help with a re-cone or something.. Or "The Speaker Store" ..
There are a few places if you google that offer Speaker Re-coning services

Thank you.

 

[dogfonos]

If the driver(s) can't be fixed economically and the cabinets are in good shape, why not install kit speaker drivers and crossover? It will probably require a bit of DIY woodwork but not much if you can match (or almost match) DIY kit drive unit sizes to the originals.

Example speaker kits and suppliers:

Visaton Alto 2 - price per pair.

This 2-way column speaker, ALTO II, designed as a 30 litre vented system, is another suggested application from the Alto series. Characteristics and sound properties This 2-way column speaker, ALTO II, designed as a 30 litre vented system, is another suggested application from the Alto series...

impactaudio.co.uk

Klang + Ton Cheap Trick 275 - Speaker KIT without Cabinet buy at hifisound.de

Buy Klang + Ton Cheap Trick 275 - Speaker KIT without Cabinet online at hifisound.de » 99 € ✓ Your online hifi specialist retailer for Floorstand

www.hifisound.de

Strassacker: Floorstanding Speakers (appear to have very reasonable shipping costs)