Hoku
Active Member
My beloved Ruark Talisman III’s have developed a fault and I’m pretty keen to repair them. Although I bought them used about 5 years ago, they were £1500 back in 2006 when they were made, so to get an equivalent new pair of speakers now would be prohibitive for me now - especially when they tonally match my Ruark Dialogue II centre speaker - a replacement would therefore be two floorstanders and a centre. Ouch.
One of the speakers has developed a buzz that’s most prominent around 60-50hz, and I’m not convinced that each speaker is outputting the same SPL’s at different frequencies.
I think they’re repair worthy if I can get a decent job done without costing the earth. They were some of the last speakers Ruark made (2006), before taking the heart-breaking step of moving away from manufacturing beautifully crafted middle-to-high end speakers that are still among the most musical foot-tapping speakers I’ve heard, to building CD/DAB radios and wifi speakers. I’ve been a fan of Ruarks for years, having owned a number of their speakers, so almost cried when the company took this step!
But as the Talisman III’s cabinets are mint, and they just sound so ’right’ (when they were working properly!), I think it’s worth trying to get them repaired, and to have the opportunity for someone who knows what they’re doing to give them a thorough once-over. it’s worth stating that I’m not practical with electronics, so I’m not about to get a soldering iron and attempt any DIY.
So I was just interested to see if any of you have had any successful experiences with loudspeaker repair?
I’m not entirely sure, but I think the Talisman III’s used SEAS drivers. Obviously I want to keep the house sound as similar as they were originally, so want to steer clear from using totally different drivers. There’s also a desire to keep what are rare and collectible speakers as original as possible. (They didn’t make too many Talisman III’s - there are often plenty mark 1’s and 2’s around on Ebay, but the 3’s are rare).
I’m in the south west of the UK, but quite expect this will require some travelling (don’t trust couriers and I’m prepared to drive a few hours to get a decent job done). A local hifi dealer recommended Wembley Loudspeakers and Falcon Acoustics, and I see that the latter, from their website are stockists of SEAS drivers, which is encouraging.
Any of you had experience with either, or others that you could recommend? Thanks in advance for any experience and input. I’m just after a little more input than a Google search can offer before taking the next step.
One of the speakers has developed a buzz that’s most prominent around 60-50hz, and I’m not convinced that each speaker is outputting the same SPL’s at different frequencies.
I think they’re repair worthy if I can get a decent job done without costing the earth. They were some of the last speakers Ruark made (2006), before taking the heart-breaking step of moving away from manufacturing beautifully crafted middle-to-high end speakers that are still among the most musical foot-tapping speakers I’ve heard, to building CD/DAB radios and wifi speakers. I’ve been a fan of Ruarks for years, having owned a number of their speakers, so almost cried when the company took this step!
But as the Talisman III’s cabinets are mint, and they just sound so ’right’ (when they were working properly!), I think it’s worth trying to get them repaired, and to have the opportunity for someone who knows what they’re doing to give them a thorough once-over. it’s worth stating that I’m not practical with electronics, so I’m not about to get a soldering iron and attempt any DIY.
So I was just interested to see if any of you have had any successful experiences with loudspeaker repair?
I’m not entirely sure, but I think the Talisman III’s used SEAS drivers. Obviously I want to keep the house sound as similar as they were originally, so want to steer clear from using totally different drivers. There’s also a desire to keep what are rare and collectible speakers as original as possible. (They didn’t make too many Talisman III’s - there are often plenty mark 1’s and 2’s around on Ebay, but the 3’s are rare).
I’m in the south west of the UK, but quite expect this will require some travelling (don’t trust couriers and I’m prepared to drive a few hours to get a decent job done). A local hifi dealer recommended Wembley Loudspeakers and Falcon Acoustics, and I see that the latter, from their website are stockists of SEAS drivers, which is encouraging.
Any of you had experience with either, or others that you could recommend? Thanks in advance for any experience and input. I’m just after a little more input than a Google search can offer before taking the next step.