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Replacing Speakers in an SWR Goliath Jr

#21
You should get the original PAS driver reconed.
Those are WAY better drivers than Eminence.
If you don't have a place near you to do it you can mail it to Orange County Speaker in S. CA. They'll do a perfect job.

bigdoug1053 said:
After getting some valuable input from the forum and some frustration, I made a decision on replacing a blown speaker in an early 90s SWR Goliath Jr. 2x10 cab.

I contacted SWR by email to get some information on replacement drivers - no reply. I went to my local music store who carry SWR, and THEY did not get any reply to their email to SWR. This kind of inert silence from companies bugs me.

However, I contacted Eminence and asked about their recommendation concerning the Legend BP102 driver. I received a prompt reply from their engineering staff indicating that the BP102 would be a "good" replacement for the Goliath Jr. cabinet, but if I was only replacing one driver, I should go with SWR since their custom Eminence driver has slightly higher efficiency. So a BP102 would not be as loud compared to the original SWR speaker and there would be a volume mismatch.

Yesterday, I ordered 2 BP102s and I am going to install them in the cab. I am likely paying slightly more for 2 BP102s than I would for one SWR replacement driver, but the lack of response from SWR sealed the deal for me. The remaining good SWR driver I will remove and use as a cab project. I am planning a small 1x10 extension cab for my GK MB-200 combo that I use for all my low volume gigs.

So, I have nothing but praise for Eminence tech support. If I get another 2x10 cabinet, it will most likely be a Carvin BRX10.2, not another SWR.
Click to expand...
 
#23
KPAX said:
You should get the original PAS driver reconed.
Those are WAY better drivers than Eminence.
If you don't have a place near you to do it you can mail it to Orange County Speaker in S. CA. They'll do a perfect job.
Click to expand...

I agree with this opinion.
I once had a speaker issue in a Jr II. SWR was just down the
road from me so I always brought my stuff over to them.
At the time, they were using up to four different 10in speakers
depending on which era Goliath (or Jr) it was for. They used
the speaker designed for the specs of the box of intended use.

I'm not saying that nothing else will work, just that the boxes
were tuned for the speaker and SWR was meticulous about
which speaker went into which box. A recone might be a
good idea.
 
#24
davidjbass said:
SWR is now owned by Fender. That is all I have to say. I tried contacting them about my Goliath II that has a problem and all I got was you have to bring it to one of our authorized repair centers. All of which are about 1 hour from me. This is why it pays to deal with small companies.
Click to expand...

TruDat. It was very different back in the day when quality and service was a big part of SWR; which is part of the reason they were bought by a big company; which is why those things stink now.
 
#26
KPAX said:
Whether or not, you can still get them reconed to factory specs.
Click to expand...

Thanks to everyone for their responses! TB is a fantastic resource, and I appreciate everyone's input in helping me help an old friend.

Is Orange County Speaker the best place to get a recone done? Are their other places? I'm completely out of my element here, as I've been fortunate enough to have never blown a driver myself (yet).

FWIW, I think he's wasting his time talking to Sam Ash. Better to go straight to the source and get it done yourself. He has a physics background so I think he's fully capable of fixing it himself once he gets a reconed driver or orders new ones.
 
#27
Thanks guys! I loaded the BP102s in the cab and they sound good. As far as I can tell, not much different than the cab sounded before the "unfortunate incident." I agree that the original (or reconed) drivers would be the best match for the cab - but "close enough" works for me and was certainly less of a hassle.

BTW - the blown SWR speaker had a cast aluminum basket - while the other had a pressed steel frame - clearly 2 different speakers - maybe the Thiele and small parms were close - but ***? I bought the cab new in 1990, so I have to assume the factory did this. Neither SWR speaker terminals were labeled - which required two installations to get the polarity correct.

I guess I would just say that the Eminence drivers and my bass sound good through the cab, and unless you are a designer or purist, the BP102s will do the job as replacement speakers.
 

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