Mackie HR824, repair or rebuild?

[jamescarter1982]

I live in glastonbury but travel up to London every now and then if I see something I really want on ebay

 

[Citizen]

ah OK do you repair stuff and keep it for yourself or something like that ? I really like all kinds of audio I've collected some nice stuff and sold some I wish I hadn't. I'd really like to design my own speakers I've got so many ideas it's just difficult learning the programmes etc . trying to get jriver working on my laptop atm almost had a breakthrough tonight lol now it's crashed have you made any speakers of your own or have any pionters you could give me ?

Literally just starting out, done quite a few car audio installs over the years and have done a few repairs so want to have a go and see if I can throw something together, having looked at a few of the speakers I have owned, especially hifi one they are obviously just off the shelf parts thrown into a box, ok bit more complicated than that but I am willing to give it a go and now have some decent enough components to try a few things out.

 

[jamescarter1982]

Literally just starting out, done quite a few car audio installs over the years and have done a few repairs so want to have a go and see if I can throw something together, having looked at a few of the speakers I have owned, especially hifi one they are obviously just off the shelf parts thrown into a box, ok bit more complicated than that but I am willing to give it a go and now have some decent enough components to try a few things out.

yeah that's how I feel about it most of the speakers I've seen tested have glaring mistakes that it almost seems like have been left in out of laziness. obvs not including the generic/nuemann types I think if you care about the result you should be able to make something nicer than some comersial products

 

[DMill]

Literally just starting out, done quite a few car audio installs over the years and have done a few repairs so want to have a go and see if I can throw something together, having looked at a few of the speakers I have owned, especially hifi one they are obviously just off the shelf parts thrown into a box, ok bit more complicated than that but I am willing to give it a go and now have some decent enough components to try a few things out.

They really all are mostly just parts thrown in a box as far as you are concerned. The engineers have done all the real work to make them sound the way the do. There are a lot of online videos that will help you understand what’s involved refoaming a speaker. If you like DIY projects that involve a steady hand, patience, and a nice clean work area, it isn’t hard. My advise… take it slow… and avoid cocktails until after you’re done for the day. if you hate doing these kind of projects, sell them to someone else and buy something new,

 

[Gruesome]

If it's in the budget, you could get one of those Umik's and just put the speaker together as is and measure it. Maybe a little leak around a small part of the perimeter doesn't matter that much? If the woofer response doesn't look so good, you could then also try to to repair the bond between the membrane and the surround with liquid tape or self-vulcanizing rubber. Just trying to think of cheap options. But to evaluate anything audio I think a Umik is the way to go.

 

[Philbo King]

Try this:

Mackie HR824 8" DIY Aftermarket Recone Kit

Mackie HR824 Series I 8" DIY 4 ohm Aftermarket Recone Kit

reconingspeakers.com

A total recone job can be tricky, but gluing on a new dust cap & surround is fairly easy.

20 years ago these speakers were very popular in home studios. They sound great.

I don't have any, but I played a gig at an art gallery that used them and was very happy at how they sounded. They were picky about the sound; they had a sound engineer who demanded I come in a couple hours to set levels and do a sound check.

If you get them working, maybe send one in to ASR to be measured. I noticed there are no Mackie speakers in the speaker measurement page. Maybe shipping to/from Britain would be impractical though.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/SpeakerTestData/

 

[Citizen]

They really all are mostly just parts thrown in a box as far as you are concerned. The engineers have done all the real work to make them sound the way the do. There are a lot of online videos that will help you understand what’s involved refoaming a speaker. If you like DIY projects that involve a steady hand, patience, and a nice clean work area, it isn’t hard. My advise… take it slow… and avoid cocktails until after you’re done for the day. if you hate doing these kind of projects, sell them to someone else and buy something new,

Yes this is a flippant remark from me and is aimed more at the lower end of the market, I know some put mountains of effort into the overall designs of some speakers, I really want to try, I have a quite a few components and a bit of time here and there so will give it a go.

If it's in the budget, you could get one of those Umik's and just put the speaker together as is and measure it. Maybe a little leak around a small part of the perimeter doesn't matter that much? If the woofer response doesn't look so good, you could then also try to to repair the bond between the membrane and the surround with liquid tape or self-vulcanizing rubber. Just trying to think of cheap options. But to evaluate anything audio I think a Umik is the way to go.

I hadn't really considered measuring anything but that is a great idea, will keep a look on ebay.

I was thinking of trying the liquid tape option as I would lose nothing for trying, great idea so thank you.

Try this:

Mackie HR824 8" DIY Aftermarket Recone Kit

Mackie HR824 Series I 8" DIY 4 ohm Aftermarket Recone Kit

reconingspeakers.com

A total recone job can be tricky, but gluing on a new dust cap & surround is fairly easy.

20 years ago these speakers were very popular in home studios. They sound great.

I don't have any, but I played a gig at an art gallery that used them and was very happy at how they sounded. They were picky about the sound; they had a sound engineer who demanded I come in a couple hours to set levels and do a sound check.

If you get them working, maybe send one in to ASR to be measured. I noticed there are no Mackie speakers in the speaker measurement page. Maybe shipping to/from Britain would be impractical though.
https://www.audiosciencereview.com/forum/index.php?pages/SpeakerTestData/

That is quite reasonable for a recon kit and think i could pull it off successfully.

I too have had some experience with the HR624's, a studio that was run by a friend had some and I got to work with them quite a bit and developed a fondness for them but when I got round to getting monitors for myself I went with Adam audio just because they were newer designs at the time.

I would love to send one of to ASR but I think the shipping maybe prohibitive, it might be more economical to buy a local one on the used market and have it sent direct to ASR as a gift to the gods of research, maybe one day.

In the meantime I have just got a set of Monitor audio bronze 2 which are bi-wireable so while the amps are off the mackies I am going to hook them up with the Monitor audio's to see how they sound.

If I can't get the mackies back together I will try a hack job of putting the passive radiator on the rear of a hifi speaker box as the amp attaches to the PR just to see if I get lucky soundwise.

 

[Citizen]

Mackie HR824 8" DIY Aftermarket Recone Kit

Mackie HR824 Series I 8" DIY 4 ohm Aftermarket Recone Kit

reconingspeakers.com

A total recone job can be tricky, but gluing on a new dust cap & surround is fairly easy.

That link got me to here as well so might well be a solution for me.

Anyone know what international shipping is like these day, I mean i can get stuff from China to the UK in under a fortnight and without any import taxes.

Are there import duties when coming from the USA, can I ask to get stuff marked as a gift, is there a value threshold that i can keep under to avoid fees etc.


Thanks.

 

[Philbo King]

That link got me to here as well so might well be a solution for me.

Anyone know what international shipping is like these day, I mean i can get stuff from China to the UK in under a fortnight and without any import taxes.

Are there import duties when coming from the USA, can I ask to get stuff marked as a gift, is there a value threshold that i can keep under to avoid fees etc.


Thanks.

I am in the US, so I cannot say for sure as regards Britain. I didn't see any extra tariffs beyond our local state taxes tacked on (7%).

 

[Citizen]

I am in the US, so I cannot say for sure as regards Britain. I didn't see any extra tariffs beyond our local state taxes tacked on (7%).

Yeah there is duties on all good over £135, so under that and I should be good, emailed The speaker exchange and they will ship to me so will pop an order in for the surrounds some time this month, I literally just won a set of unknown 8.5" poly p cones on ebay so will see if they fit and if not I will make the order, £45 for shipping though, there is a used whole and good speaker on ebay in the UK and the guy want's £300 for it, can buy a set of used speakers for well under that locally.

 

[Online_olympian]

I have 4 of these drivers. I bought a pair from a Mackie engineer in Bellevue. He threw in the 4 extra drivers. 50 bucks for the package. The only issue is the speakers came without the inboard amps. Anyone know where I can find some replacement amps? And know the crossover settings?

 

[Online_olympian]

I have 4 of these drivers. I bought a pair from a Mackie engineer in Bellevue. He threw in the 4 extra drivers. 50 bucks for the package. The only issue is the speakers came without the inboard amps. Anyone know where I can find some replacement amps? And know the crossover settings?

If you need some drivers, let me know.

 

[Citizen]

If you need some drivers, let me know.

I am guessing you are in the US, I do have one amp unit spare as I got three speakers.

I need at least one woofer.

Think the crossover is 2.5k

 

[Citizen]

I am guessing you are in the US, I do have one amp unit spare as I got three speakers.

I need at least one woofer.

Think the crossover is 2.5k

Sorry it is 2k.

Mackie HR824

Paul White hooks up Mackie's new monitors, nails down the furniture, and settles down for a long listening session.

www.soundonsound.com

 

[Online_olympian]

I am guessing you are in the US, I do have one amp unit spare as I got three speakers.

I need at least one woofer.

Think the crossover is 2.5k

Well, I have tons of stuff to trade and would be interested in that spare Amp if you are interested?

 

[Citizen]

Well, I have tons of stuff to trade and would be interested in that spare Amp if you are interested?

Sorry I thought I had said I am in the UK.

 

[Online_olympian]

No worries. I have used e6000 glue with great success on rubber surrounds. And ones that move quite a bit more than these.

 

[Citizen]

No worries. I have used e6000 glue with great success on rubber surrounds. And ones that move quite a bit more than these.

Yeah it's going to happen sooner or later.

 

[Citizen]

Yeah it's going to happen sooner or later.

So I gathered a bit of courage and glued up the driver with splits in them, I cut an appropriate length of heavy gauge speaker wire and wrapped it in kitchen roll so that it would make the surround taught, I then put some masking tape over the surround roll to make a kind of former and also a barrier to stop the glue coming to the front of the surround from underneath where I applied some E6000 with a small water color type paint brush, the masking tape acted as a guide as to where to apply the glue and it has turned out really well, oh I needed some dust caps as well so got some 54mm polypropylene ones, I now have a good seal and the passive radiators now move with some proper gusto, these monitors sound unbelievable, much better bass that some of the larger floor standers that I have had in my rather large room that has a vaulted ceiling so bass usually disappears but these sounded great, not quite subwoofer levels or depth but better than speakers with stated lower response.

 

[jamescarter1982]

bass was pretty good on the newer ones of these I had like you said not quite sub levels but pretty powerful . what do you think of the avi speakers in your picture and also the castle ones I'm not sure i recognise the model ?