FRANKENKEILIDHS - Zombie Speakers Rise Up: PART 1

This project has been to resurrect rather than necessarily improve a pair of Linn Keilidh loudspeakers.  I had a pair of these in my main system for about 20 years and moving on from them was a bit of a leap as they were a bit like old friends really. Resurrecting them is coupled with the challenge of Keilidhs being readily available in the 200 to 300 GBP range, so the project would have to result in something significantly cheaper than they can be bought for in fully working order.

This was an accidental project, rather than a plan, at least initially. A pair of black empty cabs in good condition came up on ebay with a start price of 10 GBP. I didn't bid as I had no need for them. The auction ran its course without a sale. They were re-listed with the same start price so I recklessly (!) bid a tenner for them. One week later they were mine! After picking them up, I then had to work out what to do with them, so set about finding out if they could be resurrected for under 100GBP. Turns out that was never going to be possible with original drivers. Tweeters are easy to find but not exactly a bargain, mid-bass drivers very much more difficult and when they do appear they sell for between 45 and 75 GBP. Each.

So I now have a solution that is sounding OK in the workshop, but they need to come indoors for a longer listen, and there's some finishing off to do too.

Before and after pictures below, with the project documented over the next few posts.

Starting Point

Midway through the build with drivers still coming in and out of the cabs as the inner wadding was tweaked and before the crossovers had their housings

Nearing The End Of The Build

The detailed story of the build starts in PART 2.  A project that has taken an elapsed time of about 6 months.  It went well to start with, but then took a long, loss of morale enforced break.