Timbrel or Tabor, Anyone?
OK, so back in the early 80s, I found a Falcon Acoustics catalog, I think, available via a Stereo Review advertisement. I managed to get a copy - it was a spiral-bound type catalog, maybe 1/4" thick, at best.
There were two kits in which I was interested: one was the Tabor and the other the Timbrel. I opted for the latter and purchased the components from Falcon. I built the kits using 3/4" Baltic birch.
The LF / MF driver was a 6.5" "bextrene" driver, with a 25mm or so voice coil. The high end was handled by what was likely a Peerless or SEAS tweeter - that classic rectangular plate (with chamfered corners) and a soft dome.
As far as the crossover is concerned I *think* it was a symmetric 2nd order. I say this because I distinctly recall the phase of the HF driver being wired 180 degrees out of phase, although for some reason, I recall mention of a 3rd order for the top, though not necessarily for the LF/MF...which is a puzzlement in its own way.
Anyway, I have written Falcon and they basically said that they could not help me. You see, I had these on the back doors of a van that I used to drive, powered only by the aftermarket cassette deck. They were low sensitivity - maybe 83 dB/W/m - but to my ears, they were quite good, and reasonable down to 50 Hz or so. HOWEVER, one day, my brother borrowed said van, and "temporarily" removed the speakers from their perches for some outdoor gathering - you see where this is going - long story longer they were left outside, in the pouring rain, and get this, facing upward.
Not long after, I had the opportunity to pick up a pair or Mordaunt Short Pageant, Series II (which I still have suspended above my pool table) at cost, so I replaced the Timbrel with the MS Pageant II.
However, I have always wanted to rebuild the Timbrel, but as I mentioned, the folks at Falcon say they cannot help me out, which was a bit of a let down.
Oh, one more thing about the crossover...I could swear that at least one of the inductors had a core - not something obvious like iron, but something iron-related. I think there was a dropping resistor for the soft dome HF driver as it was roughly 6 dB higher sensitivity than the LF/MF driver.
ANYWAY...if anyone knows of this speaker and has pics, or even more useful information for my quest, I would really appreciate it. I can't recall what the Tabor looked like or which drivers it comprised, but yeah, I'd love to rebuild those Timbrel.
Thanks in advance,
Mark Alan Jay
