TL-5010

TL-5010 a 50 liter 3-way speaker. It has a 12″ woofer, 5″ midrange and 1″ tweeter. It shares the woofer and midrange with the later and maybe more common model TL-5020.

This pair of TL-5010 were in a sad state. It is a rather long story. Sit somewhere comfortably and pour yourself a cup of tea or coffee. This is a restoration in two stages. They will be rebuilt twice!

The seller packed them extremely well. My experience of shipping speakers is horrible, or rather people sending me speakers and not packing them well enough. Rare vintage speakers like these TL-5010 just mustn’t be destroyed in shipping.

They immediately went to my house restorer Andrew. The wood was dry, there were chips in the wood, the grill cloth was bad, the crossover no doubt needed service.
First, photos from the first inspection and disassembly.
This was back in 2019.

This restoration is completely done by Andrew at:
https://www.anapeachloudspeakerrestoration.co.uk/

Starting rebuilding the crossovers.

Then on to the cabinets.

Second blend.

We decided to replace the terminals. I dont remember why, usually I prefer to keep things original. But we put in banana terminals.

Then, install the crossovers.

The original grille cloth was not in good condition. Discussed with Andrew what to do, and we decided on this nice beige cloth that will go nicely with the speaker cabinets. This is a special speaker cloth that should not restrict sound too much. Beautiful I think!

Beautiful speakers! On test.

But something very unfortunate happened, UPS damaged them in transport!
I complained, but got nothing. It was nothing else to do than to send it back to Andrew. After testing it for a while at home.

Such a shame.. UPS did this.
This packaging wasnt enough.

How do you repair such a damage?

This was repeated in several steps.
Then “painted” in several steps, this is almost finished.

But then, here comes part two of this project.
We are now in 2020. In november 2020 I send them back to Andrew of Anapeach Loudspeaker Restoration.

I wasn’t that impressed with their sound. It wasn’t bad really, but rather boring and the specially the mids were a bit recessed. It was not the sound I had expected. So I decided to send ’em back again for an upgrade.
Tandberg made this speaker in two versions, and these are version 1. So I wanted to modify them to V2. It is technically not a modification, we keep it within the Tandberg original specs for V2. It’s an upgrade.

I also wanted to experiment with really high end capacitors. What would happen, would they sound different? I researched crossover high end caps and came to like the Jantzen capacitors. I chose two lines, the red Superior caps and the Alumen for the tweeter. I bought them myself and sent them with the spakers.

The little blue Jantzen caps are for another project, a pair of Radionette speakers that I picked up from the recycling station.

One speaker done. First listening test – “Had a brief listen last night and the initial findings are that it is certainly more forward with much more detail in the mid and high end”.

I have worked with Andrew for my speaker restorations since he started up full time a couple of years ago. I love this process and being involved in bringing vintage speakers back to life.

Here are Andrews words from the comparison, one modified and one still V1:
The test was completed with the speakers side by side and fed with a mono signal. I alternated between the two for the listening comparison whilst using the same tracks.
Of course you are right they will take some burning in especially considering the size of those Jantzens, so these are only my initial findings.

Equipment used (workshop equipment)
A&R Cambridge A60 amplifier
NAD CD player

The first thing that I noticed was that the Jantzen speaker had a tighter more detailed bass. Still tuneful but not quite as “of the era” as the original, This is neither a good or bad thing, it’s more a case of taste and music preferences. The bass is cleaner but not as impactful compared to V1.

With the V2 Jantzen speaker the texture to the voices was more present and forward compared to the laid back presentation of the original version. Symbols also had more definition and edge compared to the Solen V1 speaker.

Overall with the V2 Jantzen, the presentation had better definition and separation and I felt that I could hear more of what was going on with the recordings. It reminded me of more of a studio monitor style of sound and for me it was boarding on analytical/clinical however this may be down to the lack of burn in.

They are more forward in their presentation now and do relay a more textured presentation. For example, the opening guitar on Tom Petty’s Mary Jane’s Last Dance was really vibrant compared to the V1 presentation.
If they were my speakers, I would go for the V2 anticipating a warmer presentation after a decent burn time.

Shall we go ahead with the upgrade? Yes.
So stage two was only about replacing components in the crossover.

Photos below from Classic Audio in Helsinki. Be sure to check this shop out if you are in Helsinki.
https://www.classicaudio.fi/product/tandberg-tl-5010/

My TL-5010’s have new beige front cloth.
The Tandberg TL-5010’s were expensive in the days, costing probably about a months salary. They never were budget speakers.

Restoration complete. Hope to put up photos later with the grilles (the same grilles as in the first stage of the restoration).They survived the transport thanks to Andrew’s incredibly ambitious packaging.

The sound – the difference from before (crossover V1.0) is remarkable. Bass is well defined and still deep, there’s lots of it. Bass was great also in V1.0, but treble and midrange that has changed. More open, airy, well rounded. “Natural” is a word that defines the TL5010’s. How much the result is from higher quality caps and how much is the other changes in the crossover we can’t know, but I would think that the caps have less effect, they’re the icing on the cake. These TL-5010’s are not modified, just restored with high class components.

Approximate cost for a restoration of a pair of TL-5010 would be:
Capacitors: 120 – 450 euro (approx 120 for Solen’s, about 450 for a mix of Jantzens like here).
Work, incl woodwork, new gaskets, new cabling: maybe 300 euro.
About 420 euro for the standard restore and 750 euro for the high end option.
Of course this will vary depending on their condition. Mine were in bad shape. The price of a pair of TL-5010 would probably vary from 150 euro to 600 euro. Not much when you compare what that would buy you today.

These are really great speakers. I am sure many modern audio aficionados would be surprised how good they sound. The TL-5010 is a rare speaker, if you have a pair – hold on to them. If you have a pair that needs restoration – don’t hesitate, they’re worth it.

Update, after listening to them for a couple of months.
It has been an eye-opening experience, or how to say it, like a wine lover getting used to better and better wines, learning to discern qualities of higher quality wines, a step by step process, gathering experience from tasting.
These are my most expensive vintage speakers but it will be almost impossible to go back to “cheaper wines” now.
Compared to other vintage speakers, the treble is is a little bit more effortless, there is a tad less harshness overall (specially in higher frequencies, specially compared to modern speakers!), they are more airy and open. These TL-5010’s weak point may be the bass, it’s not either fat or extremely well defined. But they make up for it in the wonderful, spacious midrange and top end.

Another note, I find that the TL-5010’s are picky about amplifier partners. With some they don’t shine, sound a bit dull. With the TR-2080 they really sing, probably my fav combo.

I have another project coming up – restoration of a pair of really bad looking Seas Kit 503’s.
They will be restored à la Troels Gravesen, using the same type of Jantzen capacitors as in this project.