I recently purchased, for $30 U.S. Dollars at a yard sale, a pair of Beovox 5700 speakers in what I can only describe as pristine condition.  Or so I thought until I figured out how to open the speaker grill and noticed the dust caps on both woofers were disintigrated.  The surrounds were made out of rubber and were in great shape.  After a little research, I found a speaker repair shop here in Tucson, Arizona.  The price for each dust cap replacement was only $10 dollars.  The guy who replaced the dust caps even showed me the correct way to  resolder the wires to the woofers as soldering isn't something I am accustomed to doing.  Everything went back togethor well, including the soldering.  However when it came time to hook up the speakers, I was a little confused as there is about two and a half feet of two strand grey wire coming out of the back of each of the speakers instead of the red and black speaker wire connectors normally found on today's speakers.  So, then I look at each of the two strands of wire coming out of the back of the speaker to determine which connects to left and which to right.  There are no markings on the cables to distinguish this.  I hooked them up randomly under the assumption that maybe for speakers this old, it didn't matter.  The speakers sound great but I still have the nagging concern that maybe they are hooked up wrong.  Hopefully someone can set me straight here or put my mind to ease with what I have already accomplished.  

Also, I want to restore the Rosewood teak cabinets to as new a condition as possible.  They are blemish free and beautiful, but 30 some odd years has taken some of the luster off the original wood.  I am not sure if I should use a wax stripper to remove the old layers or how to go about restoring them.  Any information here would be great.

 Thanks in Advance

Jerome in Tuccson

Use a 9V battery and attach it to the wire whilst looking at the big bass driver. As long as both speakers move in the same direction, you will have them wired the same.way round.

The cabinet finish is up to you. I clean them using linseed oil and a little white spirit and then use danish oil. Some prefer finishing with beeswax.  

Thank you for responding. I will need additional details as to the 9v battery method though.

Thanks in Advance

Take the lead from one speaker and mark one of the two leads. Attach this lead to the positive terminal of the battery and the other to the negative terminal whilst watching the bass driver. Note which way the driver moves - in or out.

Next take the other speaker, mark one of the wires and repeat. If it moves the same way, then the two marked leads are either both the positive or both the negative. If they move different ways, then one is positive and one is negative so remember that they will attach to opposite terminals on your amplifier.

As long as the speakers are wired up the same way, they will be fine. 

Exactly !

And to get the phasing all correct, mainly if used together with other speakers or setups; Plus (+) from the battery fed to the positive lead will make the woofer cone move outwards.

Note; Don't expose your speakers to long-term DC voltages. Use the battery on the leads only for short periods - just enough to see which way the cone moves. 

Martin

Thank you Peter and Martin for the detailed explanations on how to accomplish this.  Earlier this evening, prior reading your latest posts,  I took the Passive Base Radiators out to have a look at the crossovers.  Speakers hooked up correctly now.  They sound awesome. 

Many Thanks

 Now I just have to find some Danish Oil and I will have accomplished everything I wanted to on this yard sale purchase.

Jerome