Calling all SonicS Speaker owners!

Sonics...

hey,

that scan from the hifi catalogue looks interesting!

Those Sonics look almost Identical to the CS99a or CS88a speakers....

I would love a pair of those 450 cabinets. Going on the specification on the models it would seem they were and are right up there with "hifi" sound.

I personally love all the Sonics models I have or tried and tested. with the later AS **7a versions sounding right on the money, although I have not heard the 150, 250, 350 or 450s mind you they look ported? so they may not be as accurate as the previous non- ported versions....

true esoteric speakers..
 

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Currently rebuilding AS 331s in Queensland

Dear Sonics Fans

I picked up a set of these speakers at a local OP shop back in March 2009. They were tired looking but sound fantastic. I have decided to rebuild them. The drive units are out, the baffle is off I have ditched the cloth (held on by 100+ staples) The veneer has gone. I am going to sand back stain the timber and get the baffles sorted as a mirrored image. I am going to renew some XO parts and replace the glass fibre

The Australian version is obviously quite different to the one I have seen in this article.

The bass and mid cones are a nice mid brown. The crossover and rear connections are quite different

fixabove.jpg


I will be detailing the whole rebuild here

http://www.eastmarinedrive.com/contents/non-static/audproject.htm

I think I have a fairly neat look planned for the final and it should sound ever better

Cheers

Howard
(Sunshine Coast Australia):banana:
 
Sorry to have to pass the torch on the SONICS to the rest of you.... last year when I had to move from FT Hood to FT Carson, some things had to go to make space (the military will only move so much... unfortunately... I gave away my SONICS (along with a early 80's Sony system I had acquired) to a young LT who had nothing.... Hopefully I will get some audioKARMA in the bank later, but, for now, I am SONICSless.... :(
 
Sonics-less

Hondo115 said:
Sorry to have to pass the torch on the SONICS to the rest of you.... last year when I had to move from FT Hood to FT Carson, some things had to go to make space (the military will only move so much... unfortunately... I gave away my SONICS (along with a early 80's Sony system I had acquired) to a young LT who had nothing.... Hopefully I will get some audioKARMA in the bank later, but, for now, I am SONICSless.... :(
Click to expand...

Me too! I moved here to the UK, before Christmas - and let go all my gear/kit ["Muchas Lamentos"!]. It won't make a bad story tho', when I get on to it [planned for the near future].
og
 
Sonics.. yes.. with two 's'

On a whim.. I purchased these babys the other day.. Sonics AS-440 , 6 speaker , 4 way , 60 Watts. made in Japan. They looked so much like my older brothers Sansui's that he brought back from Viet Nam . Danged if I could find any info on them cept here . I have yet to open the backs but.. Jeff and the fellas sound pretty dang good cranked up. I had previously had a set of Polks there in their place ( much smaller speakers). These things are huge and at volume 1 on a 40 Watt per channel set up they are putting out much better sound than the Polks. At 2 I can hardly stay in the room! The cabs are in good shape. Walnut veneer over ply. the sound board is particle board.. They stand 28" by 18" .the woofer measures 13" across ..
Here are some pics..*:music: pay no attention the the date code
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa356/benindavis/100_8709.jpg
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa356/benindavis/100_8710.jpg
http://i1193.photobucket.com/albums/aa356/benindavis/100_8707.jpg
 
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Ooooh... OOOOhhhh. Let me join !!! Lol...

Ok, I got these probably 10 or 15 years ago for reasons ...well.... who knows?
Probably cause they were kinda' unique.

Sonics AS-61. I have the little wood base (stand) pieces for these somewhere. (I have a pair, only one shown here) Better pix later.


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i have only seen a couple pairs of sonics. they all had thin flexible paper cones, so i passed. i probably would buy a pair unless i needed workshop speakers.
 
Ohighway said:
Ooooh... OOOOhhhh. Let me join !!! Lol...

Ok, I got these probably 10 or 15 years ago for reasons ...well.... who knows?
Probably cause they were kinda' unique.

Sonics AS-61. I have the little wood base (stand) pieces for these somewhere. (I have a pair, only one shown here) Better pix later.
Click to expand...

Wow, haven't seen anyone else with AS-61s. I have a pair as well, only mine came in Sumo wrestler outfits. I can't post the same pics again, so there are links to pics I posted in a previous thread.

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=354988&d=1339263215

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=354989&d=1339263215

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=354991&d=1339263215

http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=354992&d=1339263215
 
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when i picked up my AS-440's at teh GW there was one of those 61's there.. but.. i passed on it.. it didnt have the stand tho..
 
Hi All,

Some fascinating reading here. I have just picked up a pair of As-450's for about $25! (eqivalent zaR)

Opened them up, and was amazed to see 18" caast Ali bass unit with Alnico Magnets. Rheostats on Xover seesm to be damaged, but all drive units still seem okay. I havent decided yet to rebuild or to donew build with the units. They do sound quite good with mt LM 1875 gainclones.

John.
 

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JNouw said:
Hi All,

Some fascinating reading here. I have just picked up a pair of As-450's for about $25! (eqivalent zaR)

Opened them up, and was amazed to see 18" caast Ali bass unit with Alnico Magnets. Rheostats on Xover seesm to be damaged, but all drive units still seem okay. I havent decided yet to rebuild or to donew build with the units. They do sound quite good with mt LM 1875 gainclones.

John.
Click to expand...

Cool. From the looks of them, and if it were me, I'd do a light refinish on the cabinets, replace the rheostats, recap, and see how they sound.
 
Sonics AS-331 Tweeter Phasing

Can anyone explain to me why the tweeters are wired the way they are? When taking mine apart for a recap I noticed the pair of tweeters wired in series are not wired in what I would call the normal fashion. The tweeters are both connected together across the positive terminals and the signal is fed to both from the negative terminals. Wouldn't this put one out of phase with the other? From what I can tell the speaker in the first post (Hondo 115) appears to be wired the same way. Thanks!
 
It's been several months since anyone posted on this thread -

Found a pair of Sonics Model AS-331s. Looking in darn nice all around condition.

$49.00

I don't need anymore speakers but is it worth taking these things home? Seems of mixed opinions.

Thought I'd try again ....

Plus here are photos for future reference of what's loaded in the box. Previous questions about appropriateness of the horn - looks like original.

thanks
 
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Picked these up at a local thrift. Didn't need them but...

Sonics (with an S) AS-66. From reading this thread I assume they were brought back from Asia by a serviceman. I put them into a shootout with my EPI 70's, which is what I test everything against. My expectations were low but they surprised me. Very open sounding, not surprising given the multidirectional design. But also quite coherent, balanced and pleasant. Imaging beat the EPI's much to my surprise. Fun to listen to.

Definitely a set of keepers. I'll clean them up and find them a good home.
 

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I have a set of sonics as447a tucked away in the basement for the past 5 years.recently retired and started to clean house,tossed a lot of black plastic crap,but kept the sonics.remind me alot of sansui,wood lattice grills,midrange speakers are almost identical to some sp midranges.listened to them years ago,wasnt too impressed,lacked bass.one mid was blown so removed it to see if porting it would make a difference,a little.kept them anyway.now that i have lots of time on my hands ill spend more time with them,maybe a recap and a switch cleaning?definatley worth keeping though.
 
Couple to add... same size cabs... but look at the difference in drivers and design....AS 337A and AS330... Internal shot is the AS337A.
Must have been a change between the two models SA 330 coming later and overall finish not a good as the AS337A. The sound is interesting too, AS330 are much easier to drive and certainly not as warm or controlled in the upper or mid ranges...
AS337A are definitely fine esoteric speakers.
 

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