Japanese Speakers

It is expensive when you have to ship it in as it is quite heavy. When I was a teen I use to work at a Honda Dealer which sold motorcycles, all the bikes made in Japan were shipped in crates made with steel. The big Goldwings, they were put together in the US from parts made in Japan, they were in wood crates.

And nobody likes Sansui speakers, yet I like my pair.

Are you kidding me??? ...Even vintage Sansui speakers boxes go for big bucks $$$ :D

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sansui-SP-3...nsui-Speaker-Boxes-Sansui-DB-SE-/181164010808

No affiliation
 
For some reason Japan did not export their best offerings to the USA.
This became particularly evident(when I visited there) when seeing their domestic autos which seemed like hi-tech spaceships compared to the brands they sent here:)
 
:thmbsp: like ARs and KLHs.

100: Sound wonderful
300: The biggest ones but 'Zero Spare Parts' available, anywhere in any country...but sound great and Super Rare.

All were made from 1970 to 1972.

Ah don't forget the SP L line which Sansui made, I listen to mine daily.

 
This begs te question, are there any other quality speakers made on other countries? Russia is known for watch making, and Ural bikes. What about speakers?

Swedish speakers?

Italian speakers?

Spanish ones?

Scandinavian speakers have always been very highly regarded (Dynaudio, Dali, Electrocompaniet, Amphion, Bang and Olufsen, Audiovector, Tandberg, among others). As for Italian speakers, Sonus Faber and Opera are highly appreciated by audiophiles around the world. Regarding Spain, I only know DAS Audio models. As for Russian speakers, please have a look here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=432394 . German speakers are also highly regarded, like Audio Physic, German Physiks, Dynacord, Magnat or Canton. Don't forget Focal and the wonderful Cabasse made in France!

PS: perhaps the key issue here is that low or non-existent marketing of a given brand in a given country does not mean that the brand doesn't exist!
 
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Scandinavian speakers have always been very highly regarded (Dynaudio, Dali, Electrocompaniet, Amphion, Bang and Olufsen, Audiovector, Tandberg, among others). As for Italian speakers, Sonus Faber and Opera are highly appreciated by audiophiles around the world. Regarding Spain, I only know DAS Audio models. As for Russian speakers, please have a look here: http://www.audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=432394 . German speakers are also highly regarded, like Audio Physic, German Physiks, Dynacord, Magnat or Canton. Don't forget Focal and the wonderful Cabasse made in France!

PS: perhaps the key issue here is that low or non-existent marketing of a given brand in a given country does not mean that the brand doesn't exist!


Cool. Thanks for this. I find it interesting how certain countries are "known" for manufacturing certain things.
 
Cool. Thanks for this. I find it interesting how certain countries are "known" for manufacturing certain things.

You are welcome. I guess I know what you mean. However, keeping your eyes open may lead to interesting discoveries. For example, 10 year ago I discovered that there are many small Italian companies that build superb tube amps, and fell in love with some of these gear!
 
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Sony SS-4050 were great sounding, small speakers:

http://audio-heritage.jp/SONY-ESPRIT/speaker/ss-4050.html

ss-4050.JPG
 
I know many will disagree but I think the Realistic Mach One was a nice sounding Japanese speaker...not as good as the HPM series perhaps, but in my opinion way better than any speaker of the CS-XX orXXa line.
 
Fostex and Coral are Japanese, and while Coral isn't all that common, Fostex are all over the place.

normal_Fostex-FX120-Bookshelf-Coral-Flat-6B-Speakers.jpg
 
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Fostex and Coral are Japanese, and while Coral isn't all that common, Fostex are all over the place.
Ahhhhhh yes, and i believe Coral also supplied a lot of OEM components for other manufacturers, i think Sansui was one such client.
 
Ahhhhhh yes, and i believe Coral also supplied a lot of OEM components for other manufacturers, i think Sansui was one such client.

Yes they did, and they made a lot of interesting speakers them selves, I'll just post a picture feast here:

3b43-544f-438f-a64e-0f4d89df90ba.jpg


7371-209a-422e-926a-b9769b34d0d3.jpg


91932753_31052013230343_2549_3.jpg


dx-5b.JPG


And the famous and very highly regarded Coral Flat series fullrange drivers.
They look a lot like Fostex drivers, but back when Coral was in business, they where definitely ahead of Fostex:

coral-pics-and-specs.jpg
 
Those horns and drivers do look very JBL-like, both in your picture and at the links.
Precisely why i suspect a connection with Bart Locanthi. He spent some time at Gauss after his JBL tenure, and given his association later with Pioneer/TAD he obviously had some Japanese connections.

I believe they're a modification of the "Smith" horn.
 
Precisely why i suspect a connection with Bart Locanthi. He spent some time at Gauss after his JBL tenure, and given his association later with Pioneer/TAD he obviously had some Japanese connections.

I believe they're a modification of the "Smith" horn.

Yep. The horn drivers at the link look a lot like my TAD TD-2002s, which are a Bart Locanthi design.
 
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