Muntz Stereo-Pak...Speakers?

[Draycos]

Did a little research and found that the Muntz Stereo-Pak was a 4 track cassette for vehicles. But these are home audio speakers.

Two way design, cabs are good quality and the drivers appear to be of good quality as well however they sound very tinny and have a near complete lack of bass. This one is in the worst shape of the four I purchased. The best one is near mint and the others are somewhere in between. Why is it these seemingly well built speakers sound poor? Granted I have only tried this one as the rest are still in the truck.

 

[ejfud]

That Foster "woofer" is a very nice driver. Take it out so we can have a closer look.

http://audio-database.com/FOSTER-FOSTEX/unit/fe-163-e.html

I love those old Foster/Fostex full range drivers.

 

[gadget73]

I'd pop the driver out to see if it moves freely. It may have a stuck voice coil or something.

 

[DaveElton]

Did a little research and found that the Muntz Stereo-Pak was a 4 track cassette for vehicles. But these are home audio speakers.

Two way design, cabs are good quality and the drivers appear to be of good quality as well however they sound very tinny and have a near complete lack of bass. This one is in the worst shape of the four I purchased. The best one is near mint and the others are somewhere in between. Why is it these seemingly well built speakers sound poor? Granted I have only tried this one as the rest are still in the truck.

Draycos, I have that exact pair!!!! Found them several years ago at a garage sale , and payed a dollar for them Yes, that Fostex driver is a sweetie...if memory is right, an FE-168..or something close?? 5.25" I believe... No, in those cabs, they do not shine, but they should have "some" bass...you are the only person here that I know of running accross any! Mine are sweet little Walnut veneer cabs btw

 

[stickman]

Those small Foster woofers are not capable of much bass as the cone surface is just too small to move much air and their excursion is limited. The other possible contributing factor is that the treated cloth surrounds can become quite stiff over time due to exposure to temperature and humidity extremes as well as just plain old age. Those Foster drivers can offer decent midrange response but frequencies below say 100 hz are not their forte.

 

[68custom]

I want a pair !

 

[audiozaz]

As said above, the old Foster fullrange units could be very good indeed. A sealed box is possibly the worse enclosure for them if they have the specs I think they do, hence the "no bass" impression. A reflex or BLH enclosure coulb be better. You got 4 or these? This could be considered a droolworty score to many in the fullrange community.

az

 

[Draycos]

Draycos, I have that exact pair!!!! Found them several years ago at a garage sale , and payed a dollar for them Yes, that Fostex driver is a sweetie...if memory is right, an FE-168..or something close?? 5.25" I believe... No, in those cabs, they do not shine, but they should have "some" bass...you are the only person here that I know of running accross any! Mine are sweet little Walnut veneer cabs btw

FE-163 actually so you were close. I paid $8 for 4 so you beat me by a bit.

Also I have removed the drivers as requested (both are fosters) and the fabric surround is indeed quite stiff. Also they were a PITA to get out without destroying the grill cloth.

Also I'm open to suggestions on an alternate cab design for these. Two of the original cabs are in good condition but that leaves me with two to experiment with. Audiozaz, you said either a reflex or BLH. I'm familiar with reflex but what is BLH?

 

[audiozaz]

Thanks for posting pics of the driver fronts. No whizzer, I wonder if it's similar to the fullrange otherwise. These are old and T/S parameter test should be ran on them all to see which kind of enclosure would suit them best. These surrounds can also go stiff, as they do in the 10FE3. Hope yours are in OK shape.

BLH = Back Loaded Horn. A long, often folded, expanding pipe that loads strong-motor drivers and gets them to produce some bass.

az

 

[Draycos]

Thanks for posting pics of the driver fronts. No whizzer, I wonder if it's similar to the fullrange otherwise. These are old and T/S parameter test should be ran on them all to see which kind of enclosure would suit them best. These surrounds can also go stiff, as they do in the 10FE3. Hope yours are in OK shape.

BLH = Back Loaded Horn. A long, often folded, expanding pipe that loads strong-motor drivers and gets them to produce some bass.

az

Any idea for reducing the stiffness or will I have to order new surrounds for these? Also, I haven't a clue how to do a T/S parameter test, sorry. All I know is that it has to deal with the amount of air in an enclosure to get the most out of your drivers if I remember correctly.

 

[audiozaz]

Any idea for reducing the stiffness or will I have to order new surrounds for these? Also, I haven't a clue how to do a T/S parameter test, sorry. All I know is that it has to deal with the amount of air in an enclosure to get the most out of your drivers if I remember correctly.

It's actually not too hard to measure them, but if you can get away with measure the free-air resonant frequency, it could indicate certain things regarding the surround's stifness.

http://sound.westhost.com/tsp.htm

If they indeed have stiff surround syndrome, I fear there is little to do. It would be a shame to replace the surrounds with anything not original, but if they have to be functional, there's no other way around it.

az

 

[Draycos]

Small update on these. Using the driver that I popped out I gently pressed the cone up and down several times and the surrounds loosened up some. Sounds pretty good now. :thmbsp: Now to just do it to the rest of them.

 

[boppa]

Small update on these. Using the driver that I popped out I gently pressed the cone up and down several times and the surrounds loosened up some. Sounds pretty good now. :thmbsp: Now to just do it to the rest of them.

I picked up a pair today for $1 at a church garage sale.

 

[ulyman]

Found a pair of Muntz bookshelf speakers at goodwill. Seem to sound pretty good. But I'm no expert. Can anybody tell me more about them? Model YM-88. Here are some pics. thank you.

Here's a video link so you can hear them. Enjoy!