newbie buys Maximus speakers at GW. Any info?

[oconnorweb]

hello all.

I've been a member for a year but this is my first post.:thmbsp: my story is typical. I had a love affair with my stereo in the late 70s and 80s. Then I put my vintage stuff away and went digital. Well I got the itch and got out the old kenwood kr 5400, phillips 312 TT and ohn speakers. man I'm in love again!

well I been adding pieces the last year. A harmon kardon 665 intergrated amp (not working yet) and a sansui 9090db.

Today I went to good will for a look. I have never seen anything but junk there.

out in the middle of the floor were 2 floor speakers. the only markings were on the grills "Maximus".

I bought them for $19.95.

Well I got them here and they are in good shape. sold wood cabinets (24" by 12" by 12")

grills are perfect.

Inside is a 12" woofer, 6 1/2 mid (?), 3 1/2 tweeter ( all clean and free of rips although I suspect the woofers have been refoamed)

Attached are some pics...hopefully.

very little info on the web. the following artlcle suggests that they are made by Goodman and sold in the US as Maximus (rather than Maxim).

http://www.bassboy.com.au/getreel/classicamps/files/articles/ukaudio/main.htm

"

The new Maxim (Maximus in the U.S.A.) was developed to conform to this trend, and also to provide very clean sound within the smallest possible installation space"
"​

Can any one give me some info or review of these speakers. I'm going to clean them up tonight and hook them up. I'll let you all know how they sound to these newbies ears.... Thanks for comments!

 

[sealy]

It would be nice if they had a dome tweeter, but the drivers don't look half bad. I don't think the woofer has a foam surround. It's either rubber or a rubberized cloth. Cabinets look good and could be used in the future if you decided to upgrade. I love the look of old grille cloth. All in all, they should be decent sounding and are good looking to boot.

 

[MunkeyQ]

Interesting - but those aren't made by Goodmans for sure! This was the Maxim:

(picture round sideways...sorry)

It was indeed sold in the US as the Maximus, but it's not what you have there. I'd guess by the badge the company itself is called Maximus. Fancy pulling the woofer and getting some photos of the back? I've never seen them before.

 

[oconnorweb]

Thanks for the reply. I'm listening to them now. They are much louder/easier to push than my OLM's C2. I cleaned them up with Howard's restore a finish Cherry and they look great.

Ya I thought about pulling the woofers to get a look at back of the woofer but it looks like they were refoamed and the glue spreed around freely if you know what I mean.

Question from a newbie. Can you really get the back of the cabinet off to look at all of the backs of the drivers? It looks seaked to me. Here's a new picture with one cleaned up. I like em.

Also, I find nothing about "maximus". just some small obscure manufacturer? id like to know how old, where made, spec's , etc. Any thoughts?

 

[jdrum1]

Whoever made them, they sure look nice (especially for the $$).

 

[Bigkahuna]

Old speakers

I am a big fan of old speakers that sound great regardless of brand. If you like them that is all that matters.

I think you should pull out a woofer and take a shot of the inside of the cab including the crossover and backside of woofer. If the crossover has electrolytic caps just replace them with either film or electrolytic caps.

 

[oconnorweb]

So the only way in is thru the woofer? There seems to be glue around the woofer were the screws are located.

I'll take another shot at it and post some pics tonight.

 

[oconnorweb]

Ok I pulled the 12" woofer and took a pic of the back side of the woofer. No label. looks non descript. Also took pics of insides.

What do you think? Any advice on possible modifications to improve the sound? Any idea what these are or who made them?

 

[markus]

I can't make out all the numbers, but the stamp on the back looks like '137' which means those woofers are CTS :scratch2:

not a bad thing, as CTS made drivers for many of the big US speaker brands. Creative marketing using the 'Maximus' name for sure though :yes:

I had a pair of Goodmans Maximus 3's loooong ago, and the drivers were most definitely Goodmans . . .

the important thing is how they sound :thmbsp:

 

[johnda]

Hi,
There was a Goodmans Maximus model, it was based on a pair of Maxums in each cabinet. Link here:

http://www.eastmarinedrive.com/audio/2003/maxim2.html

I have owned some Goodmans speakers and they have a good sound, but I don't think your speakers are by Goodmans. The real important thing is how do they sound to you? They look to be in decent shape. Enjoy!

 

[markus]

heh heh . . .

johnda - the Maximus speakers at the bottom of that page were mine :yes:

I send pictures and details to John, hoping for information, but he had never even HEARD of them . . . they were pretty cool for sure :thmbsp:

they now reside in France - the current owner restored them cosmetically, and they are singing

 

[oconnorweb]

I really should have taken a better pic of the woofer and noted the markings.

They sound aright. Easy to drive. A bit thin. $20 I can't complain and they are in very good shape.

 

[Bigkahuna]

I really should have taken a better pic of the woofer and noted the markings.

They sound aright. Easy to drive. A bit thin. $20 I can't complain and they are in very good shape.

I am kind of new here so I hesitate to give advise. However, I would get the numbers off of those two caps and replace them. They look like electrolytics which have a limited life span. Should be cheap and easy to do. Parts express has them in their speaker building section. I wouldn't go nuts and buy the real expensive ones. Exact relacements should be undre 5 bucks and if you went with Dayton film caps maybe 5 bucks a piece. I am doing this to some old speakers I have.

 

[aidynphoenix]

they really do look nice. i would however be tempted to pull that badge off the grills and make them up to be mystery speakers
they should sound better after a recap.. perhaps that will help out that thin-ness you are talking about.. if the tweeters or mid sound a bit brighter or harsher than normal a recap might solve that issue..
so i take it there is no inductor inside?

wonder if those cabs are econowave worthy?

 

[aidynphoenix]

also those spotted dots inside on the wood.. thats not mold is it??

 

[oconnorweb]

It could be mold. I need to look again. if so, what? I am really a newbie to this. Bleach/water wipe down?

Also, are the caps short for capacitors? replace those thru parts express? I can do that.

where would the inductor be?

I'm gonna do some research on the components of a speaker so I don't sound so stupid!!

 

[aidynphoenix]

yup just bleach it
and yes again caps = capacitors
where?? somewhere between the terminals and the woofer by following the wireing
their might not be one though.. (coil of wire)
its easy :thmbsp:

 

[krlill]

The guy I bought these from called them Maximus. They don't have badges on the front, but have a spec sheet on the back with the same "M" with laurels logo. I guess they were Wall to Wall Sound's house speaker brand.

They sound great with a HK 330a. Woofers are glued in so it will be tough to get to the caps and the caps do need it.

I saw something like these in a previous post last year, with the cut groove in the side veneer. They were a mystery speaker. I can't find the post.

 

[oconnorweb]

holly cow! those look alot like mine. See the prior pics in this thrad. The same "m" emblem. mine have no label though. maybe my mystery is solved.....

I will look at the caps and wiring....

 

[TechRocks]

Maximus 24

Well, a month or so ago I picked these up and since I cannot take the grills off (short of destroying them with a screwdriver...any tricks here?), i would like for you guys especially oconnorweb since I believe that I have these...never have posted before but I feel we all have an affinity for this stuff...will try to post pics...