Realistic Mach I's--Should I?

S

savatage1973

Addicted Member
A pair of Mach I's turned up recently and relatively near to me--should I, and at what price?

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I have spoken with the seller, and we have a pretty solid number in play--going to look at/listen to them on Monday. I have heard Mach I's before, but it has been years--my cousin had bought a pair new back in the day, but eventually lost them in a house fire a number of years ago--if nothing else, if the deal is good enough, they may become his b-day present.

Any input appreciated!
 
I recently bought a pair although the cabnits on these look much better. I paid 40 from a divorced lady cleaning out a storage unit. They are fun to play with. They do seem to have missing range between the woofer and the midrange. Think female voice range, It will be lacking. I think I have read here there is a dead zone around 1000 but there are mod's on this site to help restore some of the missing range. The bass isn't the greatest but I am doing the cabnet modification to one of mine to see how it improves versus the other. I can say the tweeter which has a phenolic dome is one sweet driver. It's one of the sweetest sounding tweets I personally have ever heard. I really, really like the the tweeters in these and would have no issues parting out the rest and keeping the tweeters for another project. Probably wouldn't pay over 150 for a pair just to play with and they are resellable at that price to someone else who wants to try them for nostalgic reasons. I have seen real nice pairs for over 400 but they are not worth that musically due to the seemingly hole in the lower midrange. There are some fixes here which I will try on one that are supposed to help but I need to research more if just helps the issues or eliminates the problem. If I can eliminate the hole in the midrange and the bass improves by openening up the cabinet I will keep them around. The attenuators are pretty nice as well and could be used along with the awesome tweeters in another project.
 
Oh ya, check the woofer foam where it glues to the frame, on one of mine is was coming unglued and leaked. The foam was fine just needed to be reglued. This might help lower the price. I just reglued one section at a time between two screws over the course of a couple evenings until I worked my way around.
 
The Mach One speakers are great for what they are and when they came out. Not good speakers for HD content. They are well mated for powerful and vintage receivers and amps since they can take the power; maybe not so much from a Technics SA-1000. Also horrible speakers to have if your neighbors are a-holes, or maybe they are the best to have if they are.
I got only one Mach One speaker, the good ones, which I got cheap at a second hand store. Been looking for another for over a year. Meanwhile I've used it for awhile as a center speaker to compliment the LR main Altec Model 14 speakers I got later. The three get the job done.
Note: the Mach One has two versions: the good ones and bad ones. $200 absolute max for a perfect working with perfect parts in a perfect showroom cosmetic condition with that new car smell. Otherwise maybe $280-300 a pair of a typical used pair without issues. Cabinets can easily be refinished. The veneer is thick.
Awesome looking speakers!
 
Update--well, I didn't... The seller is apparently a much better photographer than salesman. The pics look beautiful, but somehow don't show the cracks in the veneer (from it apparently having been severely dried out at some point), the multiple mild water rings, and the crushed corners on the bottoms. Grilles were intact, but the material was really ratty looking Came to audition them, but they were plunked in the middle of the garage on the bare concrete floor--no towel or anything under them, just on the raw concrete. No gear to hook them up to audition them or at least confirm that all drivers were functional. When I started asking a few questions (not haggling on price, just general questions), it was like I was offending him in some way, and it was promptly explained to me that he had been buying and selling stereo gear for 45 years--and basically, who was I to question HIM.

Needless to say, when I pulled out of the driveway, they were still sitting in the middle of the garage bay. No haggling, no further discussion, simply excused myself and left--the whole experience was awful, but at least it only cost me $20 in fuel and a couple hours of my life.
 
You win some, you loose some. Sometimes you could win, but if you give your winnings to some looser, I mean seller, you might be the actual looser.
Sometimes you can score and everyone wins.
 
ChefE said:
You win some, you loose some. Sometimes you could win, but if you give your winnings to some looser, I mean seller, you might be the actual looser.
Sometimes you can score and everyone wins.
Click to expand...
For the record it's lose and loser not loose and looser. Okay there's my one correction for the day. You're welcome. :)
 
Ran across a pair of these at our local thrift last week for $4.00. They were in rough shape. The cabs were beat up and starting to come apart at the seams and both woofers foam was completely gone.
I thought about getting them for a few minutes then came to my senses! I need more speakers like I need a hole in my head! So I passed.
 
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