Scott Speakers

[humber]

I know absolutely NOTHING about speakers made by H H Scott. Can someone give me an opinion concerning the brand? Are Scott speakers worth saving. I found a pair in original condition including badges but the back ID plates are damaged. All I could se was H H Scott Model S something. One thing I did notice is that, for their size, they are heavy.
Over to you guys for some advice.:scratch2:

 

[Paul C]

Put them back where you found them.

Scott was a baby step above SoundDesign.

 

[Vitopanch]

humber,
Although H.H. Scott electronics were/are top notch and a major factor and influence in audio, their loudspeakers were not. My experience is that they will cause you no harm, however, are mediocre in sound quality.

Vito

 

[mhardy6647]

FWIW, I don't agree with the preceeding two posts. I was quite surprised by how pleasantly musical a pair of Scott S-15's were that I found.

http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=22385&highlight=Scott+S-15
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=52642&highlight=Scott+S-15
http://audiokarma.org/forums/showthread.php?t=81230&highlight=Scott+S-15


YMMV.

 

[jpciii]

I owned some Scott speakers (model S-196 from 1976), and I would not compare them to cheap soundesign. They where very solid cabs, nice grills, and they sounded pretty good... not my favorite but enjoyable and worth saving to at least give away to someone.

 

[70salesguy]

Interestingly enough, I was at the mall the other day and went into the local RS to pick up a patch cable and staring me in the face was a Scott Plasma TV!

Anyone know about this?

 

[humber]

From my research, it appears H H Scott was swallowed up by a bigger organization that is obviously using the name and Scott's heritage value to now market junk. My bet is the plasma set was made in some nowhere factory in China by a bunch of 18 year old girls working for nothing.

Now back to "my" speakers. If they are ordinary, why did Scott construct such high quality speaker boxes? As I said previously, these babies are HEAVY and beautifully made. They, the cabinets , remind me of AR 2ax speakers in construction methods and size.

Has anyone info on sites I could visit or who made the actual speakers?

 

[Ed in SoDak]

The only way to tell might be to remove the drivers and assess the components in a modern light. Drivers back in the tube era were often efficient but had limited excursion, small AlNiCo magnets and paper capacitors. The suspensions will have stiffened, glues failed, caps dried out, cloth surrounds become porous, cones can become brittle and crack. Not to mention abuse.

Aside from the basic limitations when compared to today's drivers, there's likely several of these mechanical or electrical issues that should be addressed before one seriously compares a truly vintage speaker to contemporary standards. It could be the speakers being auditioned had multiple problems.

OTOH, even though many of the old speakers may well have been state of the art for their day, that was then. There's very few 40+ year-old designs that have stood the test of time. If you like the cabinets, it might be fun to upgrade the drivers and crossovers. That worked for me with a pair of old Fisher speakers.

-Ed

 

[Roypercy]

I had a pair of Scott S-15's that were beautiful to look at, and after I recapped the crossovers and re-doped the woofers sounded very nice. Didn't blow my socks off, but a very respectable speaker. I ultimately sold them because I just got too much stuff and preferred other speakers, but the Scotts of that vintage were more than decent. I don't know anything about later models.

 

[Vitopanch]

Now back to "my" speakers. If they are ordinary, why did Scott construct such high quality speaker boxes? As I said previously, these babies are HEAVY and beautifully made. They, the cabinets , remind me of AR 2ax speakers in construction methods and size.

Has anyone info on sites I could visit or who made the actual speakers?

humber,
Here is a good site to learn more about HH Scott. http://www.hhscott.com/. I grew up a few towns over from their Maynard complex and therefore was exposed to a ton of their products and knew a few folks that worked there. Theywere a top notch firm and very influential in many areas of audio. Locally, they were never known for their loudspeakers, but for their electronics. I was very surprised to see HH Scott loudspeakers for sale new back then and bought a pair without A/B comparing them based upon their reputation and my love of their electronics. I myself was dissappointed in them and sold them. I have tried a few other pair over the years and just never found them to my liking comparing to other brands for the same cabinet size, JBL, Infinity, Electro Voice, Klipsch, Thiel and so on.

HH Scott never cut corners in quality during their hey day and I suspect that they outsourced their loudspeaker construction and badged them HH Scott. I know that Dick Burwen did that as well as KLH and a few others in that area during the wars. It was felt that they had a better shot at winning over a customer being able to provide a whole line as opposed to just their niche.

So, you may like them, as others do. It is all a matter of taste like anything else. I found them to be mediocre, however as you see mhardy finds them pleasant. Like all other brands, the models will vary as well as far as sound quality.

Vito

 

[lab]

I had some Scott 188t's in the early to mid 80's. Seemed fairly good, Phillips tweeters, fair sized magnet 10" woofers. They got good reviews in the magazines of the time. Scott did produce some junkier products in the 90's when they started making package systems. Give me a model number and I can give you specific information.

 

[Toasted Almond]

My first halfway decent speakers were some kind of Scott two-ways, back around 1968. Very pleasant sounding, and the cabinets were constructed like little bricks. SoundDesign? Hardly.

 

[Retro Stereo]

Put them back where you found them.

Scott was a baby step above SoundDesign.

You must have done some thorough testing with your SoundDesign equipment to come up with that comparison. By the way, do you still have all your SoundDesign stuff?



Retro

 

[Paul C]

Apparently my warped sense of humor did not come through as intended.

 

[Trance88]

I know this is off topic as far as speakers go but I have an Scott cassette deck model DD660. I have no clue to what time period this was manufactured in. It looks like it could be a mid to late 80's or early 90's deck.

 

[Lman]

I'm with mhardy on this one. I too have Scott S-15's and they are pleasant sounding. I also at one point had a smaller bookshelf pair of Scott's and they too provided a pleasant listening experience.

Scott speakers won't knock your socks off but they won't fatigue your ears either.

Lou

 

[outlawmws]

I have a set of Scott 197B 3 way speakers, with 15" thumpers I picked up a few years ago at a yard sale, and re-foamed. While not a top of the line audiophile speaker, I don't think its that far off an HPM. Very much a west coast sound, and might be better with recapping. I was reasonably impressed, and am of the opinion that these would be great party speakers, if not critical listening speakers.

I'm sure Scott made some stinkers in it's time, but what company hasn't?

Bottom line is, do you like them? That is the only opinion that matters...

 

[mhardy6647]

By the time of the S197B, Scott was using nice Philips dome tweeters, if nothing else.

 

[MarkAnderson]

My S-10B's sound pretty dang decent, I think. I refoamed a pair of the aforementioned S-197B's for a buddy and I though they sounded pretty good, too.

 

[cincy]

I know this is off topic as far as speakers go but I have an Scott cassette deck model DD660. I have no clue to what time period this was manufactured in. It looks like it could be a mid to late 80's or early 90's deck.

I saw a Scott cassette model 659DA listed in a 1985 Stereo Buyers Guide listed at $300. So I would think that the next year or so would be 660DD.Two other models for 1985 were--619DB list $200--639DC list $250.