Sonics AS-447S - Treasure or trash?

[kwik_silvr31]

Picked up a pair of Sonics AS-447S speakers for $20. All drivers and the horns are functional. The grilles are very circa-1970s wood lattice, and a bit chewed up. Pulled them off and the speakers are perfectly pristine behind them. They could use a refinishing, but my cousin (who was a manufacturer of custom cabinets for years) is certain that they can be brought back to "being pretty."

My questions are these: Are any of you familiar with these speakers, and if you are, what is your opinion of them? My best friend (who is also an AK member) suggested that they might be good candidates for the E'wave project.

Thanks in advance...

 

[Sam Cogley]

There are two speaker brands with very similar names - "Sonic" and "Sonics". If they have beige cones, they're Pioneer's discount brand...and actually sound fairly decent for what they are. I gave a pair to my parents and they're rocking the basement, they do just fine for casual working around the basement or a loud party.

 

[kwik_silvr31]

These are not the Pioneers. The cones are hard paper with vented dust caps. The voice coils have gotta be about 2.5 inches. Paper surrounds, low excursion. The 'net yielded up next to nothing about these speakers, other than a link to a classified ad in which someone was selling a pair, along with a "rare" vintage Onkyo receiver.

 

[tarior]

I've gotten ahold of both "Sonics" and "Sonic" speakers. The Sonics were were chock-full of Pioneer-like horns and a large, short-excursion woofer. Build and sound quality was just like Pioneer/Sansui kabuki speakers of the day. The "Sonic" brand speakers were full of low end Pioneer OEM paper drivers, and sounded just about like what you would have gotten at a rent to own shop in the early '80s.
In answer to the OP, they are on par with other Japanese speakers of the early to mid '70s, and if they sound good to you, that's all that matters around here.

 

[Dingman]

Just to update:
based on these speakers currently on craigslist, the "Sonics" are the ones with the Pioneer drivers...

https://goo.gl/photos/hXWa2NdXfBLnF5bf9
https://goo.gl/photos/mU3GDKorqn92rp319