Tube-Era British Speakers

[Gang-Twanger]

I couldn't find one, so I thought I would put one up myself. Just a simple place for British speaker porn from the days when hot glass bottles ruled the hi-fi industry.

I'll start. Here are some old Goodmans Audioms in console enclosures. From the '50's, I believe.

 

[jgannon]

And...how do you like 'em? And as compared to the Wharfies?

 

[Gang-Twanger]

And...how do you like 'em? And as compared to the Wharfies?

Oh no, these aren't mine. I'm leaving this thread wide-open for anything, whether yours or not. Just a simple speaker porn thread for British stuff. I love the look of the old cabs, plus it's a good resource later on. I might see something I want to look for, or someone else might, etc... sort of thing.

 

[jgannon]

Oh no, these aren't mine. I'm leaving this thread wide-open for anything, whether yours or not. Just a simple speaker porn thread for British stuff. I love the look of the old cabs, plus it's a good resource later on. I might see something I want to look for, or someone else might, etc... sort of thing.

Oh, I gotcha...those Goodmans do look nice! I know you've talked highly about them.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Oh, I gotcha...those Goodmans do look nice! I know you've talked highly about them.

Yeah, I got to hear a pair of large Goodmans which I think had a separate horn and woofer, and they were amazing. Open-sounding as any vintage speaker I've ever heard. I can't remember which receiver/amp the guy was using.

By the way, I wanted to thank you again for the capacitors. My situation here at home has been a volatile one due to the neighbor dispute, and now I'm looking hard for a new place (The landlord is selling, which I had expected after dealing a blow to the neighbors for their shenanegans), so many things are up in the air probably until I get resettled. But rest assured those are much appreciated.

By the way, I'm listening to my W90's right now in a quiet house, and they are sounding WONDERFUL. I realized yesterday that I had the two-prong Fisher cord plugged in the wrong way. Wow, is this sounding good now. They throw out such a huge soundstage. They're not very-loud, and yet they're projecting like no other. I missed these over the past month.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Wharfedale W4... One of my favorites that I hope to own one day. For more pictures, go here: http://www.gzhifi.com/ys/goods.php?id=931

And here's some fantastic Wharfedale porn... The original W70 (alnico) and another pair of W4's (I THINK it's the W4... Hard to tell between that and the Airedale unless they're side by side... What kind of amp is that to the left? ... Anyone know?).

I'm a fan of alnico drivers... The look, the sound, ... Everything.

And of course, these are my alnico W90's... They continue to amaze me the more I listen to them... Smooth and open with a WIDE soundstage... They are the epitome of fun, all-day listening.

OK, lets see someone kick down with some tube-era Quad stuff, or maybe some Tannoys... Doesn't have to be yours... Just show me some cool British speaker porn from the tube-era.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

OK, one more I just had to post. I didn't even know these existed. All-alnico Airedales. I had read in the Briggs/Wharfedale book that the Airedale had a ceramic midwoofer and maybe other ceramic drivers as well, and I had the impression from elsewhere that the Airedale had the first ceramic driver/s they ever used. Nice to see there were some all-alnico Airedales (There are a few proofreading errors I've caught in that book, and they usually relate to drivers). Anyway, easily the cleanest I've ever seen. And something just became very-clear. The earliest Airedales had the same top section drivers as the big omni-directional 3-way corner model, which makes a lot of sense since the Airedale was created as an updated, more-living-room-friendly version of that model. Same drivers, but in a smaller cab with a couple updated techniques lifted from the W* series (like the ceramic tiles for damping): http://soundup.ru/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2678%3Awharfedale-airedale-floor-speakers-15-woofers-3-way&catid=8%3Acolumns&Itemid=16

 

[Gang-Twanger]

If this ain't British speaker porn, I don't know what is... Supposed to be Goodmans Axiom 80 drivers in these, according to the site where these came from. Maybe someone can help ID. Got these off of Sound Create Times (Far East). If you can't see these, let me know, and I'll do attachments instead.

 

[jgannon]

Here are my original two-way alnico Wharfedale W60s. I have to get another Expedit under the left speaker, and then maybe I'll use that 3rd W60 down there for a mono system someday. The W60s really have some great mids.

Got your message GT and thought I'd check back here!

I hope Brian puts up a pick of his W70s!

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Yeah, the W60's have an extremely-lush sound. They are classic old-school British, even more than the W90's. For '50's and early and mid '60's rock & roll, old blues and jazz, classical, and Sinatra, they are the bee's 'nads. The W90, surprisingly, seems better-equipped for LATE '60's music as well as '70's stuff (I think it's due to that righthand woofer with the diaphragm over the cone... Dials back the lushness... If it had two of the regular alnico W12's instead of just one, it would probably sound just like a super-sized W60).

 

[chicks]

 

[eddantes]

Ill add one: Warfedale SFB (Sand Filled Baffle)open baffle speakers.

 

[Art K.]

"The Closest Approach"

 

[Chubba]

I guess I could have had some cool British speakers.Thirty years ago I was in a mansion that was being renovated.It had a built in Vita Vox speaker system and I took a woofer and the rest went to dump.Tweeters,mids, x overs,the other woofer and all I have is a perfect K15/40 woofer.Keeping it carefully packed away helps me not think about it.

 

[hunter00]

had an unmatched pair of Vitavox here for sale locally and the owner knew he had a collectable hi end speaker hence his asking price ..4 k for the pair.
I when and had a listen and altho definatly smotth ,clean sounding they weren't a match for my vintage brauns.Both had horns as well
hunter

 

[modge]

Now those are nice stats.

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Mono Quad'ing... I love it.

Yesterday I paid for a single SFB/3 that I plan to restore. Many will remember, the SFB/3 was the cone-driver equivalent to the ESL-57. Peter Walker and Gilbert Briggs were very-close friends who shared information with each other quite-often. And yet they competed with each other, just like both did with Harold Leake back in those days. A true British hi-fi community. The SFB/3 wasn't the huge commercial success in the long term that the ESL-57 was, but it is supposed to be a true sonic rival. And knowing how good their early '60's models sound, I'm not surprised. I'll try it in a mono setup while I keep searching for that second one to make a pair.

 

[chicks]

Peter and Gilbert at one of their "live vs recorded" demonstrations at Royal Festival Hall

 

[Gang-Twanger]

Peter and Gilbert at one of their "live vs recorded" demonstrations at Royal Festival Hall

I thought the one on the right looked a bit young, so I doublechecked. According to the caption under the photo in the Briggs/Wharfedale book, that was John Collinson, who was a key employee at Quad back then (Amplifiers were his thing at the time). He would later join the Wharfedale crew in the mid '60's (1966, I think... He needed a change and wanted to try his hand in the loudspeaker industry).

Collinson played a key role at those live vs recorded events, as can be seen in the photo. I think he may have handled all playback duties (Vinyl as well as magnetic tape recordings).

 

[mech986]