What to do with old Electrovoices?

FluxT

Super Member
My early ‘70s vintage Kenwood receiver came with a pair of contemporary Electrovoice bookshelves, and frankly they’re not my cup of tea. They’re EV 11’s, with a 6.5” full range driver and a bass port, which is rendered useless by what looks like an epic amount of (fiberglass?) stuffing. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of info on these, and I’m not exactly starved for speakers. I’m thinking of either modifying them (either removing the stuffing and/or swapping out the likely aged drivers), selling them, or keeping them...someplace?

Any thoughts or opinions? DE31A2CF-2DC2-4905-AE4C-9D5C14A7B05A.jpeg6874090D-53EE-4E93-B630-BC9544D1BB73.jpeg
 
EV has a decent following, so I wouldn't give them up unless you just don't like their sound or not interested in selling or parting them out. You probably could get a decent amount for the drivers, and they'd be easier to ship than an entire speaker pair. Even the little EV label on the grill is worth some change.
Also, the construction of older EV speakers is usually very sturdy which makes them good candidates for modifications.
What is the model number of the driver?
 
Interesting - I have been blown away by the sound of (modern) EV speakers - at least - those used for PA use.

I would have thought these would have the potential to sound decent. Its a shame if they dont.
 
Pull out one of the drivers and take pictures of the back frame and magnet structure and post them on this thread. It would be interesting to know who made these dual cone extended range drivers. The fact the woofer cones just have a lightly chemically treated folded paper accordion surround shows them to be a very basic (i.e. inexpensive) driver.

Those cabinets would work well with a pair of good quality 6.5" co-axial auto sound speakers but you'd have to do some comparison listening at an autosound specialist shop first to make sure you buy something that sounds good. It would be worth looking on CraigsList as when people upgrade they often sell their previous pair of drivers for a very low price.
 
Some very high quality and highly regarded speakers had paper surrounds, old Hollywood Altecs for instance.

OP--I had 8" EV SP8 drivers of very similar appearance to yours and they had cast frames and Alnico magnets and were of very high quality. Perhaps your drivers are of similar quality. As you don't care for the sound I suggest you take advantage of both single driver mania and EV cultism and part them out.
 
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They’re EV 11’s, with a 6.5” full range driver and a bass port, which is rendered useless by what looks like an epic amount of (fiberglass?) stuffing. . . . I’m thinking of either modifying them (either removing the stuffing and/or swapping out the likely aged drivers), selling them, or keeping them...someplace?

The bass reflex port is not "rendered useless" or affected at all by the "epic amount of (fiberglass?) stuffing." Air passes unimpeded through fiberglass. It is present in your cabinet because it (a) eliminates interior cabinet reflections of the back wave of the speaker (removing it will cause the speaker to sound obnoxiously heavy on midrange frequencies and will dramatically kill bass response), and it (b) causes the driver to "see" the cabinet volume as being larger than it really is. (It's been so long since I studied this subject that I can't immediately remember why this cabinet volume illusion happens, but there is a formula for calculating the effect.)

I agree with stickman that you have many options in changing out the EV driver for a modern coaxial speaker. Parts Express alone has dozens of 6.5" coaxial drivers spanning the range from automotive and ceiling speakers to fully professional drivers, and the Dayton brand of high quality coaxials made specifically for cabinet mounting. Regardless of which direction you go, you will need to decide to either properly resize the port for a bass reflex alignment, or seal the cabinet for a acoustic suspension enclosure. Some experimentation with both might be in order.

GeeDeeEmm
 
One of these guys might fit your box cu.ft requirement.
https://www.parts-express.com/cat/p...eca:matches(.,"P_Searchable","1")]&PortalID=1
The only caveat here is that they are good moneycost, and you would still need to develop a crossover unit. IIRC, with a coaxial setup, it requires a second order with the tweeter wired out of phase, or a fourth order with the tweeter wired in phase. I could be wrong.

Something off the shelf might work, like this: https://www.parts-express.com/dayton-audio-xo2w-2k-2-way-speaker-crossover-2000-hz--260-140

And it would be really cool if you could get it working, but, its still a lot of money for maybes.

These might bolt in and sing as is
https://www.parts-express.com/kicker-dsc650-ds-series-6-1-2-2-way-coaxial-speaker-pair--267-6859
 
I forgot to mention that I did open them up to peek at the drivers. No branding, but I did spy what looked like a date code or a serial number? 77329 could mean “3/29/1977”, 719 could be a model number, and 038 and 952 could be serial numbers. That being said, 1977 seems a tad bit too late for these. The overall design aesthetic decidedly reeks of the 60s, maybe the early ‘70s at the latest. I was able to track down the original manual on here, which touts these as “enhancing the gaiety of new mod or op decors”...definitely some pre-Stonewall talk there, and references to setting these up for either mono or stereo listening would have been a bit outdated by the late 70s when Quad was still the future. So it’s possible that someone blew the original drivers back around 1977 and swapped in some replacements. On the flip side, opening these up without completely destroying the grilles was a job and a half (they’re nailed on), and it didn’t look like anyone else had ever even attempted such a task.

Just for the heck of it, I might try swapping in some old Honda/BMW speakers that have been sitting in the garage from a recent speaker upgrade. They’re co-axial, 6ish inches, and look like they should just pop right in? If not, I’ll definitely check out Parts-Express and see what they’ve got to offer.

AAE75253-A023-40CA-80FA-FD3E676AD661.jpeg F07FE991-EFAD-4EB8-86E6-46C3CE3BD199.jpegE8230165-FD2E-40E6-B935-199F44B0DD73.jpeg
 
Some very high quality and highly regarded speakers had paper surrounds, old Hollywood Altecs for instance.
Yep, surround construction (as with many things) is not necessarily less than excellent, but could be an intentional design parameter; it is well to beware of generalizations.
 
Well that was quick! What gives it away?
The 719 code translates to Carbonneau. Google “speaker codes” and you’ll find how to read codes for many speaker brands. I think the 038 may be the mfg date, 3rd week of 1958 or 1968.
 
That speaker is a good speaker, but likes a bigger cabinet. Im actually a huge fan of the carbonneau 6.5" but as a woofer, and not a full range.

The date of birth on that driver is probably the 329th day of 1977. Its a mid to late 70's driver that were used in a lot of mid fi systems.
 
I figured it was a non-E-V manufactured driver as E-V typically used off the shelf drivers from other manufacturers in their less expensive speaker systems and these E-V 11's appear to be about the least expensive model ever offered. Also the appearance of the cone and whizzer just didn't look up to E-V's typical design and manufacturing standards.

I am not a fan of drivers with surrounds consisting of the speaker cone itself with pleats, accordion style folds, or whatever and especially for woofers and midrange drivers whether the paper in the surround region has been chemically treated or not. As technology advanced first it was treated cloth surrounds that were first widely adopted and later butyl rubber and foam surrounds with foam dominating the marketplace due to its lower cost and from the fact it was easier to specify performance parameters with foam. I know there are classic, fine sounding older speaker drivers from the early days of hi-fi up through the 1960's from high quality manufacturers that used an articulated cone paper surround but I am referring to the much more common, less expensive mass market drivers with this configuration that typically did not sound very good offering mid to low-fi reproduction at best.
 
Keep the boxes. Sell the drivers and use the boxes as speaker stands - OR when you discover the sweetness of horns, you can mount them in those hehhehhehheh
 
After a bit more listening, I’ve either warmed up to these or they’ve broken themselves in after a long slumber. I also paired them with my modern Onkyo home theater receiver, which has a good deal more power than the Kenwood (18WPC vs. I’d say safely 65+WPC), which seems to do the trick. They’re still on the boxy side with a forward midrange, but there’s a good deal more clarity and less shoutyness. I did notice that one speaker seems to intermittently cut out if roughly handled, despite a clean and secure connection. I’ll open it up to make sure that the leads going to the driver is secure later. What a shame, just as I was starting to like these!
 
After a bit more listening, I’ve either warmed up to these or they’ve broken themselves in after a long slumber.
Sometimes that's what it takes. You get used to what you had and you have to "step back" so to speak and listen to these with a fresh perspective.
 
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Out of curiousity, I hooked these into a Pioneer SC-63 monster receiver and ran the MCACC speaker tuning system, which uses a mic and various gunshot-like bursts to adjust EQ, channel balances, measure standing waves, etc etc etc. Perhaps not the most scientific way to correct things-wildly different results can result from minor changes in position, and these speakers ARE highly directional little buggers. Personally, with (higher-end) speakers, I disliked how it stripped them of their personality and inevitably boosted the bass too much, sliced the midrange into oblivion, or hyped the treble into tweeter-blowing territory. Ya know, the things I'm supposed to do when presented with an equalizer! But what the heck, why not give it a shot?

These have no right to sound nearly as good as they do. These don't sound like full-range whizzer jobs. They don't sound like budget speakers from ca. 1968. Night and day is not stark enough a contrast to describe the difference. The midrange has gone from utterly dominating to perfectly natural, high details materialize out of nowhere, a hint of bass comes forth. They're...tamed. I'm simply shocked at what I'm hearing. That's not to say they've lost all their personality or that you shouldn't spring for those K-horns and just EQ the hell out of your Soundesigns. They're still most at home with dialogue or acoustic music at mild volumes, anything too loud or busy gets noisy. But again, these are cheap 1968 speakers that I've bent into sounding like mid-tier 2018 speakers. Truly I am a force of nature to be reckoned with.

I performed three measurements; one from their normal location (above my TV, on a shelf), one with them 2' apart on a desk opposite each other, and one with them toed in towards the microphone as in a normal near-field listening setup. The EQ curves, more for my future reference than anyone else's, are as follows:

  • Shelf: 63Hz, 0dB. 125Hz, 0dB. 250Hz, +0.5dB. 500Hz, -6dB. 1kHz, -2dB. 2kHz, -6dB. 4khz, -3.5dB. 8kHz, +6dB. 16kHz, +3dB.
  • Opposite: 63Hz, 0dB. 125Hz, 0dB. 250Hz, -3.5dB. 500Hz, -7dB. 1kHz, -2.5dB. 2kHz, -4dB. 4kHz, 0dB. 8kHz, +5.5dB. 16kHz, +3dB.
  • Desk: 63Hz, 0dB. 125Hz, 0dB. 250Hz, +1dB. 500Hz, -3dB. 1kHz, -3dB. 2kHz, -5.5dB. 4kHz, -5dB. 8kHz, +6dB. 16kHz, +3.5dB.
 
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