anybody heard of American Monitor?

inkman69 · Feb 5, 2007

Theres a pair of American Monitor speakers on our local Craigslist. Never heard of such a speaker.(craigslist-kansas city) was woundering if anybody new anything about them.
Thanks Tim

Filmboydoug · Feb 5, 2007

Orion says late 70's early 80's, $200 - $1200 a pair. Got a model #?

Aage · Feb 5, 2007

There is a model of Quad ESL63s called the Quad USA Monitors. Wonder if they could be referring to a pair of these?

Stuntdriver · Feb 28, 2007

Well I recently acquired a pair of them and have been searching for info on them. All I could find was this site and this thread. So I registered and was finally able to post as of last night.

But the pair I have are MODEL 12 and sound very nice. I was told they cost over $750 when they were bought. I am very happy with the condition they are in especially the surrounds as they seem new accept for some markings on the enclosures and the missing foam for the grills.

If anyone can point me in the right direction for information on these it would be greatly appreciated.

Some pics if anyone is interested.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/02-25-07009.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/02-25-07015.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/AmericanMonitor001.jpg

Brian · Feb 28, 2007

Never heard of them but, they do not look too shabby. Over the yers here have been hundreds of short lived speaker companies that lasted only a couple of years usually due to lack of capital rather than lack of engineering. The mids look familiar but do not remembr in association with what. Since you may not find the age, maybe worth renewing the caps and letting them burn in and you may find you found a gem.

GordonW · Feb 28, 2007

Looks like another of the semi-ubiquitous (for the time) JBL L100/4311 clones. Looks to be using CTS drivers.

Could be good, could be merely so-so. I've seen those "L100 clones" all over the map...

BTW: the ORIGINAL JBL L100A (available from around 1974 to 1981) only cost about $750 a pair in the earlier years, increasing to $900 a pair in 1981. And that was with CAST ALUMINUM frame drivers with HUGE magnets and such...

Regards,
Gordon.

wank · Feb 28, 2007

Based on the backplate and the mid-woof, I'd bet $$$ they were OEM'd by RTR. That's not necessarily a bad thing. But I've never seen them use a white coned woofer, so those may not be original.

dgwojo · Feb 28, 2007

We covered my 12XP's about 2 years ago, here's the link; American Monitors

MitsuMan · Feb 28, 2007

Stuntdriver said:
Well I recently acquired a pair of them and have been searching for info on them. All I could find was this site and this thread. So I registered and was finally able to post as of last night.

But the pair I have are MODEL 12 and sound very nice. I was told they cost over $750 when they were bought. I am very happy with the condition they are in especially the surrounds as they seem new accept for some markings on the enclosures and the missing foam for the grills.

If anyone can point me in the right direction for information on these it would be greatly appreciated.

Some pics if anyone is interested.
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/02-25-07009.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/02-25-07015.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y109/stuntdriver/eBay/AmericanMonitor001.jpg

amazing, but those pictures are the ones for a current listing on ebay :scratch2:

And the ebay listers name is stuntdriver:thumbsdn:

And from your description, seems you know a little about them.

I have up for auction a very nice, very rare pair of American Monitor Company (AMC) Model 12 Floor Speakers. These Top of the line, High-End speakers of there time are in excellent condition and the speakers themselves look and sound as great as they did the day they were purchased. The 3 speakers in each one are in excellent condition and show no signs of wear; the surrounds are very strong and still have many, many years of life left in them. Also, the serial numbers are very close in sequence.

The cabinets do have a few marking here and there and the speaker grill foam has crumbled away but the frame is still there so new ones could easily be made and applied to the existing cut-out. They used to have the baffled foam.

As for the Specifications for the speakers I don’t recall much but I believe they can handle 100 watts each. They sound great with my old Technics SA-500 which was 55w per channel. (Also up for auction) The rear of each has a tweeter control, a midrange control, inputs for the wires and a reset button. Measurement wise, they are 25½” tall 14¼” wide & 11½” deep. They weigh about 35 pounds each. All that and I remember paying over $750 for them J

Stuntdriver · Mar 1, 2007

I use stuntdriver for all my accounts when I can and I based my description from what I was told as I know the original owner and he had them since new. I listed to see if they generate an interest and if I should seriously keep them instead of selling them. I tried coming here a few days before I listed them but the joining process was longer then I had anticipated.

I appreciate all the responses and MitsuMan, I have no intentions on generating suspicions.. Just looking for knowledge and info. BTW, Those 12XP's look very nice as well, they have the same rubberized surrounds as do the pair I have. Thanks for the link to the review.

Jaspa · Mar 31, 2011

Hi, this is an older thread that I need to revive. I hope it isn't considered Hi-jack!

I have a set of AMC model 12 speakers which I have unfortunately done in to a degree. I tested a sine wav thru them and it sounded square. So I took the grills off and the cones, foam are all fine. So I believe the 'coils' are bad. Something behind that actual cone. I unscrewed the driver (woofer) and it was stuck in there with some putty. I wonder if the wires burnt out... But there is a metal box with almost cloth sides (thick) and I wonder if this is where the coil is hidden.

I know nothing of vintage speakers and want to fix these. I feel stupid for ruining them but what can you do.

Anyone out there have some knowledge of these wonderful speakers? They seriously have sounded great in the past and I want to restore them. I think the mids, tweeter as well might be blown. One speaker is more intact than the other too, but both are compromised.

AMC model 12 baby!

thanks

-J

djnagle · Apr 1, 2011

I've had the 12, 10, and 8. I think they are a great bargin. They sound really good and don't command any money.

Turborusty · Apr 1, 2011

Those mids are the same as used in my EPIC speakers.

Turborusty

djnagle · Apr 1, 2011

All mine used CTS woofers...or is it CTC? Can't remember, but they are good speakers. P.S., I forgot, I also have the 6s in my garage. They seem to be plentiful here iin Michigan.

Turborusty · Apr 1, 2011

djnagle said:
All mine used CTS woofers...or is it CTC? Can't remember, but they are good speakers. P.S., I forgot, I also have the 6s in my garage. They seem to be plentiful here iin Michigan.

CTS, which is who made those mids....and possibly the tweets, from the looks of the cone. A close relative of the infamous phenolic ring tweeter, it would seem.

Turborusty

Jaspa · Apr 5, 2011

yeah, they are plentiful here. I happened to have another set of speakers that were my dads and what are they? AMC model 8's. Same tweeter component as my model 12's that i need to fix.

Renzor213 · Apr 5, 2011

I had some 12XP's year's ago and were actually pretty good. Was running them with a Dynaco ST400 and was popping a lot of tweeter's though. Ended up with some Vifa domes, and sold them to a guy that way who's still using them. The original grill's were a deep sculptured foam, and why the earlier pic replacement's are so sunken in. When I replaced mine with conventional grill cloth, framed out the mounting plate flush to the front and looked much better. Can't say I'm interested in revisiting old time's, but if you can pick some of these up at the right price, certainly lot's of other worse choices out there.

EMIparty · Feb 27, 2016

I just brought up these Model 8s and am very impressed with their sound. The cabinets are walnut and thick, seems these were built like tanks.

sax6 · Feb 27, 2016

Oups...Silly me... fast read, American '' motors ''

In the speakers threads ???

Damn beer ( read ... many )

Donkey Karma · Feb 27, 2016

EMIparty said:
I just brought up these Model 8s and am very impressed with their sound. The cabinets are walnut and thick, seems these were built like tanks.

I had a pair of 8's I as well was very impressed with their sound. If I remember correctly AM was known for their build quality, especially their cabs. There are threads in this site containing info..

anybody heard of American Monitor?

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