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Help me identify these mid-century modern cabinets!

winters860

winters860

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I picked these up for $10 at the last swap meet in Mason. They're made out of walnut-veneered plywood and have no markings, but exude a definite 60's vibe. I think they were likely flat-packed by the wood shop and assembled either by the end user or the retailer.

Any help in identifying them would be welcome.

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The seller found them in a thrift and flipped the 12" Electro Voice triaxials that were in them. The brown grill cloth is likely of more recent vintage and will be replaced by linen.
 

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The cabs have a '60's vibe, but that grillcloth seems more like '70's or later to me. Beautiful cabs regardless. I'd love to try a pair of early '60's Wharfedale Super 12's in those. Or perhaps some Universities or Goodmans full-rangers.
 
The grill cloth is definitely a later revision. When these speakers are done, I'll get some period-correct cloth on them.

I don't think they're Bozak, based on the EV driver load and not looking like any Bozaks I've ever seen.
 
I'd like to get a few more views on this thread. I know there's an AKer out there who knows the story behind these!
 
I wonder if there might have been a matching, center, equipment cabinet at one time ??? The sides are so flat that another piece could have gone in the middle holding a record changer and radio tuner perhaps. that was a common set up in the 50's and 60's. Very nice cabs. An Altec Duplex might work !!! Now that would be waaay cool.
 
I'm afraid I don't have a picture of the interior before my build started.

The part you see with grill cloth on it is the front baffle, which was screwed onto bracing from the back. The back baffle is removable to get access to the inside of the speaker. There is corner bracing glued and screwed in place. I'm still open to the possibility that these were flat-packed, but the more I work on them, the more I think they were probably put together in a cabinet shop.

There were no manufacturer markings or numbers anywhere on these, but the backs were painted at some point.

I'm retaining the original appearance, and will likely use curtain material as grill cloth. Construction is changing a bit, though. A new 1-1/2" MDF front baffle is going in behind the old front baffle and trim. The old 3/4" plywood front baffle is having its openings widened, and becoming the new front grill, likely friction-fit in place between the top and bottom trim. The new 3/4" MDF back baffle will be glued and screwed in place, with all access to the inside of the speaker being through the driver holes. There is a new horizontal cross brace between the woofer and horn, as well as a new side-to-side brace behind the woofer.

I hesitate to say that I'm building Jeff Bagby's Zephyr, because although the crossover, Eminence Definimax 4012HO woofer, and Denovo SEOS-12 waveguide will be the same, and the internal volume, tuning, and baffle width nearly the same, there will be some differences. Using these vintage cabinets in the configuration I've described will introduce a host of diffraction issues not present in the original design. Also, the single 3" port in my cabinets will be more prone to chuffing than the Zephyr, if pushed hard. Lastly, instead of the Denovo DNA-360 compression driver, I'll be using a different B&C DE250 knockoff, the PRV D290py. We'll see whether any of the changes detract from my enjoyment. I plan on loving the sound of these speakers or re-working them until I do. Because of the differences between my project and the Zephyr design, I'm tentatively calling these speakers "The Fairmonts". :yes:
 
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I took the grill cloth off and there was enough of the original grill stuck to the baffle to see that it was some sort of rattan.
 
The rattan like grill cloth may be the (supposedly) sonically engineered cloth of the late 50s-early 60s. If so, it was expensive. I built plywood (stained) enclosure around 1960 for a friend, and paid $5.50 (1959-60 $) for a 1 square yard piece.
 
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